Weekend Reads 07-06-2014

Skins UK

   Hey everyone, summer is here and it's my favourite time of the year. Walking barefoot, balmy evenings, sundresses, all that. Sleeping with the windows open. Basically anything with the windows open.
  Also, I've been re-watching Skins. I love the third generation the best.

   News: I'm on Instagram! Follow me at @eternalvoyageur 

Now onto the links:

* Sarah Silverman gives what is probably the best life advice I've ever read.

* Dress Like A Parisian has tons of practical dressing advice, even if you don't want to actually dress like a Parisian.

* The Ultimate Summer Diet Guide is so funny.

* Just stop saying "I have a boyfriend".

* Tips for Japanese tourists visiting the US. I can't even.

* For everyone who loves Skins (the series), I totally recommend checking out SkinsLockin and the Rophy recaps. The latter are a tad spoilers, and best red after you have watched the whole season.

* A tad too exhibitionist for my taste, but... still kinda cute (slightly NSFW).

* Book of the week: As someone who is really bad at cooking yet wants to eat heltha, "It's All Good" by Gwyneth Paltrow has been a life saver. The recipes are easy, call for few ingredients (if I see a long list of ingredients, I go "that's never gonna happen"), and are surprisingly good. Evan though some of her recipes are unusable for me because they are not vegetarian or use ingredients not available in Germany, there are still plenty of gems left. And the books is pretty. And there are even ready weekly meal plans for the extremely lazy.


Watch and learn: 

  

Makeup Favourite: Fibre Optic Blush Brush

   You know that I'm not one to throw the words "must-have" around lightly, so you can imagine that I really love this brush. It's a life saver for anyone who has trouble applying blush lightly and evenly and often looks like a clown. I can't get the hang of a proper blush brush -- it's ok if I'm using a bronzer or a very delicate blush colour, but anything else and I end up with two very uneven blobs on my cheeks. However with my fiber optic brush I can easily apply blush that looks very subtle and natural -- even if I am using vibrant fire-engine red!

    Fiber optic brushes (also called skunks -- though they are not made of skunk hair) are made differently than normal brushes: the black bristles are very shorter than the white ones, and their job is to separate the long white bristles. So, the only thing touching your skin is the very thin and flexible white bristles that are spaced pretty far apart. The brush picks up really teeny quantities of the blush, and applies it very lightly on the skin. The result -- soft, diffused colour with no streaks or harsh outlines. My brush is angled, which means that the colour is applied a bit more precisely than in a round one (where the colour would go all over the place). Fiber Optic brushes are also very soft, great for sensitive skins.

    Fiber optic brushes can also be used for blush, finishing powders, highlighters, bronzer, shimmers, etc. -- anywhere you want to use minimum quantities of product. They work with powder, stone as well as cream products. Obviously the size and shape of your brush can make it harder or easier to use it for all these purposes. Some brands also do fiber optic eye-shadow brushes or all-over brushes -- I haven't tried them yet but am very much tempted to do so!

     I apply blush with the Fiber Optic Angled Blush Brush in "stippling" or "dabbing" motions (lightly touching the cheeks several times). If the colour is not very vibrant, I do several layers. I usually contour my cheeks with a bronzer first (I apply bronzer to below the cheekbones to create slight hollows, because my cheeks are very round), and apply a light touch blush just above this. I never contour my cheeks with blush because it always looks very "makeup-y". I often add a very slight sweep of blush to the bridge of the nose, forehead and my chin -- it's almost invisible but makes the blush on the cheeks look more natural (because the colour of the blush is reflected in several parts of the face, and not concentrated just  on the cheeks).

   Fiber optic brushes won't work with very low-pigmented blushes in pale colours. (Low pigmented means that the pigment is thinned out with a lot of filler -- usually talcum powder, so that the blush never looks as saturated on your face as it looks in the palette). However it is perfect for more intensive colours, and mineral brushes (which are pure pigments).

     I recommend every make-up rookie to get a fiber optic blush brush -- it is an amazing trick to getting natural-looking blush, and will allow you to wear dark and vibrant blush colours with ease.

    I got my Fiber Optic Blush Brush from Lumiere cosmetics, however the company doesn't exist any more. Other good fiber optic brushes that I know of are the MAC 187, the one from Meow Cosmetics, and the one by Silk Naturals but such brushes are also made by many other brands. Do look up online reviews, as some brands have issues like shedding hair or bleeding colour. Also, not all fiber optic brushes are cruelty-free.
 
   Do you own a fiber optic brush? Or do you have another trick to apply blush lightly and evenly?

Moisturiser With Mineral SPF: Kimberly Sayer Spf 30

Update: though I still love this products, I have ditched moisturiser with SPF in favour of sunscreen. Here is why.

The Kimberly Sayer Ultra Light Facial Moisturizer Spf30 is nano-free, purely mineral, mostly organic, and it doesn't leave a white cast! What is this witchcraft?

     The texture is light, like that of a very light moisturiser. I like to do 2-3 layers for proper protection, I wait till the first layer sinks in before applying another. The last layer is usually around the eyes (where the skin is dry and prone to ageing), and the upper lip (where I get discolouration).
   Like I already mentioned, the product sinks in quickly and doesn't leave a trace of whiteness. It would work even for dark skin tones. The Kimberly Sayer Ultra Light moisturises my combination skin quite well, thanks to the nice balance between the oils/butters and the humectants. However it might not be moisturising enough for dry skin, in that case you want to apply a richer moisturiser or a few drops of oil below (or use the version for dry skin, more on that below). The product never broke me out. I do dust a bit of powder over it to keep my T-zone matte.

   If you're thinking "oh, but it only has an spf of 30", you need to know that the numbers of SPF, well, they are complicated. Basically SPF 15 product blocks about 94% of UVB rays; an SPF 30 product blocks 97% of UVB rays; and an SPF 45 product blocks about 98% of rays.
   The scent is lemony, it smells like lemony lemony lemon cakes. A nice, non-obnoxious scent that comes from the lemon oil in the product. Lemon oil is controversial, according to some it might make the skin more prone to pigmentation. Update: according to Kimberly Sayer  the lemon oil is distilled, and there is only a small amount of it in the product, so it should not be an issue.

the lemen oli is distilled, and there is only a small amount of it in the product, so the controversity regarding lemen oil is not an issue for this product like it is in many others. - See more at: http://www.venusianglow.com/2014/06/perfect-mineral-sunscreen-kimberly.html#sthash.bbVYGV4H.dpuf

he lemen oli is distilled, and there is only a small amount of it in the product, so the controversity regarding lemen oil is not an issue for this product like it is in many others. - See more at: http://www.venusianglow.com/2014/06/perfect-mineral-sunscreen-kimberly.html#IDComment981147903

he lemen oli is distilled, and there is only a small amount of it in the product, so the controversity regarding lemen oil is not an issue for this product like it is in many others. - See more at: http://www.venusianglow.com/2014/06/perfect-mineral-sunscreen-kimberly.html#IDComment981147903

     The product comes in an air-tight plastic bottle with a pump, convenient to use though not very ecological -- however it means that the product contains less conservants. Oh, and the bottle has an empty space at the bottom, to make it look bigger. Still, the 120ml does seem to last forever.
   There used to be an older version of 150ml of spf 25 for the same price, it is now discontinued.
   A similar product is the Kimberly Sayer Anti-Oxidant Daily Moisturising Cream SPF30. It is richer and meant for dryer skins, it has a lavender scent. It contains a couple of interesting anti-aging ingredients such as the amazing Tamanu oil, or Borrage extract. A problem is that the jar packaging doesn't provide as much sterility as the pump packaging, and some uses report the product going bad before they had the chance to use it all up.

   Obviously everyone wants to know how it compares with my old favourite, John Masters Organics spf 30. I'd say that John Masters is much heavier and leaves a very slight white cast, and it needs more powder to mattify. It is also pricier. However it is perfume-free, and the glass bottle is definitely more ecological (and aesthetic).

   I got my Kimberly Sayer spf30 at Lovelula.com for £25.80 for 120ml. It's not exactly cheap, but I am willing to invest in this product as it is almost perfect, and sun protection is the most important thing you can do for your skin with a cosmetics.

Bottom line: An ultra-light and non-toxic moisturiser with SPF that doesn't leave a white cast. I use it every day and it is definitely a staple on my shelf!

   Over to you: what sunscreen are you using right now? Has anybody tried either of the Kimberly Sayer's sunscreens?

Heidi Klum's Bra Advice In Germany's Next Topmodel

       There I said it, I watch Germany's Next Topmodel. I have a love-hate relationship with the show, on one hand I realise it is a shallow and judgemental thing. On the other I enjoy watching the beautiful photo shoots and always get extremely excited about the episode about acting. I also like how Heidi Klum actually mentors the girls, like shopping with them at Whole Foods and teaching them to cook healthy stuff. She is often very candid, admitting she sucks in her belly in or "it was either bangs or botox, so I went for bangs".
      One episode every season always includes a Victoria's Secret-esqe show, with lingerie and (original VS) wings. This season the show was cut to include much more back-stage and behind-the-backstage material, which included the girls trying on lingerie for the show. I was very much expecting to cringe, and I did, when the girls wore bras that clearly didn't fit. Here you can see the clip I'm talking about.
  Now comes a critique of the fit, feel free to skip it and  move on to the surprising advice Heidi Klum gives.
   Fuller-busted Betty was put into cups much too small for her and were supported by her boobs. Jolina was wearing a cup size to small and too big band that rode up in the back -- the classic "badly fitted bra model" look. Nancy had very padded cups that made her breasts look optically too small. Steffie's underwires were on top of her boobs (the center gore didn't lie flat), and her band rode up like crazy. Interestingly, things looked a tad better on the runway than they did backstage, probably because a team of stylists worked hard to make the ill-fitting bras look less ill-fitting.

   Heidi brought an armful of lingerie with her, and the girls had to try on everything. They didn't get bras in their size, but that was what I expected: models usually have to fit into clothes and shoes in generic sizes. Many photo shoots are done with clothes clipped at the back or cut open. What surprised me however is nobody acknowledging that the bras weren't in the right size (unlike shoes, the candidates often complained about having to walk in shoes that were too big or too small).
   I was a bit suprised at Heidi telling Nathalie not to wear the bra too high, saying that it is better to wear the band tighter and let the straps looser, otherwise one becomes folds under the armpits. Generally I do agree with the statement that the band should be as tight as possible (without being uncomfortable). However folds and bulges under the armpits mean that the cups are too small (and the band too big).
   So how high the bra should be worn? You should grab each end of one underwire with each hand and pull the cup up until the underwire sits flush with the bottom of the breast. That is the correct height! If you don't have a feel for how high you need to pull the cup up, your best bet is to try it with an unpadded bra and in front of the mirror. Now, if the band is sung enough (and the cups big enough), the bra should stay in place at this perfect height. However if the band is too loose, chances are the cups will sag; to make up for this you will want to pull the straps higher. This looks weird and feels uncomfortable.
     When you wear a bra in the correct size at the correct height, you can still decide how tight you want the straps to be. I like loosening the straps all the way, and then tightening them a bit. However I know that many women like to tighten their straps more to get a bit more cleavage. Maybe that is what Heidi Klum was referring to?

Kinda exaggerated, but you get the idea. Actually, most push-up bras flatten even more than in my illustration.

   Another interesting scene was Heidi putting on a dress on top of a soft triangle bra. She said: "We don't really want mega push-up bras any more, we don't want them hoisted up here, it's old fashioned. They can sag slightly, when they're hoisted I think it's old school to hoist them that high."
   I think what she is referring to here is the demise of the push-up silhouette, where cleavage is created at the cost of flattening the breasts from below, or the mega-padded silhouette where the breasts are impossibly round. Breast shapes do go in and out of fashion. I wouldn't mourn the demise of the round-and-high shapes since these can be achieved only with very padded and moulded bras, which are not really kind to the breast tissue. A softer, more natural silhouette might mean that unpadded bras will be more popular -- and such bras are the best for keeping the breast tissue firm and in a nice shape.
 
    Funnily, the bras looked like they fit better on the runway than backstage: the wings pulled the band down, and I imagine that the stylists and assistants were re-arranging boob tissue and smoothing stuff to make it look good.

  So, anyone else watches Germany's Top Model? Who did you root for? Or anywhere else's Top Model?