Thursday 23rd May 2013, 14.44
Tuesday night saw the latest masterclass from our Brushes with Greatness week-long beauty extravaganza with renowned make-up artist Ellis Faas and her team of experts.
Held in the Liberty Heritage suite, the lucky admirers and aspiring make-up artists who had bagged a ticket were treated to a demonstration of three different looks; bold, fresh and minimal, while sipping champagne and getting the chance to question the lady herself.
For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ellis Faas, her work as a make-up artist is often directional and visually inspiring; so during her demonstration Ellis showed us how her brand of make-up was developed for ease of use and with every day wearing in mind.
The demonstration focused on colour, an area within which most of us are guilty of sticking to our own ‘safe’ shades. With the Creamy Eyes shades however, Ellis showed how the colour can be applied subtly then built up as much or as little as you like into brilliantly adhering shades that won’t break into creases. These creamy colours are so easy to apply and long lasting that they have earned the moniker ‘make-up for bah mitzvahs and funerals’.
Attendees were keen to find out how Ellis uses eyeliner. For every day she recommends subtlety, especially on an older face, and demonstrated how her eye shade pen can be used to line the eye with a (surprisingly easy) flick of the brush. This is a mantra that Ellis has adopted throughout her make-up career – ‘Why shouldn’t you use your eyeshadow as a liner? Why shouldn’t a blush have the same texture as a lip colour?’
In fact, this is where Ellis sees her collection as stand-out from other make-up brands, and she wants to re-condition us out of the convention of using strictly one product for one purpose. All her colours have been taken from shades found on the human body, and this multi-use, universally flattering philosophy is demonstrated when she dabs a lip stain over a volunteer’s lips then does the same to her cheeks – an instantly natural look achieved with just one product.
Moving on to talk about some of the more editorial looks she has created, Ellis revealed the science behind her distinctive red eyelashes. Made with gelatine and glycerine then packed with pigment and squeezed into a syringe, the formula is scientific. But as with most of her products, the actual process sounds much more organic with Ellis explaining how she played with the mixture; melting, dropping and testing it in her hands until it felt absolutely right.
This trialling technique was how she came by her colour range. From observing the shades in the human body (blood-red, for example) and mixing her own pigments at fashion shows and for special effects, Ellis naturally found herself with a ready-made collection of colours that might have had origins in biology, but gave her artistic freedom.
More information about the Ellis Faas line and personal tips on how to use the products are always available from her team in the Liberty beauty hall, where you can test the products and feel the textures for yourself.
Shop the Ellis Faas make-up online.
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Wednesday 22nd May 2013, 13.19
Make-up artists and YouTube sensation Pixiwoo, AKA Sam and Nic Chapman, are joining us in store on 23rd May as VIP guests for the last day of beauty colour week, Brushes with Greatness. Famed for their down to earth, fun and easy to follow beauty and make-up tutorials, the sisters have become two of the beauty industry’s most watched and respected advisers.
The tutorial queens will be taking over the Liberty beauty hall this Thursday, recreating some of their most famous and favourite looks with a live demonstration. They’ll also be on hand to answer your make-up questions and dilemmas, so don’t miss out on the chance to see the girls in real time action.
We were dying to know which beauty products are highly prized by our VIP guests. We’ve selected five of their favourite picks below:
1. NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna – £26
“This bronzer is the perfect colour to make your skin look sun kissed.”
2. Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser SPF20 – £33
“Gorgeous for everyday, light coverage when you want to look like you’re not wearing make-up.”
3. Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Ethereal Light – £38
“This powder allows your skin to look and stay just the way you want it to.”
4. Ellis Faas Creamy Lips in Bright Red L103 – £22
“We really like the applicator for this lipstick and the colour is divine.”
5. Shu Uemura Black Ultimate Natural Mascara – £20
“We like this mascara as it’s jet black with a lovely wand.”
You can shop Pixiwoo’s full selection of hero products in their exclusive edit, launching online tomorrow!
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Monday 20th May 2013, 17.16
Beauty journalists and founders of Getthegloss.com, Susannah Taylor and Sarah Vine, are VIP guests at this week’s Brushes with Greatness beauty event. This Wednesday, the two beauty aficionados will be holding limited one-on-one consultations where they will aim to troubleshoot and discuss all your health and beauty dilemmas with their wealth of experience and unbiased advice. Join the pair again from 6pm for a special Barefaced Beauty masterclass and group discussion where they will share their insider tips together with rum cocktails and exciting goodie bags!
Getthegloss.com was launched by Susannah and Sarah on the principle that you can have beauty and brains! Edited by themselves, it’s an all-singing, all-dancing directory of the best products and services in the industry with great writing, expert advice and recommendations seven days a week. The website enables you to explore everything from the latest breakthrough products and answers to your burning beauty questions, to watching industry professionals in action on their TV pages and interacting with handpicked experts in live web chats.
As part of Brushes with Greatness, our week-long beauty insider event in store, Sarah and Susannah have plucked their favourite products straight from the Liberty beauty hall in a special edit that could change your skincare and beauty regime for life.
Weleda Skin Food – £8.95
“This celebrity favourite is one of our regular go-tos. Skin Food indeed, this product is not only nourishing and hydrating it’s also incredibly soothing even for the driest of skin. Use as an overnight mask to revitalise a dull, lack-lustre complexion.”
Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer – £52
“The best primer we’ve ever tried, not only does this little gem have a super silky texture and oil minimising properties (which actually work), it also helps make-up stay budge-proof all day. Plus, it minimises pores, fine lines and wrinkles as well as having an SPF.”
Le Labo Rose 31 50ml – £95
“A modern classic and a firm favourite with the ‘Glossy Posse’, this bewitching scent is a combination of Centifolia Rose, spicy and woody notes.”
REN Moroccan Rose Otto Bath Oil – £30
“A cult, best-selling bath oil that smells as lusciously indulgent as it sounds. Deeply hydrating, it leaves skin soothed and nourished with one of the most exquisite rose scents on the market.”
JAO Goe Oil – £32
“An all-natural treatment oil, this is one of those products that’ll have you wondering how you ever lived without it. Its multi-purpose properties means it wears many beauty ‘hats’, from the ultimate skin emollient (it soothes even the most dry, chapped or rough skin) to an eye make-up remover or a hair styling cream – the possibilities are endless.”
Kiehls Creme de Corps Soy Milk & Honey Whipped Body Butter – £36
“This luxe body butter is lightweight yet deeply hydrating, leaving skin super soft and hydrated for 24 hours. With such an addictive comforting scent it’s hard not to keep reaching for more!”
Anne Semonin Botanical Body Oil – £71
“A firm favourite of beauty professionals, this body oil combines many soothing, protecting essential oils to create a formula which is as revitalising and nourishing as it is hydrating. Super soft, beautifully fragrant skin guaranteed.”
Essie Nail Polish in Luxedo – £10.95
“Channel your inner Daisy Buchanan with this charming plum black; the new Rouge Noir.”
Decléor Aroma Sculpt Firming Gel Cream – £43
“A multi-tasking body cream, this product is designed to firm, tighten and nourish the skin whilst boosting cell renewal and skin elasticity. What’s more it imparts a really natural-looking sun kissed tan for disguising the most pallid of skin tones.”
Shop the Editors’ full selection of favourite products exclusively online, here.
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Friday 17th May 2013, 10.48
Sophie Beresiner is a stylist, art director and beauty director at Elle UK. She was also one of our VIP guests at last night’s ‘Meet the Experts‘ event, held as part of our Brushes with Greatness beauty week. If you missed last night’s event, you can read up on the contents of our experts’ make-up bags over the next couple of weeks; click here to see model Ruth Crilly‘s.
As a beauty editor and stylist, Sophie has worked with numerous high profile titles and brands, leading her to work with the very best make-up and beauty products in the industry. Her opinions, tips and insider knowledge are second to none. Sophie has also worked with cancer support charity, Look Good… Feel Better, and having recently recovered from cancer herself, she knows all about the power of make-up and what it can do for a woman’s confidence. You can read about Sophie’s personal journey on her blog, sophiefeelsbetter.blogspot.co.uk, and all about her passion for beauty in the pages of Elle UK.
Discover which amazing products from the Liberty beauty hall are inside Sophie’s make-up bag:
Le Labo Santal 33
“The ultimate unusual concoction of 33 ingredients, including my favourites (leather and smoky wood), make this a reliable compliment-fodder. What else do you need from a fragrance?”
Ellis Faas Mascara
“A beauty insider’s secret – this blackest black formula does all the lengthening, separating and beautifying I could ever want from a mascara.”
Hourglass Liquid lipstick in Icon
“Some kind of lipstick wizardry. Goes on wet and glossy, dries to a velvet matte in seconds with the best colour pay-off and longevity I’ve found.”
NARS blusher in Lustre
“My perfect blusher/bronzer hybrid. A sort of coral taupe that sculpts and plumps at the same time (down to the clever shimmer to colour ratio).”
Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser
“No BB cream can eclipse this iconic classic for me. The tint and medium sheer formula corrects all sorts of flaws so I only need a light dusting of mineral powder over the top.”
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Thursday 16th May 2013, 8.16
As part of this week’s Brushes with Greatness, we will be holding a ‘Meet the Experts‘ talk this evening where four beauty industry professionals will be ready to troubleshoot all your beauty and make-up queries.
One of our visiting experts is fashion model and writer of cult beauty and lifestyle blog, A Model Recommends, Ruth Crilly. Having modelled for over 10 years, working with high profile brands such as Swatch, Olay and Myla Lingerie, and appearing on various shoots for magazines such as Elle, Vogue, Glamour and Grazia both in the UK and all over the world, Ruth has acquired first hand experience that enables her to offer unbiased, truthful tips, secret tricks and insider beauty knowledge that you can usually only find in magazines and through working within the industry.
As a model, Ruth needs to have perfect skin, hair and nails at all times, and as a result she has developed a genuine and deep interest in skincare, cosmetics, diet and body maintenance. She is constantly on the prowl for bigger and better products that will lift, tone, brighten, polish and enhance; if they make the grade she writes about them on her blog and if they don’t work out she discards them.
If you’re dying to know what’s inside a model’s make-up bag, look no further – Ruth has shared with us the contents of hers:
Shu Eyelash Curler
“I bought mine ten years ago and haven’t ever needed to buy another. That’s what I call an investment! In terms of make-up tools, it’s the one that makes the most instant impact – even before mascara, curling my lashes really makes my eyes look awake and wide.”
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Chantecaille Just Skin
“A beautiful texture with a sheer, healthy colour. I depend on tinted moisturisers for most “off duty” days and I want them to do more than just even out my skin tone. I like to know that I’m getting some skincare benefits too.”
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Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder
“This is a relatively new find for me but it’s incredible! I use it as a finishing powder to give a veil of glow over the surface of my skin, and it’s unbelievably light so I don’t feel that it’s adding another layer.”
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Laura Mercier Radiance Primer
“Frequently reached for on days when nothing else will work to hide dull, tired skin. This is mega-watt; it beams through even fairly heavy foundation! I sometimes add a small amount to foundation too, if I want to limit the wattage of the glow.”
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NARS Tinted Moisturiser in Alaska
“An excellent base. Very dewy and glowy but it doesn’t sit heavily on the skin at all. It blends easily and comes in a good range of shades to suit both yellow and pink undertoned skins.”
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