Celebrity Beauty Secrets

Marilyn Monroe

Whenever you see celebrities on the red carpet, look closely at their lip colour. More often than not, it was created using a mixture of shades! Marilyn Monroe was one of the first to kick start the trend. She famously used up to five shades of red lipstick to perfect her trademark pout. After painting on a dark red shade on the outer part of the lips, she would then proceed to use lighter shades as she worked her way inwards. Rather than splashing out on lipsticks, arm yourself with a lip palette consisting of shades that compliment each other.

Megan Fox

Anyone who has ever attempted to create smoky eyes knows the frustration of having to try and clean away excess eye-shadow without smudging their foundation. Fortunately Megan Fox has shared her wonderful trick. Scotch tape! Gently place it on the skin and it will pick up any loose eye shadow specks. Scotch tape is not as sticky as sello-tape and so will not damage your make up. To prevent eye-shadow from flaking (particularly loose glitter eye shadow), lightly apply some Vaseline to the eyelids. It will act as a glue and hold the eyeshadow in place. There are plenty of products designed for this purpose however Vaseline does the same job just as well!

Gisele

A frosty white eyeliner pencil is a staple item in the make-up bag of supermodel Gisele, as it also doubles up as a lip and brow highlighter! To create the illusion of fuller lips, Gisele runs the pencil along the cupids arrow of her top lip.

Tyra Banks

Supermodel Tyra Banks swears by Vaseline to help keep those dreaded crow’s feet wrinkles from appearing. To fight of dry skin and wrinkles, she claims to apply a generous amount of Vaseline around the delicate area underneath her eyes before bed each night.

Kate Middleton

Many an article has been dedicated to the skin routine of Duchess Kate Middleton. What few people know however is that she relies on the Karin Herzog brand to keep her skin in top condition. According to the company, the 30 year-old royal began using their products when at university and has been using them ever since to control breakouts and calm the skin. In the months leading up to her wedding, the company claimed she used their Oxygen Face Cream, the Mild Scrub, the Vita-A-Kombi 3 Spot Zapper, the Professional Cleanser and the Glycolic Rose Gel.

Christina Applegate

Actress Christina Applegate likes to use two different shades of foundation to contour her cheekbones. To do this, she uses Revlon Custom Creations Foundation in Medium Click 2, which has two separate shades in the one bottle. She uses her normal shade as the primary foundation before then adjusting the dial to the darker shade which she uses as a bronzer in the hollows of her cheeks

Miranda Kerr

Miranda Kerr has often spoken of her love of using coconut oil in her daily beauty routine, and its no surprise why! Massaging coconut oil into dull-looking skin is one of the best-known ways to give it a refreshing kick. It removes dryness, leaves it smooth with a healthy-looking shine, and also strengthens the skin’s elasticity which in turn, restores that much sought after youthful appearance. Best of all, it will gradually remove blemishes and spots when used daily!

Another favourite of the Victoria Secret model is Rosehip Seed Oil. Rosehip Seed Oil can greatly help reduce wrinkles, facial scarring, acne scarring, sun damage, burn marks, premature aging. In fact, if its an anti-ageing product you’re after, this is one of the best you can get!

Like coconut oil, it is available from all health food shops.

Celebrity make-up artist Quinn Murphy

A New York City based makeup artist Quinn Murphy, who has worked on many celebrities such as Mariah Carey, Anne Hathaway and the Victoria Secret models, swears by Rohto eye drops to brighten and refresh tired bloodshot eyes. In fact he often finds himself relying on this product because the celebrities he deals with are often just off a long haul flight having had very little sleep. To immediately wake up the eyes and have them camera-ready, he just uses a few drops of Rohto. Even though it does sting a bit, it is quite a good if you want to relieve redness, dryness and irritation of the eyes. (Another little trick of Quinn Murphy’s is for rectifying dry chapped lips and making them even softer. He takes some sugar, mixes it with some Vitamin E gel and massages it on the lips for a minute before wiping it off with a damp cloth.)

Ken Paves

Celebrity hairstylist, Ken Paves, whose best known clients include Eva Longoria and Jessica Simpson, has a brilliant trick for covering those telltale roots in between colourings. He lightly mists the roots with hairspray before applying eye shadow to the root in the same colour as the hair dye. Chalk also works well for blonde hair. You can buy temporary touch-up sticks in a variety of shades, though chalk and eye shadow both work equally as well in emergency situations!

Angelina Jolie

Whenever your hairline looks greasy, just follow Angelina Jolie’s favourite technique. Use a big make-up brush to apply a light dusting of baby powder (or dry shampoo) to the hairline and roots, before then blasting it with a hairdryer to get rid of any tell-tale residual powder. If you’re brunette like Angelina, its worth noting that Batiste have a range of dry shampoos that come in darker colours.

Penelope Cruz

Actress Penelope Cruz likes to use L’Oreal Skin Genesis Daily Moisturizer SPF 15 Lotion on her skin each day. Some women like to apply it before bed, however I would suggest that you slick it on in the morning before you do your make-up. Its highly effective ingredients will prevent your make-up from settling into any fine lines on your face.

Sandra Bullock

Sandra Bullock relies on Haemorrhoid cream to get rid of wrinkles and puffiness from underneath her eyes. It seems the active ingredient that eliminates piles is also equally as good for reducing fine lines and wrinkles because it helps shrink blood vessels around the eyes to temporarily decrease swelling and redness. However its important to remember that haemorrhoid cream is not designed for use underneath the eyes so you need to be extremely careful and test it on a small area first to make sure you’re not allergic to the product. There are other highly effective (and safer) options such as placing caffeinated tea bags on the eyes. If you find that you are still suffering from puffy eyes then try cutting back on salt, drinking more water, exercising frequently with deep breathing and sleeping with your head elevated. Potato juice is also extremely good for fighting wrinkles and fine lines underneath the eyes. Just extract the juice from a potato using either a blender or a juicer. (I would recommend placing the juice in the fridge for an hour for an extra kick of energy.) Soak some cotton wool in the juice, then place it over the eyelids for 20 minutes. A cold potato slice over each eye is also as effective for brightening eyes and removing tiredness

Liz Hurley

Liz Hurley turns to Estee Lauder’s ‘Perfectionist Wrinkle Lifting Serum’ whenever she wants to smooth fine lines. The best time to apply it is before bed. That way, it will have the night to correct any little imperfections.

Terri Hatcher

Its hard to believe that anyone would waste a bottle of wine by bathing in it, but seemingly its worth the sacrifice! Terri Hatcher for instance is said to mix it with her bath water to help soften and refresh her skin. Using red wine to beautify the skin is known as ‘vinotherapy’, and according to professionals, it can help reduce wrinkles and shift cellulite. There is even an actual wine spa in France, whereby guests are wrapped, massaged and smothered in extracts from some of the county’s finest wines! While indeed red wine is full of antioxidants that we know are beneficial to our overall health, the challenge is making sure these antioxidants are actually absorbed into the skin. Wine contains resveratrol and polyphenols – compounds which can help improve elasticity and speed up cell renewal. There are easier and far more effective ways of softening and refreshing the skin. For instance, Cindy Crawford always carries a spray bottle that contains a mixture of water and milk. She spritzes this mixture on her face and skin throughout the day and it keeps her skin feeling soft, smooth and youthful.

Courtney Cox

If you suffer from creases in your make-up, then follow in the footsteps of Courtney Cox and apply some Kinerase C8 Peptide Intensive Treatment face cream beforehand! Voila! No more lines in your foundation!