41 years old and never worn make up but I think I need to start. Help please.

[mckenzie]

I have honestly only ever worn lipstick or lip gloss other than on my wedding day and once when I was made up at the Clinique counter in Debenhams back in the early 90s.

I have recently had my hair cut short though and I looked in the mirror on saturday night and decided the time had come to admit defeat. I've been told that i have really good skin but nothing can take away from the fact that I'm 41 and have two young children who govern my sleep allocation etc etc.

I'm going to John Lewis tomorrow so I thought maybe I would ask advice at one of the beauty counters but which one?
Any ideas/tips please? I think I need something for my eyes and maybe some help with covering up the wrinkles.

TIA

KTeePee - if you can find that article I'd love to see it. Thanks

Why dont you have a go at using some tinted moisturiser (nivea is a good one) and some blusher balls as this will give you a natural glow and wont look too heavy, will be a good start rather than foundation especially if you have not been used to it. Also a coat of mascara would make your eyes stand out (max factor do a some nice ones)

You have had your lashes tinted, it often depends on the colour of your lashes and brows and maybe you should have had black, brown does not always stand out, it depends on the rest of your features. If its mascara the same applies although you build up the texture with mascara so you can get away with brown if you have fair hair and pale skin and light lashes and you can apply afew coats to make it more dramatic. I usually just buy black though and I am fair.

Dont get fooled it to buying all the products in the shop though, let them tell you what they used and get it cheaper from different makes and maybe not so much either. The counter staff usually have to wear the full works and I have had friends working on counters who have not had all the products from their stand on their face but have had to pretend they have just to sell the products!

please follow my advice... that might sound a bit needy but the id minerals products are perfect for a first timer. i know whereof i speak, i used to be a beauty editor. there. i did it. i pulled rank.

and i'd agree with your tinting person, brown or brown/black is the way to go if you're not wearing much makeup. and invest in a pair of eyelash curlers and use them wisely. shu uemura do the best ones but any port in a storm.

also get your eyebrows professionally sorted out. and dyed if necessary. i do this myself in the house, same with eyelashes, but there is some benefit in having a pro do it the first time.

id minerals foundation and blusher goes on with a brush so is easy-peasy, eyebrows and eyelashes can then be sorted with a slick of clear mascara if you're frightened of the hard stuff, some light lippie (chantecaille, maybe, in a taffy or rose pink shade) and you'll be well away.

or like j said below, a tinted moisturiser might be a good starting place too.

thansk for being brave enough to pull rank AitchTwoOhOhSeven.
By coincidence I made an appointment just this afternoon (for friday) to get my eyebrows sorted out (whatever that means).

What is chantecaille please? A make of lipstick or a colour?

Will I get ID Minerals in John Lewis do you know? I could always drag DD into London tomorrow and hit Selfridges perhaps if it means I'll get it all in one place.

Oh heck, my credit card hasn't recovered yet from christmas!

you get it in beauty places, so you might even see it in your eyebrow place tomorrow. they don't sell through counters (and no wonder, those things cost zillions in rent).

i'm embarrassed to say this (no, goddammit, i'm NOT), but QVC is a great place to buy make up these days as the buyer power and lack of trading space means that the offers are fantastic. if you go onto the website at www.qvcuk.com you can see clips of the products in use. and i note that they are selling it tomorrow, which means that if you happen to catch it you'll see the demonstration.

chantecaille is a brand of make-up, you can get it at space:nk. but that's not essential, it's just that they do subtle colours that you can dab on with your fingers. i thing id bare minerals do lippies as well but i've never bought them. (my preference is for bright red, so i've got my brand and i stick to it.)

go nuts with the lippies, though, they're cheap and fun and can be wiped off if you decide the colour makes you queasy. bobbi brown is also good for subtle tones but i find them a bit 'salesy' on the counters.

have a look at the minerals stuff on the qvc website, though, it's got an spf of 15 and is recommended by the skin cancer foundation. and as long as you remember to swirl your brush then it just can't go on too thick, which i personally think is essential if you're not au fait with blending foundations.

I can't find it on the QVC website

i can't link to it, i tried before but the address is enormous. if you go onto the home page, it's on the list on the left hand side under (and i hesitate to say this because it's such an appalling name) Bare Esentuals. it's an american brand, they care not a jot for the english language...

sorry, it was me getting confused. i thought I was looking for the shu uemura eyelash curler on the QVC website.

I've found the ID Bare now. thanks

i think shu uemura is at selfridges, but it's deffo at fenwicks.

Right, I've found the article but can't find an on-line version (it was in the Aug 2006 issue - I really need to start throwing out my mags...)

Written by someone called "Harriet Lane" - wouldn't be surprised if she is a MNetter from the article!

Her top 5 tips for make-up products are

1. Mac Prep & Prime
2. YSL Touche Eclat
3. Clarins Beauty Flash Balm
4. MAC Select Tint foundation
5. Benefit Lemon Aid (a base for eyeshadow)

She doesn't say what eyeshadow, mascara, etc she decided on though.... but she went for a make-over at a MAC concession so I guess she may have got them there...

The best bit of the article was when she went round to see her parents and they didn't appear to notice she was wearing make-up - when she mentioned it to them her mother said, "Do you know, I thought you were looking rather well" - sounds like the effect you are aiming at?

HTH

If you have the time and money you can go into Selfridges in London Estee Lauder counter (make an appointment first) and they will make you up. It's free if you buy products from them after but £20 otherwise, takes about an hour and it's good but wehter that teaches you enough to do it at home is another matter. there are also make up courses you can go on - Jodie Kidd has set up a makeup school in London and you can do days on that I think.

thansk Xenia but I dont think I want to be wearing so much stuff that i need a lesson, i only want to wear the basics anyway.

Thanks KTeePee. No 2 and No 3 are on my shopping list already so nice to have those confirmed. i wont need no 5 as I'm not going to wear eyeshadow, at least not to start with anyway.
I went ot my local department store today and spoke to a lovely lady at the YSL counter who told me that they are launching on saturday a touche eclat foundation so she persuaded me to make an appointment to have that applied so I can see if i like it before buying the Touch Eclat eye stuff etc. She couldn't do it today though as have to wait for the offical launch but I have an appt for next friday. I also spoke to another very helpful consultant at the Lancome counter in Boots and bought soem of their glosses as they had a small selection pack on special offer (xmas leftovers) and she also recommended a good clear mascara (from a different brand and really cheap) so i've got that now too.
I think I'm going to wait until I've had my eyebrows done on friday and then experiment a bit. I'm actually quite excited about it. I'll even have to buy myself a makeup bag now for the first time ever

a make-up lesson is a good idea, it's actually pretty difficult to do the 'natural look' properly, especially if you've never worn make-up before. (unless you buy the stuff i told you to, in which case it's a piece of piss. your disobedience has been noted. )

NO! I'm buying, in fact have even already boguht, the bits you recommended too!
I ordered the eyelash curlers last night on the internet and Ive got the QVC stuff book marked ready to order as soon as DD decides it's time for a nap!
I just thought I'd need to try out a few things to see what i like best and what suits me best.

can someone please tell me which stores sell ID Bare essentials please? I shall order them from QVC (at AitchTwoOhOhSeven's suggestion) but i think i need to go and look at the different shades/colours first in person.

TIA

don't you have any beauticians on your local high st? i live in glasgow and they sell it in a beauticians and another massage-y and facials place on my local street. i think it's pretty popular, but you won't find it in the normal shops.

thanks again Aitch. Just found it in a salon about 3km from here that I pass every time I go to Sainsburys. I'll try and pop in tomorrow and do some testing.

mckenzie - looking forward to hearing how you get on!
I agree that 'make up lessons' wouldn't be great for a minimalist approach - it's a bit like trying to blow dry your own hair like they do in a salon - never works!
I once had a makeover in the Body Shop - it was great but they used brown tones which did quite suit me but I just didn't like them.

Mckenzie would also like to second the Dandelion blush from Benefit. After serious recommendations here I got it for xmas and it's fab. Doesn't look like blusher, just gives you a lovely glow!

thanks guys for those replies.
I cant find Dandelion Blush on the Benefit website - does it have another name please?

dandelion blush is nice, i must say. lovely packaging. but i've tested a lot of benefit products and they are imho generally over-rated. all packaging and no trousers.