Beauty Fix: Why you should try a violet lipstick in 2013, your best bet for brow-filling and more answers to your beauty questions
Every week we take on your questions about makeup, skincare, hair and more and provide all the answers. This week—our first Beauty Fix of 2013—we’re all about amping up the colour and changing up your look for the new year. We suggest the best new tool for filling in your eyebrows, offer two ways to try this season’s violet lip colour and discuss whether you should switch up your cleanser in the winter months. Have a question we haven’t answered? Email us at [email protected].
I like filling in my brows, but the product I’m using doesn’t seem to give much colour payoff. Why is this?
I’m enthused to hear you’re into brows and that you want to further their definition! They really do frame the eyes and completely alter the face when filled in, so I don’t blame you for wanting a product that helps you define them in the precise way you want. Many brow pencils contain wax in order to stick to brow hairs, and that wax element offers a small but generally helpful element of control over our brows, but sometimes the wax content can compromise colour payoff. Look into a formula that contains more powder pigments, such as M.A.C Veluxe Brow Liner ($23, maccosmetics.ca). It comes in five shades, all of which glide on effortlessly while imparting an ideal amount of pigment to help you attain the brow definition you desire.
I think I’m up for a change after the holiday season. What’s a bold look that will reprieve me of red lipstick?
After weeks of absurdly festive makeup (Chunkier shimmer! All the highlighter! More is more!) there’s definitely something to be said about paring down a bit and giving a different bright colour a chance to be in the spotlight in the new year. Why not ring in 2013 with an on-trend nod to deep-violet tones? If you’re fond of lighter lipstick shades, look no further than Hourglass Aura Sheer Lip Stain in “Scarlet” ($31, sephora.com). Don’t let the shade name of this product fool you! It’s a sublime plum stain that will also tackle any dry lip issues, thanks to the addition of vitamin E and safflower seed oil in the formula. To step this look up a notch for evening, layer Tom Ford Lipstick in “Violet Fatale” ($55, at Holt Renfrew) over top for increased impact.
Based on my skin tone and frequently dry lips, “nude” lip colours are difficult to wear, as they tend to flake and can be a bit too light on my deeply-pigmented lips. Any thoughts on how I can wear this shade of lip colour?
I hear you on the pigmented lip front, as I’ve always had deeper pigmentation on the edge of my lower lip, making neutral or sheer lip colours difficult to wear unless they’re exactly the same as or deeper than my own. Surely everyone can sympathize with your dry lip dilemma, as it’s January and winter is ultimately just arriving—nothing destroys moisture in lips faster than winter air and insufficiently hydrating lip products! Your best bet is a tinted lip balm, but I’m talking about something slightly more sophisticated than the glosses of your childhood. Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in “Fig Jam” ($10, well.ca) is a bit intimidating in bullet form, but when dabbed on freshly exfoliated lips, you’ll understand why the product is called “lip butter”. It’s an insanely comfortable formula that hydrates due to mango, shea and coconut butters and this particular shade enhances pigmented lips without any chance of washing them out.
I find that my hair frizzes when I go from the subway to the sidewalk and then into work. Can I do anything to combat this?
As we all know, hair frizzes when humidity increases. It seems like a standard and understandable occurrence in the peak of the summer months, but when we’re bundled up and freezing on a subway platform, we’re bound to wonder how our once-smooth hair suddenly is anything but. Without going into a full-blown science lesson, when the humidity of the winter air mixes with the that heat our bodies produce (in say, confined spaces like a subway car) the result is not exactly a stable environment for frizz-free hair. Do yourself a favour and spray your hair down with Nexxus Frizz Defy Hair Spray ($13, well.ca), which contains Argan oil and and has a water-free formula in order to prevent your style from changing as the environmental elements around you do.
How often should I be washing my face? Is there a good winter face wash I should be using?
How often we wash our faces depends on several things, skin type being a primary concern with climate being a significant secondary factor. Generally speaking, it’s essential to wash our faces at least nightly, in order to remove the debris, makeup and environmental pollution collected throughout the day on our skin. We can get away with splashing our skin in the morning, as there is little to no purpose in washing our faces at that point of the day, save for a morning workout (in which case, feel free to lather up afterwards!). A good cleanser that can help prevent skin from looking dull in the winter is L’Oréal Paris Youth Code Foaming Gel Cleanser ($13, well.ca), which contains a low dose of salicylic acid to encourage gentle exfoliation with each use.
. It comes in five shades, all of which glide on effortlessly while imparting an ideal amount of pigment to help you attain the brow definition you desire.
I think I’m up for a change after the holiday season. What’s a bold look that will reprieve me of red lipstick?
After weeks of absurdly festive makeup (Chunkier shimmer! All the highlighter! More is more!) there’s definitely something to be said about paring down a bit and giving a different bright colour a chance to be in the spotlight in the new year. Why not ring in 2013 with an on-trend nod to deep-violet tones? If you’re fond of lighter lipstick shades, look no further than Hourglass Aura Sheer Lip Stain in “Scarlet” ($31, sephora.com). Don’t let the shade name of this product fool you! It’s a sublime plum stain that will also tackle any dry lip issues, thanks to the addition of vitamin E and safflower seed oil in the formula. To step this look up a notch for evening, layer Tom Ford Lipstick in “Violet Fatale” ($55, at Holt Renfrew) over top for increased impact.
Based on my skin tone and frequently dry lips, “nude” lip colours are difficult to wear, as they tend to flake and can be a bit too light on my deeply-pigmented lips. Any thoughts on how I can wear this shade of lip colour?
I hear you on the pigmented lip front, as I’ve always had deeper pigmentation on the edge of my lower lip, making neutral or sheer lip colours difficult to wear unless they’re exactly the same as or deeper than my own. Surely everyone can sympathize with your dry lip dilemma, as it’s January and winter is ultimately just arriving—nothing destroys moisture in lips faster than winter air and insufficiently hydrating lip products! Your best bet is a tinted lip balm, but I’m talking about something slightly more sophisticated than the glosses of your childhood. Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in “Fig Jam” ($10, well.ca) is a bit intimidating in bullet form, but when dabbed on freshly exfoliated lips, you’ll understand why the product is called “lip butter”. It’s an insanely comfortable formula that hydrates due to mango, shea and coconut butters and this particular shade enhances pigmented lips without any chance of washing them out.
I find that my hair frizzes when I go from the subway to the sidewalk and then into work. Can I do anything to combat this?
As we all know, hair frizzes when humidity increases. It seems like a standard and understandable occurrence in the peak of the summer months, but when we’re bundled up and freezing on a subway platform, we’re bound to wonder how our once-smooth hair suddenly is anything but. Without going into a full-blown science lesson, when the humidity of the winter air mixes with the that heat our bodies produce (in say, confined spaces like a subway car) the result is not exactly a stable environment for frizz-free hair. Do yourself a favour and spray your hair down with Nexxus Frizz Defy Hair Spray ($13, well.ca), which contains Argan oil and and has a water-free formula in order to prevent your style from changing as the environmental elements around you do.
How often should I be washing my face? Is there a good winter face wash I should be using?
How often we wash our faces depends on several things, skin type being a primary concern with climate being a significant secondary factor. Generally speaking, it’s essential to wash our faces at least nightly, in order to remove the debris, makeup and environmental pollution collected throughout the day on our skin. We can get away with splashing our skin in the morning, as there is little to no purpose in washing our faces at that point of the day, save for a morning workout (in which case, feel free to lather up afterwards!). A good cleanser that can help prevent skin from looking dull in the winter is L'Oréal Paris Youth Code Foaming Gel Cleanser ($13, well.ca), which contains a low dose of salicylic acid to encourage gentle exfoliation with each use.
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