Fashion Voyeur

People will stare, make it worth their while.

Categories: Beauty

Skincare Heroes: Vivderma Detox Elixir

We all have rough times with our skin.  When the weather is changeable, or stress enters our lives all of that is reflected in our skin.  But what about those times of utter crisis?  The times when our skin has either reacted to something, gone through a period of age related change, or just had a complete and utter meltdown?  well Voyeurs, I’m going to let you in on a secret of mine and I’ve been sitting on this one for a few years.  To be honest, I didn’t realise it was even a secret until I got to talking about it with a few people recently and nobody seems to even be aware of the existence of this product which I’m completely shocked about because it’s a complete and utter hero.

So, the beginning.  I have photo-sentitive skin.  Like majorly photo-sensitive.  This is why when you see me on vacation I always look like a burned lobster and not a bronzed goddess.  I have a condition that requires a medication which has some side effects, one of which is extreme photo-sensitivity and this is why I’m always banging on about SPF.  So, because I burn like a vampire through a crack in a curtain, I always wear SPF; and because SPF is completely gross for your skin it causes breakouts and blockages so it’s like this cycle of protecting your skin by treating it really badly.

A few years back I was at London Fashion Week, I’d just flown in to the UK the night before and my skin was awful.  I met up with a beauty PR friend of mine at my first show of the season and she said she’d hook me up with something to help my skin.  That was my first ever introduction to Vivderma Detox Elixir and now I’m a convert.

The product itself is a lightweight serum that glides on to clean skin after washing or cleansing.  It’s billed as Skin Rehab and comes with a whole host of benefits listed however the main reason I use it is its ability to rebalance skin that has tipped into crisis mode.  Whether it’s sunburn, breakouts, itchiness, duskiness, dullness or any other skin related concern that’s out of the ordinary – Detox Elixir has me covered.  I don’t use it every day, just when I need it and it always has my back.

I recently took a week long road trip to Cadwell Park and a press trip to Wicksteed Park (which you can read about here) and it happened to be during record breaking temperatures of 37 degrees which resulted in me having photosensitive skin and tightness.  Detox Elixir had me feeling like my usual self again and looking a lot better very quickly.

A close up image of Pixie Tenenbaum's hand holding a bottle of Viv Derma's Skin Elixir, a skin hero product for calming skin deemed to be in crisis

What does it cost & how long will it last?

It’s at the pricier end of the mid-range skincare market at £85 for 30ml.  However, it’s not an everyday product so you get a decent lifespan out of that little bottle.  One pump does your face and neck so as long as you don’t get too trigger happy it *can* last.  Given that I’m on the more sensitive side of the scale, I get around nine months out of one bottle, a person with more regulated skin could get longer.  Also, don’t discard the bottle when the pump stops, there’s always loads left in the bottom.

What’s in it?

Magic.  Seriously magic stuff.  It calms your skin in an instant so it must be.  It does have something called Proteolea in it which contains 100 x more vitamin C than apples, apparently this is important if you’re looking for anti-ageing type properties in your skincare.  It also contains Sacred Lotus which is known for its calming, soothing and anti-inflammatory qualities.  That’ll be the magic then.  It’s a great mattifier too which I know is often a product people use separately.  Basically the brand is a clinical brand and they use that clinical knowledge to address environmental skin issues.

Where can I get it?

The Vivderma website!  I don’t know another place that sells it and Viv Derma deliver fast.  I guess these days Bloggers have to declare relationships and I don’t have a relationship with Vivderma at all.  They didn’t ask me to recommend this product to you or to direct anybody to buy a product from them.  It’s a product I was given by a beauty PR who represented them (at the time) in a time of need and I’ve stuck with the brand as a customer ever since because the product is tried and tested (by me) and I genuinely love it.  I guess that’s just how this works right?  If you try something and you love it then you just keep on keeping on?

What it’s really great for is stopping those annoying pimples that you get under the surface of the skin, the ones that sit there taunting you but never quite break through.  I use the La Prairie skin peel dupe from Aldi (yes really because it’s bomb ass and it’s only £7) followed by this and it stops them in their tracks.  If you’re serious about finding skincare that works, then this really does.

Pixie

Categories: Beauty, Fashion, Uncategorized

How To Find An Awesome Aesthetics Practitioner

The aesthetics business is booming right now and the rise in so called “Selfie Surgery” is fuelling that boom.  From minor ‘tweakments’ to full scale surgery, it’s never been more normal, or accepted to admit that you’ve had work done.  What was once only accessible to the rich and famous has hit the mainstream and I can guarantee that you already know someone who’s dabbled in the world of aesthetic treatment, whether you know it or not.  It’s no longer about looking ‘done’, just as fashion has trends, so does the beauty industry and within that, the aesthetic industry.  In the 90’s Pamela Anderson appeared on the scene with her surgically enhanced breasts and the silicone era was born, today’s version is Kylie Jenner, with her plump lips and crease free face, she’s the poster child for an industry that we hold up as the Holy Grail.

two images of Kylie Jenner side by side showing the pre and post effects of her facial aesthetic treatments

But can we really turn back time, or at least hit the snooze button for a little while, using just a needle?  Well, yes as it turns out.  When you seek out advice from an Aesthetic Doctor it’s completely bespoke to your face structure and needs, it’s not like taking a prescription medication which is prescribed universally for a particular set of symptoms.  That’s the reason it’s important to do your research if you are planning on looking into taking the injectables route, the Safety in Beauty Campaign seeks to highlight the difficulties in regulating the industry and ensuring that practice is safe.  Nobody wants to end up on Botched Bodies and there are a few things you can do to prevent that from happening:

1. Only seek treatment from a qualified doctor, nurse prescriber or dentist to ensure that your practitioner has a medical background and a knowledge of facial structure and dynamics.

2. Beauty Therapists, no matter what they claim, are not trained medically, and if something does go wrong, they can’t prescribe the product used to treat and dissolve filler.  In fact there is a national campaign gathering momentum to call for a halt on this type of medical practice taking place outside of a medical environment.

3. Have a clear idea of what it is you want to achieve, rather than the product you want to use.  Just because a product worked for someone else, it doesn’t mean it’s the right one for you, your practitioner will look at your facial structure and help you to decide.  Sometimes filler can be used to slim down other areas, it’s not always injectable toxin you need.

4. Be prepared to hear “No”.  A good aesthetic doctor won’t be afraid to turn you away if treatment really isn’t necessary.

5. Don’t have unrealistic expectations, if you’re 46, you won’t leave the clinic looking 26.

I’m no stranger to the odd tweakment, I’ve been having Botox injections for almost two years now, I was probably late to the game at my age (the average age that women to begin aesthetic treatment in the UK is now just 22) but it’s something I’m happy with and planning to continue.  I have an inherited forehead line that completely disappears around two weeks post treatment and looking back at pictures from as little as two years ago and seeing how much I’ve managed to change and control that particular facial dynamic using a minimally invasive procedure is seriously impressive.  To me anyway.  The fashion industry is cut-throat, youth is its currency and everywhere you look there are examples of good and bad aesthetic treatment, the chances are, you only ever notice the bad.

One of the most important things to remember if you are making inquiries about possible aesthetic treatment, whether it’s dermal filler, lip filler or wrinkle relaxing treatments, my advice is the same:  cheap treatment doesn’t mean you’re getting a bargain.  Seriously, those FaceBook ads you see advertising lip filler or wrinkle relaxing treatments for an unbelievably affordable price, can come with a hefty hidden cost.  You’re literally putting your face on the line here, the first thing people see when they look at you, your shop front as it were.  Do research, look at previous work, ask about medical qualifications and whether they’re equipped to manage you as a case should things go wrong.  If somebody claims that things “never go wrong” alarm bells should be ringing.  Like any surgical procedure in a hospital, aesthetic treatments, although minimally invasive, are still medical procedures and yes, things can occasionally go wrong.  What you need to be sure of, is that if you happen to be one of those people in the minority, are they able to treat you effectively.

The biggest change in my own face has been through growing in my eyebrows with the assistance of a (private) prescription only product called Lumigan.  You’ll have seen me raving about Lumigan on here and on social media but I can’t begin to communicate just how effective it is, without showing you.

The picture on the left is pre-botox and mega brows (obvs) and was taken in 2016 as I was leaving the gym, the picture on the right was taken a few days ago (2018), also leaving the gym.  Neither image is posed for or altered in any way.  Big difference right?  See my point is, if you are planning on traversing the aesthetics slope, then the best way to do it is to look hard at yourself and only treat the bits that matter, don’t jump on the bandwagon to follow a trend just because somebody else is doing it.  Aesthetics is about you, and you alone.  You can’t change yourself to be someone else.

Of course, you could always adopt the Ru Paul mantra “If you don’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” and embrace what you already have….

P x

Categories: Beauty, Fashion, Uncategorized

Brow Maintenance 101: Home Products

Right, you can’t say I haven’t given you everything you need to get your natural brows looking fleeky AF.  What with How to Grow Show Stopping Brows as your baseline, giving you actual magic which will grow hairs on your face, right through to The Science of Perfect Brows which hits you square in the face with the two main trends for brow shape, and how to determine the shape for your own face – you’re pretty well looked after Voyeurs.

Assuming you’ve read and acted, here’s a guide to what’s hot, and what’s definitely not, in the world of brow maintenance.  Now as you know 2017 was the year that brows were compounded as a whole separate area of the beauty market.  From waxes and transfers to stencils and pencils, the beauty shelves were awash with products claiming to give your brows added zing.  But they aren’t cheap, and it’s a marketplace that’s difficult to navigate when every product claims to be amazing.  so, you’ve put in the work, you’re sporting a bushy set of Fashion Brows.  What now?  Well a lot of those products, you don’t actually need and you’d be better off keeping that hard earned cash where it belongs – in your wardrobe.

Well, my baseline is always a brow tint.  Go to a professional and ask them to use the HD Tint in a shade that’s just slightly darker than your natural brow colour.  I use The Wax Bar in Newcastle but most beauty salons are au fait in tinting brows.  When I’m done I ask them to take the excess off and leave whatever else behind which I remove myself at home.  This makes a tint last a full fortnight but on the flipside you look like a crazy person and therefore must go immediately home from the salon and never, ever look anyone in the eye on the way home.

So, home use products for brows, it’s a literal minefield but here is everything you need to keep your brows in check and one to steer well clear of…

Flatlay product shot of Tom Ford Brow Sculptor in Espresso, Nouveau Lash Serum and Maybelline Tattoo brow

NOUVEAU LASHES CONDITIONING SERUM £19.99

Product Shot of Nouveau Lashes Conditioning Serum Tube

Nouveau’s super conditioning Lash Serum is a staple beauty product.  I have two tubes on the go at all times, one for lashes and one for brows, whilst Nouveau do produce a specific Brow Serum in a purple tube, don’t bother with it and opt for this one instead.  When I’ve washed my face, toned, moisturised and my Lumigan has dried, I coat my lashes in this.  It makes them look thick, lustrous and glossy and sets them in shape ready to be pencilled in.  It’s super gentle and not at all sticky so there’s no risk of ending up with makeup stuck in your brows with this product.

TOM FORD BROW SCULPTOR £36

Product Shot of a Tom Ford Brow Sulptor pencil in shade Espresso

This cult brow shader is at the more expensive end of the scale when you consider that you can pick up a brow pencil at The Body Shop for just £7.  Stop buying other brow pencils, this is the real deal and will change your brow game forever.  Made of wax and sculpted into a blade shape, you can reach the areas under the hairs with ease and there are no tell tale signs or powdery finish like you get with some brow products.  It has a built in blade rake style sharpener and a brow brush too making it a brow powerhouse.  I’m going to make a bold statement here and say this one is even better than Anastasia Beverley Hills Voyeurs.  Yes really.  Once you try it you’ll never buy another brow pencil again, I have three; one in my car, one in my handbag and one in my bathroom.  It’s worth every penny.

MAYBELLINE TATTOO BROW

Product Shot of Maybelline Tattoo Brow box and product in shade Dark Brown

Maybelline Tattoo Brow is just awful.  The premise is that it’s a super temporary tinting product you apply at home, the reality is somewhat different.  It’s messy, difficult to remove and tears out precious brow hair with it.  That’s not even the worst part, the tint is on a red base meaning that it’s inevitable that at some point between applying the product and the tint fading some two to three days later, you will end up with ginger eyebrows and surrounding skin.  Which might be fine for red heads but for everyone else it means spending three days inside or wearing a balaclava.  This is a no go and for £12.99 it’s an expensive way of ruining your face framers.  I was horrified after using this on myself and almost resorted to a Sharpie.  Yes Voyeurs, a fucking Sharpie.  Avoid, and Maybelline if you’re reading this, do better.

Pixie xo

Categories: Beauty, Fashion, Uncategorized

The Science of Perfect Brows

If you read my recent post How to Grow Show Stopping Brows, then you’ll know that I’m big on eyebrows – both figuratively and literally.  Brows are big business these days and currently as far as trends go there seem to be two divisive camps, Fashion Brows and Beauty Brows, with one defining, overarching theme:  Bigger is better.  With this in mind, it’s no surprise that brows were the surprise leader of the makeup camp throughout 2016 and 2017 with the demand for brow maintenance and grooming products booming and it all started with the rise of Cara Delevingne.

FASHION BROWS

If you fall into the Fashion Brow camp the you probably don’t care if your brows are a little messy or overgrown, you most likely sport what’s known as a ‘flat brow’ as this is the shape which is scientifically speaking ‘most beautiful’.  The background of the theory is this, for years scientists have mapped out a living mask for beauty based on ‘ideals’ trends, shapes and symmetry amongst many other factors.  It’s been determined that the best angle for brows in terms of physical beauty is 14 degrees – this specific degree tricks the viewers eye into seeing a feline,  tilted almond shape in the eye and creates a ‘feeder line’ to the centre of the forehead effectively slimming the face and highlighting other facial features.

A 14 degree angle is pretty flat, hence the term ‘flat brow’ and if you study pictures of models in fashion editorial you’ll see that most of them fall into this bracket.  It’s my favourite shape of brow and the bracket that I sit firmly in, with no intention of moving.

BEAUTY BROWS

Beauty Brows were inspired by the HUDA Beauty movement and if one word describes them, it’s pristine.  These brows are uber dark in colour with a super high arch.  They’re the polar opposite of the Fashion Brow with an arch that tips the scale at almost 45 degrees – they require a pretty symmetrical face in order to reach their full efficacy as they’re pretty intense.

A picture of HUDA Beauty wearing the desert dusky palette

Beauty Brows are preened to perfection, you won’t find a stray, or a hair out of place and they follow they ombre trend for brows which sees a lighter powder effect on the shorter ‘sprout’ hairs closer to the nose.  With a Beauty Brow, makeup is visible and that’s the intention.

That’s the other thing, you can sit in one brow camp, and migrate to anther either intentionally or unintentionally.  Let me explain…..

If you currently sit in the Fashion Brow camp, but fancy sporting a higher arch, you can manipulate the shape of your brow through waxing and tweezing as you already know, this includes taking from the front corner to change the angle.  If you’re looking for a more prominent arch lift then botulinum toxin as an injectable can be used at specific points to ‘stretch’ not only the centre point of the brow, but also the outer tip completely changing the shape of the upper half of your face.

Not quite ready for the needle?  There are several formulas around on how you can ‘set up’ the perfect brow shape for your own face shape and they use your own facial dimensions to set the highest point of the arch.  Personally, I think they’re all bullshit.  You know me, I like to let mine grow wild and free, I don’t wax or pluck them and use a specific brow pencil to shade in areas that are sparse (see this post).  simples.  However my formula isn’t for everyone.  I’ve spent a long time growing my brows back from being tiny little apostrophes by using my hero product Lumigan, so I’m not about to put them in the hands of a trigger happy waxer any time soon.

A graphic showing how to achieve the perfect brow shape for your face

The most popular formula, and the one adopted by most UK and US Brow Bars, is to take a straight line from the outer edge of your nostril up towards your forehead, and start your brow here.  The second measure is from the same starting point out through the centre of your pupil, and demonstrates where the high point of your arch should sit, whilst the third measurement shows where your brow should end.  This can be used for waxing, plucking and shading and tends to dictate more of a Fashion brow as the arch is positioned flatter with this measurement.

Thinking about putting your brows in the hands of a professional?  I’m a huge fan of a brow tint and I visit The Wax Bar every fortnight to keep mine topped up, a tint makes brows look thicker, darker and glossier and it picks up all the fair baby hairs that you just can’t see otherwise – it can make or break your shape.  Do your research, pick a camp and decide on what you want in terms of waxing, tinting etc. and your preferred shape before you book, that way you’ll leave the salon happy rather than looking for the nearest hat shop.

Pixie xo

Categories: Beauty, Pixie

The Secret to Growing in Showstopping Brows

This is the one you’ve been waiting for Voyeurs, the secret to my awesome brows…

I pick up a lot of compliments on my brows and with the hell I’ve put them through over the years they deserve every goddamn nice word they get.  I was a motherplucker in the 90’s, I didn’t go to quite the same extreme as Kate moss or Pamela Anderson but I definitely veered into apostrophe territory and for some reason they ended up way shorter overall than they should have been.

90’s Kate Moss
90’s Pamela Anderson

Now if you know anything about the laws of hair then you will know this:  The hair you want never grows, and the hair you don’t want grows at a rate of knots unless you intervene.  Ergo, the hair on my head is never as long as I would like, my eyebrows never grew back on their own, and my bush sprouts like wildfire.  In terms of growing back lost eyebrow hair, they definitely need an assist.

The arrival of Cara Delevingne on the modelling scene sparked a whole new trend for brows and changed the beauty industry completely.  With her thick, grown in brows that blew the “Facial Measuring” rules out the water, suddenly a new brow shape was king and with that trend came a new division of the beauty marketplace.

Close crop of Cara Delevingne's face with messy brows and pink lips

Brow gels, palettes, powders, waxes and serums flooded the shelves and overnight, brows became big business.  Next came the brow growth products from serums to ‘stickers’, there was a whole new range of products aimed at 90’s motherpluckers like me, claiming to be able to grow your brows back to their former glory.

Up until a few years ago my brows were thin and kinda looked ‘stuck on’, my efforts to grow them in over the years had been futile.  For every small amount of growth I’d get, some trigger happy Beauty Therapist would wax or tweeze it back off despite my protesting.  When you’ve waxed, tweezed and plucked for so long, you’ll know that any brow regrowth you’re lucky to see is different than it was before, it’s not uniform, the colour is different and the hair is more translucent due to damage to the follicles.  I spent a small fortune on RapidBrow, from the makers of the hugely successful Rapid Lash which claimed to grow back and also darken brows with regular use, in as little as three months.  Eighteen months down the line my brows showed no difference and at £37 for a tube that lasts a month, it’s a hefty investment to get nothing back from.

Pixie Tenenbaum at Centerparcs wearing a hat and braids pulling a face

So I did a little research, and there’s some science behind all of this so take a seat and settle in.  Why should you listen to me?  because I grew back the most awesome pair of brows from pretty much nothing.  Ready?  Here comes the science:

WHAT’S THE DEAL WITH RAPIDLASH & RAPIDBROW?

If you used the product from the beginning then you’ll know that it used to be pretty effective.  Not any more.  Why so?  Well, RapidLash used to contain an active ingredient called isopropyl cloprostenate.  It’s an ingredient which has some molecular similarities to a medical active ingredient called bimatoprost.  Why am I telling you this?  Bimatoprost is an ingredient used in medication for the treatment of glaucoma, after extensive medical trials it was discovered that one of the side effects of its use in an eye drop formula was that it caused eyelashes to grow longer and darker in participants.  Something cosmeceutical manufacturer Allergan jumped on and harnessed in a product developed for the US aesthetics market called Latisse.

Still with me?  Allergan successfully brought a case against the makers of RapidLash outlining the similarities between the molecular makeup and performance of the two ingredients and used the years and years of patient trials as evidence which detailed benefits, side effects and potential risk factors.  RapidLash put forward a limited defence which contained no actual human research, all of their testing is, or had at the time, been done on animals.  Case closed.  RapidLash were ordered to remove isopropyl cloprostenate from all products in their line up.  However, and here’s the rub for any of you still using RapidLash, despite still being marketed in the same way, RapidLash and RapidBrow are little more than expensive conditioners and serums.  Ouch.  Still think shelling out £41 is a good investment for a product with no active ingredient?  Then consider this, RapidBrow came so much after the original RapidLash product that it never actually contained any active ingredient at all.

MIND BLOWN! SO WHAT DO I USE INSTEAD?

Well remember that potentially active ingredient Bimatoprost i told you about?  It’s available in a product in the UK designed to grow lashes, but because of it’s medical licensing and cosmeceutical benefits, it must be prescribed by an aesthetic doctor or nurse.  It’s not something you can just go ahead an buy on the web, but then nor do you need to be diagnosed with a medical condition to get it.  Let me explain…

Lumigan is a product that’s been crafted for the UK aesthetics market and it comes in two different formats.  The first is an eye drop bottle, the second is as individual eye droppers in a pack which lasts 2-3 months depending on how you use it.  The intention and the way it’s marketed is for growing eyelashes and it works, my lashes were ravaged by my addiction to lash extensions and I was at one point left with none at all.  Lumigan helped me grow them back quickly, however it’s also suitable for brow growth too.  I use it on both my lashes and brows – obviously this means I get through more of it in a shorter space of time but trust me, it’s worth it.  Apply with the brushes which come with it, leave to dry et voila.  Well, not quite et voila but it doesn’t take long to see results.

PIXIE TENENBAUM BEFORE & AFTER

SOLD! HOW CAN I GET IT?

You need to book a consultation with an aesthetic doctor or an aesthetic nurse with a prescribers license.  Once they’ve checked you over for any contra-indications and given you the lowdown on how to administer the product, you’re good to go.  You’ll find it marketed as Eyelash Growth Serum and the formulation and dose are the same whether you’re purchasing the product to use on brows or lashes.

HOW MUCH DOES IT COST?

That’s a good question.  Depending on which aesthetic practitioner you choose (not all of them will prescribe Lumigan as one of their products), and whether you opt for the 0.1mg/ml or 0.3mg/ml strength,  it ranges from £40 – £120 and a lot of this is to do with the name of the practitioner, or the repackaging the clinic has done to make the product look prettier.   My advice?  If you’re serious about growing back your brows, find and buy the 0.3mg/ml product if you’re starting out & the 0.1mg/ml version for maintenance, at the cheapest provider.  You’re not buying expertise with the product, you’ll administer it yourself at home and throw the packaging away.  If you’re talking filler, wrinkle relaxing or any other type of aesthetic procedure which requires an injection then always choose expertise over cost but in this case, cost is king.

Personally I get mine on a private prescription from Dr Steven Land at Novellus Aesthetics in Newcastle where it retails for £65 and if it’s in stock, is dispensed the same day where it can be collected or shipped to you at your home address. Remember it’s a prescription only medication (POM) so there are guidelines with this, it requires a proper consultation with a Doctor, Steven talks through what the product is (it’s for lashes and brows as an aesthetic medicine), how to use it and what to do if you have an adverse reaction – I’ve never had one but some people using it for lashes have reported a minor change in the colour of their iris.

Lumigan 0.3mg/ml
Lumigan 0.1mg/ml

WHAT DO I DO WITH IT?

Paint it sparingly on to your brows, or the parts around the existing brow shape where you want the hair to grow and leave it to dry before putting on moisturiser or makeup.  It’s that simple.  Using it for your lashes?  A very small amount along the lash line, any more is just waste.

HOW LONG BEFORE I LOOK LIKE CARA?

I saw a big difference to my brows within three months but everybody is different.  Trials for Latisse in the US reported participants seeing results to their lashes in as little as 4 weeks.  Persevere, it’s something that’s been proven to work and we all know that brows are big business that require commitment!

To complement your new brows, you’re going to need some products to keep them in check, look out for my Best Brow Products post so you can tame your face framers and be the envy of everyone you know…

Pixie xo

Follow @pixietenenbaum