Gift-With-Purchase Test Drive

How many times have you brought home a cute cosmetic bag filled with travel-sized beauty products during a Gift-With-Purchase promotion only to leave it in your bathroom vanity drawer? The shades and products looked so good in the store but when you get them home, you wonder how to use them? Can I wear these colours? What order to I use the skincare products? And how do I incorporate them into my current regime?

 

One of my favourite features in BEAUTY the guide is called GWP Test Drive. We take a current gift and we demonstrate how to get the very most from them. This month, Lancome is offering a spring GWP at Hudson’s Bay stores, but there are similar such offers at stores around the world. The tips will work for almost everyone.

 

The theme we came up with is how to use these items at the office. Can these beauty products be used for quick touch ups throughout the day and for last-minute client meetings? We challened Lancome Pro Artist, Lora Spiga to give us the best tips and tricks on how to use every last drop of these items. Here is her advice!

 

“I always recommend my clients keep a cosmetic bag with their makeup essentials at the office. You never know when you’ll have a last minute client meeting or dinner.”

– Lancome Pro Artist, Lora Spiga

 

The Spring Lancome Gift-With-Purchase Offer

 

The brand: Lancome

Fall Gift-with-Purchase Offer: Make a $36 Lancome purchase before taxes at Hudson’s Bay or thebay.com from April 9^th to May 3rd and receive an 8-piece, custom gift-with-purchase set valued at up to $188 (while supplies last)

Choose your serum: Advanced Genifique Youth Activating Concentrate (8 ml) or Visionnaire Advanced Skin Corrector – Wrinkles, Pores, Uneveness (7 ml)

 

Choose your skincare: Visionnaire Advanced Correcting Cream (15 ml) and Genefique Yeux Youth Activating Eye Cream (7.5 ml) or Renergie Lift Multi-Action Lifting and Firming Cream (15 ml) and Renergie Lift Multi-Action Eye Lifting and Firming Cream(15 ml), or Absolue Premium Bx Replenishing & Rejuvenating Day Cream (15 ml), and Absolue Eye Premium BX Replenishing Eye Cream (6 ml)

 

Choose your makeup: Colour Design Eye Brightening All-in-One Five Shadow & Liner Palette in Lavender Grace or Blush Subtil in Blushing Tresor and Colour Design Lip in Trendy Mauve or Matte Stylista or Pretty Burgundy

And receive: Bi-Facil Double-Action Eye Makeup Remover (50 ml), a travel-sized Hypnose Star Show-Stopping Mascara

Receive your signature Lancome in Paris cosmetic bag: polka dot print with pink accent.

 

Step Up Gift: Make a Lancome purchase of $95 before taxes and receive Nutrix Royal Body Lotion (200 ml) or Juicy Tubes in Tickled Pink, Tresor edp Rollerball (10 ml), and Tresor Body Lotion (50 ml), or Genefique Night Cream (15 ml), Crème Radiance (50 ml) and Tonique Radiance (50 ml) while supplies last.

Lancome Product Lifespans

 

How long will these Lancome travel-sized products last? Longer than you think! Here is how long each product will last based on daily use.

 

Colour Design Eye Brightening All-in-One Five Shadow & Liner Palette (travel size) – 2 months

Visionnaire Advanced Correcting Cream, 15 ml – 2 weeks

Bi-Facil Double-Action Makeup Remover, 50 ml – 2 months

Hypnose Star Show-Stopping Mascara (travel size) – 1 month

Renergie Lift Multi-Action Eye Lifting and Firming Cream, 15 ml – 2 weeks

Absolue Premium Bx Replenishing & Rejuvenating Day Cream, 15 ml – 2 weeks

Colour Design Lipstick – 3 months

Genifique Night Cream, 15 ml – 2 weeks

Crème Radiance, 50 ml – 3 weeks

Tonique Radiance 50 ml – 4 weeks

Juicy Tubes in Tickled Pink, 10 g – 3 months

Tresor EDP Rollerball, 10 ml – 3 months

Tresor Body Lotion, 50 ml – 1 month

Lancome cosmetic pouch – years!

 

10 Quick Beauty Tips For the Office

Lancome’s star makeup artist Lora Spiga is a favourite of BEAUTY the guide. We particularly love her quick makeup tips and tricks. Here are her best ones for the office.

1. The office environment can be quite dry. Refresh your skin with Genifique. Blot away any excess oil with a tissue to start. Then, take 2-3 drops of Genifique, warm the product with your finger tips and firmly pat onto skin. Your complexion will immediately look refreshed.

 

2. Blushing Tresor is a must have for me. Office lighting can be awful. It drains the colour from our faces. What looked like enough makeup at home suddenly looks barely there at the office due to the fluorescent lighting. I always feel like I need to add a little extra colour. If a blush brush is not available, warm some cream blush with your finger tips and apply a little extra to the apples of your cheeks blending outwards towards the hair line. This one step will instantly brighten your look.

 

3. I find many of my clients prefer to start off with a nude lipstick, gloss or balm first thing in the morning. Once lunch is over, I like to suggest they add a little wow factor. I say, “Give your coworkers something to talk about by adding a pop of colour.” Colour Design Lipstick in Pretty Burgundy is a beautiful deep tone that can be worn in so many ways. At the office, I would suggest wearing it over a neutral gloss as a stain. For that work function, line lips with Garnet Le Crayon then fill lips with lipstick. Eyes should remain understated when wearing bolder lip colour to properly balance the look.

 

4. Transform your office eye makeup in two minutes using Colour Design Eyeshadow Palette in Lavendar Grace. Begin by using colour one under the brows to highlight. (You’ll see that each shade is numbered on the palette for easy reference.) Next apply colour two to the eyelid for a quick pop of colour. I like to use colour four in the inner corner of the eye for some shimmer. These steps can all be done with the finger tips! Wet the applicator brush with some water and use either colour three or five as a liner. A few fresh coats of mascara and lipstick and you’re party ready.

 

5. Over the course of the day, lashes can flop down, especially in hot humid environments. This is often the case if you have oily skin. Refresh lashes with one or two fresh coats of mascara.

 

6. Rushing off to the gym for a quick workout after a long day? Don’t make the mistake of exercising with full makeup on. Save some time and remove your eye makeup at the office, or at least soften it. Wet a cotton swab or tissue with a little water, apply some Bi-facil, and tissue away some of your eye makeup.

 

7. If you’re not big on lip colour and prefer a very subdued look at the office, try Colour design lipstick in Trendy Mauve. It’s one of my go-to shades! It’s a very natural colour that will perfectly enhance your lip colour and shape without looking over done. You don’t even need a mirror to put it on.

 

 

8. If you work in front of a computer all day, your eyes can become very tired. Freshen them up with a reapplication of eye cream. Take a small amount of product, about the size of a grain of rice, and massage it between your ring fingers. Pat gently around the eye area. Genifique Eye would be ideal because of its creamy-gel consistency.
9. If you don’t wear makeup to the office and you feel your skin needs a little hydration, pat away any excess oil and reapply your moisturizer after lunch. I like to apply a little to my hands as well. This helps hydrate and protect them as well.
10. One of my top makeup rules is to keep a cosmetic bag full of your makeup essentials at the office. You never know when you’ll need a touch-up. Be sure to include a concealer and Dual Finish is my favourite!

 

 

Skincare product order

 

Cleanse

Tone or exfoliate

Serum

Sunscreen

CC or CC cream

Primer

Moisturizer

Concealer

Foundation

The fashionable cosmetic bag

 

Do you have cosmetic bag envy? No need to feel self-conscious in the staff washroom when you pull out your cosmetics bag. This chic polka-dot pouch with pink lining is more fashion accessory then utilitarian pouch. It even looks good sitting on a desk.