Along with so many changes we have to face, one that is most common is droopy, hooded lids. As I’ve said before mother nature can be a bit of a bitch! However with the clever use of makeup we can celebrate our eyes, and love the eyes that we have.
We all have different demands, expectations, wants and needs from our makeup and these can change daily with our mood or situation.
Key to success is a clear understanding of what works, so I need to give you the basic skills first.
When I was a young makeup artist the first thing I learned was how to big up eyes, I would play and explore on my own face, then I was let loose on the paying public - it could have been messy! - however after making up thousands of women I really did find out what works and what doesn’t.
My first cosmetics house was Helena Rubinstein, if you remember it you will know, the demographic was mainly older women - I was 19, so used to head off to BIBA and YSL for the crazy colours - but it taught me well.
The most transformative - face enlightening makeovers I ever performed were on more mature eyes. So now that I am 62 and certainly fit into that category, I realise now how working for HR helped me on my quest to understand and develop my unique technique and makeup formulas for my Colourscope kits.
Women and girls of all age groups can have naturally heavy lids.
As a young makeup artist initially I honed skills for my own use. I was born with a very anaemic looking face, no eye brows and very little definition to my rounded face.
I recall my mother saying “I think our Jo-anne is going to be very plain” not something you could accuse me of now! My turning point came with my first cosmetic purchase - Mascara - I can honestly say it was my first miracle product.
So, decades on from my first encounter with makeup, and literally thousands of faces have been made up with my hands, I am here to share my tricks with you and show you how to accentuate the most expressive part of your face, your eyes. It’s truly worth the effort.
I just use concealer its works just as well. Primers are a new invention, designed by the big companies to promise a lot, deliver nothing and bulge out your makeup bag leaving you broke in the process!
My advice - spend your hard earned money on the important stuff.
If you are on my course, from your Colourscope range - use either the Peach or the Pink, use a sponge applicator to apply it.
If you haven’t got my kit please make sure you use medium toned matte brown shadow. It must NOT have any shimmer in it at all, or it will go horribly wrong and you will hate me for it. Shimmer emphasises wrinkles - fact.
Take a small amount onto your brush and follow the crease of the eye back and forth using a little at a time.
Using the residue on the brush blend up to your inner brow [ I know it sounds crazy, trust me ] then brush up at the outer edge of the eye joining the tail end of your eye brow, the goal of this is to give the illusion of lifting the eye up, giving a subtle look - blending seamlessly on to the lids.
*Take a look at the images of Nia, the main model from my book. Nia had particularly heavy lids, there’s no skulduggery with air brushing in my work - it’s purely down to the technique and colour choices.
When I was a kid I always felt inadequate. Surrounded by gorgeous beauty professionals in the London scene, me being a young lass from Sunderland, I was always referred to as cute, they would ask me to ‘Say something’ then fall about laughing at my accent. The beauty business, we have to be honest, was and still is full of women striving to be perfect. I knew I was the runt and far from perfect however I didn’t want to be cute - I wanted to be Jerry Hall!
Decades on, I believe my passion to learn and teach, plus my naivety endeared me to my clients and benefited my success. Bette Midler in particular was wowed by my tales of Northern beer ‘Journey into space with Newcastle brown ale’. She does like English beer.
So now at 62 I feel more beautiful than I ever have, because now I don’t give a stuff what people think. I take great joy from my family and friends saying I look lovely, the others can take a hike.
What I’m trying to say is that we should appreciate where we are in life, the experiences we’ve had and the changes we’ve made especially during this world pandemic. Understanding that beauty has nothing to do with age and everything to do with our own sense of self worth, our wisdom and emotional maturity, a beauty that comes with an abundance of talents ready to embrace the future with all that comes effortlessly with age.
Here we are now, in the middle of a world crisis, there’s never been a better time in our lives to get our Zoom face ready and rise to the challenges ahead of us. I don’t know about you but recently I seem to cry at the opening of Supermarkets! Either my HRT isn’t working or probably I just need to stop watching the news. If like me you need a distraction and you are ready to play?
There are so many ways we can connect, either in a virtual makeup masterclass 121 with me or using my new Online Makeup Course, you could even get your mates together for a Zoom like no other or order my book ‘Make Up Made Easy’ and make up kits.
The world is your Hamster! Anything goes right now but just know from me that you will feel amazing, that I do promise and in the words of some clever marketing person - you sure are worth it!!
It’s all designed to give you every possible tool to make things happen, you don’t have to be rich and famous to get these skills, you just have to be open and ready for change. There’s never been a better time to get onboard - be brave take the first step,
And don’t forget - Makeup is an expression of who you are not who you were, so what we wore aged 20 simply doesn’t work at 40 and that’s absolutely fine! I never did like white lipstick and teal eye shadow anyway .....
My new Eye Makeup Masterclass Course is available to buy from my website. The video course will guide you through all aspects of applying your eye makeup. You will learn how to use my technique and so much more. The beauty of it is, you can learn at your own pace and I will guide you through step by step. Simply purchase the course, you can access it under 'my courses' in your Jo Jewett account so you can rewatch it whenever you like.
