An Experienced

COSMOTOLOGIST Tells Our Readers About Skin Care

And Makeup

A WORD ON THE LIPS.......

The mouth is a feature that does so much all by itself. The mouth is expressive: we use it to talk, to laugh, to smile, to kiss, to grimace. It shows approval and disapproval. We broaden it to grin, contract it when we pucker, distend it when we pout (which I hope is not often). There is no other feature that is quite so mobile; it doesn't need much help from us. I would almost say that the more you use your mouth, the less makeup it needs.

Many women are unhappy about their mouths. The best thing for them to do, and for everyone, is to color the mouth simply and lightly and to play up the other features. To me the most attractive part of the face is from the nose up. I pay much more attention to the eyes, as a makeup artist and as a man, than I do to the mouth. All that is necessary for the mouth is that it shows sufficiently, that it is present in the geography of the face. One should never feel over- powered by the mouth.

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In keeping with philosophy of a natural approach to makeup, I believe you should follow the natural contour of your mouth. Using lipstick to make the mouth look either fuller or smaller is one of the worst makeup mistakes a woman can make. Worrying about your mouth is an exaggerated worry; re- contouring your mouth is exaggerated makeup. I'm against both.

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It is true that a number of tricks are used in photography to enhance a model's mouth, but these are impractical in everyday situations. You are constantly using your mouth, talking and eating away lip- stick. A corrective application would be gone in the first bite of breakfast.

There is, however, one trick that will work rather well for a thin or weak upper lip. With a very fine brown pencil lightly touch up the points of the center of your upper lip, the "M" we all have. With a fine cotton swab blend the pencil into your lip, softening any hardness at the contour. When you add your lipstick the brown won't show, but its effect will, adding body to the lip without showing any effort.

Remember that the mouth should never dominate the face; it should never be drawn in falsely to look like a carica-

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A GUIDE TO CORRECT

MAKEUP

ture instead of two beautiful lips.

Trying to make too little of your lips is as bad as its reverse. Both are signals that tell everyone you are self- conscious about your mouth. I have noticed that black women who may be very full- lipped often try coloring only halfway within the contour of their lips; I disapprove of this. Any woman who wants to minimize the size of her mouth should do so inconspicuously. This is best achieved by using a gloss only or a very light shade of lipstick or no lipstick at all. Try all three methods to see which will be best for you.

As long as I've mentioned the possibility of wearing no lipstick, I should discuss it in regard to everyone. Although this practice was in vogue sev- eral years ago, and did work terrifically for some women, I was never really fond of it.