It’s no secret that eyebrows frame the face, but when it comes to our brows it’s the shape, thickness and level of grooming that speaks volumes.  Eyebrows are important youth indicators on the face and whilst it’s easy to pull off extremely thin brows in our twenties and thirties by the time we hit our forties thin brows can look harsh and become aging. Here are the most common mistakes I see when it comes to brows and the best products for correcting them:

1.  Over plucking
2. Using an old pair of tweezers
3. Taking too much off the sides
4. Making too much of an arch
5. Forgetting the top
6. Overusing your eyebrow pencil
7. Waxing when you’re using anti-aging retinoid creams
8. Never seeing a brow professional

 My top 3 picks for amazing brows:

1. Hourglass brow pencils: These retractable pencils come in great ashy tones and are slanted for easy application www.uk.spacenk.com
2. Miss Sporty Just Clear mascara: A must if you have uber-thick brows that need taming www.boots.com
3. RevitaBrow: From the makers of RevitaLash, this brow formula enhances and conditions for fuller more defined brows. Apply it every night to your brows www.amazon.co.uk 

Gigi trained as a technical haircutter with Vidal Sassoon in London when she was sixteen years old. She worked with the Vidal Sassoon team for more than seven years, working as a show team member and teaching at the Bond Street School. She left the Vidal Sassoon team to study make-up at The London College of Fashion and quickly launched her career as an international freelance artist. She currently divides her time between New York, London & Los Angeles. Her work has appeared all over the world, from the catwalks of London, NY & Milan, the billboards of the U.S. and Australia to the red carpets of Hollywood. Her clients include celebrities and household names: Queen Noor, Al Gore, Drew Barrymore, Calista Flockhart, Jennifer Grey, Raquel Welch, Bruce Willis, Sean Bean Christina Perri and Vin Diesel to name a few. Contact Gigi Twitter: @gigishaker Instagram: gigisuperb Email: [email protected]

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Cleanser:

I know what you’re thinking!  Why does my cleanser need an overhaul? If you live in an extreme climate or even a place that experiences real seasons, every product you use on your skin should be creamier or heavier than your summer routine – yes even if your skin is oily/combo. Besides, skin can get lack lustre and dull when exposed to the same products over and over so it’s good to find a few that work on your skin and rotate them when the seasons change, to maximize the skin’s natural luminosity. Here are my top 3 picks for winter cleansers:

Dry skin:
Kiel’s Washable Cleansing Milk  £18
This milk has to be massaged into skin that hasn’t been dampened and must be removed with a warm damp cloth. It contains Apricot Kernel Oil, Avocado Oil and Wheat Germ Oil, all rock star ingredients for dry skin.

Oily/combo:
Mario Badescu Botanical Facial Gel £16
A refreshing, oil control cleanser, great for deep cleansing oily/ combo skin. What makes this different from other cleansers for oily skin is that it removes make-up, dirt and oil thoroughly without over drying the skin. It also contains exfoliating Alpha Hydroxy acids that help prevent build-ups that cause blackheads and pimples.

All skin types:
Murad Renewing Cleansing cream £35
Restores radiance by gently exfoliating away dull skin cells with Papaya enzymes and deeply nourishes skin with vital nutrients including Borage seed oil which is an essential fatty acid for skin.

Toner:
What??? You don’t use a toner? Toners are a great way to prep the skin with antioxidants – a must for all skin types at any age because they greatly reduce the stress skin is put under from pollution, smoking, lack of sleep and every day (people) stress. Spray on clean skin before applying moisturiser (this actually makes your moisturiser go a lot further, so you can use less)

Great on all skin types:
Murad Essential-C Toner £34
Restores balance, replenishes moisture and protects skin from free radical damage.

Day cream:
Winter brings a whole new set of problems when it comes to your skincare versus make up routine. Even worse than the ‘make-up-sliding-off your-face’ look in the summer is the winter ‘greasy-lizard face’,  usually accompanied with raccoon eyes because the face cream that’s supposed to be protecting and nourishing your skin is actually making you look like you can’t apply make-up.

My top picks:

Great for dry/aging skin:
Clarins Super Restorative Day Cream £68.00
This Shea butter formulation is perfect for dry/aging skin and works well under make up.

Great for sensitive/sensitized skin:
Dermalogica Intensive Moisture Balance £54.90
An ultra-rich moisturizer that’s packed with antioxidants and helps strengthen the skin’s lipid barrier which is a leading cause for sensitized skin.

Great for all skin types:

MALIN+GOETZ
Vitamin E Face Moisturiser £36.00
Packed with anti-oxidants vitamins E and B5, soothing chamomile and absorbent fatty acids. This is an intensely nourishing treatment which reduces irritation for even the most sensitive skin.

Night cream:
This is your chance to really slather on rock star ingredients that will assist in repairing your skin whilst you sleep. I like to apply heavier creams on my face a good hour before bedtime so they have a chance to soak into the skin before I hit the pillow.

My top picks:

Dry skin:
Dermalogica super rich repair £62.20
This deeply nourishing, heavyweight skin treatment is great for chronically dry, dehydrated skin. It contains powerful peptides that help stimulate collagen production and has an acid-free smoothing complex that helps improve elasticity and tone.

All skin types:
Murad Perfecting Night Cream £46
This intensive hydrating cream nourishes and rejuvenates skin overnight. Its rock star ingredients include;
Vitamin A, a wrinkle fighting treatment to increase cell renewal, collagen production and encourage healthy cell growth while you sleep. Green Tea Extract and Vitamin E; both powerful antioxidants that repair and defend skin from free radical damage. Borage Seed Oil – moisturising fatty acids improve skin quality, keeping it looking young and supple while reducing and preventing redness and inflammation.

Barrier repair:
Our skin has a barrier that, when functioning correctly, allows products to penetrate and sweat and toxins to escape without upsetting the moisture levels in our skin. If the barrier is compromised, a whole host of issues can present themselves. If your skin is beyond dry and no amount of drinking water and moisturizing are helping or if your skin is suddenly sensitized and reacting to products it normally tolerates, it’s more than likely your barrier is compromised. Many brands have barrier repairs that help. The trick is to layer your products correctly so the barrier cream can lock the moisture into your skin. When layering skin care, always apply lightest to heaviest (barrier cream being the heaviest) must be applied last.

Dermalogica Barrier Repair £36.50 

A great barrier protection for sensitized and sensitive skin, this is a velvety silicone based moisturizer that doubles up as a great make up primer.

Gigi trained as a technical haircutter with Vidal Sassoon in London when she was sixteen years old. She worked with the Vidal Sassoon team for more than seven years, working as a show team member and teaching at the Bond Street School. She left the Vidal Sassoon team to study make-up at The London College of Fashion and quickly launched her career as an international freelance artist. She currently divides her time between New York, London & Los Angeles. Her work has appeared all over the world, from the catwalks of London, NY & Milan, the billboards of the U.S. and Australia to the red carpets of Hollywood. Her clients include celebrities and household names: Queen Noor, Al Gore, Drew Barrymore, Calista Flockhart, Jennifer Grey, Raquel Welch, Bruce Willis, Sean Bean Christina Perri and Vin Diesel to name a few. Contact Gigi Twitter: @gigishaker Instagram: gigisuperb Email: [email protected]

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I was the kid at school who was always given nicknames. Most were cute but the ones that stuck with me were the cruel ones intended to make the other kid’s laugh – ‘flat face’, and ‘pancake head’ were particular favourites and, although maybe apt at the time, fuelled an obsession in me. I wanted to understand and fix what it was that others found different and funny. So at the tender age of sixteen I immersed myself in the world of beauty, first as a hairdresser and then as a make-up artist, in a quest to fully understand what beauty was and how I could create it. 

As I perfected my make-up skills, my mission became to iron out the flaws in every face that sat in my chair. Creating a smoke and mirrors effect requires minimizing imperfections and defining the pretty features so that they become visually striking. It sounds formulaic, but I’ve never worked on a face that doesn’t look instantly better with an even, luminescent skin tone, a hint of blush on the apples of the cheeks, pumped up lashes and a perfectly arched brow – these ingredients ensure that the face you present to the world is the best version of yourself. Creating natural beauty isn’t about changing your face; it’s about putting your best face forward, the freshest most radiant you.

When I’m making up a face, my main goal is to give skin the luminescent quality it needs to look fresh and alive. Skin is an instant cue to others about the health of the body. It silently tells people if we are not getting enough sleep, if we are dehydrated or eating poorly & generally not taking care of ourselves. It also tells potential mates if we are healthy and of child bearing age. 

Youthful, healthy skin is plump, it’s radiant, it has a natural sheen in certain places that reflects the light and is vibrant with a hint of natural blush. It has a subtle glow. It is the skin that I spend the most time perfecting with make up when someone is in my chair. 

I’ve worked in the beauty industry for more than two decades and I’ve applied make-up to some of the most beautiful women in the world. When I work I am part of a team – there is a stylist who brings the most incredible clothes, a photographer that knows how to create the most flattering light but the final piece of the puzzle that carries our team effort to the finish line is the energy that our subject brings to the table. If she is radiant from within she has the “it” factor, that star quality that we assume differentiates Hollywood stars from the rest of us.

To me, beauty is a radiance that we all possess. When we live in the moment and truly love what we do, our radiance becomes unstoppable. Radiance is the energy we communicate with, the glow we emit and the life force within us that exposes our inner beauty to the rest of the world.

Gigi trained as a technical haircutter with Vidal Sassoon in London when she was sixteen years old. She worked with the Vidal Sassoon team for more than seven years, working as a show team member and teaching at the Bond Street School. She left the Vidal Sassoon team to study make-up at The London College of Fashion and quickly launched her career as an international freelance artist. She currently divides her time between New York, London & Los Angeles. Her work has appeared all over the world, from the catwalks of London, NY & Milan, the billboards of the U.S. and Australia to the red carpets of Hollywood. Her clients include celebrities and household names: Queen Noor, Al Gore, Drew Barrymore, Calista Flockhart, Jennifer Grey, Raquel Welch, Bruce Willis, Sean Bean Christina Perri and Vin Diesel to name a few. Contact Gigi Twitter: @gigishaker Instagram: gigisuperb Email: [email protected]

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