Cover-Ups Before Going Out

Many women ask me about coverup makeup after surgery....what to use, when and how to use it.

Here's what I have found to be pretty good. There are two products on the market, both of which I've tried myself. One is called Dermablend. The other is called Colortration. You can find Dermablend in your higher end beauty supply shops. Colortration, as far as I know, can only be found on the internet. Their website is colortration.com

Personally, I find both of these products, although great for covering up imperfections on the skin, a bit dry and cakey. So, here's what I do to fix the problem. For the Dermablend, I buy a cheap liquid foundation in the same color and I mix it in to cut the thickness of it. I then transfer the Dermablend mixture into another tiny little screw top "pot"..you know the little empty makeup pots that you can buy in beauty supply stores?

Then I take a little makeup sponge and dip it in the new mixture and then tap, tap, tap it onto the area I'm trying to cover up. I don't rub or shmear it...I tap or pat it on until it blends in with the skin around the area I'm covering.

The Colortration line also carries a moisturizer lotion that you can use to cut the intensity of the Colortration cover up. Be careful with Colortration. It's literally designed to cover up tattoos, so it's quite intense. But it works amazingly well. You have to find just the right mixture of moisturizer and colortration coverup so that it makes the product more spreadable and easier to work with without taking too much away from the coverage. Play with it until you find just the right blend.

After I'm done, I check it in a magnified mirror (for my aging eyes I use at least a 7X magnification).

If you don't want to go through the hassle of all that mixing (I always feel like "Madam Ruth with the gold-capped tooth" when I'm doing all that mixing and matching and transferring from one pot to the other pot) you can go to the makeup counter at any high end department store and take a look at the coverup at Shiseido, who makes a pretty good one...that doesn't require all the messy mixing.

I suggest you don't use anything on your face at all until all your stitches are removed (they should all be out by the eleventh day after surgery). The truth is...you should probably wait till you leave for home before you start using the coverup. You really don't need it at the recovery retreat, unless you want to practice using it before you leave for home.

Oh...and for those of you with thin lips or lips that have those little lines...

As long as you're putting makeup on...here's a tip for your lips. Get a nice lip liner (Lancome has delicious lip liners with the pencil on one side and a little brush for blending the liner onto the lips on the other side) and a nice matching lipstick. Line your lips all around just OUTSIDE of your natural lip line and then fill in with lipstick. When you line around the outside of your natural lip line, and then fill it in with lipstick, you are creating an illusion of fuller lips. It works! I use that process every day.

Actually...I've had my lips tattooed, so I have a permanent subtle line all around just the outside of my natural lip line. As a matter of fact, my lips were totally uneven and the tattooing evened them out in addition to making them look fuller. I still use a lip liner every day and lipstick to fill in. I also use a little gloss on top of the lip liner. I get compliments on my lips all the time. And when your lips are beautifully done...it will take the attention away from the little bruises that remain after your surgery. So, practice getting those lips to look luscious and don't forget to always check your work in the magnification mirror.

A big luscious-lipped kiss to you!!.....Didi