In today's issue
Looking good
How does make-up best enhance our natural assets? And can serums really hold the secret to a younger looking visage?
- By I-Cheng Chan, Staff Reporter
- Published: 00:21 February 11, 2008
Ssshhh… It's a secret! Well not any more after the UK's leading chemist Boots sent its top experts to spread the word. Here to inform us on tips to looking good and having beautiful skin is Lisa Eldridge, creative director of the UK's leading cosmetics brand No7, and Steve Barton, scientific skincare advisor to Boots.
In keeping with British punctuality, the presentation to journalists got underway promptly (a surprise for those more accustomed to Dubai-time who strolled in late).
With precision planning, we were split into two groups at the venue at the Dubai Creek and Golf Club so that each could tell us about their own areas of expertise.
It was becoming clear these guys take beauty very seriously. Eldridge, 41, who has been a make-up artist for 18 years, has added her special touch to the faces of innumerable stars from Kate Moss and Claudia Schiffer to Princess Beatrice and Sadie Frost.
Wearing natural-looking make-up, the expert had a fresh glow and bore a definite resemblance to the actress Anne Hathaway.
Flair
Her career began in London where she worked on numerous fashion shows as a make-up artist before moving to Paris and New York to do the same. She was then invited by Shisheido to create a new make-up line for the Japanese market — an opportunity that moved her from working with make-up to creating it in the laboratory.
Having proven her flair for masterminding innovative make-up, in 2003 she was sought out by No7, a brand ready for a redesign at that point in time.
"I had grown up with No7. My mother had used it and my grandmother had used it," she says fondly, explaining her personal history with the brand. "When I got pocket money as a teenager I bought a No7 eye pencil. It was the first make-up I had."
Daunted
As No7 was already a top seller, Eldridge admits she felt daunted at the prospect of changing something that was so widely loved in Britain and had been around for 70 years.
The first thing she did was to research the company's archives. There she found papers from 1940 that you would rub onto your lips for colour and a cream blusher from 1950 accompanied by a little instruction booklet.
What really inspired her was watching research films that showed ordinary women putting on make-up while looking into a two-way mirror.
"The way they did mascara was hysterical," she recalls. Her aim, she says, was: "To make beauty achievable so women can look great without having to have the expertise of a make-up artist. Make-up isn't just about putting colour on your skin.
Make-up should beautify the skin."
With five collections coming out a year, she was keen to show us what was new for 2008. These include eye pencils that can either create thin lines or a broader stroke of colour; a carbon black 360 mascara which creates volume 360 degrees around the eye lashes; and Stay Perfect eye mousse for a luminous splash of glide-on colour.
Wonder Serum
Over in the other room, Barton, 56, was equally fascinating in his area of expertise. Before us was the man whose work led to queues of customers up and down the UK after one of his products was revealed to be a wonder serum on a BBC documentary last March.
In the Horizon programme, an independent scientist was asked if any cosmetic available over the counter could make a difference in the ageing process.
To the filmmaker's surprise, he said there was and revealed Restore and Renew (or Protect and Perfect, as it is known in the UK) had a similar result to retinoic acid on the skin.
Barton explains: "What science has shown is that Restore and Renew has the capability to improve one of the main causes of premature ageing which is UV damage.
Fibrillin is one of the first things to disappear in UV damaged skin. Our serum has the capability to increase fibrillin in the studies we have done."
Collagen
Further special ingredients also play a part: one reduces the activity of enzymes that break down collagen which provides the skin with firmness and elasticity; and another sends a signal to the skin cells to warn them that collagen is being broken down which then prompts the cells to make more collagen.
The serum, which should be used in conjunction with a moisturiser, has been shown to smooth lines and wrinkles in three months.
Although the product had been on the market since 2003, the revelation on national television sparked unprecedented demand.
"March 27, 2007 at 9.50pm," says Barton. "That was when my world changed. At 10pm the programme finished and by midnight Boots.com had sold out of Protect and Perfect. And then I was at the forefront of a storm of interest. It felt pretty good."
Now that the word is out, the interest will only keep growing.
Famous faces
Lisa Eldridge, creative director of No7, spills the beans on her work with the stars.
"I like doing Mischa Barton because she's got incredible skin and she's so nice and fresh. She was fun to work with," she says.
"And people like Claudia Schiffer and Kate Moss are iconic beauties. It was amazing to do Demi Moore who is a natural beauty. She and Helena Christensen are the two most natural beauties I have worked with.
And I love Teri Hatcher from Desperate Housewives. I've worked with her quite a lot and she always likes to try things out."
Lisa's tips
- Don't try to change the colour of your skin with foundation. If your hands, arms, chest and neck are a different colour, you are not fooling anyone.
- When you apply eyeliner, dot it in between the lashes first working it into the root of the lashes and then continue with the line. You will get more definition and it will look a lot more professional.
- If you have pigmentation or acne, use a good concealer and a foundation to even out your skin tone.
- Mascara is great for everybody because it really opens up your eyes as do eyelash curlers.
- If you have dry skin, try a cream blusher which will add a bit of dewiness to the cheeks and give you a healthy glow.
- Don't overpluck! Keep the eyebrows as natural but as tidy as possible.
4 steps
Here's how Steve Barton, scientific skincare adviser to Boots, advises you use the Restore and Renew serum:
- 1. Cleanse your face thoroughly.
- 2. Apply the Restore and Renew serum.
- 3. Leave it for 10 to 15 minutes to allow it to dry.
- 4. Moisturise.
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