5 Tips To Wake Up Your Winter Makeup

If you are anything like me then you have a major dose of the mid January blahs.
The fun and excitement of the holiday season is now firmly ensconced in the rear view mirror, your waistline is resplendent with holiday carbs, and the face in the mirror is reflecting grey skies with makeup boredom and stressed out mid winter skin.

Need a little makeup pick-me-up?

Here are 5 tips to wakeup your mid-winter makeup

image via Oprah.com

1) Make sure skin is well hydrated before you apply your foundation -  dry/sensitive/irritated winter skin doesn't hold makeup well. If you are wind burned/extra irritated from cold weather + central heating try Elizabeth Arden 8 Hour Cream or Rhonda Allison Grape Seed Oil to help smooth skin and provide a barrier.

2) use a silicone based foundation like Makeup Forever HD Foundation to help skin glow. Apply sparingly with a duo fiber brush to get a sheer smooth cover.

image via www.taaz.com

3) Use a cream blush to make complexion look alive and vibrant.

4) If you're feeling washed out, use warm tones on the eyes. Bronzey/warm golds warm up a lifeless complexion. Silvers, greys and blues can leave you looking ashen and cold.

5) If you are looking pale make a statement with a strong lip color. Red is always exciting, this year I am wearing a punchy fuchsia to liven everything up.

The Magic Of Facial Oil Products

Chances are if you're looking for younger, dewier, more radiant skin, one of the last things you're probably thinking of adding to 

your skin care regime is oil.

image via www.macsmagazine.com

But it just so happens that oils are the biggest thing out there when it comes to moisture boosting, wrinkle fighting, inflammation reducing and anti aging.

Super boosted with high performance additives such as 

peptides, vitamin C, and retinols they are able to deliver

active ingredients without irritating the surface of the skin.

Standing alone they super hydrate and boost the skin,

giving it the most delicious glow.

For years I've been loving oil cleansers, 

particularly the Shu Uemura cleansing oils.

Shu Uemura Cleansing Oils

Cleansing oils both dissolve makeup and lift away impurities, without stripping the skin. They are fabulous for oily complexions too. If you think about what happens when you mix water and oil - they separate. Want to lift away excess oil? Use a specially formulated cleansing oil designed for an oily complexion, and you've struck gold.

These days I'm using the CitriCleanser cleansing oil 

from Scottsdale based EstheCeuticals.

Skin care oils can be used alone, on top of serums, or mixed with moisturizers. They run the gamut from simple oils, such as Rhonda Allison's Grape Seed Oil to more complex oils.

One of the pioneers of luxury face oils is fashion stylist Linda Rodin. 

Frustrated that she couldn't find skin care that worked, she made up a brew of her favorite oils (including sweet almond, argan and apricot seed) in a coffee cup in her bathroom. The change in her skin was visibly remarkable.

Rodin Olio Lusso went on to become one of the most sought after oils in the fashion industry, by makeup artists and models alike,

and has sold more than 50,000 bottle worldwide.

There are now so many different facial oils available on the market,

targeting every conceivable skin need. You can use them under foundation to make it hold and glow all day, you can use them to keep the skin hydrated. There are oils to tighten pores, others to balance sebum, some to defy aging, some to keep skin firm - the list is endless.

In my new skin care regime from EstheCeuticals I'm using their Skin Seal Ceramide Serum, which some days I use alone as a moisturizer, some days I add to my moisture equation. Most days I like to allow it to settle into my skin  before I apply foundation, and on shoots I will apply a drop or two to my model or actress's face prior to foundation, just to make everything glide on smoothly and add a radiance to the skin.

Whichever facial oils you add to your skincare program you will see an almost immediate and discernible improvement to your complexion. Because that's just how they work.