A Makeup & Beauty Blog – Lipglossiping

I know that some of you will be reading this with your neatly arched brows raised in curiosity at just what on Earth could be considered “terrifying” about eyebrow hair.  The rest of you (more normal types) will be reading this, twirling your brow hairs around your index finger.

Left to their own devices, mine grow like wildfire – and I’m not talking Cara Delevingne grandiose brows here; more… Dennis Healy.  Given an extra coat of brow set, you could zip wire from here to Lands End on one of mine.

This ultimately means that I take the business of beating them into submission seriously.  I’ve stopped shaping them myself because, like a two-year old with a biro, I simply cannot be trusted with a pair of tweezers and a magnifying mirror.  Instead, I get them threaded every 5/6 weeks and this is enough to keep the arch well-defined.  Preventing them from thereafter developing into McDonald’s ‘golden arches’?  Well that bit’s up to me.

These are the brow tools that I simply couldn’t live without.

01: Mascara Spoolie.  You can either buy these as purpose-built cosmetic tools or (more thriftily) clean an old mascara wand and use that instead.  Either way, a spoolie is an absolute necessity in the fight against unruly brows.  Comb through the stragglers before snipping and brush them into place before filling.

02: Brow Set/Gel.  You can buy brow set products but I use a clear mascara.  The Maybelline Great Lash in clear is perfect for the job because it holds the hairs in place without making them feel crusty and it doesn’t leave behind a telltale ‘wet look’.

03: Brow Powder.  Much easier than pencils in my opinion.  My holy grail is the Illamasqua Brow Powder but the most important thing is to find a good shade match in whatever you use and unless your brows are naturally auburn, beware of warm-toned browns.  Many women use eyeshadow… any powder is fine.

04: Sharp pair of eyebrow scissors.  These are nothing special, I bought them years ago off eBay but they’re brilliant.  Super sharp with a precise point that trims the hair without pushing them ineffectually along the blade.  Always brush the hair upward toward the hairline and trim any that stray outside of the bulk of the brow area.  Go easy, you can always trim more but you can’t stick them back on!

05: Tweezers.  I favour the brand Tweezerman for my tweezers, particularly the wide-grip style.  There’s nothing more frustrating than a pair of tweezers that fail to pluck.  Particularly when you’ve psyched yourself up to grab an eye-watering one only to find that the points have clutched at nothing more substantial than air.  Don’t be afraid to attack anything that looks like it may contribute to a mono-brow or those random ones that appear to be sprouting far closer to your eyelid than your brow-line.

06: Angled Brow Brush.  A fairly stiff brush is best for running the powder through the brow area.  Always start filling-in from the middle of the brow to avoid depositing too much product on the inner third.  Unles you’re going for the scouse brow/Katie Price look – in which case, just dispense of the brush and grab the nearest Sharpie pen.  Also, get off my blog.

What steps do you take to keep from tripping over your eyebrows?  Do you thread and then leave them be or are you a serial tweezerer?

I know what you’re thinking… “Charlotte, don’t be stupid – you don’t just “accidentally” dye your hair”.  But allow me to explain, because it’s not as black and white (and red) as it may initially seem.

You remember that time when you accidentally ate someone else’s Krispy Kreme because you weren’t paying attention?  Or that time you innocently forgot to take your pill and had a baby as a result?  There are all kinds of accidents, it’s just that some of them aren’t completley blame-less.

I didn’t mean to wake up this morning with bright red hair that leans menacingly toward the cerise, but I’ll admit that it didn’t just ‘happen’ either.  It went something like this…

I bought a bottle of Crazy Color semi-permanent hair color cream online from Amazon… after umm-ing and ahh-ing over the shades, I went for #56 Fire mainly because the reviews of some of the other reds in the range were pretty poor.  I bought the Renbow Crazy Color because I was looking for something to refresh my recently dyed hair without causing further damage.  The Renbow Crazy Color range works by staining the hair shaft without opening the cuticle and penetrating into the hair, it’s a vegetable dye that doesn’t inflict damage in the same way as conventional dyes.

In order to refresh my locks and give them a little boost of colour, I intended to mix a little dye into my conditioner and let it sit for a couple of minutes before rinsing out.  Easy peasy!  Except, it didn’t quite work out like that.

Once I’d blow dried my hair, I could see that the dye had really taken to my lighter roots, creating an uneven halo effect.  Not only that but thanks to my cackhanded application, only the very top layer had grabbed the colour.  I tried to live with it for a couple of hours… but I couldn’t kid myself, I looked ridiculous.

So I went for it.

Ignoring the instructions, I applied 3/4 of the bottle to my dry hair and concentrated on ensuring that I was evenly distributing the product throughout.  I can’t lie to you, it was messy.  At one point, Paul commented that it looked like he’d been trying to murder me.  I knew from reading reviews that vegetable dyes are notorious for staining skin and bathrooms but I don’t mind admitting that I got to the point where I didn’t care!

Once I was satisfied that every strand had been covered (and combed through for extra insurance), I set to work on the cleanup.  I’d been wearing disposable gloves… an absolute must, trust me.  The rest of the cleanup was surprisingly easy – the sink was treated to a hefty dose of Cillit Bang and any ‘staining’ wiped off without any bother.  As for my skin?  I used a damp flannel and rubbed until  my skin bled I decided that I’d rather live with the staining than keep going.  I left the dye on for around 30 minutes before rinsing.

And rinsing.  And rinsing.  I was stood under the shower for another 30 minutes in an attempt to get the water to run clear.  Eventually I got bored (and a bit cold) and gave up.  At this point, don’t reach for one of your nice towels – you’ll ruin it.  I’m gonna burn mine to hide the evidence.

Enough talking… it’s just hair dye.  Here’s how it turned out….

BRIGHT!

I’m anticipating that it’s gonna fade quickly (6-8 washes maybe?) so I’ve bought another bottle online and I still have about 1/4 of the first bottle left to go back to my original plan of refreshing the colour by mixing a little in with my conditioner when I wash my hair.  I’ll be honest, I’m a bit unsure of my new ‘do’ – it makes my eyes look really green but I think it clashes with my skintone!

Anyway, that’s the story of how one might become an accidental redhead.  Call it a cautionary tale if you like.

Do you use vegetable dyes?  Got any favourites?!

* oh, by the way, I need to tell you that you all disgusted me, disgusted me with your grubby ways on yesterday’s post – you brilliant, brilliant lot.

This is your Tuesday morning confessional.  Confession All.

You’d be forgiven thinking that people with our level of beauty obsession might get it right, but we don’t.  Just because we know the rules, doesn’t mean that we don’t break them.  I’m feeling a little heavy-hearted this morning, let me lay bare my (grungy) beauty soul in the hopes of lifting a little weight off my shoulders.

1.  I store my brushes in pots, upside down.  These infact.  They’re perfect and lovely and hold all my brushes beautifully – so what’s the problem?  Dust.  You know, all that dead skin and tiny insect turds that float down onto my brush heads before I buff them into my pores every morning?  That.

2.  Flannel-washing.  Do I use a clean flannel every morning?  Errr… sometimes… not really, um no… maybe 3x a week (on a good week).

3.  Best Before… Unless the skincare actives are very, very active (vitamin C and the like), I can’t promise you that I don’t use skincare after its recommended expiry.  I always mean to write the date I opened it somewhere on the packaging to ensure I don’t go beyond… but you know, I have a fucking life.

4.  Skin-picking.  I am the queen crater-creator.  Find me the tiniest blemish and I’ll make a mountain out of a pimple in no time at all.

5.  Concealer?  Oh, I can’t quite reach you over there – never mind, let me add another 7 coats of foundation on this spot instead, I’m *sure* that will fix it.

In my (weak) defence, I do wash my makeup off every night before sleeping.  Without fail.  What used to be a chore turned into a habit and now I’m actually quite compulsive about it.  Not that it really matters though, seeing as I’m using a “dirty” flannel (oh the shame!)

Make me feel better!  Please share your beauty confessionals this morning!

Essie Armed & Ready is from the Spring Go Overboard collection and one that I picked up owing to it’s beautiful golden shimmer as perfectly demonstrated by The PolishAholic in her great swatches.  Can I get the golden shimmer to show up?  Can I bollocks.  I’m putting it down to the fact that she lives in Orange County, CA and I’m currently staying in Shitsville, NBA (Newcastle Brown Ale).

Despite the lack of golden glitz, Essie’s Armed & Ready is still a very nice army green, a dirgy khaki if you will.  It also applies in a single coat if you get the brush fill right, you definitely don’t need more than two coats before whacking on your quick-dry topper.

I wish I could give you some beautiful shimmer shots, but in lieu of those…. have a look at just what I have to put up with while I’m trying to blog – it’s a wonder I actually get any bloody posts written…

I’m heading home today (after my fortnight at the in-laws), have had a lovely time but it’ll be nice to get back into my normal routine!  Hope all my lovely UK/Commonwealth peeps enjoy the Jubilee Weekend! x