Face-to-face with Laura Geller: the OG make-up artist on beauty for the 40+ woman
Laura Geller is our kinda gal. Punchy, knowledgeable, enthusiastic, no-nonsense. She’s a roller-up-of-sleeves, as we are ourselves. She became a professional make-up artist at just 18, and over three decades has built her signature, innovative make-up line into a major brand. Maybe you’ve seen her on QVC, where she’s been presenting her make-up innovations for 20 years. Or social media. What Laura talks is always – well, just good sense.
Inexplicably, considering we’ve been doing our books for as long as Laura has had her make-up line, we had never met – until a recent rendezvous at The Covent Garden Hotel, when she was in town to celebrate the range rolling out in Boots and becoming much more readily available via boots.com. We could have talked for hours, but in 60 minutes or so she took Jo through her product line, then at our request shared some skincare and make-up wisdom for over-40s, which is kinda her speciality. (There are quite enough make-up artists out there creating way-out catwalk looks for fashion shows; what we want are secrets to make us look like us – but better…)
Here are five gems, in Laura’s words, around the products she’s developed specifically for – well, our kinda faces…
Primer isn’t a hype product. It’s arsenal. You need this one thing, under your make-up. I have a product called Beauty Spackle; Spackle (translated to British) would be Polyfilla. It smooths out lines and creates a canvas for make-up that helps it to last through the day. You can simply skip moisturiser and use Spackle, because it’s super-hydrating. And it’s non-negotiable, as far as I’m concerned.
You need primer for your eyelids, too. We make a waterproof Eye Spackle and I could not live without it. It evens out the pigment, which is great for more mature women because the skin tends to go a bit ‘tea-stained’. It’s waterproof and so it waterproofs your eye make-up; if you have a problem with eyeliner not staying put, use it under the lower lash-line, too. You can also use it around your lips, to prevent lipstick bleeding.
Don’t run away with the idea that powders are drying. The powder technology today is incredible. Even though it’s a baked texture, our Laura Geller Baked Balance-N-Brighten is really hydrating, as well as being quick, easy and giving great coverage. I’m 68 and most of the year, I don’t use foundation – although in winter, I might use one of our cream foundations, with Balance-N-Brighten to set it. But have a go! Experiment! It’s never too late to try something new.
Even if your eyes are hooded, you need eyeliner. Actually, especially if your eyes are hooded, because it gives shape back to the eye. If you’re using Eye Spackle, it won’t transfer to the socket.
Wear a brighter blush. We lose pigment as we age and become almost void of colour, so blusher becomes even more important. In fact, it’s the single thing that makes the biggest difference in terms of impact. A healthy glow is incredibly flattering.
We look forward to a further tutorial, next time Laura breezes through London…
Find Laura Geller at boots.com
