Friday, December 18, 2009

The Friday Forum - December 18

If predictions are accurate, some of us may be shoveling snow this weekend instead of what we had hoped to do. Please, snow - wait until next week! Bad timing this weekend.

The Friday Forum is devoted to what you have to say about anything related to beauty. Are you using a fabulous product and want to sing its praises? Tell us about it! Did you find a beauty product disappointing? Tell us why! Do you have questions others might be able to answer? Ask! What kind of beauty shopping did you do for the holidays? We would love to know! We will use the comments for what I hope will be a fun and helpful exchange of information.

You know you have something to say! Because this is totally open-ended, I won't provide a topic or ask you a question to kick off the conversation. I always have some beauty bits to share, but I'll put them in the comments this weekend.

The microphone is yours!

P.S. If you haven't entered the Lisa Hoffman Lip Moisturizer Giveaway Contest, the deadline is 5:00 today (Friday).

Photo courtesy of www.wrpc.org.uk

12 comments:

Fab Over 40 said...

I sometimes wonder what constitutes a person to be a makeup artist. I was recently at a store beauty event and an "artist" did my makeup. I about DIED! Dark eyes, bright red cheeks and deep lips. I said her her - waaayyy too much on my face and she was offended. The lead makeup artist came over (without hearing our conversation) and said "TAKE THIS OFF HER IMMEDIATELY"! The lead artist apologized to me and re-did my face beautifully. Seriously - I did makeup better than that first woman when I was playing makeup and I was 10 years old!
Has anyone else had this experience and what have you done?

Unknown said...

I only had my makeup done by a makeup artist once. She worked at Estee Lauder counter and she was a friend so she pretty much knew what I liked/disliked about makeup. She gave me a really nice smoky eye look :)
I am wary of makeup artists because i tend to be very controlling about things that i want to be done to my face :) Maybe next time bring a photo or picture of what you want to be done to your face?

Charlestongirl said...

Very interesting question about qualifications, Fab! I'm going to follow up on that and get an answer. I do know that at many events, there is only one national artist and the rest are freelancers.

I have learned not to trust that a "makeup artist" knows what he or she is doing. Usually, I won't let unknowns touch me. I always make sure - if I don't know the artist - that I can go directly home from the store in case I have to wash my face immediately. So, rather than make a scene when I'm appalled, I just take care of the fix myself. It was nice that the lead artist took care of you.

I have also had the in-house rep/artist look at me and say, without prompting, "Would you like me to remove all that for you?" They know me that well! :)

It's too bad we learn to avoid makeup artists. I can always learn something from the great ones. Unfortunately, I would give an A+ to very few of them.

Charlestongirl said...

Hey there, Anna!

Taking along a photo is a great idea. Loyd Cassler did a cool promotion once. He told his customers to bring in a photo of a makeup job they liked, and he would reproduce it. I brought in a very monochromatic Kate Moss (her makeup was gorgeous), and he did the look better than the photo. I didn't want to wash my face that night!

Charlestongirl said...

I developed winter depression in the last hour. Now they have upped our snow prediction from 7-10 inches to 10-15! That means I won't be at tomorrow's jewelry show - too far to go on roads filled with people who can't drive in snow.

Anonymous said...

I am a lucky kitten, thank you for the lip moisturizer! So exciting! As for current loves, I got my mom-in-law a Korres honey and thyme gift set and it came with a free with purchase gift that was nuts it was so generous, and I am now officially in love with the Fig shower gel and the Honey and Thymme 24 hour moisturizer. I have thin, pale w/freckles skin that will dry out so badly it cracks, so it is a very big deal if something really truly will moisturize for me and not gunk up my pores (how come 40 = wrinkles AND blemishes? SO UNFAIR.) The Korres stuff seems to have it down. I've only had it for a week so we may yet leave the honeymoon phase, but my fingers are crossed. -- Erica

Charlestongirl said...

Hi Erica,

I love Fig! We had a Fig giveaway contest a couple of months ago. I am a serious KORRES addict. Every time they have a special, I order. I may have to do another giveaway contest because I have bought so much more than I can use! Some of the KORRES is intended for Christmas gifts, so I'll see what's left after I wrap presents.

My skin cracks too. Totally unfair! Right now, my right index finger is cracked near the top nail bed, and it really hurts. I am applying the Skin MD Natural to help it heal - that and about four thick products - every time I walk by one I add more protective goo.

Glad you won! Wish I could get the Lip Moisturizer to you faster. This would be a great weekend to try it. I just looked out the window, and it's not snowing here yet, but radar shows it just south of here.

Have a cozy weekend!

Charlestongirl said...

Nice Sephora offer. Get three Benefit Lust Dusters for $10. No code needed. See this page: http://www.sephora.com/promo/beautybonuses/index.jhtml?pageCode=ws&_requestid=65541

Unknown said...

To continue with the skincare discussion... I just discovered cosmeticsdatabase.com website- you can type in the name of any makeup or skincare product you use and it will tell you on a scale of 0-10 how dangerous are the ingredients in this product.
Well, this left me feeling depressed. My beloved Chanel Chance is 9 (in terms of being dangerous) and even such organic brands like Mychelle (using it right now) and Korres (very tempted to try) have really bad reviews in terms of chemical composition. The only "safe" item I have apparently is Leonor Greyl Huile de Palme (oil treatment for hair).... What do you think about this website and the claims it gives on the products we put on our face?

Charlestongirl said...

Anna, I have used the database before, and I find the information helpful. However, you need to know more, and that information takes some digging. How much of the ingredient is in the product, and how were the toxicity tests conducted? For example, are the results based on ingestion and you put the ingredient on your skin? Perhaps the molecule is too large to be absorbed.

I wouldn't worry about Chance. :) But I would continue to collect data, like you are doing. Smart cookie!

Charlestongirl said...

OK, friends. I have a question. Do you like the free sample selection and 100/500-point freebies at Sephora? Lately, I have been terribly unimpressed. Right now, OPI nail polish at 500 points? Snooze.

I'm building up points like crazy because there's nothing I want!

Charlestongirl said...

Hey there, Fab,

I quizzed Loyd Cassler yesterday on what qualifies someone to be a makeup artist. He said that it used to be that a license was required. He has one, the result of attending a beauty academy. He said that aestheticians often expanded successfully into makeup as well.

Today, things are different. Loyd agreed that most of the artists supporting events are freelancers. He said that the stores have different criteria for the artists they employ for events. His own store requires years of experience (3-5) from freelancers. Other stores are not as rigorous.

I asked him how one breaks into the field today, and he said it's often through working a makeup counter for a few years. Over that time, an individual receives training and experience.

I also asked if I (since I do makeup pretty well) could call myself a makeup artist and get a freelance job. After a chuckle, he said probably not - until I reminded him that they would get a psychologist in the deal. That drew a big laugh.

Loyd said an "unknown" could interview for a freelance position, but would have to audition to prove they could do makeup really well.

So...who knows where your disaster-woman came from!