Beauty Q & A with John Gustafson

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

Hi John

I love your tips and would appreciate your advice regarding lipstick shades. I like a creamy lipstick rather than gloss, and I like to wear a matching lip liner.  I have medium toned skin and brown eyes, medium warm blonde hair and the lip colours that suit me best are medium, warm shades but as my lips are thin I think they look better with neutral, lighter shades which sadly can wash me out.  Help please! I wear Laura Mercier's mocha spice quad blush but the lip shades she recommends are dark dark dark!

Thanks,

Nadine

 

Nadine,

The ticket for wearing this sort of shade when you have a medium warmer skin is to make sure the colour you choose has a blue tone hidden underneath. The problem is knowing which ones they are! But you CAN wear any shades that are a cross between warm and cool. For instance, there is a pink without any blue from Chantecaille called Tea Rose. Gorgeous for this coming season and great with your skin and hair colouring. But it is not a warm colour like you believe you are looking for. Becca has just brought out a slightly blue/rose soft beige called Yasmina. That should work really well. As should Guerlain Kiss Kiss Lacque Baby Beige - though I must admit this one is in a gloss format even though it is a lipstick. The effect is that of a gloss over a creamy lipstick, but the applicator is a gloss applicator. Next, look at Dior Chestnut Chic and Guerlain Chocolate Shine. Both are similar and are a mix of warm and cool colour with a bit of added sparkle. Finally, Toffee Shine from Guerlain might also work well as a daily neutral. With all of these Nadine, you will have to try them on. Don't judge them on a hand or by simply picking up the tube. These are all colours I use a great deal and they end up being many clients' favourite lipsticks.

Thanks for your question and I hope you enjoy the results!

John

 

Hi John

I am 34 and have never really bothered with a cleansing and moisturising routine for my skin.  My skin is combination/oily skin.  Whenever I have tried a cleanser or moisturiser in the past they don't tend to work very well with my skin.  They make my eyes puffy (sensitive!) and the cream/lotion tends to sit on top of my skin (doesn't seem to dissolve into my skin), and I then start to develop spots under the skin.

I am starting to notice lines around my eyes and would like to start some sort of routine to slow the wrinkles down!  I have thought of going to a dermatologist.  Would they be able to recommend a suitable product or routine?  Would you recommend this?  I also have to point out that I do not have a lot of money to play with. My question is kind of vague but any advice you can give me would be appreciated.

Many thanks,

Debbie

 

Debbie,

It IS a bit vague but I can sympathise with the problem. But beware of false economy. Sometimes buying the better product ends up being the cheaper option. Getting something that you will actually use instead of throwing away is a better expenditure. My moisturiser reply will be one you will have seen a few other times in recent Q&A's. They are the new products by Bakel. They are the purest and most simple products I have encountered. If the ingredient doesn't need to be there: it won't be there. This means a moisturiser may only have 2-3 ingredients. Period. And they go everywhere including the eye area. So one product does all of your moisturising for both day and night, as well as eyes. I am going to leave you to look at their website since I have written about these quite a bit - www.bakeltechnology.com. The issue with the ones that I would look at for you (Jaluronic or Lactobionic) might be the price as they are £95 and £115 respectively. To cleanse, I would look at a single product that would do all of your cleanse, tone, moisturise in a single step as well. Eve Lom (balm), This Works Clean Skin (lotion), or Steven Victor (foam) would be a few. Each will work well and the options will allow you to choose the format you like the best. Two slightly more expensive products that will solve your concerns better than a set of five less expensive ones WILL BE a better value in the long-run. Promise.

Good luck mate,

John

 

Dear John,

Thank you very much for your work.  You have answered my questions before and your answers were extremely helpful. I hope you can help this time around since I am desperate! My question is about heated eyelash curlers.  You have mentioned them on your website several times so could you recommend any brands in particular and the places I can buy them from?  The story is that I am obsessed with curling my lashes since they are very straight and I have been using Shu Uemura curlers forever. Unfortunately they do absolutely nothing when I use them on my lashes without mascara, and when I use them on the top of mascara I noticed that it damages my eyelashes and they start falling out (you are probably not surprised to hear this). So I purchased the Pout heated eyelash curlers but the problem with them is that they melt most of the mascaras  even when I wait several hours before using them and I end up without mascara. So I am hoping here to get your valuable expert advice on a) best brands for heated eyelash curlers and b) mascaras which would not melt under the heat. Thank you once again for your hard work.

Tanya

 

Tanya,

Hello again! This is really an easy one. I'll bet you are doing what most women do with a heated lash wand - running the brush through almost like a mascara wand. Don't! You should not have to wait at all to use a heated lash curler. I turn it on when I start the mascara application. Then, once the curler is ready (20-30 seconds), press the element to the base of your lashes pushing them back toward the eyelid. Hold that for the count of about 5-10. Then move to reach the rest of the base lashes on that same eye. Once you have done the base, push back the tips for the same sort of count. Do not run the brush through the lashes. Bend them, hold it, and release. The way a heated curler works is that it melts the wax of the mascara to hold the curl. If you run the wand through them you will just glue them all together and you will never be able to comb them through. I love heated lash curlers and hate the clamping torture devices! And I find all heated lash curlers very much of a muchness. In my make-up case I have the Models & Co, Lash Power, and Eyecurl. Whichever one I grab first wins! LOL. And the mascaras I am using most right now are the Chanel Exceptional (huge thickness) and Guerlain le Deux (double brush, lengthening and volumising) - both of which work really well with any of my heated curlers. I use them quite often in the handbag TV clips, so you may want to have a quick look and see them in action!

Look forward to hearing from you again,

John

 

 

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