New Makeup: Glass Skin Foundation + Autumn Lips
We’re trying something new this week. Don’t be scared. I have been wondering, for the past few weeks, whether running my blog on Substack is actually feasible. It deserves a much longer and considered post, this question, but in short: there’s something about Substack that gives me a weird kind of performance anxiety. When I wrote solely on my blog (it’s still there, by the way, ruthcrilly.co.uk) I would throw posts up willy-nilly: a makeup video here, a little aside about mole-catching there. Thoughts about my numb nipples, best new coatigans. Anything went. It was my own space - I was ruler of my kingdom.
I don’t quite feel that I can do that with Substack. Yet. I can’t help feeling that it’s all a bit more formal and demanding here. And so I wanted to do a little test and put up a relatively causal makeup post and see what you thought of it. Can I do the off-the-cuff little video blogs of old, here on Substack? Or does everything here need to be polished and poignant? Deep? Should I be sharing my darkest secrets?
(The few that are left. I used up a lot of my secrets in my book, How Not to be a Supermodel, which is available to buy in hardback here* and download as an audiobook here*. Expert marketing segue there. If you haven’t already read or listened to my book, though, then I can tell you that you are missing out.)
So today, my friends, as I said, we are trying something new. A makeup post. It’s the sort of thing you’d have found on my blog from the very start, a simple run-down of the makeup I have on my face this week. Had I not just done the world’s longest waffle-intro it would be a short post. Sweet. Almost “blink and you’ll miss it”. It is now the same length as a novella, but the overall intention is to give you an easily digestible run-down of the beauty bits and pieces I’ve tried recently.
Right. Pretend this is the start of the post. Sssh. Then tell me whether you liked it at the end by pressing the heart button (if you liked it, obviously) and/or leaving a comment.
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Glass Skin Foundation
This is by a brand called Sweed, who originally made all sorts of things to do with lashes (and really well), but who now produce a whole range of excellent makeup. Glass Skin (find it here* online) is one of their latest launches and it’s both a strange and surprising product.
I always expect foundations in this type of bottle to be very lightweight and “juicy” - think Clinique Even Better Glow, Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua etc - but Glass Skin has a very robust, almost immovable texture once on the skin. It’s not the sort of foundation you can dot on and then breezily blend in with a big brush whilst whistling a happy tune. It requires a certain level of concentration, I’ve found. Little amounts applied to skin and then very quickly blended with a small, stiffer-bristled brush.
The effect, if you get this right, is quite astonishing: my skin really does look as though it has been kind of plasticised. Laminated. It looks as though there’s a layer of faint gloss or sheen across the top of absolutely flawless, smooth skin. This is much heavier coverage than I expected it to be (I’ve grown far too used to sheer balmy-type bases) but then it has to have a heavy coverage to create that perfect finish.
Here’s where I’m going to try and drop in a very, very short video of all of the makeup going on. A better person than me would have made a longer one and not just pasted it in from Instagram, feel free to unsubscribe.
See? Can you see the finish? It’s quite remarkable. Different to any other full coverage base I’ve tried due to that slight gloss on the surface.
Estate eggshell.
Most middle class reference for a foundation finish ever…
Is Sweed’s Glass Skin foundation for you, you might ask? Yes if you want to put a bit of work in to get the most flawless of finishes and totally polished perfection: no if you like low-key, easy and breezy. I am wearing shade 5 - could probably do with a 6 - and you can see all of the shades here*.
That was step 1 of the makeup routine. Step 2 - please refer to the above products diagram - was ELF’s contour wand, a product I cannot be without. You just draw a line of this flattish brown stain onto your cheek and blend it in with a medium-sized fluffy brush and suddenly look eight times more glamorous. Sharp cheekbones. A sculpted face.
There are hugely expensive versions of this contour wand: save your pennies. The ELF wand is eight quid and brilliant. It adds a little bronzey colour, too, in just the right places. Find it here* - I use shade “medium/tan”.
I dusted a bit of L’Oreal matte bronzer over the high points of my face after that, just to bring my skin alive a bit. Warm it up. There was something about the slightly too-pale foundation and the tartan shirt that started to make me feel like an extra from a period drama. Someone who was mildly malnourished and who never saw the sun.
The blush (3) is one of the new liquid blushers from YSL. Blushers are all the rage at the moment, I’ve lost count of how many new creams and shimmers and liquids for the cheeks have landed on my desk. YSL’s is incredibly lightweight and whispers onto the skin seamlessly but does actually have quite a kick in terms of pigment. You wouldn’t want to overdo it.
I used the YSL Make Me Blush in shade 44, a pale pretty pink. I keep my blusher quite high on the cheeks, which always looks quite fresh, I think, and use minimal pressure to blend it in. If you blend too hard, all of the makeup beneath goes splotchy and you look as though you’ve got peeling sunburn.
Tip from the top.
Whisper that brush over the skin! Use teeny amounts of blush so that you can build rather than have to get rid of excess product. Follow my words, young Jedi, and you will have a gorgeous cheek flush that looks glossy and dewy and bright and youthful.
Buy YSL Liquid Blush in 44 here*
Onto eyes. Good grief, this post is still turning into a thesis and I only meant to drop in a few notes!
I used Vieve Eye Wand in Coffee* at the outer corners of my eyes and then blend. I go outwards and upwards with the blending, never ever going lower than the corner of my eye. If I take the colour lower then my eyes look saggy and downturned. If I blend upwards and out, it cheats a bit of an eye-lift. I do feel this needs a more detailed post with a little demo video, I have just added it to the ever-growing list!
There are loads of these shadow stick products out there, hugely varying in price, I think the Vieve ones are some of the best. Soft to apply but don’t budge once set. The Coffee and Mahogany shades will always be in my makeup bag.
The mascara I used in the video is the burgundy one from Charlotte Tilbury, here*. Would I buy it again? Probably not. I bought five different reddish/brownish/plumish mascaras for research purposes and haven’t really been running to use any of them in the morning. I find they take a lot more effort than black mascaras for less (or no) effect. My favourite non-black mascara is Clarins Supra in Brown - here*. It’s outstanding.
Lips! Nearly there, everyone, keep on biting down hard on those sticks, the ordeal is almost over.
I lined my lips in Hourglass liner, shade Uncovered 4 (here*). These liners are so very good, they just do not move at all once on. I’ve been trying (and failing) to find a liner with more longevity - I’ll let you know if I come across one, because this is at the absolute priciest end of pricey for a lip liner
The lipstick I’ve used is the YSL Loveshine, which seems to be a newly-launched version of YSL’s Volupté Shine. It has the same sumptuous, sheeny finish that isn’t sticky in the slightest, just gives instant shine. Is it the longest lasting lip colour in the world? Negative. But it’s hydrating, makes lips look plumper and the shades are deliciously juicy. The packaging is incredibly hefty and luxurious in feel, if that sort of thing makes your ears prick up in delight.
You can buy YSL Loveshine here* - I am wearing shade 201.
We’re at the end. Breathe a sigh of relief.
Helpful? Too long? Would rather see it as a video? Let me know. I’m trying to put together my new plan to stick to for next year and so any and all feedback is welcome.
Love this post, always happy to read your words and especially on make up. My problem with substack is that lots of people I love have moved over to it and now do mostly stuff on paid subscription. I absolutely understand you've gotta make a living but I cannot afford to follow everybody and pay £4 a month or whatever so feel I am starting to miss out on some of my faves. Xx
If you ever feel insecure about what to post, check out Patti Smith ( the rockstar). She posts random 30 second guitar rift videos, or her reading poems or quotes from whatever she is reading that caught her eye. We are sll just happy for a glimpse inside her brain and feel the same about you. I am happy to read it all. We are all here because we followed your blog and insta and loved that style of sharing from you already.