‘The Beauty Night’ and why you must schedule one

By Tammi Ireland

Ladies, you have to agree with me there is nothing better than feeling sexy, confident and beautiful – just for you.  But how do you get that way if you’ve worked three different deadlines in a row, felt sick from lunch and been told some horrible news?  You schedule it!  Just like your dentist appointment or meeting your superiors, this is important, too.  Once a week is all I ask, and I’ll explain why it’s so great right now…

Tonight was my ‘Beauty Night’.  I try to schedule one a week or – failing that – one a fortnight.  On ‘Beauty Night’ everything gets done. And I mean everything.  Here’s my ‘To Do’ list…

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Obviously there’s no way I could (nor should) do all these on a daily basis, so scheduling one night a week to check everything off the list is not only a great idea, but also something to look forward to.  Because you feel AMAZING afterwards.

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It’s all in the products you use – ‘Beauty Night’ is not the night to skimp on products. On ‘Beauty Night’ it’s the best of the best.  Here are my must haves, working down the ‘To Do’ list:

Beauty Q&A: Holly Curtis, beauty editor

Holly Curtis, beauty editor at Onya Mag, journalism/PR student, blogger, sales professional at Tiffany & Co., and nanny.  (Phew!)

After following her tweets, reading her blog and devouring her posts for the fantastic Onya Mag, I was thrilled when I had the chance to meet Holly Curtis during a trip to Melbourne last weekend.  Sweet, savvy and absolutely sophisticated, I thoroughly enjoyed our conversation over breakfast while mentally wondering how on earth she got her hair looking so natural and her skin flawless.  So, I decided to ask her, and rather than keep her secrets to myself (it was tempting!), I chose to share them with you here.

Beauty routine, day: My beauty and skin care routines change nearly every day, because as a part of my job, I need to trial new make up and skin care products – it’s a hard life, I know!  (Well, it is when I need to answer questions like this.)  I usually apply AUM‘s Organic Rose Facial Toner, and then a moisturiser with SPF.  At the moment I am using Kosmea‘s SPF 30+ Daily Moisturiser.

Makeup routine: It really depends on what I am up to on the day, or which product is closest to me at the time!  For a casual, day time look, I love an SPF tinted moisturiser (lately I’ve been loving Bloom‘s Tinted Moisturiser with SPF 20+) or a mineral foundation powder – Kit Cosmetics do a great one. A blush (either NARS Orgasm, or a peach toned one like Face of Australia mineral blush, or a cream like Bloom’s Sheer Colour Cream in Coy.) followed by my favourite bronzer; NARS in Laguna. If the eye bags are present (near daily!) I whack on either Garnier Anti-fatigue roll on, Natio‘s Dark Circle Corrector or Clarins Instant Light Brush on Perfector. (Or on a really bad day, a combination of all three!) A quick swipe of Benefit‘s Speed Brow and I’m done!

For a more formal day look, I just add a foundation (I love Laura Mercier), heavier layers concealer, and lashings of macara. I use a combination of Benefit’s Bad Gal, Mirenesse waterproof and Natio’s Longest Lash, depending on the result I’m after. A neutral eyeshadow in the form on one of my Natio palettes, or Benefit’s Cream Shadow in r.s.v.p is a fast and easy way to look ‘done’. If my brows could use some love, I take a minute to fill them in with the amazing Benefit Brows-a-go-go kit!

Salon Review: Total Brow

I’ve long been told my eye brows were ‘to die for’.  They’re thick, black and long.  Up until I learned how to handle a tweezer, ‘they’ were also an ‘a’. Yep, I was the child with an almost uni-brow.  Pretty.  When I did finally discover the way eyebrows can frame your face, I became pedantic in shaping them to perfection.  Never going too thin, I was sure I had the look down-pat.  Then there was a revelation.

After hearing fantastic reviews, I decided I’d let the experts have a go at taming my brows.  I thought I could learn a thing or two.  Turns out, I learned 98 834 things!

Camilla Belle and the eyebrows we all covet

The 30 minute consultation at Total Brow in Inglewood, Western Australia started with a chat about what I want from my brows.  I told my amazing brow specialist, Amy, that I would like to keep them natural and thick.  She squealed with delight, as thick brows were in (and always will be, in my opinion)!  We then had a chat about what was wrong with my brows – or what I’d been doing wrong for the last 10 years – and how we would go about fixing it.

The ONLY Makeup Products You Need!

Sometimes one’s makeup bag can be a little intense.  Multiple eye shadows, cremes, mascaras, eye lash curlers, lipsticks, lip glosses, lip balms (in all different colours!), lip pencils, powder blush, creme blush, brow gel … you see what I’m getting at.

Well, I’m here to name 2011 the year of ‘ZEN’ and that means minimum makeup – just what you need, nothing else!

Streamline your makeup kit so it's not as haphazard as this.

Here’ my take on the streamlined makeup bag (or purse, because they’re smaller).

Eyeshadow

Everyones eyes would pop with a bit of colour, but choosing many individual colours is just silly (and often expensive).  Instead, chose a quad palette that you know you’ll use.  Taupe is the most used colour, so I’m recommending you pick up a Becca Smoky Eye Palette where you can use the browns for day, and the black for night.  Simple!

Your Guide to New Years Eve Party Makeup

So, the end is near.  2010 has been a helluva year and as it comes to a close, we’re all making final arrangements on how to bid adieu in style.  Personally, I’m celebrating with a low-key house party.  And what will I be slapping on my face come 5pm tomorrow?  I’ve got a few options to share with you…

HOORAH!

There are a bunch of ways you can look smokin’ hot during the final hours of 2010, and they all involve preparation.  Be sure to tick (fake) tanning, moisturising, hair removal and priming off your list before you even look at that foundation.

How to Achieve the Flawless Makeup Look

On Saturday morning at 9.30am, four ladies headed into Bella Hart Beauty Emporium in Subiaco with little or no makeup on to learn how to apply their makeup to look like supermodels – naturally flawless with glowing, spectacular skin.

When I was doing modelling, the very first thing I learnt was that this look – the look where it seems you’re wearing nothing at all – was the hardest of all looks to achieve.

Get this look!

Makeup artist, Rachel, took the four girls through the looks and showed them how to get the fabulous skin they’d dreamed of; the kind you only get from eating raw foods, drinking litres of water and staying out of the sun.  Except we faked the look with great products.

Here, I regurgitate the steps so you at home can copy the look:

The Best of Beauty

There’s a magazine on the stands that you all should know.  It’s called Allure and it’s a bit of a beauty bible.  There’s no Aussie version but the October American issue has just been released with Blake Lively on the cover and a whole lot of great articles.  My favourite is by far Best of Beauty where “the 190 greatest shampoos, lipsticks, moisturisers, concealers, frizz busters, mascara, wrinkle fighters, and more – handpicked and field-tested by Allure’s editors”.

Blake Lively covers Allure's Best of Beauty Issue

Here’s my selection of the top products within Allure’s Best of Beauty:

Beige Eye

‘Many so-called beige shadows are too white, too golden, or simply too boring.  Bobbi Brown Shimmer Wash Eye Shadow in Beige has a delicate sheen that flouts the blah stereotype.’

Grey Eye

‘Swipe on Laura Mercier Lustre Eye Colour in Celestial, a stormy shade of pewter, and voilà: instant smokey eyes.’

Tested: 1000 Hour Eyelash & Brow Dye Kit

Introducing – for her first time – Coveted Canvas guest writer, Melissa.  She likes strolls on the beach, a good glass of red and a lovely coffee with friends.  And the lucky one is making everyone in the office extremely jealous with her impending trip to New York and the States, flying out today!  Before she leaves and says Bon Voyage to us, she first says it to her lighter coloured lashes with the 1000 Hour Eyelash and Brow Dye Kit.

Salon: WTM Midland

WTM Midland presents everything to you at face value.  Take their name for instance.  WTM – standing for Waxing, Tanning and Makeup – is exactly what they do, specialising in all three thrilling trades.  Member of the team, Denise Barfield, explains, “Rather than just do those other things (facials, massages, etc) okay, we decided to do waxing, tanning and makeup really well.”  Kinda seems obvious now you think about it, non?

How To: Sexy Smouldering Eye

Master the smokey eye and you’ll master the sex appeal required to win any man with just a wink.  This morning I share with you my step-by-step tutorial on creating the perfect smokey eye.

Step 1: Prime.  Dab primer (or if you don’t have one, moisturiser) around the eye and surface of the lid.