Liz Earle Naturally Active Skincare blog

Today, step into any of our Liz Earle stores and enjoy our special ‘Five Days of Beauty’ event. If you can’t join us in person, don’t worry – our experts will be posting a blog each day so you can enjoy their advice and tips from the comfort of your own home.

When it comes to creating gorgeous lips, a few simple tricks can help you achieve flattering colour that lasts. Visit us in store today for practical ‘lip-over’ advice or read my top tips below.

Using our Lip Pencil can help you achieve the perfect lip shape and create a more intense lip colour that lasts. First line your lips using a gentle feathering motion, starting at the Cupid’s bow and working outwards, and ensure that you take the colour into the corners of your lips for a beautifully defined look.  For a great base of colour that lasts, apply lip pencil all over the lips then smudge before applying your chosen shade of Signature Lip Colour. I love to experiment with different combinations of lip pencils and lips colours to create bespoke shades – my current favourite is our Lip Pencil in Poppy layered with our Signature Lip Colour in Damask Rose.

When you’re applying lip colour, I recommend using our Precision Brush, which will allow you to gradually build colour and achieve a more precise result.

Until Saturday, step into any of our Liz Earle stores and enjoy our special ‘Five Days of Beauty’ event. If you can’t join us in person, don’t worry – our experts will be posting a blog each day so you can enjoy their advice and tips from the comfort of your own home.

Creating gorgeous eyes often seems complicated, but it’s actually much simpler than it looks – especially when you choose the right tools and shades. Visit us in store today for practical demonstrations and advice or read my top tips below.

Using high-quality brushes is particularly important when it comes to eye make up. Our Eye Colour Brush helps you apply an even ‘base’ of colour quickly, while our Blend & Contour Brush makes it easy to achieve a seamless, professional result. To create an effortless smoky eye look, simply apply a neutral shade of eye colour using our Eye Colour Brush, then line your top lashes with our Eye Pencil and blend upwards to create a smoky result (keeping the colour below the brow bone). For gorgeous eyes, I always say ‘blend is your friend’ – taking the time to thoroughly blend your eye colour will give you a finish that looks both subtle and professional.

A common mistake I often encounter is when women apply heavy eyeliner to the full length of their lower lash line – this actually drags the eyes down and can make them appear smaller. Applying the liner only to the outer third of your lash line and stippling the colour carefully between each lash will help to define and open the eyes without heaviness.

Our range of Signature Eye Colours offers so many beautiful shades to choose from, but my favourites for winter are undoubtedly Bronze and Chestnut, warm tones which suit almost everyone. Blue eyeshadow is also making a huge comeback this season, so try Marine for an alternative take on the classic smoky eye look.

Until Saturday, step into any of our Liz Earle stores and enjoy our special ‘Five Days of Beauty’ event. If you can’t join us in person, don’t worry – our experts will be posting a blog each day so you can enjoy their advice and tips from the comfort of your own home.

A carefully chosen shade of blush can instantly enliven your face and enhance your features. Visit any of our Liz Earle stores today and enjoy handy hints and tips for achieving the best results with your blush – or read my indispensable advice below!

Cream blushes, such as our Healthy Glow Cream Blush, are great for delivering a radiant-looking, dewy burst of colour. Using your ring finger, apply to the apples of your cheeks then blend outwards in a soft teardrop shape, ensuring you keep the colour on the cheekbones rather than below them. Blush should gradually fade out along your cheekbones.

For a velvety matte finish opt for our Healthy Glow Powder Blush and apply using our Blush Brush to create a diagonal teardrop shape that fades out along your cheekbones. A little goes a long way, so start with a small amount of colour then build as desired.

My favourite shades of our Healthy Glow Cream and Powder Blush are Coral and Nectar, which are perfect for brightening your complexion on cold wintery days. I use these shades frequently during in-store colour consultations as they flatter almost all skin tones.

Until Saturday, step into any of our Liz Earle stores and enjoy our special ‘Five Days of Beauty’ event. If you can’t join us in person, don’t worry – our experts will be posting a blog each day so you can enjoy their advice and tips from the comfort of your own home.

The key to great make up is creating a flawless-looking canvas using the best base products to suit your skin type. Visit any of our stores today, where our expert make up team will be happy to advise you and give practical demonstrations, or read my top tips below.

To create a fantastic base, first choose your level of coverage. If you prefer a more natural look, our Sheer Skin Tint SPF15 is great for evening out the complexion and giving a radiant-looking, dewy finish. Simply smooth a small amount over your face with your fingers, using gentle downward strokes. For a higher level of coverage our Signature Foundation is ideal – the silky-smooth formula hides minor skin imperfections, gives a radiant finish and an even, natural-looking complexion. Use our Foundation Brush for best results. If you have combination to oily skin, opt for our Perfect Finish Powder Foundation – the velvety-smooth formula blends with ease to minimise the appearance of minor skin imperfections. Use the sponge applicator for a higher level of coverage, or our Powder Brush if you prefer a lighter finish.

We also have two fantastic concealers for you to choose from. Apply our Perfect Fix Concealer to hide any areas of redness, thread veins or dark circles, then use our Light Reflecting Concealer to deliver a touch of radiance to the top of the cheekbones (at the outer corner of the eyes), the Cupid’s bow of the lips, the inner corner of the eyes and the bridge of the nose. Remember to always apply concealer after liquid foundation but before powder foundation.

When it comes to foundation, less is usually more – apply a small amount at first, only to the areas of your face that need it, then build to achieve your desired level of coverage.

There’s no escaping it, Christmas is coming!  This year I am really excited as we have a whole new world of gifts to choose from with Liz Earle Colour.  For the past eight years, my friends and family have been delighted with their beautiful Liz Earle skincare gifts, but this Christmas all the ladies in my life will be unwrapping something new and different.

Looking back, I don’t think I’ve ever bought make up as a gift, but our range is full of wearable colours to flatter all ages and skin tones.  If you’re not sure which shades to choose, our fabulous teams are on hand to advise, whether you visit us in store or call our customer centre. If opting for Sheer Lip Gloss, then Mallow suits almost everyone, as do Cherry, Water Lily and Petal – see it’s easy!

Don’t forget the cheeks – having spent lots of time with Jane Bradley (our Make up Ambassador and blush and lash fanatic), I am now a huge advocate of blusher and I love the way that our Healthy Glow Cream Blush enhances cheeks with a healthy-looking, dewy, finish. Not sure which shade to go for?  Opt for our always-flattering Rose or Nude.

Make up is great to receive at Christmas – I can’t wait to gift my girlfriends and sister-in-laws.  Lip glosses, mascaras and eye pencils all make great stocking fillers.  My six-year-old daughter even has her eye on some lipstick – maybe in a few years…

Our accessories range is equally desirable, with fabulous make up brushes that are animal-friendly and 100% man-made. My favourites are the Blend & Contour Brush for making eye colour application and blending so simple, and our Brow & Eyeliner Brush which is double-ended, completing two jobs in one.  We also have a super-cute Pencil Sharpener that’s very cleverly designed to create a perfect point for precise application.

My current day-time favourites are our Signature Foundation for perfecting my complexion, Signature Eye Colour in Rose Quartz and Bronze, Healthy Glow Cream Blush in Nude, Eye Pencil in Brown, Lash Definition Smudgeproof Mascara in Brown and our Sheer Lip Gloss in Nougat. For evening, I am drawn to Signature Eye Colour in Charcoal and Smoke, with black eye pencil and black mascara for a more dramatic look.

This year, we have made it really easy to drop hints about what you would like for Christmas! Why not let your loved ones know what you’re wishing for with our ‘send to a friend’ tool, or use the ‘like’ button on Facebook.  Keep your fingers crossed and maybe they’ll get the hint!

Christmas shopping has never been so much fun. Enjoy the start to the season!

Jenny x

I caught up with Jane Bradley, our Make up Ambassador, over coffee at our recent Liz Earle Colour photoshoot and asked her some of your most popular questions. Here’s what she had to say…

Jenny: What’s the one make up item you absolutely can’t live without?
Jane: I never leave the house without mascara on. It makes such a difference to the face, making the eyes really stand out and sparkle.

Jenny: Can you tell us the best piece of beauty advice you’ve ever been given?
Jane: Mum got me into a proper skincare regime as soon as I started wearing make up. She was adamant about looking after your skin and said it would pay off in later life. In spite of never having had any cosmetic work done, she looks much younger than her age and still turns heads, proving she was absolutely right.

Jenny: What are some of the most common make up mistakes? And how do you fix them?
Jane: Wearing the wrong shade of foundation and also wearing too much. I see blusher applied in the wrong place, over-plucked and badly shaped eyebrows and incorrect lip, cheek and eye colours too. All of these errors can be fixed with a bit of education about application techniques and simply knowing how to choose the right make up in the right shades.

Jenny: What does beauty mean to you?
Jane: It’s a cliché but I believe real beauty emanates from within.  It’s easy to get drawn into the belief that perfectly symmetrical features set in a wrinkle-free face will make you beautiful, but all this does is make us feel inadequate, which in itself is unattractive. A woman who accepts what she has and who she is and understands how to make the best of herself will always radiate ‘real’ beauty for me.

Jenny: Tell us about your daily beauty regime…
Jane: I’ve used Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser morning and night for years. It removes all my make up and gently exfoliates my skin, leaving it soft and clear. I spritz on Instant Boost Skin Tonic and follow with Skin Repair Moisturiser for normal/combination skin. Even though my skin errs on the dehydrated side, I find this works perfectly, and I use it at night too. Now and again I use a mask when I feel my skin needs that little bit extra. I’m a complete convert to the Liz Earle Botanical Shine Shampoo and Conditioner and won’t use anything else. Energising Body Wash is a staple too, as is Energising Body Scrub, and Foot Repair Moisturiser is miraculous.

Jenny: Could you share a quick beauty tip with us?
Jane: If you have zero time, the quickest and easiest way to make yourself look instantly better is by applying blush. It gives life to the whole face, makes the eyes look brighter and gives you a more youthful look.

Jenny: What makes you smile?
Jane: I love the reaction I get after I’ve made somebody up and taught them a few of my tricks – giving someone a bit of self-confidence is extremely rewarding. I can’t bear how women are so hard on themselves. It kind of breaks my heart.

Jenny: What inspires you and what are your influences?
Jane: I love the glamour and elegance of the 1930s, ’40s and ’50s and have always been a huge fan of old black and white movies. The stars of the day such as Bette Davis, Lauren Bacall and Grace Kelly always looked so polished and beautiful; they were iconic. I also love the make up from the 1960s and ’70s when make up took a completely new direction. I like to take elements of the old and the new and mix them up to make them modern; a precision lip with a soft smoky eye, for instance. Keeping an eye on fashion and music also influences my ideas too.

Jenny: What do you think are the beauty essentials that should be in every make up bag?
Jane: The bare minimum would be concealer, blusher, mascara and lipstick, along with precision brushes to apply them with. But the most essential beauty tip is to always to look after your skin!

Jenny: What’s this season’s biggest beauty comeback?
Jane: Probably eye shadow. Bright lips have taken centre stage for quite some time, but now the trend is leaning towards the addition of eye colours too. I think make up in general is back in a big way, which is quite exciting.

Jenny: What advice do you have for looking more youthful – what kind of products are best to go for?
Jane: Choose products that give luminosity, such as Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint and Light Reflecting Concealer and avoid sparkly, heavy powders, which will only sit in fine lines and accentuate them. I also love nothing more than a bright, punchy lip on a mature lady. A red or a deep pink with silver hair looks knockout and will take years off you. Brow hairs become long and unruly as we age, but by keeping them trimmed and groomed your whole face will look more youthful.

Jenny: Your job involves a lot of work abroad. Do you have any top travelling tips?

Jane: While flying, try to keep off the alcohol as this adds to the dehydrating effects of being in the air. Pop a travel-size Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer in your bag and spritz your face at regular intervals to help lock the moisture in. Avoid salty foods as they can lead to puffiness, and once at your destination always protect your skin using a mineral sunscreen.

Jenny: And finally, what’s your favourite piece of skincare advice?
Jane: Find a skincare regime that works for you, and use it religiously. Always use moisturiser, keep your skin exfoliated and drink lots of water. Your skin will thank you for it!

I can hardly believe it’s almost been a month since we revealed the finishing touches to our colour collection.  Our brand new, eagerly awaited Liz Earle Colour products have received an amazing response and are flying off the shelves!

So, which products do you love?  Everything!  Our Signature Foundation and Perfect Finish Powder Foundation are the two products everyone wants to try, as foundation is such a key make up product to get right – and according to the customer comments and responses we have received in store and online, it seems we really have hit the mark. Once you strike the perfect balance between a matt and dewy finish with simple, beautiful radiance, you don’t look back, and this is the feedback we are receiving from our customers.

Last week, I have been out and about talking to members of the press and it has been terrific fun sharing in their excitement about our new products.  We have a wonderful collection of the most wearable shades, with 20 stunning eye colours that will give you a fabulous modern look, whatever your shade preference, and 19 incredibly wearable lipstick shades – the tough part is choosing which shade to try first.

Now that we’ve launched the full Liz Earle Colour range I see customers becoming more adventurous with their make up. Trying a new look can be quite daunting, so you may find it helpful to watch our new ‘how to’ films, which include tips and tricks from Jane Bradley, our Make up Ambassador, on how to use our colour products.

We’ve also created an interactive shade match chart to help you find your perfect base products. Our intention was always for Liz Earle Colour to be ‘make up made easy’ – so we are here to help you every step of the way.

I spoke to a leading make up artist who was working at London Fashion Week and she was using her Liz Earle Colour range to create catwalk looks – “It’s incredible, I didn’t find myself dipping into other ranges – you have it all! Other make up artists were coming over to borrow Liz Earle Colour products!”  Well, if it’s good enough for the supermodels!

As always, we really love to know what you think, so please get in touch to share your thoughts and experiences.  Our full colour range is available online, via our customer centre, Liz Earle stores and select John Lewis stores.  View our colour stockists page for more information.

Jenny x

My make up bag has grown significantly since we launched our capsule colour collection back in May, but like you I felt there were a few things missing.

I have loved reading your feedback on Liz Earle Colour, whether it’s been on Facebook, Twitter or QVC, or in person, in store and at events.  We are thrilled that you love our blushes, lip glosses, mascaras, pencils and powders as much as we do, with shades that work so beautifully, whatever your skin tone, and are so easy to apply with such fabulous results.  As well as reporting your favourites, you’ve also been requesting additional colour products to complete your collections – and we have been listening!

As we move into the autumn and my summer glow begins to fade, I feel that I could do with a bit more colour in my life and in my make up bag… and the exciting news is that the wait is almost over – we will be launching a brand new line-up of high-performance beauty essentials to complete your make up collections very soon!

I have been trialling these new products over the last few months and we have some real treats to share with you.  I believe we could have yet another ‘hero’ in the collection and I promise you will not be disappointed by the range of colours coming your way.  My make up bag is now complete, with everything I could possibly wish for inside!

Our brand new colour products will be launching on Monday 10^th September – make sure you sign up to News Bites to be the first to hear all about it.

It feels like an age since we launched Liz Earle Colour on QVC, but it was only seven weeks ago. We needed a little time to restock after we sold out of almost all of the kits!

Finally, the moment has come for us to once again showcase our beautiful new colour range live on air. Jane Bradley, our International Make up Artist, and I will be appearing on your screens on Saturday 21st July at 1.00pm and 7.00pm. We have some fabulous kits to share with you and Jane will be offering her expert advice on how to use the range to create beautiful looks yourself.

One of the key elements of our QVC shows has always been to demonstrate our products on a model. For a number of years now, we have used a mixture of professional models as well as ladies who work within our business. I love looking at the professional models, as they’re so beautiful, but it also keeps things real to see my colleagues transformed by some really simple techniques that we can all use ourselves at home. This is, after all, ‘make up made easy’. I am thrilled to be doing this again for our next QVC colour shows.

Liz Earle Colour shares many synergies with our skincare range, one of them being that we’ve created products which are suitable for all ages and all skin types. Colour is a little more complicated to showcase on TV than skincare though, as we had to find models with four different skin tones to help you identify which shade options will suit you when you are watching from home. Last week, we gathered our chosen four together to take some pictures that we will use on air to demonstrate different skin tones – and I’d love to introduce you to our new TV stars.

Our ‘Bare’ model is Dee, aged 56. Many of you will know Dee from our events and also from modelling skincare on QVC. Dee is our Superskin Ambassador and is a real guru of both inner and outer beauty regimes.

You may have spoken to our next model, Marilyn, on the phone. Marilyn is 51 and has been with us for 12 years and works in our customer centre as a Team Leader – she wears our most popular shade of Sheer Skin Tint, ‘Beige’, which suits most medium skin tones.

Next is the gorgeous Denise. Denise has that beautiful Mediterranean olive skin tone that suits Sheer Skin Tint in ‘Beach’. Denise is 31 and works in our Fulfilment team and is responsible for processing customer orders and handling returns.

Finally, our newest shade of Sheer Skin Tint, ‘Deep Bisque’, is being modelled by Lisa who works in Marketing. Lisa decides if my blog is good enough to be published so I thought I would be in with a good chance if I put up a lovely photo of her! Lisa is our most youthful model at 25.

I remember Liz saying that we know what women want because they tell us, and I love that we can show you what real women look like when they wear Liz Earle Colour – not heavily made up or masked, but simply a prettier version of themselves. We are all about enhancing your own natural beauty.

Do tune in to see our island ladies live in the studio, and we would also love to hear from you about your experience of the range so far – you can call in to the QVC studio on Saturday on 0800 544434 to chat to myself or Jane, or to ask any questions about the range.

I’ve been at Liz Earle for nearly five years now, and while it has always been a very inspirational and exciting place to work, the buzz we feel at the moment in our offices and our stores is a completely new experience!   It is thrilling for everyone involved, from staff to customers, to finally see our colour cosmetics range come to life online, on TV, in our stores and also at some of our John Lewis counters.

June has been a very busy month for us as we continue to share our beautiful new Liz Earle Colour range.  Earlier this month, I was very lucky to have accompanied Liz to two events in John Lewis stores which have launched our colour range: Newcastle and Glasgow.

Having spent many years now working with Liz and top make up artists for our QVC shows, I know that we set incredibly high standards for the performance of our colour products – and the same is true for you, our customers. So many of you shared similar stories, such as trying to find a mascara that doesn’t smudge and create panda eyes (Liz’s personal obsession) or a bronzer that didn’t give you that ‘tango’ effect.

We were accompanied by Laura Tucker (assistant to Jane Bradley, our International Make up Artist), who was able to share some top make up tips and also demonstrate just how easy our colour range is to use and what fantastic results you can achieve with just a few products.  It was reassuring to me that our customers struggled, as I have done, to choose just one shade of Healthy Glow Blush or Sheer Lip Gloss!  I have learnt so much about how easy it is to create the perfect look by watching Jane and Laura – if you haven’t done so already, visit lizearle.com/letv to see Jane teaching you how to apply your products at home.

What was clear from June’s events is that Liz Earle Colour has given many customers the confidence to play with make up more often.  The shades are so wearable and all of the products are so easy to use.  The hardest part is choosing the shades – so far ‘Mallow’ is the most popular shade of our Sheer Lip Gloss and ‘Nectar’ and ‘Coral’ are fighting it out in the blushers!  You needed to be quick with the Lash Care Intensifying Mascara Base and our Golden Bronze Eye Pencils – they sold out on the evening!

A big thank you to all of our customers who attended and made us so welcome in Newcastle and Glasgow – it was truly wonderful to meet you all and share in your excitement for Liz Earle Colour.

So what will July bring?  More QVC shows! I look forward to sharing more colour stories and collections on QVC on Saturday 21^st July – hopefully some of the products will actually make it to air this time instead of selling out so quickly!

Jenny x