Heads, shoulders, knees and toes...



£6.95 per 30mls, click image to jump to Weleda



Sometimes it is easy to overlook a product simply because it is so much of a staple in your daily routine that you just take it for granted. So here is some feedback on my most overlooked product. I use it every day. It is so versatile – one of those products that have a multitude of uses, which makes it perfect for minimising what you carry around with you in your kit or handbag (or pocket!).

Created by one of the brands I have most faith in – Weleda – Calendula Weather Protection Cream was originally designed for babies. That is reassuring, as it is definitely going to be great for sensitive skins. I bought a tube of this gorgeous goo probably more than 6 months ago and to date I have used about an eighth of the tube. That is almost a whole 4 millilitres! In monetary terms that means I’ve used less than £1’s worth of the product! Ok, I’m getting carried away with my mediocre maths, but it still amazes me how far this product goes.

I use it everyday on my lips and on my hair. Lips and hair? Let me explain:

Just a miniscule drop on your fingertip will moisturise your lips for hours. It gives a slight sheen, but is gradually absorbed so the sheen does fade. It feels great so I like to reapply often, but that is not necessary.

An equally miniscule drop rubbed vigorously between the palms of your hands and applied sparingly to the surface of dry, styled hair will calm annoying frizz and flyaways. I have a frizz prone mop of undisciplined straw for hair, so I do use a little more on bad days. Go for less to start with and add more if required, otherwise you might get greasy roots (I’ve got the balance just right now).

I’ve also been known to pop some on my elbows, knees, heels, cuticles…anything dry will be softened beautifully by this cream. Another great tip is to apply it to your model’s lips after cleansing and moisturising. This will ensure that by the time you get to applying lipstick, his / her lips will be perfectly primed and flake-free. You can always blot before applying the lipstick to get rid of excess. Then, if you need a high-shine finish you can top the lipstick with another light layer of Calendula Cream…or for a gentle gloss finish mix a tiny bit in with your lipstick.

This is a product to experiment with. I’m sure I will be coming up with a multitude of alternative uses. I did once want to use it on a shoot to create high-shine on PVC, but annoyingly had forgotten to pack it on that occasion. That was the last time I made that mistake!

Maybe Weleda should run a competition to see who can come up with the most novel use for their Calendula Weather Protection cream…I may have to tweet that idea to @weleda!

 

Rant

Apparently, in the eyes of certain companies who are classified as ‘cruelty-free’, insects don’t deserve the same rights as other living creatures. I just discovered this and I am stupefied. Stupefaction hits me more and more frequently as I delve further into this research.

Yes, I have discovered a brand that is classified as cruelty-free, but uses silk in its foundation powder. If you don’t already know this, silk comes from the cocoons of silkworms. The cocoons are dipped in boiling water to kill the pupae inside, because the adult moth destroys the cocoon when it breaks out of it rendering the silk useless (to humans).

Call me crazy, but this does not cut the mustard in my world of cruelty-free.

Here is another discovery I made about a different so-called cruelty-free brand: they use crushed carmine beetles to colour some of their makeup products. Again, stupefaction (perhaps it was naive of me to assume that cruelty-free = vegetarian)!

Surely, with all the other amazing companies out there that manage to avoid insectile murder, these companies could find suitable alternatives? What is the point of going to all that trouble to steer clear of animal-tested ingredients when you still use dead creatures in your formulations? I don’t get it.

I will name and shame once I’ve done more thorough research. I just needed to voice my indignation publically! I'm using my blog as therapy! Thanks for listening.
 

A much-anticipated purchase from The Organic Pharmacy

So I finally splashed out on a product that I've been wanting to try for a long time. It is a cleanser made by The Organic Pharmacy and just the name makes me want to slather it all over my face (or even my toast)...Carrot Butter. Yum!



Flowers (and carrots!) for your face

Ironically, I discovered the Organic Pharmacy because of M.A.C, as they have a branch right next to the M.A.C store in Covent Garden. I noticed it about a year ago and I popped in just to satisfy my curiousity. Being a bit of a clean freak, I found the interior of the store a delight. It is an immaculate, even slightly futuristic pharmacy. The products are displayed in their own little white box shelves, with minimalist packaging. On that first visit I was helped out by a lovely woman who spent ages answering my questions and filling me in on the company, its ethics and its philosophy. I tried out a few things, but by far the product that excited me the most was their Carrot Butter Cleanser. I think the reason this product caught my attention was because I regularly used Ultrabland cleanser by Lush, but I was unhappy because it contains parabens (not-nice-for-the-environment-or-animals preservatives).

So I bit the bullet and bought some a few days ago. It is not cheap at £32.95 a pop, but when you consider the beautfiul, superior quality ingredients that it is composed of, it seems a fair price to pay. For your money you get 75ml which is quite a lot, and you only need to use a pea sized amount.

My first impression on opening the Carrot Butter Cleanser was its amazing fragrance. It smells almost medicinal, and that is because of the Calendula which has antiseptic and healing properties. I applied a small amount to my face using my fingers, and it easily melted to cover my whole face. Just a few gentle circles with my fingers loosened all my eye makeup. I gave my face a good massage and then wiped it off with a muslin cloth dampened with warm water as instructed. I really like the feeling of the cloth, as it is slightly textured, and it really leaves your skin feeling uber-cleansed. I have very dry skin, especially now in the winter, and after using this cleanser my skin felt smooth and flexible with none of that dried-out stretchy after-effect that so many cleansers seem to have. It is packed with carrot and rosemary which have antioxidant properties to protect your skin from free-radical damage, as well as St John's Wort which actually helps your skin to heal and regenerate. I would say this cleanser is particularly amazing for dry, sensitive and / or mature skins, although it is suitable for all skin types.

Here is the list of ingredients, which are conveniently hyperlinked to their excellent ingredients library, so you can click on the ingredient to view its description. Most comprehensive!

Jojoba (Simmondsia Chinensis), Shea Butter (Butyrospermum Parkii), Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Cacao), Coconut Oil (Cocos Nucifera), Carrot (Daucus Carrota), Marigold (Calendula Officinalis), St Johns Wort (Hypericum Perforatum), Rosemary (Rosamarium Officinale), Sesame Seed Oil (Sesamum Indicum), Vitamin E (Tochopherol), Lavender (Lavandula Officinalis), Chamomile (Anthemis Nobilis), Sunflower Oil (Helianthus Annus), Beeswax (Cera Alba)

My verdict is that this cleanser is just sublime. I am going to make it a staple product for myself and for my clients. The quality of what you put on your skin daily is so important, and avoiding harsh cleansers is imperative when working to achieve flawless makeup results.

I am also so very impressed with The Organic Pharmacy as a company. It was founded by Margo Marrone, herself a pharmacist. She created the products herself utilising her extensive pharmaceutical experience and passion for natural, herbal remedies. There is definitely no animal testing in any phase of their product development. The company is family run, so it has no affiliations with 'Big Brand Baddies'.  I have found the staff across various branchees to be cheerful, helpful and fully knowlegeable about what they are selling.

The Organic Pharmacy's website is a treasure trove of information and I would really recommend that you have a browse. I have learnt a lot from it and often refer back to it for general natural healthcare information. There is a lot of info about toxins and carcinogens, where they come from, what effects they have on your body and how to avoid them. There is also a blog and you can get advice from their team of experts.

And they have a makeup line!!! Of course I will be blogging about that soon. In the meantime, click the logo below and prepare to be impressed:

Acid face peel in a cotton pad?

My quest (and here I am envisioning myself as a medieval knight fighting fire-breathing dragons) to create high-end makeup using cruelty-free brands inevitably leads to discovering more natural products. This is a good thing, in my opinion. Immediate beauty is false, covered up by layers of product. However, if you consistently apply high quality, natural products to the skin, logically and provably the condition of the skin improves. The great thing about improved skin is that less makeup is required to achieve a radiant result. There are other great things about improved skin, but this is a makeup blog, and healthy skin makes my life easier!

Something that I learnt during my foray into ‘natural’ skincare retail a few years ago was that your average cotton pad is laced with bleach. This is one of the few really useful things I learned, and it has stayed with me. Somehow, I just envision that bottle of toilet bleach in my mind’s eye, the chemical solution dripping off my eyelashes onto my delicate skin (this is an extreme exaggeration of course), and I think perhaps this is a great start to a new Hollywood horror movie. Alternatively, one could use unbleached cotton to cleanse one’s precious sebaceous surfaces…

Yes, unbleached cotton pads exist, and they are available on the high street. The ever innovative Muji stores stock fabulous unbleached cotton in perfectly sized squares. You can actually feel the texture of the natural cotton and see the cotton seeds in these pads. They are cheap as chips (and healthier), and you can be reassured that you are applying your 100% natural, cruelty-free toner or cleanser to your skin without cancelling out that wonderful effect with evil, synthetic bleach.

I’m stocking up, and here is all the info you need to do the same:

Muji Online with useful store-finder: http://www.muji.eu/

Muji Ecru unbleached cotton pads: http://www.muji.eu/pages/online.asp?V=1&Sec=17&Sub=70&PID=2659

          

Recent Press

Some cool projects I worked on have recently been in the press:

Plexi Night Fashion Show - Makeup for designs by Zoe G Powell

(click logo to view mag)

Venrez the Band - makeup and hair for Superstar Magazine

He just couldn't help himself!

Click the photo to view article in Superstar Magazine

Listen to Venrez rock on his site

Weleda: Cosmetic Royalty

Weleda is a superior brand on every level. They produce a full range of skincare, hair care, body care, baby care, oral care and healthcare. All of their products are vegetarian and a lot are vegan (they use cruelty-free honey and lanolin in some products which are therefore not classified vegan). They actually have their own herb garden in Derbyshire, UK, where they grow more than 300 plants for use in the manufacture of their products.

Weleda does not test any of its products or ingredients on animals. They are also a member of the National Anti-Vivisection Society (http://www.navs.org.uk/home/) which is the first organisation in the world to campaign against animal experimentation.

Over and above all these incredible standards, Weleda scores even more for their policies on artificial ingredients and the environment. All their products are 100% natural, meaning there are no synthetic preservatives, fragrances or chemicals in anything they produce. They do not even use plants grown using chemical pesticides or fertilizers and will not use genetically modified ingredients. They have fair-trading partnerships with the numerous countries where they source their top-quality ingredients. You can read more about all these standards by following these links:

Weleda Vegan Products: http://www.weleda.co.uk/page/specialrequirements

Weleda Animal Testing and Welfare policy: http://www.weleda.co.uk/page/faqs#anchor27

Weleda Standards: http://www.weleda.co.uk/about-weleda/our-standards/stry/subcategorytitle04/

Partners and Projects: http://www.weleda-naturals.de/index.php?id=partners#Ende

I use a lot of Weleda products in my daily skin and hair care routine. I can personally vouch for the Wild Rose and Iris Skincare range (the Wild Rose is my favourite and has a refreshingly cooling effect), as well as the Calendula and Chamomile Shampoo and Conditioner. I also posted about their Men’s Shaving Lotion in my Q&A and you can read my review here: http://sarahfrascamakeup.blogspot.com/p/q.html

I would recommend joining the Weleda Facebook page to get regular updates and also lots of special offers. I also follow them on Twitter. Weleda Facebook link: http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/weleda.uk, Weleda Twitter link: http://twitter.com/weleda.

Weleda is available at most health food stores throughout the UK. They have a store finder on their homepage, where you can also shop online: www.weleda.co.uk

Read it and weep

Typical animal tests used to test cosmetics and ingredients:

1. The first test is for eye irritations, or Draize test, in which shampoos and cosmetics are put into rabbit’s eyes, which are fastened, open. The chemical causes blistering, swelling and blindness. The pain often becomes so intense that the rabbit breaks its back trying to get away from it.
2. The second test is the skin irritation test in which the test animal has an area of its back stripped of fur and the test product repeatedly rubbed into the bare skin causing rash, pain and swelling.
3. The third test is the LD/50 test (Lethal dose - 50% die). In this test cosmetics are force fed to test animals to determine the amount necessary to cause 50% of them to die in severe agony from such things as organ blockage, toxic reaction, and convulsions.
4. Fourth is the inhalation test. In this test, animals are sprayed repeatedly in the face for a 2-1/2 hour period, and then killed and their tissues examined.

Info from: http://www.veganrepresent.com/

It’s not just a crime, it’s a Lime Crime

Here it is people, the Lime Crime review. I was so excited to use these lipsticks and see if the colours could possibly be so vivid. I had the perfect opportunity this weekend on a quirky Barbara Cartland-themed shoot. I used the following two craaaazy colours (just loving the names too):

             

Lime Crime in "No she didn't" and "Countessa"

The texture of these lipsticks is quite waxy, which means they feel lovely on the lips. The colour is exactly like the images and really OTT, which I love. I found I had to apply them quite carefully with my lip brush in a patting motion as side-to-side painting caused the colour to separate a bit. After a little getting used to I had no trouble removing and re-applying at speed. I also mixed them together for the final look and achieved an amazing lilac that was unusual and quite lovely. The finish of these lipsticks is quite plastic (in a good way) and you can mattify them if you blot and powder the lips with a translucent face powder.

Before applying the lipsticks I lined the lips with Illamasqua pencils in Manic and Debonair.

Lime Crime was created by Doe Deere to satisfy her obsession for uber-bright makeup. The brand is animal loving all the way so I’m thrilled to have discovered it. Their range of cosmic eye-shadows and lipsticks is guaranteed to satisfy your inner cyber-punk and give you visions of fluorescent bunnies hopping through electric-green fields. Do visit their funky website: http://www.limecrimemakeup.com/

Lime Crime is available in the UK at SPACE.NK.apothecary: www.spacenk.co.uk

Result!

These images are from my favourite shoot to date with Fernando Lessa and Karolina Maria Renor. I finally had the opportunity to put Illamasqua’s Disciple lipstick to the test and it was all that I expected!

You can see the related behind-the-scenes video here: http://sarahfrascamakeup.blogspot.com/2011/01/who-needs-studio.html

No swans were harmed in the making of this movie

As an ex-ballerina, I have always found it impossible to adequately articulate what an impact ballet had on my life. Now I no longer have to try and explain it to people…I can just refer them to Darren Aronofsky’s new masterpiece, Black Swan.

I don’t know how Aronofsky knew all that detail about what goes on inside a dancer’s head and how psychologically bizarre a ballerina’s self-identity can become. It is an astonishing piece of work, and Natalie Portman surpassed herself on every level.

So, let’s talk about the makeup. Ballet, of course, involves a lot of fabulous face painting. I was doing stage makeup from the age of 10. This is actually where my love for makeup started. I used to practice at home and my friends would often ask me to help them out before shows. The lining of the eye for typical ballet makeup takes a lot of practice. It does look quite strange close up, as the aim is to significantly enlarge the eye by basically redrawing it. Of course the makeup for the swan queen in Black Swan is not ballet makeup at all, but for the film it works so well and has created a youtube tutorial sensation.

Black Swan Makeup designed by Judy Chin

Typically for full ballet stage makeup the whole face is covered in cake foundation or pan stick. The application is heavy and often the eyebrows are blocked out and redrawn slightly higher to compliment the enlarged eye. This facilitates projecting facial expressions from such a distance and in such harsh lighting. Black liner is applied below the lower water-line following the shape of the eye and extending quite far beyond the outer edge. White eye pencil is applied to the water line and between the water-line and the new lower eye line. Black liner is applied to the top eye line as well, and extends beyond the outer edge parallel to the lower line (think Egyptian, but less severe). The tear duct is amplified using a red dot or short red line, and red and white are applied between the black liner where it runs past the outer edge of the eye, thus completing the new, enlarged eye. Large false lashes are applied and a heavy coating of waterproof black mascara on the top and bottom lashes. Normally not much dark eyeshadow is applied to avoid ‘closing’ the eye. A lot of highlighter is applied on the brow-bone and sometimes even a white line is drawn under the new eyebrow. Lip-colour depends on the role, but is normally a medium pink. The cheeks are normally enhanced with a pink blush and a dramatic contouring under the cheekbones. A lot of powder is applied as the stage-lighting is very hot. Towelling off is required constantly throught the performance and touch ups are done between acts.

Cynthia Gregory, American Ballet Theatre

Moira Shearer in The Red Shoes

You can watch the trailer for Black Swan here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5jaI1XOB-bs