Charles fox shop

[countryrose]

Just gave them a call because I need some assistance in choosing the right products, I have four main concerns that i would like to cover up with what the spring/summer coming up. This woman who answered seemed as if she couldn't wait to get me of the phone, eventhough i did ask if she had a few minutes to spare, which she replied yes, it was one of those conversations where she just gave me one answer to my question and didn't want to elaborate on anything. I need to order online because i can't really get up there for a consultation. She was so curt with me, that i may buy elsewhere. I am interested in the dermacolor range.

Yes, Charles fox are pretty awful over the phone, their target customers are make up artists so they expect people to know the products already. What do you need to know about dermacolor, I might be able to help?

Thanks lthewife I need to cover a little black tattoo, bit of pigmentation and a few little stretch marks (white).

Yes she said if i wanted to learn how to put the stuff on, then they do a workshop.

Ok, first up I'd suggest buying one of the mini palettes. Getting a correct colour match is very important and you will almost certainly need to mix a few shades together to get a good match. The mini palettes give you enough shades to try out and are much cheaper than making the mistake of buying full sizes of the wrong shades.

For tattoo cover you'll want some orange dermacolor, apply a thin layer over the black of the tattoo with a fine brush and set with powder. Then apply thin layers of the skin coloured make up over the top making sure you set each layer with powder.

As far as pigmentation is concerned, how you approach it depends on the severity and the colour of the pigmentation. If it's fairly minor you might find the skin tones will cover it ok by itself. If the pigmentation is particularly dark you need to start off with a layer of the colour directly opposite on the colour wheel. So if its pigmentation with a strong red colour you'll want to apply green first, if it's more blue or purple toned you'll want orange.

For stretch marks you might be better off with their body camouflage if you're trying to cover a larger area as its quicker to apply.

No matter what you're trying to cover you'll probably run in to the problem of the covered area looking very flat and the make up looking caked on and fake. Mixing colours to make the perfect shade and blending the edges away to nothing helps, but not always enough. Natural skin has tiny variations in colour and imperfections so the eyes pick up a flat area of colour as being wrong. A good trick is to get a dark brown shade and a very fine brush and paint on some freckles and/or moles to trick the eye. An odd number of imperfections always looks more natural than an even number!

lthewife thank you so much, that has been very very helpful. I do have a large area of dark pigmentation, the thing is if i use it all over my leg, it might look abit like a mannequin leg. You certainly know you stuff

You're more than welcome. The mannequin look is difficult to avoid when covering large areas unfortunately. Adding moles and freckles in does help, other tricks are to paint in some thread veins etc (there's a great rose colour in the mini palettes which works well for this). Achieving natural looking full coverage is very difficult and very time consuming, even for a pro. If however you can live with toned down rather than full coverage a layer of the body camouflage by itself might be enough and is much quicker and easier to apply.

Meant to add, either way it's a good idea to start with a mini palette so you can choose your shades. this page shows the different shades in each of the palettes. As a reference point the medium palette is generally a good starting point for all but the palest of Caucasian skin tones (and is given to most make up students as part of their starter kit as its so versatile).

Thank you lthewife looks like i will be learning a few make up tricks, I hate being vain, will definately get the mini pallette and the body camouflage as it will be a largeish area.

They were just as unhelpful to me in person in the shop. I was looking for advice on stage make up. I found another company called showmakeup.com who were really helpful on the phone.

Forgot to mention, it might be worth speaking to your GP also. They are often able to refer you to a camouflage makeup service who will colour match you and can teach you how to apply the products (I believe they use dermablend which is available on prescription).

doesn't look like they want customers by the look of it. Thank you for that website picture I will check it out.

Thanks wife i might go to the Dr, although mine is pretty useless.