Bespoke your make-up bag (From Dudley News)

Bespoke your make-up bag

7:00am Saturday 28th April 2012 in NewsXtra

Discover the magic make-up that does all the hard work for you. Lisa Haynes looks at colour adjusting cosmetics.

By Lisa Haynes.

It's the elusive action in make-up application where so many of us try and fail on a daily basis - getting your foundation shade spot-on.

Making the wrong choice is fraught with beauty perils - first there's the dreaded tell-tale line on the neck, or obvious 'mask' of ill-matched colour.

The problem isn't confined to the skin, either - certain lipstick colours might make you look like death warmed up and a poorly-chosen blusher could give you anything but a rosy glow.

Thankfully, there are clever cosmetics that practically mind-read your skin tone for you. They work by adapting to the wearer's natural chemistry and adjust accordingly, providing the perfect hue for their colouring.

Sound too good to be true? Read on and revolutionise your make-up routine.

Colour me beautiful Just like fragrance that sits and smells differently on every individual, a lip colour that looks amazing on your friend might be anything but flattering on you.

Colour-adaptive make-up works like a tailor-made suit, being the perfect individual fit.

Rupert Kingston, creative director at New CID cosmetics, explains: "Colour-adjust make-up usually works with PH-sensitive pigments.

"Although all skin is slightly acidic there is a slight PH variation between each individual, which is why there's a different result when worn on different skins."

Test for a positive reaction on your face, cheeks, lips or all three.

Ace your face Everyone's skin tone is different, so having a foundation that adjusts to match your complexion is the hassle-free way to finding your perfect shade and achieving a flawless finish.

If you're choosing a colour-adapt foundation, you still need to look for your closest possible match - it's not a one-shade-fits-all solution.

Lancome's Color Ideal Precise Match Skin-Perfecting Makeup SPF15 (£29), offers six shades while New CID's i-Perfection Colour Adjust Foundation (£26), has eight.

Kingston advises: "You should decide on a shade that is closest to your neck colour, to avoid a nasty tide mark.

"Apply the colour to your jaw line and blend well. Then wait at least 60 second for the foundation to change colour - it should all but disappear."

Bespoke your blush Embarrassing moments aside, if there's one place that gives off heat it's your cheeks, which is where colour-adjust blushers really come into their own.

"Most colour-adjust blushers work with the temperature of the skin, changing colour to accentuate your natural flush," says Kingston.

"With this in mind, try the cream textures and apply to the apples of the cheeks, blending with a clean finger."

As they're usually heat-sensitive, as soon as the pigments warm up they change colour.

Smashbox's O-Glow (£16.50), is the innovative pretty pink flush to experiment with. Spot the glow as you watch the pink-hued gel react with your skin chemistry and turn into the shade you blush naturally.

Love your lips If you haven't worked out whether you're more of a classic red or fun fuchsia kinda girl, let a colour-adaptive lip make the decision for you.

"For natural sexy, bitten-looking lips, have fun with some of the stains on the market," Kingston suggests.

"They change colour with your mood (apparently) and can look a different colour on different days, depending on the temperature of your skin."

For a more intense look, opt for a lipstick or stain, like DuWop's Private collection (£19 each) - colour-changing lipsticks with a rich pigment that change within five minutes to leave behind the ultimate perfect shade.

Keep things fresh with a dewy gloss like JK by Jemma Kidd Lip ID Colour Adapt Gloss (£10), or L'Oréal Paris Studio Secrets Universal Lip Glow (£8.49) - a made-to-measure balm that adapts uniquely to the heat and moisture of your lips.

:: Skin tone masterclass Investing in colour adjusting products isn't the only way to discover your perfect match with cosmetics. The insider secret is to first work out whether you have a cool or warm skin tone - as this will determine which shades and colours suit you best.

"As a general rule of thumb, if you have porcelain or paler skin, you will probably have a pink skin tone and will suit colours with a cool base," explains make-up artist Jemma Kidd.

"If your skin is fair to olive, you will probably have more of a yellow skin tone and will suit warmer-based shades."

But if you feel that you're a mix of both pink and yellow (for example, pink cheeks but yellow chin and forehead) and considered to be neutral, you're lucky enough to be able to wear both cool and warm-based shades.

If you have deep-coloured skin, you can either be red or blue in tone.

Tried & Tested Polish up your act with a hot cloth cleanser. Our testers warm up their cleansing routine: :: nspa Beauty Rituals Hot Cloth Polish, £7 (Asda) This cleanser smells divine and smoothes onto the skin easily. When massaged off using the muslin cloth provided, my skin felt fresh and only slightly sticky.

3/5 :: The Sanctuary Polishing Hot Cloth Cleanser, £10.20 (www.thesanctuary.co.uk) I loved the home pampering element of combining the cloth and cleanser action. The solution felt rich and immediately after removal my skin looked and felt like it was glowing.

4/5 :: Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, from £14.25 (01983 813 913 and www.lizearle.co.uk) You only need a small amount of this cleanser to work some magic. After patting my face dry, my skin felt soft, smooth and clean - like my pores had been flushed out of all dirt and grime.

5/5 Buy it now Wave goodbye to age spots, lines and wrinkles with No7's new Lift & Luminate range for 45+ skin. The collection, which includes a dual Day & Night Serum, is available in Boots stores and online at www.boots.com from April 18, priced from £16-£24.95.

Beauty Bulletin :: Chloe capture Enter the sun-drenched world of L'Eau de Chloe with the new iPhone app. Available from April 16 to coincide with the launch of the new fragrance, the app allows consumers to enter a photo contest to win a Chloe purse, sunglasses and parfums. Simply take a photo - which will instantly becomes polarized - just like the glossy L'Eau de Chloe ad campaign. Over an eight-week period photos will be featured on a L'Eau de Chloe Tumblr page and the Chloe style jury will select the 10 best to feature on their Facebook site.

:: Recessionista alert Pamper and pack with this travel offer from Elemis. This April, Elemis counters at Harvey Nichols and Debenhams stores nationwide are offering a SpaPod treatment and luxury ladies travel collection for £85 (usually worth £113). The faux leather croc case contains seven Elemis hero travel-size products. Available while stocks last.