The Cheater's Guide To Beauty
The Sun Herald
Saturday August 21, 1993
FORGET all that worthy stuff you've heard about beauty coming from within. Even if you've got a heart like Mother Teresa, it won't do a thing for you if you look like Phyllis Diller on the outside and you've got a red hot date coming up.
Dazzle the guy with your duco first; later he can find out you're a saint
So. How to make more of what you've got and become instantly gorgeous?
Cheat | Take advantage of everything that science and the beauty therapist can throw at you. And these days there's plenty, from skin hydration treatments, wrinkle plumping, to false hair, nails, eyelashes, fake tans and, of course, push-up bras that will make voluptuous mountains out of your molehills.
Let's start with the face.
You can strip years off your dial and give it a seductive glow with a deep, hydrating facial. Skin and Beauty Care at The Strand offers a "thermal mask"made from red volcanic clay.
The mask, together with creams applied underneath are claimed to give an instant lift which should last up to 10 days. Price: $65.
Wentworth Avenue Skin Care Clinic specialises in natural treatments based on the West German Babor products.
For an instant skin plumper, the salon applies its Super Effect Ampoule Serum which costs $47, including a deep cleanse.
For a more dramatic look you can have a collagen facial.
Wentworth's Michelle Lyneham said the treatment did not involve injections
Collagen-impregnated paper is applied to the face with a serum on top so the collagen "melts onto the skin".
For $75 you get "firm, white, flawless skin" which should last six to eight weeks.
If you're going for a suntanned look but don't want to lie under the hole in the ozone layer or suffer solariums, reach for a bottle of fake tan.
Fake tan products have come a long way and most leading cosmetics houses like Lancome, Estee Lauder, Clarins, Ella Bache and Clinique have excellent potions for a quick, "natural" tan.
But a word of caution, read instructions carefully and apply it methodically or you'll end up looking like Al Jolson doing a rendition of Mammy.
Your best shot at sending out major signals comes with your eyes, so don't stint on artifice.
Go for the big guns, false eyelashes. But, preferably, have them applied in a salon. And don't worry if the ultimate effect is too Barbarella-like because the 60s and 70s look is still hot.
The Rockdale Skin Care Clinic claims to be one of the few outlets offering eyelash "flares" or clusters of eight lashes which you stick along your own lashes wherever you want volume.
They will remain indefinitely if you don't apply oil-based eye make-up remover.
It costs around $20 to have them applied in the salon.
For a more dramatic effect, change your eye colour with tinted contact lenses.
You will need a prescription (even if you don't need them to improve your vision) as all lenses are individually contoured.
Tints include blue, green, brown, violet, hazel and prices start at around$200.
If you've got hair as thin as rice paper, invest in synthetic or human hair pieces.
At the Individual Wig company hair pieces start at $100 for ponytails to$144 to $200 for hair pieces.
Most are synthetic, said to be easier to wash and maintain than human hair, and a fraction of the price.
For something more permanent you can have "wafts" of real hair stitched into your own.
Barbara Sylvester from Sloanes said this was becoming more popular but took time and was fairly expensive. It costs $800 to $1,000, and the wafts must be"tightened up" every six weeks or so as your own hair grows.
Kylie Minogue, the woman with more front than a Mack truck, has found the secret of cleavage without surgery - the Wonder Bra.
Although Gossard's padded Wonder Bra has been around for a while, Kylie reinvented it to keep abreast of soul-sister Madonna.
According to a buyer at David Jones, there is renewed interest in push-up bras among all age groups.
And local companies such as Bendon and Berlei are getting into the act with their own designs.
Prices start from around $28 for a Formfit Show Off bra to $45 for a Wonder Bra.
Your final piece of artifice should be your talons.
Most nail salons offer the basic plastic tip nails which are fused(temporarily) to your own. These last about two weeks and cost around $30.
If you have the plastic tips finished with acrylic they will last indefinitely, providing every three weeks you have the gap between tip and cuticle filled in. Cost: around $60; $30 for retouching.
© 1993 The Sun Herald
