Latest news with #ZaraFindlay
Telegraph
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
How to do make-up for a special occasion, without looking overdone
So you have your new hat for a wedding. Or a fascinator for Ascot. Or a glam gown for a black tie do. You've thought about shoes, of course. Bag, naturally. Sartorially you're sorted. But have you planned your make-up? If not, you're missing a trick or three. According to Zara Findlay, senior pro artist for Bobbi Brown, while special occasions aren't the time to go off at a complete cosmetics tangent, it pays to make sure your make-up syncs with your special outfit, lasts the distance and boosts your confidence. Here's how to elevate event make-up at every age. We trialled getting occasion make-up right whatever your age with The Telegraph team. In your 20s, play with colour – As shown by Sophie Tobin, acting style editor Rather than merely dipping your toe in trends, this is the age to dive right in. Sophie loves a bold lip with pared back eyes, a look worn at this year's Chanel spring-summer haute couture show. When you give equal dramatic billing to both eyes and lips, they can fight for attention and ironically, impact can be lost, whereas treating just lips to a pop of colour really makes a statement. If you're shopping for a new shade, Findlay has a great strategy. 'Select five colours (max) that you're drawn to and apply to individual fingertips. Then, in the mirror, offer up each one to your lips. This makes comparisons super-easy, helping you spot which one chimes with your skin tone.' In Sophie's case, this was a bluey-red as she has a cool skin tone, whereas orangey reds suit warmer complexions. For longevity, Findlay prepped lips with balm, patting off excess then lightly dusting with setting powder before lining with Bobbi Brown Lip Pencil, £27, and filling in with lipstick. To soften and create contrast to the crisply lined lips, she kept Sophie's brows fluffy and added a flush of blush. 'I loved the look and I'm now inspired to go even more minimal on eyes,' says Sophie. In your 30s, be the best version of you – As shown by Sonia Haria, beauty director 'When you're in your 30s, you've usually figured out what suits you and you won't want to drift too far from what makes you feel confident,' Findlay analyses. 'The secret now is to take time to prep and perfect the skin, as well as amplify the feature you most like to define.' With Sonia, Chloe Zanotti from the Bobbi Brown team, meticulously applied foundation with a brush, building thin layers to create a smooth canvas. If you load too much on in one go, the result will be heavy-handed. Finally, to finesse foundation and concealer, pat it in with fingertips – tapping also subtly removes excess without wiping carefully applied base away. To dramatise Sonia's eyes, there was no need for obvious winged eyeliner. Instead, Zanotti created a feline look by framing the eyes using Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner (£27.50). 'I love that in the picture I don't look hugely different to my normal self, I just have the best version of my skin,' said Sonia. 'Spending time on getting your complexion right is key to any good make-up result, particularly for a special occasion – you don't need trowel it on just because you're going somewhere fancy. There's magic in the basics done really, really well.' In your 40s, try going tonal – As shown by Tamara Abraham, acting deputy fashion director TikTok's 'one lipstick full-face' trend has been a big hit. The idea is you use just one colour in multiple ways. A sophisticated version is tonal make-up, where a singular shade is used for blush, lips and eyes. As make-up in your 40s is not about full coverage or strong contouring but rather about pulling your whole look together, the tonal technique achieves this effortlessly – all you need is a final slick of mascara. Zanotti used Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge Velvet Matte, £32, on our model Tamara, applying it with a brush to the lips before sweeping it over cheeks, then introducing it into the crease of the eyes – you can add a little shimmer on the lids. She chose a colour to match the pink outfit, but you could also select a shade that simply enhances your skin tone, for instance a bronzy shade looks great with black or white outfits. 'Tonal make-up felt glowy and youthful,' said Tamara. 'Definitely a look I want to recreate for my next special occasion.' In your 50s, reinvent the smoky eye – As shown by Annabel Jones, beauty editor at large Many women who were a dab hand at the smoky eye in their youth (when it was always a go-to look) find that as they mature, they either avoid it, thinking it too young for them, or they repeat it but in the same old black shade and it looks too harsh. However, Nicole Kidman rocked smoky eyes at the recent Met Gala and showed how brown works much better when you're in your 50s. 'Remember, it's a technique not a colour,' says Findlay, who added that rich chocolate works great with brown eyes, bronzy coppers with blue, and an ambery brown for green eyes. As she worked on Annabel, she explained it's very easy to achieve a 'sunset' effect using soft brown on the lid and into the crease. Then, rather than grapple with traditional eyeliner, you simply work darker brown shadow right into lash line, before buffing it, a technique at Bobbi Brown that's called tightlining. 'For a pro finish, always buff out using a clean brush,' she adds. 'As I've got older I've stopped doing a smoky eye,' says Annabel, 'partly because it feels too much like hard work and partly because I'd assumed I had to use black which feels too heavy for me at this stage of life. I now realise by switching to brown, I can wear a bolder eye without looking dark and moody, especially as the soft pink lips and cheeks felt summery and youthful.' In your 60s and beyond, switch shades and textures – As show on Jan Masters, beauty writer I was the model for the 60+ age group and wanted to learn how to use colour without emphasising lines. I also wanted to find the right make-up to wear with a hat. 'In your 60s, finding flattering textures is crucial,' said Findlay, who advised me to use more cream-based products for their soft, cushiony feel. However, she explained powder still has a place when used subtly, for instance, only on the T-zone. You can even use a little cream over powder for dewy effects. Findlay showed me how to sweep powder bronzer through my cheeks to bring out facial contours, then add a touch of cream blusher on top, using a brush to lightly tap and stipple it on. I tend to shy away from bright lipstick but Findlay was keen to show me that a bold splash of lip colour creates focus, especially if I'm going to be wearing a hat or fascinator. She chose a raspberry shade but didn't want to scare me so patted it down to mute it a little, then added gloss over the top, maintaining the essence of brightness. Another surprise was that she brought out some sparkle in the shape of Bobbi Brown Luxe Eye Shadow in Moonstone, £32, 'One of the biggest myths about make-up for mature skins is that you should avoid sparkle. While it's true that icy shimmers accentuate lines and dryness, clear sparkle will reflect light,' said Findlay, who used it just above the crease of my eye. It took me a while to get used to the bright lipstick but I could see how it would create balance if you're wearing a posh hat. It also made my smile look brighter.
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Bronzer over 50 is ageing – unless you follow this expert advice
In this regular series, Ageless Beauty, The Telegraph's beauty experts Annabel Jones and Lisa Armstrong tackle the conundrums they've been searching for answers to, and share their favourite tips and tricks. This week, they discuss bronzer. The morning of writing this, I had my make-up applied by Bobbi Brown's senior make-up artist, Zara Findlay, who informed me that if you're not getting on with your bronzer then it's undoubtedly the wrong shade. She's probably right. Up until this exchange, I was anti-bronzing. I prefer blush to bronzer and have always argued that a bronzed face feels too artificial for my fair complexion, which, even when it's being kissed by the sun, doesn't turn as deep as most bronzing powders I've encountered. Even so, I'll be the first to advise you to revisit a product you've written off every now and then as formulations improve at a rate of knots these days. And so, here I am challenged to face my long-held prejudice that bronzer doesn't suit a fair gal like me. It's time to roll up my sleeves and give a selection of bronzers a fair and honest assessment. As far as powders go, Dior Forever Nude Bronze in Light Matte (my shade) is feather-light and easy to apply. Though unless you appreciate the designer case, which, to be fair, has a decent-sized mirror and a smart tan leather exterior, it is a steep investment at £48. Then again, Charlotte Tilbury's Airbrush Bronzer, which if we're comparing apples with apples is a more seamless finish, is not much less at £45. My shade of Airbrush (fair) is the closest match to my skin out of the dozens of bronzing powders I've trialled. But it's the tone (not too red) and consistency (silky and feather-light) that I like most. Findlay says to go one shade warmer than your actual skin tone – and even then, you should knock the extra from the brush before you apply it to your skin. This is sound advice and makes all the difference on mature skin, which, alas, tends to be less lubricated. Creams and liquid bronzers are better on dry complexions but they take some skill to get right. Rare Beauty and Merit's bronzing sticks are as soft as butter, thus you really can't go wrong. Whereas Tilbury's Hollywood Contour Wand, which strictly speaking isn't ashy enough to be a contour (contour sticks should be cool to add definition; bronzers are warm), is the ideal antithesis to dry skin like mine. Lisa, I know you find the wands fiddly. I did too – until I spent time hashing out various techniques which the brand showcases on its website. Eventually, I landed on my own lite method. I place one dot on my cheekbones, about an inch or two from my temples, which I press and blend with a soft stippling brush. I will add a dot more as I need it – often, I leave it at one and blend it out until it's evenly distributed. Max Factor does an alternative to Tilbury's Contour Wand that is almost as good and purse-friendly at under £10. I've tried – on days when my confidence is high – to contour my jaw-line, but it never works. Instead Findlay showed me how to dust bronzing powder down the neck to tie in the face and neck seamlessly. I find this approach boosts the tone of the neck, which is lighter than the face, invisibly. A liquid alternative would be a tinted moisturiser or tinted SPF, of which there are a bazillion good ones. Ultra Violette's Daydream Screen SPF50 Tinted Veil, £38, is my current crush. It comes in 15 shades from porcelain to deep. Another thing: you can use powder bronzer to add definition high to the crease of your upper eyelids. I prefer this to eye shadow as typically powder bronzer un sparkly (in other words, way cooler). If I had to choose between blush and bronzer I would pick the former. But as I'm sure you already know, you can do both. In fact, it's recommended that you do. Findlay used Bobbi Brown's Bronzing Powder in Light on my nose, cheeks, temples, forehead and neck, followed by a pretty pink blusher on the apples and high points of my cheekbones. Seemingly, even at 51, bubblegum pink and soft brown make for a flattering pair. Having dug into the weeds, it turns out that bronzer is suitable for my muted complexion; I just needed the right shade and some decent professional advice. I've come exceedingly late to the bronzer party and now that I'm here, I'm not leaving. In fact, I'm a zealot. Cast aside all your contouring prejudices. They're not relevant. Actually, contouring isn't relevant, unless you're among the 0.1 per cent who found it actually worked. For most of us, contouring – at least the kind that required three different shades of product – was always a bit of a fantasy. It can be great in photographs or from afar (handy if you're a ballerina), but in RL, you had to blend, blot and buff it to the point where it became so subtle that it didn't make a blind bit of difference to how you looked. I'm talking about the next generation of bronzers that deliver a natural sun-kissed look and some strategic shading, which might sound like contouring, but is far less laborious and doesn't require Lisa Eldridge levels of skill. Why not just slap on some fake tan, you ask? I know I always preferred fake tan to bronzers of yore, which always seemed too matte or too obvious. But you may not like the flattening effect fake can sometimes have on the face. Or you want more flexibility about where you'd like the 'sun' to have brushed your skin. Or you like the idea of being able to wipe it all off at the end of the day. Most fake tans take several days to fade. Mistakes have consequences. Modern bronzer textures are so different from the ones that scared me off. They're a doddle to use. That said, unlike Annabel, I don't really get on with liquid bronzers. I find them harder to control and blend, so prefer the powders. My favourite is RMS ReDimension Hydra Bronzer, a gel-to-powder formula. In plain English, that means it melts into your skin rather than sitting on top of it in a cakey layer. It also has goldeny undertones (presumably the redimension bit) that catch the light, bouncing it around your face to make you look healthy and refreshed rather than iridescent. You need a brush, as you do with all forms of bronzer, but at a pinch, I have used fingers. I apply it along my jawline (blend blend blend), across my cheekbones, on my eyelids, and a little on my forehead – wherever the sun would actually hit you, which is horizontally. If you're buying this online, you might think the shades look too dark for you, but that's not how they are when you apply them. I use Malibu Muse, which Rose-Marie Swift, the founder, recommended for me, and it's perfect. The ReDimension blushers are beautiful too, but so is Victoria's Cheeky Posh, which comes in a tube and goes on sheer. A pat of tawny or pink blush on the upper part of your cheekbones and you're good to go. If I had to choose, I'd take this RMS bronzer over a mascara in summer. Ask Annabel and Lisa
