By Ellie Gladwin, Second year, History
The Croft Magazine // Ellie Gladwin provides us with her mother's beauty lessons.
- Queen of Clean
The one thing my mother taught me was that you are never amiss with a clean face. For me, glowing fresh skin is the key ingredient needed to feel confident; after all, your face is the first thing people notice about you.
The best place to start is a great canvas. The beauty industry thrives off ‘what’s your skincare regime?’ videos that have showcased everyone from Lily Collins to JLo and her glow. Serums, acids, eye creams, masks, toners, sprays, oils. We love it, but don’t necessarily need all of it. The trick is to understand your skin and work out what it needs. My Aunt in Chicago founded a skincare brand for Estrogen-lacking women, she always tells me, "you have to observe and respond to what’s going on with your skin". Understanding what’s going on means you can adjust your skincare regime, depending on how you’re eating or how much water you’re drinking, to achieve a healthy glow!
2. Makeup – Each to their own.
Everyone is so different in how they present themselves and how they choose to do their makeup. The main thing my mother taught me was to try! If you see something that looks funky on Instagram, give it a go with the kit that you already have. You don’t need all the kit and kaboodle to execute your interpretation! Secondly, my mother always taught me to be honest with myself. Is it the best look for you? Everyone has totally different face shapes, features, skin tones, skin colours etc, and if something looks better on Glow Up models than it does on you, then at least you’ve had a productive procrastination period! If it looks just as good if not better on you, then there we have it! You’re on fire!!
3. Framing
Right, so obviously, your face is not a poster or a holiday picture, but my mother always told me to frame your face in ways that don’t just consist of makeup. Experimenting with your hair and jewellery is a subtle but high-impact way of focusing on that gorgeous face! Warning: This is by no means an endorsement of the cut-your-own-lockdown-fringe trend. It is not. We all know how that goes. Do some research and go to someone who knows what they’re doing! If you do go for a fringe, know that although it is semi-high maintenance, a lot of hair salons do free fringe-trims (gosh that’s a mouthful)!
My mother is a jewellery addict, so awareness of different types of accessories was instilled in me from a young age. Kick-ass earrings can frame the face, making it look longer, more defined, and generally framing it more creatively. Necklaces do the same. The way you dress your décolletage draws the eye up to your face, framing it differently.
Featured image: Epigram/Morgan Collins
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