Jack & Hill: A Beauty Blog - make-up, cosmetics, perfume, and the substance of style

Happiness and the art of eyebrow maintenance

Arkansas Jax
Originally uploaded by dynamist.

I've been MIA from this blog for far too long. Huge thanks to Hillary, Alice, and Nancy for picking up so much of the work. I can only blame moving and a new mission in life (as director of marketing for Qik).

Last weekend I made a big change, deciding to thin my eyebrows considerably - you can see the results here. Once thick brows became fashionable, I took that as an excuse to be lazy. I still went through my usual waxing and pruning regime, but I didn't do much thinning.

I don't know what got into me, but I'm really pleased with the results. The right brows should make you feel as if you don't need much makeup at all, if any. That's exactly what this new pair has done for me.

Sorry to make such a big deal about something so small, but I agree with Nigella Lawson (owner of an exquisite pair of brows herself), who tells her children to take pleasure in the little things, since there aren't enough big things in life to keep you happy.

I never wear my hair back

  Original photo by Kristie Wells 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

There is something off-putting about having one's face so on display. But with the recent heat wave in the Bay Area (oh yeah, did I mention I've moved?), I've taken to doing so more often. Really, I don't think anyone is paying that much attention to my face, and if they are, they're probably thinking, "Woman, sort out those eyebrows." That's on tap for this weekend. Yes, my life is rich and full.

Original photo by Kristie Wells

I left my tweezers in San Francisco

  Jeremy Pepper's goodbye party 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

My good ones from Rubis, anyway. All I have are a flimsy little pair that breaks the hairs off rather than pulling them out by the root. (This picture is from March, but is an accurate representation of how my brows look when they haven't been pruned properly for a while.)

I did my best today, with wax strips and a prayer. It's not even close to sufficient. Good thing I'm flying back to the Bay Area tomorrow...

TweezLight

It's very unusual for beauty gadgets to have any value beyond their novelty (I'm thinking in particular of the lipstick compact I had that opened electronically like the door to the spaceship in Close Encounters). And novelty wears off. But the TweezLight is an exception. It is a simple concept: A pair of nicely honed tweezers with a built-in LED light so you can see what you're doing. The patented design is well thought-through. The light bulb is located between the tongs, so that it's beam falls unobstructed on the hair or splinter you're tweezing and can't be blocked by fingers or other shadows. And the sides of the tweezers have well-positioned finger grips. I find that this tool is useful not just in low light, but even in a well-lit bathroom as it provides the extra light you need to see really fine hairs, making it an improvement on, and replacement for, regular tweezers. Mine is pink and cute, too, with a case for carrying around. The light is good for finding car keys in your purse, too.

MAC Flashtronic

Here, again, I thought I'd juxtapose the gorgeous MAC photography with the "real life" application. I tend to prefer excess and drama when it comes to makeup, and subtle shades usually go right beneath my radar, but something about this soft look actually thrills me.

The Mineralize eyeshadow is made up of four colors that swirl together under the brush--so even though the color is far from bold, it has pearly depth and interest. This also makes it possible to wear a single color and have a lot of contour (I must take better close-in shots to post later). This is Quarry, made up of "sky blue, olive, coral and beige veining."  The Mineralize Skinfinish on my cheeks is Gold Spill, put on with a loose brush and a light touch. The lipstick is Fast Lane ("mauve with silver pearl") from the Rush Metal line. I've been longing for a really wearable, sophisticated everyday lipstick combining creaminess, shine and pearl, and this is it--yes there is life after lip gloss.

If you like these, don't relegate them to the wish list, as they are special editions and won't be around forever. I would have walked right by every single one of these products in the store, and must thank MAC's PR department for the review samples.

If my skin tone looks particularly even, that's Nancy's Kiehl's Tinted Moisturizer, with a bit of MAC Studio Fix on the shiny bits. Along with MAC Zoom Lash mascara, and Stila Brown Definer, this is my new desert island kit, and outside the line of duty, I will likely be wearing this face pretty much every day until I am sick of myself.

Sienna Miller's Valentino look

As even a cursory glance at the Go Fug Yourself archives will reveal, Sienna Miller does not always get things right when it comes to her overall look. It's usually her clothes that let her down. But this time, even the GFY girls are giving her a hard time for the dramatic look she sported in Rome last week, while at a Valentino event and - the next day - on a shoot for the same designer.

It's a tad overwhelming. She just doesn't quite look like herself, as if this is her overly shiny and apple-cheeked wax replica, posed awkwardly as if she's ushering tourists into Madame Tussaud's Hall of Questionable Talent.

I have to say, though, that I like this very much. It's not an everyday look, and definitely not the sort of thing you'd wear to the office. But that looking not quite like herself is sort of the point: This is the sort of maquillage that conventional wisdom tells us is out of the realm of possibility for those who work in offices. It is the opposite of practical, transforming without being hideously distortive, and for that I think it is really quite brilliant.

The truth is, most of us don't have the courage to try a look like this, not in the privacy of our own bathrooms and certainly not before the world's press. If there is anything to admire in Sienna Miller, it is that she tries. Many people love to sneer at those who try, especially if they often fail, but she does fail exuberantly. I find that a winning quality in any person.

Blink Eyebrow Bar revisited

  Japanese food in Hampstead 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

Let's be real: Out of all the products you buy and try on a yearly basis, how many really make a big difference to how you look and feel? Out of all the treatments you undergo, how many of them genuinely improve your appearance and confidence?

The most rewarding thing I do for myself is get my brows done. (Pedicures are a close second, but since they're not quite as visible, can't truly compete.) I've learned how to do them myself in such a way that I can go between visits to my favorite threaders at the Blink Eyebrow Bar inside Harvey Nichols in London and not feel like a total Chewbacca. But when I do go back there - as I did yesterday - and have them done by a real expert, the difference is so overwhelming that I wonder how much worse my life would be if I had never done this. I look happier and my feelings alter accordingly.

Many thanks to Vanita and Aula at Blink for the complimentary threading (I would - and have, most times - paid the £15 charge to have my brows done at Blink) and the fab eyebrow gel, which is much less gloopy than the otherwise fine Tarte version I've been using.

J Sisters, New York City

  Instruments of torture 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

Yeah, I know I'm hardly the first girl on earth to make the pilgrimage to J Sisters in New York. But I feel I must mark the occasion, which happened last week, with a blog post.

First, I got a full leg and bikini wax by Melissa. I went for the Hollywood, which...Well, what is there to say about that? I'm sick of hearing psychobabble about women who go totally bare, all of which overlooks the fact that we may just prefer to be extremely tidy town there. As Melissa said when I grimaced for the thousandth time, "Just remember, it's all worth it in the end." (I actually find having my calves waxed to be much, much more painful than any other below the waist waxing.)

I then got my eyebrows done by Fatima upstairs. Fatima rocks! And she has the celebrity customer autographs to prove it. She's just such a gentle, lovely woman, and her little studio has the perfect atmosphere - calm, relaxing, and fragrant. Fatima first trimmed and threaded the tops of my brows, waxed underneath, and finally finished up with a little plucking. I'd recently tidied my own brows, so this took no longer than ten minutes. I can't describe to you how much more confident I feel wearing my best possible brows, and that's exactly what Fatima created for me.

My friends and I are planning a girly weekend in New York, and J Sisters will figure very prominently. You know what they say: The friends who depilate together stay together!

The joy of (groomed) brows

  Heaven is... 
  Originally uploaded by dynamist.

I can think of few things more satisfying than suffering weeks of overgrown eyebrows (daily plucking of strays does not equal the look of having them freshly pruned) and then finally getting them sorted out. It imparts a feeling of well-being and peacefulness than no cup of green tea or meditation session can.

So why did my brows get out of control? Listen to my nightmare.

Before we departed for the US for the holidays, I didn't have a chance to get threaded. I figured I'd get some wax strips (those handy strips which already have the wax on them, which you heat and then apply and let rip) once I arrived. Except no shops in my small hometown carried them. And when I took a two-day trip to NYC, none of the pharmacies I checked had them either.

Finally, I found a box of wax strips at the grocery store back in Ohio. When I went to use them, the box contained a little spray bottle of de-sensitizing liquid, the usual 'calming' wipes...and no strips. Someone had stolen them. I went back to the store to exchange them for another box, and it turned out that every box on the shelf was empty. Someone (Chewbacca?) had made off with about 80 wax strips. I almost burst into tears right there in Kroger.

So when I got back to London, I sorted myself out before I'd even unpacked. We're heading back to the US tomorrow, and it's nice to do so with streamlined brows. (While I'm in NYC, I plan to hit J Sisters for a variety of services, so watch this space for more on that.)

Miss USA's crimes against beauty

Miss USA may have been dethroned as a consequence of her cocaine-fuelled lesbian romps* with Miss Teen USA, but I reckon that was just a cover. The real shocker here is that she was getting away with those brows.

Photo courtesy WireImage

*I've been in London too long if tabloid-headline-speak comes that easily...