Savvylash

Thursday 28 October 2010

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

..... but don't go overboard with the Tango-reen!!

It's that time of year when everyone will be dressing up as ghouls, goblins or at the very worst.......Pete Burns on a bad day! 

So what better way to link into self-tanning, than sharing some tips and recommendations so you don't end up looking like an over-ripe Pumpkin!

The first product we were professionally trained to apply was using the St. Tropez 3-Step System which included exfoliator, moisturiser and lotion. 

Picture the scene: We both turn up at the local beauty college to begin our training.  We were surrounded by gorgeous, nubile and very young (not that we weren't!) females.  The Instructor asked for a volunteer to demonstrate on which basically meant stripping off in front of the whole class.

Debs and I avoided eye-contact and stared at the floor, ceiling, nails and exit until one of the nubile goddesses put her hand up. 

Phew... although we did note she may have had pert breasts and cellulite-free legs, she had not a hint of a personality unlike our good selves. Jealous, us? Never!

Onto the demonstration and the most important advice we can pass onto everyone is exfoliate, exfoliate, exfoliate and avoid using deodorant prior to application - unless you want to look like Grotbags the Witch (basically, your skin will turn green!)

Second step is to wash off the residue from the exfoliator and apply moisturiser to any dry skin areas such as knees, elbows, ankles and heels.

Wearing latex gloves, apply the lotion liberally to cover any white bits and emulsify into your skin using brisk, circular movements so there are no visible streaks - if there are, just apply a small amount of moisturiser and gently blend.  This part of the process is referred to professionally as applying the "guide colour".

Don't use the lotion neat on your face, mix 50/50 with moisturiser and blend around the hairline, ears and back of neck. 

Using either the St. Tropez mitt or your dad or husband's football sock (preferably before the Sunday game!) and buff off the residue after allowing the lotion to dry for approx 15-20 minutes.  You then have to allow at least 4 hours for the colour to develop so best to leave it on overnight - bear in mind that the guide colour will come off on clothes and bedding until it's washed off in the morning.

Sounds easy enough and it was ..... on the volunteer, however Debs had me and to say she struggled to get to my body, is a slight understatement.  After several tussles with the towel and cries of "Michelle, as mad as this sounds, I actually need to get to your body to apply the lotion to have a stab at turning you into the bronzed goddess with pert breasts albeit no personality over there", I decided to chance an ankle out of the corner of the towel to preserve my modesty (cellulite).

Debs, by this time was sweating profusely before she'd even begun to apply and emulsify!  She somehow managed to apply the lotion to my body in time for lunch which was provided in the college canteen. 

Whilst queuing up for a bite to eat and deciding between the quiche or curry, it suddenly dawned on both of us why self-tan should only be applied at night in the comfort and privacy of your own home.  This avoids you coming into contact with members of the general public who firstly have absolutely no idea why your face resembles Stig of the Dump and secondly can never love you regardless of your appearance as only a mother could.....

Having said that, my appearance in the Canteen can in no way rival Deb's decision to go shopping after her application of the guide colour prior to it being washed off for a pair of WHITE linen trousers - never has the question "Can I try these on please?" posed such a challenge to various startled shop assistants....

Since training, we've both used various other products but by far St. Tropez gives the most natural results, however if you're on a budget, try L'Oreal Sublime which provides a fabulous colour and is just as easy to apply.  Just use the same principles of exfoliate, moisturise and blend...

Let the lotion develop overnight and shower off in the morning, removing any excess lotion to reveal a natural Halloween Glow!!!





Thanks for reading - enjoy Halloween and enjoy self-tanning!


Monday 11 October 2010

ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY.....!

....or as my husband hilariously (in his own mind!) stated, the Chilean Miners will be out and blogging before you and Debs get started!!

To say we had a few technical difficulties in getting started is a slight understatement, however as the title indicates - Rome wasn't built in a day. 

Without giving our ages away, Debs and I are from that era where we text every word in full without having to resort to "dis", "dat" and "dudder" and don't start every sentence with "Mi Julie" and end it with "innit". 

Apparently blogging is the future and not wanting to be left out of anything, we decided to hop on board and embrace technology....unfortunately it didn't want to embrace us the first couple of attempts!!

Attempt 1 : bottle of wine, hummous, olives and some cut-price flap-jacks that were on offer.  We didn't get further than "password not recognised".

Attempt 2 : two bottles of wine, hummous, olives and garlic roulade (flap-jacks no longer on offer).  Stumbled on "What name shall we give ourselves?", settled on Savvy & Appy (Debs didn't like dappy, something to do with NDubz, lawsuits and "I don't think I look like a dappy Michelle?"), stumbled again on password protection, when asked what historical figure to remind us of our password, Debs came up with Martin Luther King...................I suggested "Diana" - Debs replied "as in Dors?" Noooooo, I replied "Princess...."

You begin to get the picture of how the rest of the evening panned out.....

Second bottle of wine later.... still on the password page where we were asked to type in the encrypted word....Debs forgot her glasses and was by now squinting at the screen, wine glass in hand.  I was furiously trying to work out whether it was a "q" or a "p" or a "g" or an "i".......we were timed out and banned for 24 hours.

So onto introductions...

My name is Michelle Savage and I'm the inventor of Savvylash, the eyelash separator http://www.savvylash.co.uk/ which I sell via the website at £4.99 + P&P.  Please see my news and press page on the website for details.  Ideal stocking fillers for the fast approaching festive season!!!

My good friend is Debbie Appleton who I met when we trained as beauty therapists some years ago and she has agreed to be my bella-blogger.  More of our exploits later (and we've had many!)

We intend to do a weekly blog on beauty products, what works, what doesn't work, our new product finds and guest bloggers (our mates for now until Cheryl Cole decides to come on board!).

So in the words of Julie Andrews, these are a few of our favourite things......!

MAC LIPGLASS - Deb's current favourite - this is the perfect product for creating shine that lasts.  It's pigmented, very shiny and can impart subtle or dramatic colour.  Here's the Science bit...... it contains Jojoba Oil to help soften and condition the
lips.  Her male colleagues stop what they're doing to watch her when she applies this every lunch-hour - it's show-stopping!!

Retails at £12. 





An Oldie (like Rod Stewart) but goodie is Benefit's High Beam - a firm favourite for any beauty kit.  The technical jargon reads "luminescent complexion enhancer" which basically means "killer cheekbones" and "Bette Davis Brows" (ask your Nana who she was!)
                                                                                            Retails at £17.50


We're open to (clean) suggestions, and welcome your beauty tips and recommendations and look forward to hearing from you.  Please forward our blog address onto your friends...

Thanks for reading, ta-ra for now! xx