PR-manager Lada Andreeva about your favorite cosmetics and care
For "Available" we study the contents of beauty cases, dressing tables and cosmetic bags of interesting characters to us - and we show all this to you.
About acquaintance with cosmetics
My acquaintance with the beauty world happened suddenly and quickly, at the moment when I least thought about it. Immediately after graduation, I got into the marketing and PR department of a large cosmetics corporation. Then I worked on TV and radio, in the FMCG company and now in Promsvyazbank. Beauty care stayed with me outside the work biography, becoming a good habit and hobby.
One of the test tasks at the first interview was the translation of the description of the tool from English. It was the easiest: I often read everything that is on the back of the can. Due to the habit of thoroughly studying everything (I never could have promoted what I don’t know and don’t inspire myself with) I had to master the basics of skin care. Learn what a daily routine is, and remember at least four basic steps: cleansing, toning, applying a mask, moisturizing.
I remember how the skin changed after the first test: it became smooth, soft and smooth. Such girls are remembered forever - in fact, the world cosmetic business is built on this: before buying, you are allowed to try the means and see them in action. You see the difference between "before" and "after" and, of course, you want everything at once. Until that moment, I don’t even remember if I had a favorite cream. The fact that there were several, the speech did not even go. But after I mastered the chain "wash - apply tonic - put a mask - and finally the cream," nothing more could lead us astray, because I always remembered the difference. Even if she went to her dacha, went hiking, she danced all night long - after that there was always a complete skin care. It was already on the machine and vaguely felt like some kind of important investment in a personal beautiful future. There is a quote in the book about Bridget Jones: "This whole labor process of leaving should be perfectly adjusted - it costs you only a few days to get away from it, and all efforts will be reduced to nothing." Very accurately noticed.
By the way, most of the solutions "3 in 1", "4 in 1" and even "5 in 1" actually do not work as these four consecutive stages. Saving time is insignificant, saving space in a suitcase is ok, but if there is a choice, it is better to do everything according to the classics of the genre and see how the skin transforms with each step.
About knowledge of beauty
Thanks to the work I learned a lot of useful things about the ingredients and formulas. Fact: girls in Russia are more active than in other countries, are interested in the makeup of cosmetics, so the annotations for Russia were the most detailed. Practice has shown (and prompted) that if a company is strong in care, you should not buy decorative cosmetics from it. And vice versa - a brand that is famous for powder, blush, meteorites, or the invention of mascara, rarely offers the perfect eye cream, and this knowledge greatly facilitates the flour of choice. Just everyone is strong in his own way. Like in sports.
I began to follow beauty trends in magazines, tried to read foreign ones. Saw, what means are started by the western companies. For example, a few years ago, Lancôme declared itself as an innovative brand, at once stepping out of a retro image in the guise of a company that comes up with space technology. Some of their names - Génifique, Visionnaire - what they are worth. It was one of the most notable breakthroughs in the beauty market. You understood that the Advanced Génifique Yeux Light-Pearl serum for eyes is worth dozens of inventions and, perhaps, the Nobel Prize. Each jar of cream has its own legend.
A new task: I had to understand what the flavors consist of, what lies behind the words "top note", "heart note" and "base note". I was helped with this close friend. I liked to come with her to the cosmetic shop and listen about each remedy, as if I were introduced to the guests at the evening party, and I, as a PR person, should memorize them by face and by name. At first, perfume science seemed difficult, as if you were trying to figure out the wines on your own. In fact, the main thing is that you just like the flavor.
If you want to move forward in this, then for starters, you can simply see which fragrances according to the Firmenich classification are in line with your favorite perfumes. In 80% of cases offered to you fit. Firmenich is an international company developing and producing perfume ingredients for famous brands. She came up with a convenient scheme, which is updated annually (new fragrances are added to it) and helps to find aromas similar in composition. Already after the two or three perfumes that you had, you can identify what a common note they have, and look for it in other flavors, when you want to "something the same, but new."
Since childhood, I remember my mother's phrase: "Do not disclose your age and the scent of your favorite perfume." I did not find out about the second part, perhaps this is such a recommendation to protect myself from meeting someone else like spirits. If there is such a risk, then the phrase works as an excellent argument and invariably causes an understanding smile.
About make-up
Empirically it turned out that the most important thing in makeup is skin care. It's like painting a canvas. It is better to spend time searching for a suitable cream, because then the face will be so contented and beautiful that it will be enough just to apply lipstick. Another life hacking is a technique of applying cosmetics. They can be peeped in liners to the means of Clarins and Darphin. These are detailed and simple instructions that work with any, even budget, creams. Also on the Clarins website there is a special section with video tutorials on application, they are short and easy to remember. Watching them is not boring, the practical benefits are palpable. You learn a lot of new things, like the fact that the cream for the neck is applied with movements similar to hugs. You can save on anything, but better not on eye cream. This is exactly the case when the store can and should ask for probes. Of course, they rarely give them without buying. But if it is correct and convincing to explain that you can make a decision on such an important means of care only by trying (this is true), then there will always be a probe.
From thematic sites not regularly, but I have been reading the mangoosta.ru blog for a long time - thanks to him, by the way, I found for myself an excellent eye cream, the sites beautyinsider.ru and fragrantica.ru. But the most beloved genre has always been the description of another person's cosmetic bag. Firstly, it’s the most similar to the truth, secondly, it’s the fastest way to broaden your beauty horizons. I read the Wonderzine column from cover to cover from the moment it appeared, but I couldn’t even dream of becoming its heroine.
About sports, nutrition and happiness
Three whales: sports, food, sleep. Trite, but it works. One of the leaders in my cosmetics company said: "If you want to be beautiful, go to bed today." This is perhaps the best advice in life. Want to shine in the eyes and rosy cheeks? Get enough sleep and fall in love.
In the book "Beauty-Myths" by Tiina Orasmäe-Meder and Yana Zubtsova there is a chapter on training, the meaning of which is reduced to the following: by pumping the muscles of the upper press, you also pull up the facial muscles. It's nice to think so, but it had no effect on my training program. I work with a trainer, and my motto in this is maximum simplicity. The most effective exercises - with your own weight. So you see what works and changes you. Pilates, which I did before, taught me how to breathe properly, and I use breathing techniques for stress or just when I need to think or take a pause. It quickly switches attention and organizes thoughts.
A couple of years ago, I learned to skate, or rather, I remembered a skill that had been forgotten in school. When I string skates and run on the ice, I forget about everything in the world from happiness. The meaning of any activity is to bring happiness, and if it has not yet developed with some obvious physical culture skill, it means that you are just on your way to each other. One day you will certainly catch this happiness. Another great invention of mankind - the bar. It can be done anytime, anywhere, very convenient with the radio on. So you feel the progress: at first you can hold out only the verse of the song, then the verse and the chorus, and so on.
Not so long ago, I tried to change the diet, removing favorite potatoes, soups, cereals, rice and pasta. There is protein in the form of meat and fish, vegetables, which are baked in foil or on parchment in the oven. Dairy products migrated to breakfast, and hard cheese was prescribed as a guest, visiting every other week. It is interesting to see what kind of picture the result will be - this is not the final diet, but rather the path to it. I rarely drink coffee with milk - it seems that this way you become more fit: the difference between latte and espresso is felt physically. Of the newly acquired habits: bitter chocolate and olive oil.
Nevertheless, the main rule is to try to free not the plate, but the head from the product. When thoughts become free of something, it will be easy to refuse. It is often possible to see how people who have embarked on the path of proper nutrition turn into hypocrites, which indicate how much carbohydrate should be in someone else’s loaf. It turns out that they are still not free and something forbidden is still deeply seated in them. Freedom is not to forbid, but to allow yourself to give up something. The words “proper nutrition” I therefore utter with healthy irony and always remember that as a child I loved bread with butter, could determine the best in the store and knew that it should smell like fresh cream and gently melt on the crumb of bread.
I am a fan of brushing my teeth and I believe that this is one of the most affordable beauty life hacking. I found my dentist, by the way, thanks to a publication on The Village: I remember reading an interview with her excitedly and almost drove the station into the subway. About three years ago I downloaded the Brush DJ application for myself - it was invented by a British dentist and it is ingeniously simple. While brushing your teeth, the application starts a two-minute timer and loads a song from your playlist in random order. Every 30 seconds you hear a signal, they say, it is necessary to change the direction of cleaning, and at the end - applause: this way the application expresses approval and praise. Now Brush DJ has become more complicated: it has educational videos, tips on how to do everything correctly, and even charts with the most popular melodies. The site of the application is quite similar to the site of some top-end western radio station.
My colleague at work calls me "beauty fairy", but I have my own beauty fairy, and every girl has an expert she meets on her way and after whose secrets life will no longer be the same.
