I love surprises ! A gift and a makeover....

Can you imagine how delightful it was for me to receive a surprise parcel in the mail recently? Dont you just adore those little packages that arrive so unexpectedly? It is those little highlights that add magic to ordinary days........ and when I opened up my little package, there was an entire makeup set courtesy of my dear darling friend Chrissy Keepence from the Lindy Charm School for Girls!

Now, I dont claim to be any expert in powder and paint, infact, I am usually the one begging my friends for their make up secrets and hints, but last Sunday I opened all my new little Lindy Charm goodies and gave them a whirl. Before I tell you just what I thought of my new blush, eyeliner, lipstick (red of course), lip pencil and eyebrow pencil, let me give you a small bit of background about my cosmetic knowledge.....

I didnt start wearing makeup till I left highschool and even then, not really very much till I began my working life at age 20. It wasnt that I didnt adore make up and what it could do to enhance the features God gave me, it was just that, well, it never seemed that important save for all the plays and musicals I participated in. That's perhaps a bit sad isnt it? After all, every young girl loves to play with makeup, and I most certainly did play and experiment, but in the country, 4 hours from Melbourne, there just wernt that many places to wear make up too......

When I began my working life and started wearing makeup every day, I quickly fell into a routine of 60's glam style - you know...winged eyeliner, defined brows, and as I have very thin lips, I tended to play them down with subdued shades of lippy. I guess I just gravitated to what looked beautiful to me in all my favourite movies and images - 50's and 60's styles of course !!! Never one to follow fashion trends and always far more inclined to dance to my own drum......

I have kept pretty much the same look ever since - alternating between red 50's lips, light eyeshadow and winged eyeliner sometimes, and 60's natural lippy with heavy coal coloured eyeshadow and eyeliner. It has been alot of fun, just as make up and dressing should be.

In the early 90's when I was 'getting my groovy on' with make up, I really really struggled to find a liquid eyeliner that would last all day and not crumble off, sometimes I found it very hard to locate a liquid eyeliner at all, as it was not really the norm to wear it at the time - everyone seemed to have that 'shimmery face' look (a look I just cant stand - give me Dita porcelain smoothness every time.) I must confess that I have never really found the perfect liquid eyeliner, although generally speaking, you do get what you pay for. And pre 'Poppy' lipsticks, it was nigh on impossible to find a mat lipstick in golden age of Hollywood red.

Skip ahead to last Sunday as I experimented once again with new make up.....my lippy went on mat and PERFECT in the absolute darlingest shade of red (no Ita Butrose orange to be seen !!!).

My lip pencil complimenting it with precision that did not 'bleed' into the little creases around my lips (yes, age is creeping in!!)

My eyebrow pencil spot on the right natural looking colour.

My blush the rosiest of glows that perfectly suits my pale skin (that is something else I have always found difficult to get just right!).

And the piece da resistance, my wonderful WONDERFUL new liquid eyeliner!! It lasted all day looking as flash and daring at 10pm as it did at 10am.

(Below - the makeover begins)

I am in love !! Did you hear me readers? I AM IN LOVE with my new make up!!!! Please believe me when I tell you that I am NOT just saying this because I know the Lindy Charm gals....this make up has been perfectly orchestrated to suit those of us who want a golden age of Hollywood face. If you like that shimmery face effect, head on down to Priceline, but if mat finish, last all day, perfect iconic colours is what you chase. If Dita, Marilyn, Rita, or Elizabeth is what you are after then these are the goodies for you !!! Miss Chrissy, you have a devote for life in me....no more searching for non-crumbly eyeliner, or the perfect rose pink blush, or chasing that hard to find matt red lippy for me.

A million thankyou's to Miss Chrissy and the Lindy Charm Girls !!!

(First and final photographs in the article provided courtesy of Brooke Orchard Photography)

Natural beauty tips - and my plastic surgery.......

I love natural beauty remedies, and prefer them over chemicals and procedures where ever possible - after all, it is more 50's isnt it !! But I am not against plastic surgery. Dont get me wrong. If it helps you feel better about yourself, then more power to you. Who am I to talk anyhow, I have had plastic surgery myself, and at the ripe old age of 23 !!! I shiver now when I think about it really....... my boyfriend at the time asked me if there was anything about myself I would change if I could. I said that I had always felt my lips were a little on the thin side (overblown bee stung lips were the rage at the time). That week my boyfriend found a competition in a magazine to win a lip enhancement. Desperate to please him ( but upon reflection, deep down feeling somewhat hurt that he did not see me as beautiful just as I was) I entered the competition. Well, you guessed it, I 'won'. I had the surgery. A round tube of plastic inserted perminently. Me = Petrified. It is still there to this day. My boyfriend was wraped 2 weeks after the procedure when my lips looked 'like Meg Ryan' (where her lips were at their peak of fullness), but by the time a few more weeks had elapsed, my lips had actually returned pretty much to normal size, however now with that small roll of plastic inside them for life. I can feel it whenever I kiss. Secretly, I think I am glad that they dont look all that much different though - I want to be me (and loved for being that way too)  !!! As for the boyfriend.....well, the insert lasted longer than the relationship.

But yes, like I said, I have no problem with plastic surgery, so long as it is done for the esteem and personal value of the person going under the knife.

I have recently read a charming and somewhat amusing little book titled "The Mums book of glamour - how to be fabulous". Of course, I really didnt need to read it seeing as I am so fabulous already (!), but I decided to none the less. Filled with funny little tid bits, and ways to make your already hectic life all the more stressful by adding inumerable beauty routines into the daily grind, I did find a terrific section on facial muscle excersises - the sort that can be done while sitting in traffic (not on public transport however).

One of the things that is a telltale sign of aging is a slack jawline due to lack of skin elasticity and sedintary muscles that settle into old familiar daily grooves. But facial deffinition need not belong to the young, and you need not resort to drastic face cutting surgery either, as I have found over the past few weeks of practising these excersises. I can totally feel the work they are doing to my face - and it is mighty encouraging !!!

So my dear friends and readers, I wanted to share these wonderful little natural, no cosmetic prodcedure required, jaw and facial excersises to help you stave off the inevitable..... and may your natural beauty shine through and be treasured by your loved ones !

 

1. Just out your jaw, open your mouth wide and pull your bottom lip over your bottom teeth. Then move your jaw up and down - you'll look like a cartoon robot, but stick with it. repeat this ten times, twice a day - although preferably in the privacy of your own home.....

2. Sit in a relaxed position. Tilt your head upwards and purse your lips. Hold for five seconds and then relax. Repeat 10 times.

3. Start with your teeth together, and then open your jaw very slightly, Move your lower jaw slowly to one side, as far as it will go, and then return slowly to the center position. Repeat this 10 times and then work the other side.

4. Sit upright, facing forwards with your lips closed but relaxed. Pucker and pout your lips using your cheek muscles, hold the position for ten seconds, and then relax. Repeat this 10 times.

5. Best not to try this one while driving...... close your eyes and lift your eyebrows as high up as you can, as though very surprised. Hold the position for 10 seconds, and then relax. Repeat this 10 times.

Ahh - your done....look out world - here you come, and looking like the grand dame of amazing jawlines below to boot !