Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic

Welcome to our new weekly column on the YOU magazine website, www.you.co.uk  Below you will find the current question and our advice, with a list of where to source the products mentioned.  To look at past columns, click here. And for lots more solutions to your beauty dilemmas, visit Q&A, just click here.

October 18th, 2009:  Winter Colours

Q I really want to get a new make-up look for autumn/winter. I need a day look - I'm a working mum so always running! - and some ideas for glamming up for the evening. What colours are 'in' and which brands would you advise I look at?

A You’re in luck:  this autumn offers up some extremely wearable shades.  Unlike some seasons (we are soooooo averse to being told that pink eyeshadow is the ‘in’ thing), brands seem to be taking the Little Black Dress approach to make-up - creating classic, credit-crunch-beating shade collections, which are a) flattering, and b) will endure well beyond this season. 

In general, we are not huge fans of fashion-forward shades, believing that it is wiser to stick with complexion-enhancing neutrals - browns, taupes, smokey dark greys - which make you look like ‘you’, only prettier.  If you want something a little more ‘now’, there are some lovely deep aubergine shades around this autumn for eyelining and shading - including Valerie Smudgey Phantom Pencil, £15 (at www.victoriahealth.com), as well as Sue Devitt Eye Intensifier Pencils, £17.50, which are worth making a pilgrimage to Harvey Nichols for! Aubergine-y shades are especially good for making blue eyes look even blue-er.  We’d never recommend the brighter end of the purple spectrum, but aubergine does work fabulously well on many women.  Clinique Brush-On Cream Liner, £12, is also fantastic, in limited-edition Violet Luxe (hitting the make-up counters on 1st November).

We also suggest booking in for a ‘like-you-but-prettier’ makeover at a department store counter with Bobbi Brown or Laura Mercier - our ‘default mode’ brands for really flattering makeovers.  (As we always say:  make-up washes off if you don’t like the results, but you’re bound to pick up some useful application tips which result in a more natural finish.)

If you’re shopping on a budget (and as our next book Beauty Bible Beauty Steals reveals, there are some truly incredibly beauty bargains out there), check out the shade ranges at Bourjois, L’Oréal Paris, Makeup by Barbara Daly (which is exclusive to Tesco) and Maybelline.  But as a rule, we still suggest staying within a neutral palette.  Shades which seem to work especially well for one and all are Bourjois Round Pot Blusher, £6.84, in Rose de Jaspe;  Myface Gigabyte Lipstick, £9.78, in Strawberry Fields and/or Raspberry Sorbet;  Maybelline Moisture Extreme Lipstick, in Natural Rosewood, £4.88, and their Pure Blush Mineral, in 10 Topaz Rose.  (Most of these available at www.boots.com, or click on product names to find them.)

And for evening?  We are big fans of smoking up the eye area (those aforementioned pencils can be smudged until you get to the right level of rock-chic glamour), and for adding a touch of sparkle.  For the Christmas season, several brands (at all price-points) are producing subtly glittery mascaras to add a touch of dazzle to eyes  - keep an eye on the make-up counters for these.  And one way to ‘transform’ your existing make-up look is to layer on a touch of gold - on the brow-bone, or over your lipstick or existing gloss.  Lancôme has some glorious gold shades in their current Declaring Indigo Collection (at Lancôme counters nationwide), including Color Fever Gloss Pure Gold, £17 - and if you give yourself a manicure with Le Vernis Pure Gold, £14, then you can show your finger on fashion’s pulse - glamorously, but without frightening any horses…. 

We . . . Marc Jacobs Lola, from £45 for 50 ml.  This is almost certainly going to walk away with the Wackiest Bottle of the Year title – but don’t let that put you off.  From Marc Jacobs (whose new Marc by Marc Jacobs store on South Audley Street is a treasure trove of inexpensive great gifts, incidentally), we’re enjoying the fruity overture – pear, grapefruit (and a hint of pink peppercorn), and the flowery heart, but especially loving the way this ‘warm floral’ mellows on the skin:  the notes of tonka bean, vanilla and creamy musk have us rather embarrassingly sniffing our wrists all day long.

Beauty Bible Beauty Clinic Archive

October 11th, 2009 - Omega-3 and probiotic supplements
October 4th, 2009 - Winter Skincare
September 27th, 2009 - Jawline
September 13th, 2009 - Thread Veins
September 6th, 2009 - Thread Veins
August 30th, 2009 - Vitamin C and Skincare
August 23rd, 2009 - Beat Stings and Itches
August 15th, 2009 - Sunscreens
August 9th, 2009 - Good Skin Care
August 2nd, 2009 - Lash Conditioners
July 26th, 2009 - Spa Treatments
July 19th, 2009 - Organic Tinted Moisturiser
July 12th, 2009 - Hair Protection
July 5th, 2009 - Cellulite
June 28th, 2009 - Sexy Summer Scents
June 21st, 2009 - Eyeliner Tricks
June 14th, 2009 - Natural Suncare
June 7th, 2009 - Anti Ageing Skin Care
May 31st, 2009 - Natural Nail Polishes
May 24th, 2009 - Body Polishing
May 17th, 2009 - Rosacea
May 10th, 2009 - Manky Feet
May 3rd, 2009 - Makeup Makeover
April 26th, 2009 - Facial Hair Removal
April 19th, 2009 - Teen Skin
April 12th, 2009 - Swimmers Hair
April 5th, 2009 - Make-up For Damaged Skin
March 29th, 2009 - Are Sunbeds Safe?
March 22nd, 2009 - Weak, Flaking Nails
March 15th, 2009 - Puffy Eyes
March 8th, 2009 - Camouflaging Red Cheeks
March 1st, 2009 - Hair Colouring in Pregnancy
February 22nd, 2009 - Thinning Eyebrows
February 15th, 2009 - Acne