My winter skincare

As the weather gets colder and the heating in the houses gets hotter, my skin feels and looks dehydrated.

A few things I like to do:
1. Give myself a facial at home (so that products especially the mosituriser I use is more effective)
2. Use a facial scrub once or twice a week (PureActive uprooting blackheads scrub by Garnier)
3. Wear a serum like, Vinoperfect radiance serum by Caudalie
4. Wear Hydrazen Moisturiser by Lancome throughout the day and at night
5. I love wearing Cherry flavour Carmex whenever I can.
6. I also drink loads of liquids throughout the day especially water to hydrate
7. On my body I only like to use Baby Oil by Johnsons straight after a shower

I am 40 and a lot of people who meet me say would never have guessed - OK so good genes ie my heritage but I try and look after myself too as much as I can remember and have time to.

Poundland and makeup brands

I was browsing what my local Poundland stocks  (nothing to be ashamed of), and lo and behold! I see some known makeup brands like Outdoor girl, Rimmel, Revlon, Sleek, Collection 2000 and some others. These brands were not selling their whole range but selected few items, but I managed to pick up a Rimmel lip liner (which I love) and a few Rimmel colourful paint pots (do NOT love as they are very runny but will make good eye bases that are very sheer), Rimmel waterproof mascara in black (very good) and a Sleek lipstick (which is a creamy gold and can be worn on top of lipsticks to give a shiny light gold effect or if you like wearing pale lipsticks; a good one for you. So, all in all I spent a fiver on 5 items - an excellent way to try out a brand or an item.

See you soon at Poundland :-)

Learn to do your own makeup - By a makeup artist

Thanks to media (You Tube and famous Gurus like Pixiwoos, Lisa Eldridge, Panacea, Facebook, magazines, TV, Film, advertising) there is great awareness on makeup and brands and how to look good (Gok Wan style), I find ladies enquiring to learn makeup and hair for themselves.

Women who want to learn to do their own makeup are ladies who:
1. are going abroad and won't be able to hire makeup artists / hair stylists for various reasons
2. want to learn to groom themselves
3. have makeup stuffed in drawers but are clueless on how to use it
4. want to learn a certain look like smoky eye or learn to create loose curls and volume like 'Cheryl Cole'
5. want to know what it would be like to learn from a professional
6. use it as a 'taster' before they try out a professional course

I also found that most of them returned after a few months to try out a new look or skill later.

Once the skills are learnt they must be practised several times, to get better.

These non professional courses are run every week and last around 2-3 h. For more details, give me a call or visit the website www.sanakmakeup.com

Does Genetics affect hair and makeup?

Does Genetics affect hair and makeup?
The answer is yes (and your lifestyle so it is a combination of factors)

This blog is nothing about the title or should I say, it somewhat is! The next few lines are more revealing; In 2000, I made a career transition from Molecular Genetics to Makeup artistry and Hair Styling. I would like to add that it was more of a journey rather than an abrupt change.

Some of you will wonder why, others will probably judge and comment that if she really wanted to do Make up and Hair Dressing, then why did she waste her time, surely Molecular Genetics is not a pre-requisite to be a make up artist or hair dressing for that matter.

All I remember is that when I decided to leave my budding academic career; I had no regrets. Infact, I never missed: the laboratory atmosphere, the sterile smells that began and ended my long days, the nights I spent peering at the auto radiographs, the radioactive materials that I had to shield my ovaries from, those white coats that even after a wash did not look that great, those competitive people within a group that would do anything - by anything I mean ANYTHING,  the long nights spent persevering so that the goal was achieved when time was running out, the training of students, the writing of thousands of words to complete a thesis or the scientific grants or papers, the going back full stop!

As the journey of one career ended with a PhD, the new journey required some thought and planning, although most of the skills were already in place due to a natural talent. What was needed was refining and confidence to pursue and thrive.

Although, the road to creativity seemed a clear choice, there were a few bypasses......Back to Academia it was to learn about Management at London School of Economics which would provide a new perspective altogether; a great theoretical background for any business to say the least and provide a few more choices. It is always good to have choices!

Horizons were definitely broadened, and the vision to having my own business had never been clearer.
Now came the decision to which school (AGAIN you and I say) should the creative skills be honed at. Using analysis, it was felt that every school under consideration had a unique quality and that over time, a few should be attended to gain valuable techniques.

At the first make up class, the feeling of excitement was nothing less than your first love; when you know you are made for each other.

Make up classes turned into experience (skins of all types and colour), experience turned into experimentation, experimentation led to photo shoots, photo shoots led to social media, social media led to networking, networking led to ideas, ideas led to a variety of outputs. The fun, passion, hardwork, obsession all pays off - given the time and patience.

Make up as a complete field is vast, there are: fashion make up artists, beauty make up artists, wedding make up artists, TV / FILM make up artists, prosthetic make up artists, catwalk make up artists. So, you can specialise in any of these but also decide to specialise in one of them and branch out to a complimentary service like Hair Styling (goes hand in hand) or Photography (be behind the lens both ways) or beauty (after all make up is an element of beauty). Saying that nothing is more satisfying than imparting your experience, training people who will remind you of how you began, test your patience, teach you about human psychology and in a philosophical way complete the circle.

www.sanakmakeup.com
www.sanakermani.com
We provide Bridal services and Training in Hair and Make up

Arbonne makeup

I was recently sent some goodies by Arbonne and here is a picture of the items (minus the packaging).  Of them, I have tried the primer, creamy finish high lighter, foundations on myself and some friends and they all go on very smooth. The foundations have a matte finish so even though 2 types of powders were supplied I found using those only made the finish too powdery; that might be more appropriate for oily skins or hot climates.
The eyeshadows that I was sent were a metallic brown and a metallic grey, and they are both great. The blusher supplied is a shocking pink and I found it looked good on both olive and light skinned girls.
There was also a huge bottle with a pump which a face,hair and body wash, so if you are someone that likes a fruity smell and not a lot of bubbles then this is for you!
I have yet to try the creams in sachets marked RE (for mature skin). Will let you know.....