Makeup Tips Galore from Lancome & Dr. Klauer Event!

It’s been awhile since I’ve had a makeover (I want to say not since my Chanel makeover last May), and to be honest, I’m not a huge fan of makeovers, but I really enjoyed this one.  Perhaps it’s because I’m so into blogging nowadays, so I always have a lot of questions to ask, and I’m really listening to what they’re saying.  The picture above is me post-makeover, and it turned out well, thanks to Kim the Lancome Expert.

First, since the event was focused on Dr. Klauer and her philosophies about eating right and exercising, I want to talk a little about what I gleaned from her.  I do want to preface it with the fact that I have not read her first book, though now I have an advanced copy of her second book (all attendees received a signed copy!).  She spoke about the importance of getting certain vitamins, like Vitamin D-3 and Omega-3. 

She talked a bit about the importance of calcium and getting a bone density scans once you start menapause.  The reason for this is because it gives you a baseline so you can see how and how fast your bone density is decreasing.  She advocates eating more fish, because of the benefits of them as a food, but also because of their Omega-3 amount.  She does mention that if you’re young or still planning to have children to make sure you are aware of mercury levels in fish, so you may want to dry dark Italian tuna. 

There’s tons more advice and makeup tricks I learned and heard…

Also, I learned that those trouble spots that never go away–you know, back of the thighs, the butt–don’t go away for a reason.  In times of starvation, a woman was still to be able to bear a child by using those fat reserves in those hard-to-lose areas.  As a result, the fat is very resistant to diet and exercise.  Dr. Klauer said the best time to address these are during pregnancy or lactation.  Interesting, no?

One other quick thing is that you should measure your waist to help determine if you need to lose weight.  Apparently, holding fat on your stomach is a very, very bad thing, even if you’re not necessarily heavier all over.  To find your true waist, Dr. Klauer told us to find the top of your hip bone with one finger, and then find where your lower rib is with another, and then exactly between those is your true waist.  If this is over 35″ for a woman (40″ for men), she recommends losing a few pounds.

By the way, did you know it takes 10 years before you see the damage that the sun did to your face?  The example Lancome used was remember that time you were laying on the beach 10 years ago?  Now you’re starting to see the results.  The event lasted three hours, with the first hour being mostly listening to Dr. Klauer, and the other two were about getting makeovers from skin to color.

Lancome Boutiques carry a line of products called Secret de Vie, which is a high-end, upper echelon range of beauty products that address a total range of needs, as well.  When I spoke with Kim, I asked if this was comparable to Creme de la Mer, La Prairie, etc., and while she made sure to let us know that Secret de Vie is using the latest technology (where as Creme de la Mer is a cult favorite and is using the same formula as made it famous, naturally), but yes, it’s targeting many of the same audiences.  They were offering a set of full sized Secret de Vie products for $385, which saves you $100 if you were buying them separately, so it was definitely a good deal.  I would have loved to try this for a few weeks, but alas, my wallet does not agree with the price tag as a poor law student.

Our makeup was removed using Secret de Vie cleanser, and then we were treated to their Resurface Peel, which is an at-home glycolic peel with 8% glycolic acid.  After about five minutes, the mask was removed, and some had the Comfort Cream applied in case of any excess redness (typcial after intensive masks like a glycolic).  Kim chose High Resolution Eyye Collaser-5X, an anti-wrinkle serum for my eyes and Primordiale Cell Defense serum for my face.  Because of my age group (the 20s), I ended up using the Primordiale skincare line for my moisturizer as well.  I did test out Secret de Vie on the back of my hand, and it has a great, thick consistency that feels luxurious. 

I asked Kim how long Secret de Vie would last, and she said on average, 4-6 months, depending on the person’s skin type (oily skinned users should have it last longer as you only need a pea size or so for your whole face; dry skinned users could go through it faster).  It is marketed as the do-it-all line, rather than having ten different products for ten different concerns, which is something that I always wish for.

What she used for my makeover:

• Tient Idol Foundation in Bisque 6
• Star Bronzer (Pictured below - I bought this!)
• Bronze Escapade (Blush)
• Carribean Crush lipstick
• Summer Night gloss (gorgeous)
• Cabana Sunrise palette on my eyes
• Sable Brown Pencil for brows
• Hypnose mascara

I purchased the Star Bronzer, because it’s very pretty to look at, but also because Lancome assured me that the color goes all the way through–so the shimmer you see on the top layer, you will also find throughout the product.  While the cherub may dust away over time, the colors will remain.  It is also huge, probably five or six inches in diameter, because it is meant to be both a face and body bronzer (though Kim recommended you use something else on legs, as legs will eat up product quite fast and it’s not at all time-efficient!), especially neck and decolletage.

I already own one of the summer palettes, so I asked Kim to use the other one for my eyes (which is cooler with pink tones, whereas the one I own is golds and warm browns–gorgeous, by the way!).  She didn’t use a base, and yet the shadows stayed on just fine throughout the rest of my day.  I was pretty happy with the way my makeup turned out, and I enjoyed the event because I did learn several new tips and tricks, both from Dr. Klauer and my makeup artist, Kim.

Few Quick Makeup Tips

• Bronzer before blush–doing blush before hand will just end up with bronzer over it and negating your blush
• Serums go on freshly cleaned skin so they can sink in most easily
• If you use an eye serum, you still need an eye cream
• You do want to have an AM & PM regimen, unless your moisturizer is for both (Secret de Vie is AM and PM), because traditionally, AM products are designed to protect your face, whereas PM products are designed to restore your face
• Lancome shadows can be used wet or dry without creating a yucky film
• For fair skin, apply bronzer lightly starting directly on the apples of cheeks before moving elsewhere.  Use a fairly dense, stiff brush (Kim used Lancome’s Precision Cheek brush)
• Always make sure to dust bronzer on your neck if you’re going to wear it all over