By Eli Wakamatsu: My Favourite Sun Care Products

It's been lovely in London with beautiful sunny days working up to the royal wedding big weekend.

Being out and about more, I would like to share some of my favourite sun care products on the market today.

It has became so important for us to protect our skin from the sun's harmful effects and other environmental stresses, and I urge people to put these step into your skin care routine whether it's sunny or not as damage can be done even it's cloudy day.

Do not worry that you won’t tan with products with high SPF numbers, you will still get sun  through with it and still have the benefits of Vitamin D.

The key is to give your face a good protection - don't underestimate the power of sunshine!

To start every day, after good clean wash, I love this all in one, day care moisturiser from Sisley. The All Day All Year Essential day care acts “like a protective “bubble” against outside aggressions ' responsible for  skin ageing for 8 hours”.

Then, I recommend to use facial sunscreen such as Sisley Facial Sunscreen SPF 30 (for normal to dry skin)

Shu Uemura makes amazing UV armor sun protector for a complete guard. (all skin types)

Shu Uemura's UV under base mousse SPF30 PA+++ is great for normal to oily skin to protect and prep the skin.

Follow with your usual make up foundation or tinted moisturizer.

If your make-up starts to wear off with the warmer weather touch up with pressed powder with added SPF in it such as Laura Mercier’s mineral pressed powder with SPF 15.

 And finish with Natural Glow Sculpting Powder makeup SPF 10 by Dior.

By Eli Wakamatsu - Marie Claire France May 2011 - "Tres Chair"

As an international make up artist, I do travel often to other places. I am confident to say that getting the Eurostar from Kings Cross St Pancras station is one my favourite forms of travel!

I was really fortunate to be working at great studio near Kings Cross called Big Sky Studio on this particular day, and after a nice day work, simply popped to Kings Cross for a short journey to Paris to shoot this story with Thiemo Sander for French Marie Claire with fashion editor Mako Yamazaki. The shoot took place in a stylish and personal studio called the Upper East studio near Pere Lachaise Cemetry.

St Pancras station is filled with nice cafés and restaurants to relax in before departure with free wifi which I’m always delighted with.

When I go to Paris, I always like to go to a Japanese restaurant called Yen  (22, rue Saint-Benoît 75006, near Saint-Germain-des-Prés).

They serve most incredible Japanese food, specializing in fresh soba noodles served in a soup, which is delicious!

It is very popular restaurant and well known faces like Karl Lagerfeld and Catherine Deneuve are regulars there.

For the make-up for this shoot I used Givenchy Photo'perfexino Light, Givenchy Blush Gelee (Candide Pink) for the face.

On the eyes I used Miste Eyebrow No 1 Natural, Magic Khol No 1 Black, Prisme Yeux Mono No 1 Showy Black and Phenomenyes Mascara in black.
 
On the lips I used Rouge Interdit in Enchanting Beige and on the Nails Givenchy Vernis Please! (No 173 Candide Peach).

Maria Comparetto at the Givenchy Mascara Launch

Maria Comparetto attended the Givenchy launch to celebrate their new mascara, Démesure (which hits stores in July £22). They also launched their AW11 collection (which will hit stores late August, prices start at £13).

The setting was the very Grand ‘Quintessentially House’ Portland Place. There was a Champagne reception followed by a presentation by Nicolas Degennes, the Creative Director for Givenchy make up who came over from Paris to talk through the inspiration for the new mascara and also preview the AW11 collection. In a blackened room, he presented the new colours and textures.

Using a powder highlighter underneath the foundation Nicolas demonstrated how easy it is to use the AW11 palette to allow the glow to look more natural. Apparently this new product will be available in only two shades (light & dark) and does it all.

Nicolas then demonstrated with the use of just a pencil, this palette and the new mascara how easy it was to create a seductive look in a the matter of minutes.

Maria said that Nicolas approach is to break all the rules and use fewer products to keep things simple.

After Nicolas' presentation, journalists, publishers/editors and make up artists could experience the new mascara for themselves with the help of four make up artists including Kevin Fortune, Adam De Cruz, Lyz Marsden and Dani Guinsberg.

For Maria the most exciting of all the products was the Mascara with its new and innovative retractable wand. Maria thought that ‘The ribbed applicator seems thick and clunky at first with slight grooves at the end to brush through the lashes’. She said that the trick is to apply your mascara, and then twist the base of the wand. This exposes a super flexible brush which helps you work the product from roots to ends to separate the individual lashes.

Maria’s said, “The result is amazing. Any transfer of mascara onto the eye area can be easily blended as eye shadow to enhance the Smokey eye.” And added that “The mascara will be out soon and I can’t wait!”

According to Maria the one to watch also is the Golden stardust, “In a beautiful “old school” black perfume bottle. The dust is applied as if you were applying perfume to hair & skin, truly magical… The room fills with flecks of Gold”. Unfortunately we can’t see for ourselves what this looks like until nearer the time…