But helping clients with simple make-up solutions and suggestions is part of my job, so I’ve had to learn enough about the subject to keep clients looking adequately polished during the day. At this time of year, the subject of party make-up comes up and my suggestions are overly simple because I just don’t like the look of an overly made-up face. After all, you in your “almost natural” form is most stylish!

I usually suggest the following make-up tips for party occasions so that you look a little brighter at night than during the day:

• Create an even skin tone with foundation or tinted moisturizer
• Apply a darker shade of lipstick
• Create a stronger brow line
• Double up the layer of mascara
• Add a little more blush

I also suggest a trip to the Mac make-up counter a few hours before an event if you’re after a smoky evening eye with eye shadow and liner. They do a great job and its virtually free. All you need to do is purchase one of their make-up items and you’re good to go. No need to fuss with make-up products on your own.

What’s your party make-up regimen and does it change from your daily make-up routine? How can I improve my party wear make-up tips? Are you enamored by the shimmery products that are available at make-up counters at this time of year, or do you find it overwhelming too?

• Hands: I might be alone on this one but I really like the look of short nails, sans finger nail polish. Once a year, I might venture out and pop on a bit of clear vanish, but never colour and I don’t do French manicures. I like to keep my hands and nails well moisturized, neat and au natural.
• Feet: I wear toe-nail polish from April to August. For years, my choice of toe colour has been either a shade of blue or green, and very occasionally a soft pearly white. I do not wear pink, red, purple, orange or brown toe nail polish and once again, French manicures are not for me. I also have this weird idea that for the rest of the year, my nails need to breathe so come the first week of September, my toe nails are stripped of their polish and we’re back to au natural.

What’s your nail style? Do you even have one? Would you like to make a change? I look forward to loads of variety in the responses.

The dermatologist said to stop using the products I was applying to my face. He prescribed an ointment called “locoid lipocream”, and an over the counter moisturizer called “Impruv”. That, plus my normal cleanser and sunscreen is all that I’m allowed to use daily. I came home with the Impruv but had to wait for the prescribed ointment since it was out of stock.

Right away, I started to use Impruv twice a day. You won’t believe it, because I didn’t either, but my dry skin started to dramatically repair without the prescribed ointment. I fetched the locoid four days later and used a little of that too. But I soon stopped because Impruv alone does the trick.

Apparently, the moisturizers I’d been using contain skin drying ingredients like alpha hydroxy acids and retinol for exfoliation. Ironic, but in my case the expensive moisturizers were drying out my skin. Impruv does not have these ingredients. Amazing. And all for under $13. As you say in the US, I’ll be darned.

Who’s a gal to believe? I find it hard to throw away what seems like a perfectly good cosmetic before there are signs of it going bad. I can’t help but think that cosmetic companies are trying to turn their products around faster with a conveniently short expiration date. I’ve been using mascara daily for 20 years and it usually lasts for 6-8 months. I throw away the tube when it’s empty but not before. So far no problems. Should I be more careful with the suggested expiration date and toss the tube sooner? Or is my skepticism warranted.

I think it’s a question of your priorities, your values and your budget. I indulge in one spa treatment regularly – facials. I take skin care seriously and find that having monthly facials makes a huge visual difference. I cannot steam and extract skin impurities on my own and the head and neck massage is therapeutic. It’s the one hour in a month where I get to completely relax. For these reasons the facial justifies the expense. For me.

I have pedicures far less regularly because I loathe them. But I grin and bear it because I believe that the foot grooming process is good for your feet and I cannot accomplish the end result successfully on my own (I’ve tried). Not only do I like the look of well cared for feet, but my calluses need close attention because of the all walking I do, and after some initial soreness my feet feel really good after the treatment. So that’s another spa treatment I find worthwhile.

As for the rest? I do my own manicures, tint and shape my own brows, do not need to wax and do not enjoy any other form of massage unless it’s part of the facial service. So I’m down to one spa service that I regard as a worthwhile frequent investment (facials), and another that I force upon myself from time to time because it produces excellent results (basic pedicures). Perhaps I’ll change my mind about the importance of other spa services later on in life, adding a few more to the list.

What’s your viewpoint on the value of spa and beauty treatments? Do you indulge? If so, why is it worth the expense? If not, why not?

“I tell my clients to think of hair as an ACCESSORY, it is part of a TOTAL look”.

I couldn’t agree more (and that goes for blokes too). There are few things that impact your look more than a flattering new hairdo, a bit of colour, or both. Your hair is your crowning glory and maintaining a killer style is as important as wearing the best bra. That’s why I loved Kendall Farr’s suggestion of reevaluating your hairstyle BEFORE you attempt to reevaluate your closet. This makes a lot of sense, because you’ll view your wardrobe and the items that you purchase differently once your smashing new do is in place.

So the question is, if your hair is an accessory, how often should you change it up? I don’t think that there are hard and fast rules, but I do believe that an annual hair evaluation is in order. In some cases you might need and want a dramatic change like going from long blonde hair to a short red crop. In other instances subtle changes are the way to go, like taking off a few inches of length, cutting a fringe or adding highlights. Or your current do is still fab so leave it alone.

I enjoy changing my hairstyle because I like to keep my look evolving. Sometimes the changes are dramatic and at other times they’re slight. I fool around with the length, texture and colour, but I’m always blonde and the length is usually above the shoulder. Those are the elements I like to keep constant because they feel like me. I can’t go any shorter, so I guess my next step is to grow my hair out a little once I’m bored with this look.

Are you happy with your hair and if not, why not? How often do you change your hairstyle? Are you frightened of dramatic hairstyle change?

So in my early twenties I lay on a few sun beds and slathered blotchy self tanning lotions on my body in an effort to look sun-kissed and fresh. I thought it would increase my style quotient.

In my late twenties everything changed. I became paranoid about what the sun and tanning beds can do your skin. I started to loath the idea of rubbing self-tanning lotion on any part of my body. My deliberate sun tanning and self tanning days came to an end.

These days I am extremely mindful about protecting my skin from the sun. I use SPF 40 on my face and hands every day. On sunny days I use it all over. I am never tanned and stay my pale, fair-skinned self all year round.

My natural skin colour is what it is and I’m relieved now that I can embrace this fact. My legs are super white, but I wear dresses and skirts all the time. Dark-skinned, tanned gals still look healthy and fabulous in Summer clothes, but I have learned to love my milky complexion.

Over to you, pale skinned lasses. Do you find the need to tan or self tan? Do you feel better with a bit of colour? Or do you leave it au natural like me.

I stopped using olive oil because I couldn’t handle the smell. Popping it into a jar with rosemary or lavender to mask the smell didn’t help either (I either reeked of roast chicken or a herb garden). I then tried products with olive oil as an ingredient to see if that worked. I also tried pure Shea butter, cocoa butter, Aquafor, apricot oil and coconut oil. The odour was an improvement, but the products weren’t effective. In desperation, I’m back to using old faithful and dirt-cheap petroleum jelly. If I leave it out and use only the other products I mentioned, my skin is still dry.

So what is a gal to do? The result of adding Vaseline to my facial routine is glowing (and I don’t mind the smell). But many of you are dead set against Vaseline because it’s not good for our health or environment. How bad can it be?

Vaseline (or “petroleum jelly”) is a substance with magical powers. I don’t use the messy goo regularly, but know several stylish and well groomed people who swear by the product. I liked the Budget Fashionista’s wonderful account of its uses. I won’t list them all, but here are the ones I’ve tried myself:

• As a quick facial moisturizer
• As a last minute shoe polish
• As a lip-gloss (I’ve also known ladies who use Vicks, which apparently makes for an effective peppermint gloss)
• As a gel to keep eye-brow hairs in place
• As a remedy to sooth sunburn, windburn minor scrapes, burns and cuts

While it doesn’t have nearly as many uses as versatile Vaseline, my favorite classic remedy is Nivea. I use Nivea hand cream and moisturizing body cream daily to treat sensitive skin that’s prone to eczema. I keep a tiny travel size tin in my handbag at all times. After 30 years, Nivea is still my number one choice for moisturizing hand and body. No need to fix a formula that isn’t broken.

As a side note: I’ve tried most of the facial oils that were recommended after my post on olive oil. Jojoba oil has yielded the best results by far. It’s like liquid gold. I like the scent, texture and absorption qualities. I feel like I’ve hit the beauty jackpot.

You’ve got to love cheap beauty products (about $8 apiece) that keep on doing the trick.

You can drop by without an appointment and have your brows gorgeously groomed for $20 (either tweezed or waxed). The painless process took 15 minutes. The cosmetics consultant did a super job with the actual tweezing and shaping of my brows. At her encouragement I purchased the two Benefit products that she had demonstrated:

1. Brow Shaping Kit – a sweet little box that comes with eyebrow wax to keep your brow hairs in place,  brow shadow to fill in the sparse areas, and the tiniest tweezers for plucking.
2. Brow Lifting Pencil – a whitish pencil that resembles eye-shadow. The idea is to apply the pencil under the arch of your brow and blend. This gives the illusion that the brow has been physically “lifted” (the assumption being that lifted brows equal younger looking eyes).

I was in a rush and the light at Macy’s wasn’t perfect, so it was hard to see the full effect of the brow shadow, wax and lifting pencil until I got home. After having a closer look at the results I think that the products are good, but not my cup of tea.

• The brow lifting pencil is very effective. Too effective actually. I have naturally arched brows at the moment so I looked like Doctor Spock after the shadow enhancement. I won’t be using this product for now, but I’ll know what to do if I need to “lift” my brows.
• The brow wax and powder offers a perfect brow finish for an evening event, but it’s too much for daytime. I’m sticking to my Anastasia eye brow pencil for daily use because the finish is more natural (your brow hairs are still visible after application which is not the case with powder).

Even though I won’t be using these products regularly, the Benefit Bar is a worthwhile stop the next time you are in Macy’s. It’s quick, clean and convenient.