Bargains at The Body Shop

Once again, Tricia has proved her prowess at tracking down bargains.  She recently joined the nearest Groupon group.  She reports that in order to really save money, one needs to ignore some of the tempting offers and to watch out for discounts on items that you would normally purchase at full price.

Following this strategy, she purchased two vouchers for The Body Shop.  The Groupon vouchers cost £12 each, and were worth £30 each for purchases in any UK branch of The Body Shop. 

One of the attractions of The Body Shop is that there are usually discounts or offers such as “buy two and get one free”.    When Tricia planned her Groupon based visit, she allowed enough time to study all the offers available.  She emerged laden with goodies from The Body Shop.  Her total spend was somewhat more than the £24 she had paid for the vouchers, but she achieved excellent value for money.

The total value of her purchases before discounts was £134, for which she paid a total of £48.  This was comprised of the £24 she paid for the Groupon vouchers, plus £24 in the shop.

Pictured above are the three eye makeup products.  The deal here was to buy any two make up products, and receive a free eye pencil (described by The Body Shop as a ‘carbon eye definer’).  She chose The Body Shop ‘lightening touch’ as one of the makeup products, having discovered this a couple of years ago via a demonstration at our local shop.  This is a great product for reducing the appearance of shadows under the eyes.

A good tip for making sure you really are getting a bargain in this situation is to try to choose products that you know you will use.  Tricia chose products that she has used previously, such as the Hair Butter Moisturiser.  She recommends this for anyone with dry hair.

She also included the Body Shop face firming serum on the basis that she likes it – and better still, that purchase entitled her to a free face product.  She chose a product from the Vitamin E range which both of us have tried and liked.

Tricia stocked up on lemon shower gel and soap, which were on offer on a stepped discount, so that if you bought more items, there was a larger saving.  These will be useful for birthday gifts over the coming months. 

Make Up at Work

There may be a few jobs where it is legitimate for the employer to lay down rules, or at least guidelines for wearing make up at work.  There are no formal rules for most work situations, but there often appears to be an unwritten code.  Those who are not self-aware may transgress the secret rules of the office and fall into a mysterious disrepute.

Thinking back to my office days I recall one young woman who always came to the office attired in formal business clothes and wearing enough makeup to appear on the stage. Part of her job involved inspecting public toilets so perhaps her dress and make up were a form of escapism.  She was required to spend time in the office filing reports and taking turns to answer the telephone.  Her male colleagues complained that she spent a lot of time away from her desk; her female co-workers reported to me that they often saw her in the ladies’ room touching up her makeup.  She did not last long in that job.

At least she was touching up her make up in the semi-private environment of the ladies’ room.  I recall another female colleague who had a habit of re-applying lipstick during meetings.  If the meeting in question was tedious I looked forward to the moment when Mrs X would take out her lipstick and without the aid of a mirror put on a fresh coat of lipstick.  Her method involved holding the lipstick fairly still, while twisting her lips around in a most peculiar manner.   The result was sometimes lopsided.

In my opinion, make up for work should be appropriate to your job and environment.  Unless you work in an industry where sophisticated make up is part of the job, keep it simple. Restrict touch ups during the day to lipstick and powdering your nose, and fix your face in a private environment.

If you share a ladies room with colleagues, I think it is a good idea to have a smart powder compact and lipstick, and use a clean hairbrush or comb.  Using a grotty old comb and battered makeup gives an impression of untidiness.

Products illustrated from top to bottom: Translucent Face Powder Compact by Dr Hauschka £19.15 from SoOrganic, Bobbi Brown metallic lip colour £16 from John Lewis, Compact Mason Pearson hairbrush £30.45 from ChemistDirect.

Laura Mercier for Grown Up Makeup

      I first started experimenting with makeup as a teenager, and my first look relied on a heavy makeup base to disguise my spotty complexion.  The colour that I chose was too dark, the texture too heavy and the result was not flattering.  I gradually came to realise that less is usually better where makeup is concerned.

     For years (decades, to be honest) I used tinted moisturiser in lieu of a makeup base.  A recent visit to a makeup counter, and a professional application of primer and foundation convinced me that it was time for me to turn to grown up makeup.

    My current choice of tinted moisturiser was a product by Laura Mercier, so I reasoned that a foundation from the same range would suit my skin.  I therefore booked an appointment to have a full makeup demonstration at a branch of SpaceNK.

    The consultant who produced my grown up face was a lovely young woman named Sarah, who has been thoroughly trained in Laura Mercier products.

   I arrived for my makeup demonstration the day after a most enjoyable dinner party, and explained to Sarah that I was offering her a real challenge.  If she could make my face look more presentable I would be impressed.

    Sarah spent a lot of time on my ‘basic face’, starting with Foundation Primer (which is Laura Mercier’s best selling product).  A primer can make a visible difference in providing smooth skin, and it also helps makeup adhere to your skin, so it is less likely to disappear over the course of a long day.

    She topped the Foundation Primer with Silk Crème Foundation, used Secret Concealer under my eyes and then added Secret Brightening Powder just below my eyes.  The overall effect made me look less tired, and effectively concealed the dark shadows under my eyes.

    A cheek colour called Plum Radiance was applied and then Sarah carefully applied Loose Setting Powder using a velour puff.  Using a puff rather than a brush to apply loose powder gives more staying power to your make up as well as a smoother look.

   Sarah then moved on to my eye area, applying an eye base all over my lids, right up to my eye brows.  In fact I started using Laura Mercier eye base some while ago, and have found this to be an excellent product.  It does not crease!

   An eyebrow pencil was used to shape and extend my almost non-existent brows.  The shade of pencil is called ‘blonde’ and while it did add definition, the colour is not so dark as to make my brows look as if they have been painted on. 

    Then a product called Tightliner was applied just below my upper eye lashes, creating a tiny black line that really made my eyes look bigger and brighter.  I’ve never seen this product before, and I think it could take a while to learn to apply.

    A trio of matte eye shadows were applied in a sort of sunrise effect with the darkest colour on the lid, to the lightest just below my eye brows.  A kohl eye pencil was used just above my lashes, and then the look was finished with an application of black mascara.

    Although this was a lot of eye makeup, I did not feel that I was overly made up.  Sarah balanced the bold eye shadow with a sand coloured lipstick, and completed my face with a light dusting of bronzing powder on my cheekbones.

   I felt the overall look was sophisticated, and not at all over done.

   When I have bought Laura Mercier products I have always been impressed with the quality and longevity, with a tube of tinted moisturiser lasting over six months. The prices match the quality.  If I had purchased all the products that were used in the makeup demonstration, the total price would have been just short of £350.

    I did buy some, but my no means all, of the items that Sarah used on my face.  As I already owned a selection of makeup products I could see from the demonstration that I could adapt of my existing items to fit in with my new look.  In my view, it was well worth the time to have a professional show me a more grown up way to makeup my face. 

Clinique Make-up Consultation

I took my friend Kerry to Debenhams in Brighton, where I had made an appointment with the Clinique consultant.  We had agreed that Kerry would have a new make-up look applied while I watched.

The Clinique consultant was very welcoming, but I think Kerry felt a shiver of apprehension.  Kerry is very much a minimal make-up woman, and the Clinique woman was wearing the full “make-up professional” face.  She asked Kerry what sort of look she wanted and listened in some detail.

As the make-up application progressed, our admiration for this particular Clinique consultant grew.  She really had listened to Kerry, and she was very good at her job.

Kerry had expressed a preference for a mineral powder make-up.  The consultant chose a shade that appeared too dark for Kerry’s skin, and I suggested a shade lighter.  The lighter shade was slightly rose tinted; Kerry and I both thought that it would be just right.  The consultant applied both colours to Kerry’s face.   The darker tone blended in perfectly, while the rose-tinted powder gave her skin a grey tinge.  Kerry described the look as “fresh from being dug up”.

That experience taught us the wisdom of getting professional advice when choosing make-up colours.  We probably see ourselves in an idealised view, where the trained eye simply sees a particular skin colour.

Kerry is blessed with pale blue, deep-set eyes; she had explained that she does like eye shadow.  The Clinique assistant began by applying a very liberal amount of concealer.  She used about 3 times the amount I would apply, but by the time she was finished it was invisible.

She used a range of brown tones to bring out the blue in Kerry’s eyes, including a very smudgy eye liner.  She darkened the tone of Kerry’s eyebrows.  All the colours used were darker than Kerry would have chosen, and she said later that she was surprised that they were so flattering. We thought the overall effect was subtle; we could see that Kerry was wearing eye make-up, but it didn’t look like she was trying too hard.

The Clinique assistant chose a berry tinted lip colour to finish off the look.  Kerry usually favours brown-toned lipsticks, but the muted pink colour was balanced by the brown eye make-up.

We both thought that the experience demonstrated the value of taking the time for a make-up review with a trained adviser.  The Clinique consultant introduced us to new colours and products and showed up how to apply them to best effect.

These are the products that Kerry specially liked:

Superbalanced powder makeup SPF 15 (£27.00)

Colour surge eye shadow quad in choco-latter (£22.50)

Vitamin C Lip Smoothie (£13.50)

Quickliner for eyes intense £13.00

Kerry was so impressed with the Clinique make-up brushes that she purchased a powder foundation brush.  I always use ‘proper’ make-up brushes and can attest to their value in making it easier to achieve a good finish.

In addition, Kerry joined the Debenhams Beauty Club, an in-house loyalty scheme.

Suqqu Makeup

Suqqu is a range of cosmetics made by Kanebo cosmetics, a Japanese company.  It is sold in Selfridges in the UK.  As far as we know, that is the only outlet outside Japan or Thailand.

On the basis of a demonstration makeup, I think this brand deserves to be more widely known, especially for the foundation.  The Suqqu foundation has a luxurious-feeling creamy texture, feels light on the skin and gives an extremely beautiful finish.

My Suqqu makeup was applied by a sales assistant in Birmingham Selfridges.  She was wearing a name tag that said “Holly” but later told me her name was Lisa.  (Someone with imagination could write a short story about that.)

Holly/Lisa began by applying a makeup base.  This came from a small jar and was pale pink in colour.  She explained that it would smooth any inconsistencies in my skin and could be worn on its own.  I had explained that I usually only wear tinted moisturiser so perhaps thought of me as a ‘makeup averse’ customer.  At the end of the consultation she gave me a sample jar of the makeup base; I have tried it under tinted and I think that the result is an improvement.

The foundation was also in a jar, and was somewhat thicker in texture than most liquid make up – but not as thick as a gel.  Only a tiny amount was used to cover my face.  It was applied with fingers, and then a wedge-shaped sponge was used to blend it in around my nose and ‘large pore’ area.  The result looked very sophisticated without being too ‘made up’. 

Holly/Lisa noticed my blonde eyebrows (one has to look closely to see that I really do have eyebrows) and produced an eyebrow liquid pen to colour them in.  The Suqqu liquid pen is about the size of a small ballpoint pen, so that it fits easily into the hand.  The colour is very subtle, which is good because I have found that most colours are far too dark for me.  It looked so good that I purchased one; the price was £18.00.

She used a neutral eye shadow palette to emphasize my eyes, applying the darkest colour very close to my upper eyelashes instead of eyeliner. I liked the soft effect, but am not sure that I have sufficient brush finesse to replicate this look at home!

A peach-coloured blusher was applied, with an almost stern warning that peach was a much better shade for my colouring than pink.  This is one of the reasons why I like makeup demonstrations – a source of new and different ideas as to what colours work best for one’s colouring.  I tend to choose colours on the basis that I think they are pretty rather than their potential to make me look good.

The Suqqu blusher is described as ‘powdery’ but it is a creamy powder and did not look dusty on my face, as is the case with some powder blushers.

The Suqqu lipstick chosen by Holly/Lisa was somewhat paler than my normal choice, but looked good.  I was most impressed by the creamy consistency.  It stayed on longer than most creamy lipsticks.  It cost £24, which I thought rather expensive, but in view of its durability may buy one next time I am in Selfridges.

The rather unflattering photo shows me in the full Suqqu makeup as applied by Holly/Lisa.  As usual with demonstrations, the eye makeup is far darker than I would apply!

As I purchased Suqqu items that added up to a certain price I was given a set of samples.  This included the makeup base mentioned above, plus sample sizes of makeup fixer spray and pressed powder and a small sheaf of blotting paper.  I have been using the blotting paper and am impressed that it really does absorb excess oil and leaves my face with a matte finish.

On the whole, I thought that the Suqqu makeup range cost more than many others that I have tried, but the quality was very good.  I think that a jar of makeup foundation would last a long time, thereby giving reasonable value for money.  

Boots No 7

I felt that I needed a minimal make-up collection for taking on my travels.  As I wanted to spend money on my holiday, rather than make-up, I made my way to Boots, and the No 7 counter.

I discussed my needs with Charlotte, a most helpful sales consultant.  She recommended a fairly neutral eye shadow palate, and told me that the No7 eye shadow could be applied in layers.  A lighter layer would produce a very subtle effect; adding a few more layers would give a more intense wash of colour.

Before applying eye shadow, she dusted the area under my eyes with a light layer of translucent powder.  She explained that if any of the coloured eye shadow dropped onto my cheekbones, it would brush away when the powder was brushed off, rather than leaving a smudge below my eyes.  I shall try to remember this trick for everyday use, as it could be a real time saver.

I chose a pink toned palette called ‘Pretty Posey’ from the No7 Stay Perfect range.  It cost £9.50.

Charlotte added a layer of mascara to show the full effect of the eye make-up, but did not try to pressure me to buy anything that I did not want.

I asked about a lipstick to brighten up my face and she showed me a few variations of pinky-plum colours.  I chose a colour called ‘Excite’ (who comes up with these names) in the Sheer Temptation formula.  I note this it contains SPF 15, so will be extra good if I am out in the sunshine.  The lipstick cost £9.50.

There was an offer of a collection of 8 mini-size No7 products all packed in a cute make-up bag – mine if I spent £22 on No7 products.  This seemed too good to miss, so I added a nail varnish in a colour called ‘Sugar Syrup’.  This was £6.25, bringing my total bill to £25.25.

In my view, this was a bargain.   The collection shown here is only available for a short while, but Boots seem to run special offers very frequently, so keep your eyes open.

All the products mentioned are available from Boots   

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