fruitybeauty

I was so lying about it being 2.5 cm.

As you can see from this visual of the illuminator tip posted below (for those who asked for it, and rightly so, for she's a tricky one) it's actually more like 1.5 cm. And make sure you blend up into the dark circles as well as to the sides of your triangle.

Image shown is a dramatic re-enactment. No animals were hurt during the filming of this dramatic re-enactment. This dramatic re-enactment should not be tried unless under adult supervision, or over concealer.

Definitely Excellent Under The Eye Makeup Trickery

I learnt this tip from Brooksy, (who learnt it from a makeup artist) who is a beauty maven at Another Magazine.

She was blown away by its very amazing effect.
As was I.
As will you be.

Ok, so you know how you apply your under eye illuminator under your eye* in a line and then pat it in til its all gone? Much the same way you do concealer?

There is a much, much better way to brighten the eye area.

Try this: Instead of doing a straight line, just under and parallel to your lower lash line, draw the outline of an upside down triangle. (And always use more than you think of this stuff; it's thin. Makeup artists always pile it on.) Just draw the outline, don't fill it in.  So you make the base of the triangle  (i.e the non pointy bit) parallel to your lash line, around 1 cm down from your eye, and then point the triangle down towards your jaw. (Each side of the triangle should be around 2.5 cm long, I'd say.) Now, pat it in with a dabbing motion from your middle finger til it's all gone.

What you've just done: Is brighten the whole eye area. See, our natural dark spot under the eye isn't a straight line. The eye socket is kind of a long oval-circle type shape. So by dabbing in illuminator in over that whole area, you're throwing light on the whole area, instead of just doing the top third of it. The makeup artist who shared the tip said you can tell when people do it the 'old' way, because they get that kind of panda look; they have two obvious white lines around the eyes, but then there's this obvious cut-off point. Whereas with this technique, you've blended down far enough that it's totally seamless.

Oh look, it's hard to articulate, but it gives a truly unreal effect. Your whole face looks fresher. You'll see.

*One thing people get VERY WRONG about Touche Eclat and other such illuminators: They are not concealers. You have to conceal first, then use these guys. All they do is brighten.

Because there is a much, much easier way to remove that kohl

Things I will be mentioning in this post:

That eye makeup remover pads should be in your life. I like the Almay ones. Make sure you don't buy the oily ones; the oil gets in your eyes and it's annoying. Stay oil-free. You buy them from Priceline, and they are little round cottony pads doused in remover and they come in a little purple tub, and they will decrease your eye makeup removal time and energy by up to 675%. I have been using them for around two years, and as someone who often wears Too Much Eye Makeup Because It Is Fun and Also Her Job Kind Of, they are marvelous for removing stubborn eyeliner and smoky-eye-ness and that thing I tried to pull off with my Napoleon loose dust that I saw in Nylon magazine where the girl had red glitter everywhere, except that it looked rad on her, probably because she is a model and a makeup artist did hers. All you do is press the pad on your eye for ten seconds and then gently wipe. It'll take a few wipes, (BE GENTLE, PLEASE, UNLIKE THIS CAPS LOCK) but it'll all go, and then when you wash your face, the sneaky bits of leftover mascara and liner will even be forced to shove off, and then all you are left with are your pretty, clean little eyes, and not some wild-tramp-with-far-too-much-eyeliner-that-has-smudged-everywhere, eyes. (Who invited her, anyway?)

It seems some of you have lost the plot.

So allow me to locate it for you.

1. First things first. Thank you for stopping by. Really. And, I want it known that I appreciate all of the lovely, exuberant, grateful feedback I receive almost daily. I consider myself extremely lucky because it is a glorious thing to know what you are doing is appreciated and enjoyed. So thank you, sweet fruits. You're very kind. Now. As for the Other Ones.

2. I must remind everyone that this is my blog. I am the owner, manager, author, water boy and costume designer. I can write whatever I like, whenever I like. Because it's my blog.

3. I actually pay money to have the luxury of writing fruitybeauty. (As for those ads you see? Big earners. Huge. Why, they must bring me in at least 45 US cents a month.)

4. Blogs are hard, work. I write fruity late at night, on planes, at internet cafes and before my porridge in the mornings, just so you can get your hit. I panic when I leave it more than two days and I haven't been able to fully relax in over a year, because I have a small bloggy child who constantly needs feeding. Many start blogs and many give up for this very reason. One of my favourites, Letter to Marc Jacobs, died this very death.

5. I have a full-time job, I'm writing my second novel and I have a family, social circle, boyfriend, gym membership, cat, Bonsai and Backstreet Boys fan club membership, all of which also require time and energy.

6. I began fruitybeauty because I had a serious surplus of information on makeup, skincare, hair and neon orange nail polish whizzing and whirring around my head, and I thought, gosh, you know, I should really share that information around, because I only get so much space in The Magazine I Write For, and yet there is so much more stuff people should know about the products and services they spend a lot of money on to make themselves look and feel good. I also wanted to make it fun and silly because beauty can be taken far too seriously.

7. I have the right to do as many or as little posts as I like. Taunting me because I used to do it daily is an exercise in both stupidity and futility. If you're feeling ripped off because my posts have slowed up you should probably head to the land of Perez Hilton where your appetite for 6578 posts a day will be satisfied.

8. I can refer metaphorically to the fact groupies are attracted to footballers should I choose to. Because they are. That's why they're called groupies. Amazingly, this same breed of devoted fan also exists in the music, surfing, basketball, pro-knitting and acting arenas.

9. I can choose to delete comments whenever I want to. In fact, I can choose to disable comments altogether, or ban certain people from commenting. (It may interest you to know that most bloggers approve all comments before they let them go live.) I very, very rarely do, however, because I like fruity to be a democratic environment, and while I would have to say I find it hard to believe anything I write here is deserving of a serve, (unless a taupe eyeshadow brutally broke your heart, or a barrel brush once set your car on fire) I see that this freedom of expression is currently being abused. That the virtual rotten fruit storm is being orchestrated by people who as far as I know do not own a blog, (making them unqualified to be languorously judging not only my blog, but me personally) makes it a somewhat uneven playing surface in that I can't tiptoe over to their blog and write ur blog sux n u r a ttl lozer!!!! under one of their posts.

10. I can choose to be offended when people get on here, people who can't even spell, and diss the fruitshop. Or, I can simply choose to write a post reminding them of what - and indeed who - it is exactly they are spitting venom at so that they understand that they have completely missed the point of a blog that was created out of love and not for any kind of gain, and then send them love, because it is sad that I am kicking so much ass, and they are not.

11. I can elect to hold my knife in either hand when I eat, because I am ambidextrous with my cutlery.

Seven Rules for The Lips That Are Red

You probably know these, but after wearing a spectacularly outrageous but simultaneously very chic Red Lip yesterday (it was Sisley Hydrating Long Lasting Lipstick in L25) , I was quickly forced to quickly remember the Rules for The Lips That Are Red, and thought, golly, I'm glad I know what to do here or I could be in real trouble.

1. Invest in a reverse liner, which is clear, and which you outline your lips with to stop your spectacular red lipstick running and bleeding and stuff. It's genius. DuWop and Sally Hansen do them, cause they be smart.

1.5. If you own a lip liner, now is when you would shade in the lips in a shade similar to the red you are wearing, or even a nude shade. You may even like to pat some concealer on, if you are liner-less, and you wish for your red lip to stay put.

2. Use a lip brush, not the stick. The stick itself is for out-and-about touch-ups only. Brush give you precision and long lastiness.

3. After doing one full layer, blot with tissue. Now paint again.

4. Stick your index finger in your gob, and slowly remove. See how it takes excess lipstick! See how your teeth are saved from lipstick smears! See how you really really need a tissue to clean that mess on your finger up!

5. Before taking a sip from a glass, discreetly lick it so your spectacular lipstick doesn't stick to the rim of the glass and make you - and it - look all nasty like it's been drunk by that secretary that used to work for your dad who always had bad breath and bunions.

6. Take a mirror with you, and check your teeth and lips constantly. Red lipstick is attracted to teeth like groupies to footballers.

7. There actually is no point seven. But there was a 1.5, so maybe there's seven after all...

*Cue one eyebrow up and spooky music.*

Rose-dingin-hip oil

Alright.
Once and for all.

You can buy rosehip oil at chemists or health food stores, or at DJs and Myer. Try brands like Kosmea, Trilogy, Akin, SHE and organic lines made by people who wear tie-dyed pants and live in the hills of Byron.

It will cost around 2o clams.

It is not intended for acne - there are far better things out there for you to put on your spots - but rather the treatment of the scarring that follows. It is excellent for scarring.

It is excellent for hydrating the skin and reducing the appearance of fine lines - at first cosmetically, but long term as well. (Dabbing onto your laugh lines in the afternoon works a treat to freshen up the face. Glow on, try it. Boom tish.)

As it has vitamins, fatty acids and stuff, it's excellent to use an anti-aging serum before your day or night cream, or massaged in as a mini facial.

It can be used on oily skin, but again, there are better things to use. See, while oily skin is often dehydrated (which is why the skin is oily - the skin overproduces oil in an effort to hydrate - which is why harsh scrubbing is bad; you only exacerbate things) using a light face oil like rosehip oil, with its combo of fatty acids, vitamins and a similar PH to our own sebum, means that rather than adding to the oiliness, the oil actually melts into the skin, absorbs quickly and even allows the skin to breathe. Same with cleansing oils - they attract oil and draw it out, making them ideal for oily skin, which people don't expect to be the case. You'll just have to suck it and see, fruits.

It contains vitamin C and lycopene (antioxidants) making it great for after sun or  even sun burn, not that you should ever have any.

It's excellent for excema and psoriasis and nappy rash and scars and stretch marks and if you are you not sold yet, you never will be so you know what? I'm done.

I'm not entirely stupid, you know.

Just cause I wasn't washing my face in the morning doesn't mean I'm not a Complete Genius in other areas of life. Like the serum part, for instance. Or the scientist wizz, part.

Here's my latest trick, and it's probably worth billions and at least three beach houses so please try not to tell too many people about it.

Because I love to use rosehip oil on my face as a serum so much, and in particular the feeling and look oil gives me, but I also want some "POWER", by way of a rush of serious anti-oxidants and anti-agingness and anti rah rah rah, I've started mixing a squirt of my "POWER" serum, Prevage, with a few drops of my texture preference and long-standing skincare favourite, rosehip oil, and massaging that in as my Super Excellent Best Ever Serum before my day or night cream.

Why do I like it so much? Cause it feels rad and it's, you know, doing stuff. I also find it's a good way to balance my love of 'natural' products, with my love of the 'serious' or 'effective' or 'ridiculously expensive' products.

Oh, sure, you laugh now, but I was mixing my body lotion with my self tanner to get a diluted version of self tanner WAY before Holiday Skin hit the shelves, sugar.

PS. Kelly? Beat it, fool.