Part 1: The Big Cleaning of The Make-up Kit

To prepare for the start of the school year, the children cleaned up their school bags and their pencil case. So imitate them by going around your old makeup kit where expired products accumulate! Our experts help you choose what to keep and what to discard.

You would never leave rotten food in your fridge, but keeping a five-year-old mascara in your purse does not bother you at all. Well, believe it or not, expired cosmetics can be as dangerous to your health as moldy foods!

Dr. Paul Matewele, a professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences at London Metropolitan University, tested five types of beauty products, from big houses to cheap ones, that had passed their expiration date or were about to expire. achieve. These cosmetics, which included foundations, lip glosses, and lipsticks, contained traces of the bacterium Enterococcus faecalis, which can cause deadly diseases such as meningitis or sepsis.

More broadly, his study showed that products that had expired a few months ago could contain other deadly bacteria, including Eubacterium (which causes vaginitis) or Staphylococcus epidermidis (which is resistant to antibiotics and can lead to death when it attacks weak people). "Most women do not know at all that their makeup can be fertile ground for the development of deadly bacteria," says Rakesh Aggarwal, CEO of Escentual.com, who commissioned the study. "To be honest, I must say that we ourselves have been surprised at the results and the seriousness of the risks posed by expired cosmetics."

That's the motivation to start a big housework, is not it? The first thing to do is to empty your kit, your cheap makeup bags, and your drawer bottoms forgotten cosmetics there for a long time, then to clean all these containers. The second is to throw away old products that may harbor whole colonies of dangerous bacteria. "Many women do not remember when they bought this or that cosmetic. What matters to them is to get their money's worth and get the most out of the little tube of the foundation they have just offered at an extravagant price. They want it to last as long as possible! "Says Cindy Berthault, professional make-up artist for NARS.

Beauty products made in Europe have a shelf life after opening. "This is a logo representing a small pot with a number, which indicates how many months the product can be used after being opened," says Dr. Nina Roos, a dermatologist based in Paris. But several factors affect the shelf life of make-up products. "If they have been exposed to significant changes in temperature, they will not be preserved very long," says the dermatologist. Cindy Berthault adds: "Heat is the worst enemy of cosmetics. To make yours last, put them in the fridge. It will extend the life of your nail polish and your foundations! "

How to Choose a Perfume for The Summer?

When the summer comes to the end of the nose, pull the sweaters and take out the little tops. It is the same for the perfume: we put its winter perfume in the bottom of the cheap makeup bags to give place to the summer scents.

What is a summer scent?

During the summer and its Caliente temperature, your nose needs fresh and light smells. That's why some perfumes are particularly well suited to this season.

The scent of summer, it is first scents in all lightness, at the same time refreshing and tonic. Prefer the eau de toilette that will bring together the desired agreements.

Some perfume waters can also be subtle and therefore you can grab it into your cheap makeup bags in the summer season. We often find citrus notes of lemon, tangerine, orange, grapefruit, and bergamot. These are top notes that evaporate quickly.

To thwart this action, floral arrangements can be used, such as rose, violet, lily of the valley, jasmine, tuberose, orange blossom or the smell of freshly cut grass. They are very popular with women because they adapt well to different skins and evoke the great outdoors, freedom.

Finally, in base notes, we can discover chypre, fruity scents (apple, apricot, red fruits or exotic fruits) or woody and musky for more modernity. These chord harmonies are designed to make you desirable with a stimulating and glamorous scent.

The essential summer perfumes

As every year, in fine weather, new fragrances come to settle in gondola heads in perfumeries. We currently find "Color" of Kenzo, a fruity fragrance of water with notes of blueberry and violet.

Cerruti creates the buzz with "Cerruti 1881 Bella Notte", available for you, women, but also for your men. On the feminine side, it releases essences of bergamot, blackberry, amber, and musk.

Yves Saint Laurent perfumes reinvent themselves ... A new "Paris" juice arrives with light and floral fragrances of lily of the valley rose and peony. For its part, Lancôme creates its new summer version of "Life is beautiful", both floral and greedy with touches of praline.

Thierry Mugler does the same with his fourth version of "Alien". This eau de toilette releases first of all its citrus notes then its heart notes composed of tiare flowers and cashmere wood, ending with notes of white amber.

5 Beauty Secrets From Korea

Give your skin an incomparable freshness and ultra-velvety grain thanks to powerful natural active ingredients, smart products and delicate rituals inspired by the beauty habits of the "country of the calm morning".

1.The charcoal, champion of brilliance

In Korea, it has been used for centuries in doctors' offices, in the form of blocks to purify the air and in saunas to help skin detoxify. It is by observing this that the specialists discovered to him super-cleansing virtues. Applied to the face, it acts like a magnet, attracting all toxins and dust to its surface. You'll find it in masks, in konjac fiber sponges or in foaming gels for daily cleaning.

This is for me if ... you find that your skin is "grayed" by pollution or if you are looking for a mask even more purifying than those with clay. The advantage of coal: all skins can benefit, even the most sensitive.

2.Single-dose masks, youth shots

Sold individually, these masks are perfect for small budgets and offer a tailored response to the skin. Their origin? The Koreans traditionally applied leaves over their masks to limit the evaporation of the formula and enhance the action of the ingredients. The cosmetic brands, therefore, had the idea of creating single-dose, directly impregnated sheet masks that make it easy to change the formula, without fear of wasting one's pot.

You can get it into your cheap makeup bags if you're naturally in a hurry and you rarely have time to put on a classic mask. These do not rinse and often act in less than 5 minutes. Do not forget to squeeze the pack before removing the fabric to impregnate the product.

3.Foundations and BB creams, anti-aging allies

These magic formulas of perfect complexion are halfway between care and makeup. The first was intended for post-procedure care in dermatological offices, such as micro peeling that Koreans love, to show immediately after an irreproachable complexion. Moisturizers, smoothers, unifiers, protectors (they have an SPF), they contain in addition corrective pigments. The novelty of the year: the addition of anti-aging active ingredients, for an additional youth action at each touch-up.

You can get it into your cheap makeup bags if you are looking for a complexion-enhancing product without any material effect. The mature skin the quickly find essential because, thanks to their lightweight texture, they do not mark wrinkles but perfectly camouflage the defects.

4.Care waters, plumping wilds

We must distinguish them from tonics lotions that we know, which serve to perfect the make-up removal and to give fresh air to the skin. Korean skincare waters are also used after cleansing, but their role is to rebalance the pH of the skin and provide it with visible hydration. This action also helps seal the moisturizing active serum that will be applied later and intensify the action of its ingredients. There is one for every need: energizing, detoxifying, moisturizing, anti-stain ...

It's for me if ... your skin is often thirsty despite the use of a daily moisturizer, or if you experience a feeling of discomfort and your skin pulls after cleaning.

5, Solid cleaners, perfection assets

After the success of cleansing oils, it is their solid versions that have the wind in their sails. You will love their nomadic and practical side as well as their efficiency. These textures apply directly to dry skin, melt on contact to turn into oil. It is then sufficient to massage them with the fingertips to take off the makeup, then rinse with clear water. Most leave a light moisturizing film on the epidermis.

It's for me if ... you like concentrated products that last a long time, are gentle on the skin and use fewer preservatives than conventional formulas.

8 Secrets to Applying Your Mascara

Never without my eyelash curler

He is the best friend of the right eyelashes: this magic tool allows to give them a nice curve. And no excuse like "I do not have time" or "it's too complicated" cannot be tolerated: just pinch eyelashes at the root for a few seconds to give them that effect. This is done just before you put down your mascara (use it after the pose breaks and damages the eyelashes). A more sensual look? We are 100% for.

Volume, curve or length of eyelashes?

To choose the right mascara, it is necessary to identify the nature of her eyelashes. If they are fine, they will get a volumizing mascara. We will choose a bending model if they are straight and a lengthening if they are short. Many products on the market combine several options. No miracle: to find the perfect mascara, you must often try several.

Black is not necessarily the best option

We always fall back on this one. However, black mascara is not suitable for all women: it tends to harden the eyes. Light eyelashes will prefer brown while green eyes will focus on burgundy or eggplant. Blue irises will set their sights on brown or khaki. And the time of an evening, we do not hesitate to test the " mermaid lashes ": terrible on a nude makeup!

To me the zigzag method

Nothing better was found to lengthen the eyelashes and distribute the material homogeneously. We put the brush at the root, then we make a movement from left to right to gain hair. After two round trips, the curve should be well marked and the eyelashes separated from each other.

And "the back" of the eyelashes?

We tend to forget it and to deposit the product on the same side of the eyelashes. Yet, making a brush pass on the reverse of these makes all the difference. Try, you can not do without it. To facilitate the application, just look down.

Two layers of mascara: never life

Come on, let's play down this point immediately: we've all done it already. But putting back mascara while our eyelashes are already loaded is absolutely not a good idea. This will create an unsightly thick crust. To give a pep of pep to his look, we prefer to set her sights on an eyeshadow or a pencil line ... unless we do not remove the eyes completely before opting for a makeup more marked.

Take care of your bottle

Mascara is the makeup product in the cheap makeup bags that are changed most regularly. The reason? It dries very quickly (3 to 6 months on average). This is due to the fact that we pull the bottle brush. No need to do this many times before using it: this will only further reduce its life. To avoid the disgraceful package, we also take the reflex to regularly wash his brush. To do this, gently rub the excess material on a paper towel. Then, once every two weeks, let it soak for 5 minutes in water before removing the leftover products. Make sure to dry your brush and store it in one of your cheap makeup bags well before reuse.

Last but not least: make-up removal

The best ally? Oil. More effective than micellar water or milk, it easily dissolves matter. Another possibility: the two-phase makeup remover. And be careful to make gentle gestures not to tear the precious eyelashes. To do this, apply lotion on a cotton and then let it act for a few seconds by placing it on his eyes before performing light circular massage. And we do not hesitate to repeat this several times if a single passage is not enough to completely remove the material.