Beauty Fix: The reason you should use oils on your face, how to perfect a ponytail and other celebrity-inspired hair and makeup tips!
While awards season has wound down, film festivals and TV upfronts are underway—meaning once again we’re inundated with amazing red carpet looks from our favourite stars. So, ’tis the season to try a new trick with your makeup or figure out how to achieve a look that’s trending in celebrity circles—and we’ll help you along the way! This week we’re talking about Diane Kruger‘s dewy complexion, Lauren Conrad‘s perfect ponytails and other polished summer looks you’ll surely be inspired to try.
Read on for all the answers! »
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Do I need a makeup artist to get the glowing skin I keep seeing on celebs at Cannes?
Actually, no. You can totally get rich-looking skin without having a makeup artist. My friends seeking skin care advice often gasp when I admit that my skin care secret is using—and not avoiding—oil. For years we believed that oil equals acne, and oil-free equals clarity, but that’s simply not true. Even though oil isn’t the fundamental difference between your skin and say, Diane Kruger‘s, the benefits of applying a facial oil seem endless: they moisturize deeply below the dermis, protect from environmental damage from within and clarify cells to even out your skin tone. Above all else, they deliver that super-dewy glow that celebrities have—and we want. Different oils serve different purposes. Bobbi Brown Extra Face Oil ($62, sephora.com), for instance, is comprised of jojoba, almond, olive and sesame oil to soothe dryness and will give your complexion a boost of radiance, while Jason Purifiying Tea Tree 100% Organic Oil ($15, jason-natural.com), is a singular, topical oil with antiseptic qualities to defend against blackheads and breakouts. Use one in the morning or evening in replacement of your moisturizer and within a month you should notice a serious difference in your complexion.
How can I make my cheekbones look higher, like those of Kate Moss?
Since it’s the summer and powder can suffer the wrath of sweat beads, I’m going to recommend picking out one cream blush in a shade besides pink, in replacement of the ol’ bronzer and highlighter trick. Together the two do effectively make your cheeks seem more shapely, but I deem this technique simply too cumbersome for summer makeup. Backstage at the spring presentation for Line Knitwear I watched M.A.C Cosmetics senior artist Jane McKay use a burgundy-ish cream blush to carve out models’ cheekbones with minimal effort. By blending colour just below the apples (about two finger widths from your nose) to where your back molars would be, you can blend the shade into your skin until it disappears—almost like a shadow. The dark colour is key: because it’s not pink or peach, the effect is believable. And, because you’re using a blush with a creamy texture, you avoid the risk of streaky cheeks. Try M.A.C Casual Colour Lip & Cheek Colour in “Keep it Casual” or “Evening Stroll” ($24, maccosmetics.com, available June 7)—they’re both cool-tone violets that can serve double duty on your lips as well. I can’t promise Kate Moss–like bone structure, but this’ll get you pretty close!
I love my glasses, but I feel like they get all the attention! How can I make my eyes stand out?
Know who looks super hot behind glasses? Sarah Palin. Just joking, but Leighton Meester and Chloe Sevigny certainly do. While they were once a symbol of geekery, glasses are now as common and cool an accessory as your favourite wrap bracelet. There’s no one way to wear makeup behind glasses, but you can afford to play a little more with colour since it will be tamed slightly by your rims. Try taking advantage of this summer’s cool blue trend, like we saw at Chanel‘s mermaidian spring show, with a shadow like Maybelline Colour Tattoo in “Tenacious Teal” ($8, at drugstores). Use the colour on its own, applied most heavily in the outer corner of your eye, and take caution to keep the application clean and structured. Paired with a light, glossy lipstick, your eyes will command all the best kinds of attention!
How can I get the thin piece of hair to stay wrapped around my ponytail all day? Mine is doing the opposite of looking Lauren Conrad–perfect.
My hair isn’t yet long enough to have tried this trick personally, but I’ve done sufficient research to know how to master it in the meantime! When you’re creating a ponytail, braid or bun, your hair requires a layer of texture for it to stay in place. When I spoke with stylist Mark Townsend about how he tied up Jennifer Lawrence‘s hair up for The Hunger Games red carpets, he said you should either curl hair with hot rollers or prep strands with a flexible spray like Bumble and Bumble Does It All styling spray ($14, sephora.ca), before securing it with an elastic. (Speaking of elastics, the tiny, clear ones from Goody ($5, at drugstores) are ideal for dodging the problem of colourful bands peeking through the wrap.) Take a half-inch section of hair and circle it around your ponytail until the ends are positioned on the underside. Take a bobby pin and separate it slightly, like a wishbone, to straddle your strand of hair. Push, from the bottom up, to secure the loose ends into the centre of your ponytail, between elastic and your scalp. Spray a little hairspray onto the tips of your fingers and smooth them along the wrap you just created to tame fly-aways, and you’re done!
I don’t want to go all Snooki-styles with the spray tan, but do want my skin to look like it’s seen the sun this season! How can I use bronzer to look authentically tanned?
Start with a super sheer foundation or tinted moisturizer instead of wearing your regular foundation—it’ll help you avoid a heavy-makeup look, a dead-giveaway that your gild is faux. If you don’t tan naturally, then you need to avoid both an orange-y tone bronzer and loose-powder, as they tend to look completely fake if applied imperfectly. A solid, matte bronzer, like Joe Fresh Bronzer in “Sand” ($8, at Joe Fresh), is a better bet and especially great if you’re on a budget. When you use a solid instead of a loose powder, you have greater control in placing pigment exactly where the sun would hit your skin naturally. Use a stippling brush to apply the bronzer lightly across the bridge of your nose and cheekbones, on your brow bone and a little on your chin. If you want your tan to look totally real, stop there and forgo other makeup—just as though you were at the beach.
, for instance, is comprised of jojoba, almond, olive and sesame oil to soothe dryness and will give your complexion a boost of radiance, while Jason Purifiying Tea Tree 100% Organic Oil ($15, jason-natural.com), is a singular, topical oil with antiseptic qualities to defend against blackheads and breakouts. Use one in the morning or evening in replacement of your moisturizer and within a month you should notice a serious difference in your complexion.
How can I make my cheekbones look higher, like those of Kate Moss?
Since it's the summer and powder can suffer the wrath of sweat beads, I'm going to recommend picking out one cream blush in a shade besides pink, in replacement of the ol' bronzer and highlighter trick. Together the two do effectively make your cheeks seem more shapely, but I deem this technique simply too cumbersome for summer makeup. Backstage at the spring presentation for Line Knitwear I watched M.A.C Cosmetics senior artist Jane McKay use a burgundy-ish cream blush to carve out models' cheekbones with minimal effort. By blending colour just below the apples (about two finger widths from your nose) to where your back molars would be, you can blend the shade into your skin until it disappears—almost like a shadow. The dark colour is key: because it's not pink or peach, the effect is believable. And, because you're using a blush with a creamy texture, you avoid the risk of streaky cheeks. Try M.A.C Casual Colour Lip & Cheek Colour in “Keep it Casual” or “Evening Stroll” ($24, maccosmetics.com, available June 7)—they're both cool-tone violets that can serve double duty on your lips as well. I can't promise Kate Moss–like bone structure, but this'll get you pretty close!
I love my glasses, but I feel like they get all the attention! How can I make my eyes stand out?
Know who looks super hot behind glasses? Sarah Palin. Just joking, but Leighton Meester and Chloe Sevigny certainly do. While they were once a symbol of geekery, glasses are now as common and cool an accessory as your favourite wrap bracelet. There's no one way to wear makeup behind glasses, but you can afford to play a little more with colour since it will be tamed slightly by your rims. Try taking advantage of this summer's cool blue trend, like we saw at Chanel's mermaidian spring show, with a shadow like Maybelline Colour Tattoo in “Tenacious Teal” ($8, at drugstores). Use the colour on its own, applied most heavily in the outer corner of your eye, and take caution to keep the application clean and structured. Paired with a light, glossy lipstick, your eyes will command all the best kinds of attention!
How can I get the thin piece of hair to stay wrapped around my ponytail all day? Mine is doing the opposite of looking Lauren Conrad–perfect.
My hair isn't yet long enough to have tried this trick personally, but I've done sufficient research to know how to master it in the meantime! When you're creating a ponytail, braid or bun, your hair requires a layer of texture for it to stay in place. When I spoke with stylist Mark Townsend about how he tied up Jennifer Lawrence's hair up for The Hunger Games red carpets, he said you should either curl hair with hot rollers or prep strands with a flexible spray like Bumble and Bumble Does It All styling spray ($14, sephora.ca), before securing it with an elastic. (Speaking of elastics, the tiny, clear ones from Goody ($5, at drugstores) are ideal for dodging the problem of colourful bands peeking through the wrap.) Take a half-inch section of hair and circle it around your ponytail until the ends are positioned on the underside. Take a bobby pin and separate it slightly, like a wishbone, to straddle your strand of hair. Push, from the bottom up, to secure the loose ends into the centre of your ponytail, between elastic and your scalp. Spray a little hairspray onto the tips of your fingers and smooth them along the wrap you just created to tame fly-aways, and you're done!
I don't want to go all Snooki-styles with the spray tan, but do want my skin to look like it's seen the sun this season! How can I use bronzer to look authentically tanned?
Start with a super sheer foundation or tinted moisturizer instead of wearing your regular foundation—it'll help you avoid a heavy-makeup look, a dead-giveaway that your gild is faux. If you don't tan naturally, then you need to avoid both an orange-y tone bronzer and loose-powder, as they tend to look completely fake if applied imperfectly. A solid, matte bronzer, like Joe Fresh Bronzer in “Sand” ($8, at Joe Fresh), is a better bet and especially great if you're on a budget. When you use a solid instead of a loose powder, you have greater control in placing pigment exactly where the sun would hit your skin naturally. Use a stippling brush to apply the bronzer lightly across the bridge of your nose and cheekbones, on your brow bone and a little on your chin. If you want your tan to look totally real, stop there and forgo other makeup—just as though you were at the beach.
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