A messy over stuffed make-up bag is definitely a beauty no no!

Dirty brushes and out of date make-up is probably playing havoc with your skin. Anything that’s held together with a rubber band or smells bad needs to be chucked out! I know it cost loads but it’s probably older than you think and not working for you anymore so clear out and re-organise your make-up bag, it will only take a few minutes.

When is it time to chuck it out?

Mascara

Try and replace roughly every 3 to 4 months. You know it’s had its day when your lashes get clumped together and flakey and the wand smells damp.

Eye Shadow

If you look after them, they can last for years - creams a couple of years, powders longer. If the colour gets dull scrape off the top layer with a butter knife to get to the fresher colour
beneath.

Foundation

It should last about a year. If it goes on in clumps or patches when you apply it, or it smells bad chuck it out!

Face Powder

Should last along a time. Keep it out of damp atmospheres, like in bathrooms, to keep it light and powdery.
Lip and Eye Pencils

These should last a while, but when they get hard to apply and have lost their smudginess, they’ve had it.

Lipstick

Can last for years, but, again, if they don’t smell nice, or don’t have a good consistency, chuck them!

Brushes

Dirty rough brushes cause bad make-up application and skin irritation. Clean them every couple of weeks by washing them in warm water with a mild shampoo, rinse them, wrap in a towel.
Gently pat out excess water, reshape, then lay flat on a clean towel and let them dry naturally. It’s worth investing in good quality brushes made from real hair they will last forever.

Storing Your Make-Up

As a make up artist I have to be really organised. I always have to set up and pack up my make-up in double quick time. I keep everything in clear bags and I separate everything: eye shadows, lipsticks, mascara etc., otherwise I’d never find anything. It’s also a good way to keep your make-up clean and air tight, so it lasts longer. You can store your make-up on a smaller scale this way, or in a box with pull out draws (a fishing tackle box is cheap and ideal for this). Keep your brushes in a zip up pencil case shaped bag, so they don’t get damp or dusty.

Spotted! “Queen” Victoria Beckham herself curled up on a throne sofa in Matches, Notting Hill on Saturday. I’ve never really been a fan but I must admit she did look fabulous, its amazing what wonders a haircut can do.

Now if only Kate Moss would follow suit, she could do with a radical image change. She’s had the same straggly hair for the last 4 years. Come on Kate give us something new to talk about other than your on-off love affair with Pete Doherty and the his n’ hers habits……We’re so bored of her…..sniff.

Every week we’ll be taking to the streets with a camera in hand to snap the coolest hairstyles/make-up/fashion statements we find. The first instalment is from my recent
trip to Tinseltown.

I was most impressed by the fashion sense of the younger crowd in L.A. but while every other girl runs around looking like an OC - no not the tv show, I’m talkin’ Olsen Clones - this super cool chick I spied on a bus ride from Beverly Hills to Santa Monica is a breath of fresh air in America’s smoggiest city. This edgy, assymetric hair cut shows off her individuality. She’s got it going on!

This is probably one of the most common questions from the chair. Fortunately the answer is simple; it is not a product treatment that is likely to help you. It is the way you handle your hair physically day to day.

If your hair is truly frazzled getting it cut off is a start. If this is too drastic then buying a bottle of something that says it is going to use vitamin B-whatever to reconstruct your hair is only going to make it feel better, but not actually repair it.

Before choosing a product (that will only help) you need to review what you have been doing to get it in such shape – or worse what your hairdresser has been doing. Colouring and Perming can be fingered as the culprit for most damage caused. The over-use of bleach or perms being left on too long or not being neutralized properly are the responsibility of your stylist, but many neglect your hair opting for a speedy result using bleach or demanding a strong take with perms by leaving them on to long. Often opting to sell you a nice bottle of something to repair it.

It is the physical handling of your hair that will cause it to become more damaged. When hair is wet it has more elasticity and is more porous. If your hair is chemically treated when it is wet it is at its most vulnerable.

If you blow-dry it, make sure you comb it out first before brushing wet hair, the brush applies more tension and stretches vulnerable hair. A comb used properly – from ends working back up to the roots will detangle your hair without damaging it. For best results comb your hair wet in the shower then squeeze the water out by wrapping it in a towel.

Taking a picture along to the hairdressers or when you are getting make-up applied can be embarrassing, but it is a good way for your stylist or make-up artist to get an idea of what you might be seeking.

Remember that any picture has usually had hours of work including photo-shop and good lighting. It will help convey an idea but typically the foxy swept fringe will have you walking in to lampposts and the sleek finish might not be the same when stood at a bus stop on a blistering cold January morning.

Seriously watch out for the sweeping fringes, in any hair magazine or fashion shoot hair is often styled to oblivion in the most impractical way. It might be cool for a model stood on a marker in the middle of a studio to have her sight restricted, but if you hope to go to work or ferry the kids to school with your eye covered, albeit sexily you might want to reconsider.

When things go wrong at the salon it is often a crisis akin to losing all your teeth or worse. Thankfully there is at least a few things you can do before sitting in the chair to avoid such dramas.

One of the most common causes of devastation can be being poorly suited to the hairdresser. A starting point when seeking out the person that you are about to entrust with the task of transforming you from a witch to a supermodel is to research the set-up at the salon based on the type of position they hold.

An experienced stylist with an established clientele will have enough clients to demand a commissioned salary as self-employed. This type of arrangement is preferable to the basic salary no commission - just do whatever lands in the chair. Difference being on the Saturday morning of your big night out catching up with the ex and his next, you are likely to get a harsh difference in attitude between the stylist that gets paid a basic whether you are happy or not and the self employed stylist that needs you to return again and again recommending them to every one you meet. This alone will not see an end to all the potential dilemmas that can occur on a trip to the salon but it is a good start.

You can always ask who the busiest stylist is and go along to the salon prior to an appointment and watch them work and see the reaction of their customers.

As a seasoned stylist I can offer other examples of circumstances where problems are likely to arise. The biggest of problems that occur even when you are suited to the right stylist are often when the stylist is put under un-necessary pressure.

Time can be ranked as the highest common contributor to such situations, when not enough time is allowed by a client, you can expect the stylist to try to accommodate you but hurry the service for the sake of loosing a chunk of time (money) from their days schedule – not at all ideal.

Arriving with your hair dirty before semi-permanent colour will give you poor coverage – especially over grey, similarly arriving with clean hair when looking to get your hair bleached to the root might cause you some agony, as there will be little natural resistance (oil) to the peroxide.

Wearing your hair tied up tight will also crimp the hair distorting your hairdressers perception of how it falls naturally, similarly this is the case if you have curly hair and you meet your stylist for the first time with it ironed/dried straight. For the best results you should arrive with your hair washed the day before and leave it to dry naturally, however it looks. A good stylist will draw from this and offer you a look that can work styled or just left.