Advice from an Ego Mechanic
By Paula Owen Viola

I’ve really enjoyed doing makeovers at the Area coffees and getting to know more of our INC members. It gives me such satisfaction to see your faces light up and watch the moment you realize your beauty potential. When I work with professional models and actors, they are used to this transition. Working with “real” people is much more fun!
I want to share with you the “before and after” photos I took of some of the women I did makeovers on. Below are six examples along with my comments about what I concentrated on while working with them.
Do you have a beauty, skincare or make-up question you would like me to answer? Please write to me at owenviola@wanadoo.es, and I’ll do my best to reply in my next column. I look forward to hearing from you!

Elaine has beautiful features: bright blue eyes, full lips and a great smile. Because her brows are so fair and she wears glasses, she had never thought much about reshaping or using anything to enhance them. It’s amazing how many people can transform themselves by doing just this. The eyebrows are the frame for the eye and even pale blondes need some definition. The other big change I want to see her make is in skin care. Madrid is very dry and extra care in this department is essential. I used the Sisley “Hydra-flash” on her and watched the transition before my eyes.

Elaine Before	Elaine After

Faten has done the opposite of Elaine; she has over-tweezed her brows a little too much. Her large brown eyes need to have a bit more of a frame for them to look balanced. I filled her brows in slightly with a great mechanical eyebrow pencil from Estee Lauder. This type of pencil uses a very thin type of lead. Instead of thick lines, you can lightly feather in areas and the effect is completely natural. I also used one of my favorite pencils from Stila (kajal eyeliner—the best dark brown eyeliner pencil I’ve ever found) in a deep dark chocolate brown next to the base of her eyelashes. You are simmering, Faten!

Faten Before	Faten After

Kristen is a runner and spends a great deal of time in the direct sun. The negative results of this are showing up now in her 30s. I am doing a kind of special interest documentation on Kristen using the Sisley sun protection combined with a day cream called “All day All Year” that is supposed to totally protect and actually work to lighten sun spots. We will follow her progress over the next few months and I will report to you the results of our findings.

Kristen Before	Kristen After

Robin is very knowledgeable about make-up but she has a tendency to try to help blemishes clear up by “helping” them along. This is never the solution to better skin. I will repeat myself yet again: Do not touch your skin! Basically she has beautiful skin, so I used very little foundation on her. A concealer brush comes in handy when you want to cover small blemishes, you can zero in exactly where it is needed instead of using more than you need. I used a light, shimmery shadow down the middle of her eye lid extended up and under her brows. Using an eyeliner brush, I applied Bobbi Brown’s Chocolate Shimmer Ink longwear gel eyeliner as close to her eyelashes as possible and blended it up slightly into the lid. I used loose, translucent powder to help even out and soften skin tones, and even though she has a lot of natural blush, I finished with a soft pink on the “apple” of her cheeks.

Robin Before	Robin After

Chris has beautiful hazel eye color, so I used the khaki tone of the Phyto Khol Perfect eyeliner pencils from Sisley. These pencils have the most amazing texture; they glide and blend like magic. You want to use the pencil as close to and almost between the eyelashes. This is not to create a line; instead you are creating the illusion of a thick base of eyelashes with no line, just smudgey, dark color.

Chris Before	Chris After

Kathyrn has a tendency towards large pores and oily skin. Many people who have this kind of skin do not hydrate their skin for fear of break-outs and end up with overly dry skin. We went to see my friend Nieves at her perfumeria here in Las Rozas and Nieves gave her some samples from the Swiss Perfection line to try. Kathryn also bought a mask from Sisley called: Botanical Facial Mask with Tropical Resins to use once a week. This mask is wonderful for problem skin and can be used locally when break-outs occur. She also spoiled herself by getting the Baum Confort Levres, the Rolls Royce of all lip balms! We kept her make-up very simple, a Bobbi Brown tinted moisturizer base (SPF 15!), Calypso Coral cream blush from Bobbi Brown, set with a beige powder from Laura Mercier. The eyes were done with the same products I used on Robin. Using a soft, medium-sized brush I added a little bit of blush just below her brow bone in the middle of the eye (this always seems to brighten up the face). A bright
pink lip glaze from Stila (fruit punch) was the icing on the cake.

Kathyrn Before	Kathyrn After