Beauty Fix: What you need to take your makeup from day to night + more
Every week our Beauty Fix columnist takes on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more. Have a beauty question we haven’t answered? Email us at [email protected] or ask away in the comments below.
What can I use to keep my oily skin matte and give my skin a bit of coverage?
It’s one thing to seek out a product that addresses shine, it’s another to enlist a product that can keep skin matte and give you some coverage for a fresh face. Keep shine at bay with a pore-smoothing tinted mattifier, like La Roche-Posay Effaclar BB Blur ($30, at drugstores). The formula helps diminish unwanted shine and the appearance of pores with the help of your new favourite ingredient, airlicium, which absorbs three times its weight in oil instantly. The formula also contains perlite, which is an anti-humidity ingredient that keeps skin matte.
What’s a quick way to give my eyes definition?
You have an array of options, from pencils to shadows to cream and gel pots; determining ease of application of all these options isn’t exactly straightforward or simple. Allow us to direct you to a particularly foolproof product: Rodial Eye Sculpt ($34, at Murale). The formula occupies a space somewhere between gel and cream shadow, and the taupe-brown-plum shade can be swooshed across lids with a fluffy eyeshadow brush for a speedy, effortless defined eye. Add more to the lash line and outer corner to elevate the look for evening, resulting in the chicest smokey eye (lazy girls and makeup novices everywhere, rejoice!). Bonus: You can define your brows with this unique cream by running it through brow hairs on an angled brush.
Is there a way to make my mascara less clumpy when I add more to my lashes before heading out for the night?
Topping up your mascara is one of a handful of ways to add to your makeup when transitioning from day to night, but finding yourself with thick, spider-y lashes is never the goal. Try running Urban Decay Mascara Resurrection ($19, sephora.ca) through your lashes with your existing mascara in tact. The lightweight, oil-free serum formula is designed to soften your previously applied mascara coats to prep them for fresh coats, drastically reducing your chances of clumpiness. The lightweight formula contains copper powder and vitamin B5 to condition lashes and bind moisture to them for improved strength.
I have short hair and usually use wax in my hair, but I’m not that into the stiff texture. What should I use instead for a softer hold?
Soft hair doesn’t necessarily mean structured style day in, day out. Switch up your styling products to experiment with different textures and finishes, like Parlor by Jeff Chastain Reworkable Hold Paste ($27, birchbox.ca). This hybrid paste-wax formula contains sweet almond extract for added softness and shine, allowing you to achieve a soft hold without committing to a particular style for the whole day while panthenol strengthens hair with each use. It’s key to start with a small amount of product on dry or damp hair and gradually build up the application if necessary – a little goes a long way and it’s easy to overdo it with pastes/waxes/pomades. Bonus: This stuff smells fantastic!
How can I cleanse my irritated, itchy skin without further agitating it?
Irritated, itchy skin can be brought on by any number of factors, and cleansing with traditional cleansers can definitely exacerbate the skin further. Try opting for a really gentle cleanser that improves the skin’s natural barrier to improve the skin’s ability to protect itself, like Avene XeraCalm A.D Lipid-Replenishing Cleansing Oil ($28, well.ca). This gel-textured cleansing oil contains an omega complex that helps strengthen your skin’s hydrolipic barrier while thermal spring waters reduce discomfort, soften skin reduce skin’s hyper-reactivity. Apply to dry skin and gently massage into skin to cleanse without aggressive ingredients.
. The formula helps diminish unwanted shine and the appearance of pores with the help of your new favourite ingredient, airlicium, which absorbs three times its weight in oil instantly. The formula also contains perlite, which is an anti-humidity ingredient that keeps skin matte.
What's a quick way to give my eyes definition?
You have an array of options, from pencils to shadows to cream and gel pots; determining ease of application of all these options isn’t exactly straightforward or simple. Allow us to direct you to a particularly foolproof product: Rodial Eye Sculpt ($34, at Murale). The formula occupies a space somewhere between gel and cream shadow, and the taupe-brown-plum shade can be swooshed across lids with a fluffy eyeshadow brush for a speedy, effortless defined eye. Add more to the lash line and outer corner to elevate the look for evening, resulting in the chicest smokey eye (lazy girls and makeup novices everywhere, rejoice!). Bonus: You can define your brows with this unique cream by running it through brow hairs on an angled brush.
Is there a way to make my mascara less clumpy when I add more to my lashes before heading out for the night?
Topping up your mascara is one of a handful of ways to add to your makeup when transitioning from day to night, but finding yourself with thick, spider-y lashes is never the goal. Try running Urban Decay Mascara Resurrection ($19, sephora.ca) through your lashes with your existing mascara in tact. The lightweight, oil-free serum formula is designed to soften your previously applied mascara coats to prep them for fresh coats, drastically reducing your chances of clumpiness. The lightweight formula contains copper powder and vitamin B5 to condition lashes and bind moisture to them for improved strength.
I have short hair and usually use wax in my hair, but I'm not that into the stiff texture. What should I use instead for a softer hold?
Soft hair doesn’t necessarily mean structured style day in, day out. Switch up your styling products to experiment with different textures and finishes, like Parlor by Jeff Chastain Reworkable Hold Paste ($27, birchbox.ca). This hybrid paste-wax formula contains sweet almond extract for added softness and shine, allowing you to achieve a soft hold without committing to a particular style for the whole day while panthenol strengthens hair with each use. It’s key to start with a small amount of product on dry or damp hair and gradually build up the application if necessary – a little goes a long way and it’s easy to overdo it with pastes/waxes/pomades. Bonus: This stuff smells fantastic!
How can I cleanse my irritated, itchy skin without further agitating it?
Irritated, itchy skin can be brought on by any number of factors, and cleansing with traditional cleansers can definitely exacerbate the skin further. Try opting for a really gentle cleanser that improves the skin’s natural barrier to improve the skin’s ability to protect itself, like Avene XeraCalm A.D Lipid-Replenishing Cleansing Oil ($28, well.ca). This gel-textured cleansing oil contains an omega complex that helps strengthen your skin’s hydrolipic barrier while thermal spring waters reduce discomfort, soften skin reduce skin’s hyper-reactivity. Apply to dry skin and gently massage into skin to cleanse without aggressive ingredients.){kind=link}