Beauty Q & A with John Gustafson

Our make-up, skincare and beauty guru solves all your beauty dilemmas

John

I hardly ever wear make-up, and don't really know where to start. I do feel like a need something to lift my look, to cheer myself up a bit when I look in the mirror.  My hair has been white since I was in my early 30s and I have a pale pink sort of skin with faded freckles on top. My girls are 19 and 16, and have no such difficulties with make-up. Can you help?

Patricia

Patricia,

I certainly can - you have one of my most favourite combinations of colouring! If you are truly a novice, I would suggest steering clear of colours with too much blue in them or too much brown (lipsticks, blushers). The reason I usually say that when I don't have the person right in front of me is that blue-toned pinks can look really "old" with grey hair. Expected and dated. Brown will just look flat. The tricky part is getting to colours that still give a little life to the skin but still feel fairly natural. Taupes, mushrooms, and softer greys tend to look lovely on eyes on your sort of skintone. Once you have mastered this, you can start adding accents of colours to heighten your own eye colour (lilacs and roses for green, golds and bronzes for blue, etc.).

On the lips and cheeks, look for soft reddish colours or pinks that don't have the blue in them. Tea Rose by Chantecaille is one lipstick that would give you an example to look at, and Playful Pink blusher by Shiseido. By having a look at them you will hopefully have an idea about the tone I am talking about. These are quite vibrant but will give you a guide. For really soft examples have peek at the new Kiss Kiss Baby by Guerlain in Rosewood Nude, and as a blusher; Bobbi Brown eyeshadow in Baby Pink. Yes...eyeshadow as a blusher! It is really natural and virtually foolproof. Possibly the VERY best plan would be for you to book an appointment with an independent make-up consultant that has no interest in selling you products - only in teaching you how to choose and apply colours yourself. If there is no service like that near you, perhaps go into a larger department store and go to one of the make-up artist brands like Laura Mercier, MAC, Shu Uemura, Prescriptives, or Becca and explain your plight. DO NOT buy anything you do not immediately feel comfortable in or completely understand the usage of! And if the person starts getting pushy...walk away. Simple as that. If there is anything I can help you with more specifically, please do drop me another line.

Good luck,

John

Hey John,

Let me start off by saying that I'm new to Handbag.com and this Q&A but I'm already addicted - It's so fabulous and just the thing when I need a break from two energetic toddlers. Your advice is always so informative and I've already decided to try Strixaderm SOS for my dark circles.

I wonder if you can help me with my other problem. I have really dry skin that is flaky on my cheeks, nose, chin, and between my eyebrows. I've tried various moisturisers and cleansers in the past aimed for dry skin but nothing seems to have helped. The moisturisers seem to make my skin feel really tight and so I have to keep applying more and more layers to get rid of that feeling, but it never does. And it's a nightmare trying to wear foundation as inevitably I end up with foundation coloured flakiness that make me feel so self-conscious. I've given up wearing foundation now. To make things worse, I have also got horrible red patches on both cheeks that get even worse when I'm hot, stressed or embarrassed. I don't ever wear blusher (although I'd love to) as the colour looks odd against my redness. And I look like I'm furiously blushing anyway. Please tell me what I'm doing wrong. What products should I be using? I'm really looking forward to your reply. I'm only 21 so I'd love it if you could help me sort out my problems so that I look and feel like my age again.

Thanks,

Ruby

Ruby,

Welcome to handbag...what took you so long? Two toddlers, eh? Let's see how long it takes you to find this reply to your question! There is most definitely something out of balance, and sadly; there may be a bit of trial and error involved in completely stopping the problem. It may be that a common ingredient doesn't exactly make you allergic: but that you are intolerant of. Looking at a very pure brand like REN, Barefoot Botanicals, Organic Pharmacy, or Green People may be one idea to start with. Medically developed ranges like Strixaderm, NV Perricone, Dr. Brandt, or Dr Lowe might also be a very good idea. With these products, they need to go through proper medical trials in order to make any claims about the way they work and what they can do for you. For instance, as long as you are thinking about Strixaderm S.O.S., have a look at the moisturiser they do called Aqua Scoop. This is a 24-hour hydrating moisturiser. It will lock moisture in for the entire day to keep the surface from getting dehydrated and peeling without using oils that will make it greasy. Make sense?

As much as you can, always ask for samples to try first. If they really believe their products will sort your problems out; they should be willing to let you try them for a week to see. Explain that you have had this problem for a while and have wasted a great deal of money in the past on products that have done nothing to help. For a foundation, I would want to look at something very moisturising like a tinted moisturiser that gives coverage. This would not replace your moisturiser. You will still use that to hydrate the skin first. Becca Luminising Skin Tint, Clinique Almost Makeup, and the Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturisers are all great places to start. Once you get the dryness and foundation problems sorted, you should be able to start wearing a little bit of cheek colour without looking like a clown. Stay away from adding additional colour to the "apple" of your cheek though. This is the area that goes red first usually so having two layers of colour will look too florid. Only apply blusher to the cheekbone toward your hairline so the colour blends if you DO blush. I hope you find this information helpful. Don't give up -

Let me know if I can do anything else to assist you (other than a free baby-sitting service!),

John

Dear John

I feel totally wrong without blusher as I'm quite pale and often get comments that I look ill. However, when I get hot and sometimes at random points in the day I get very red cheeks and a red nose! If I'm wearing certain pink blushers I can end up looking like a beetroot. So here comes the challenge. I'm starting a new job in August as a junior doctor. This will require a fair amount of running around a rather large and warm hospital so I anticipate these 'red events' are going to get more common. Could you suggest a blusher that would look natural and not exacerbate the problem too much please? I have pale, cool-toned skin with blue eyes and mousey brown hair.

Best wishes

Kim

Kim,

A few questions back, I suggested to another reader that she looks at an unusual choice of blushers - I am going to do the same for you. Until recently, Chantecaille did a really pale blusher called Whisper. Because it barely showed, women walking up to the counter didn't understand who it was for. So unless you were shown how soft and natural it was...it got passed up. So it was discontinued. Annoying as all get out! It took me a real hunt to find a solution, but find it I did. It is an eyeshadow by Bobbi Brown called Baby Pink. You will have to try it on your face properly to see what I mean though and the consultants may look at you rather oddly. The tone is a very soft, slightly warmer pink and it is perfect on your type of skin. Make-up artists never care what an actually product is made for as long as it does the job we need doing. This one does. Shu Uemura also has a couple of very pale blushers, but because they have a little more pigment in them: they are not so foolproof. But while you are in the shops you should go and have a look at a brand new Clinique product called Anti-Redness Solutions Powder. It is a yellow colour correcting powder that you use over your moisturiser and under your make-up. Weird - I know! But let me tell you it works a treat. You may find this is a little insurance policy against reddening during the day. Good luck with the new job...my work here is done!

John

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