Forget about Kristen Stewart's personal life. We're more interested in how she always stands out on the red carpet. Enter celebrity makeup artist Beau Nelson, the man behind many of Kristen's looks, from her red lips at Cannes to her casual flair at Comic-Con. Here, he reveals how to cover up blemishes for flawless-looking skin, how to enhance your eyes as Kristen does, and the products he turns to again and again.
\When blemishes show up, show them the door with a pimple-banishing spot treatment. Not every product will work for every complexion, but here are some of our top picks that treat acne overnight, all while working to fade dark spots quickly. It's time to kick acne to the curb once and for all.
Vanessa Amorosi is the latest star to get Proactiv in the fight against spots. The 29-year-old singer — who is currently in London working on her next album — was in LA filming commercials for the blemish-busting brand a couple of weeks ago which are due to air across Australia shortly.
Vanessa joins an already stellar line-up of ambassadors, which includes Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, Caroline Wozniacki and Avril Lavigne. V follows in the footsteps of Delta Goodrem who has also represented the brand — the brainchild of dermatologists Dr. Katie Rodan and Dr. Kathy Field — in Australia back in 2009.
What do you think of the news? Do you think Vanessa's a good fit?
St. Ives give good scrubs. FACT. And its latest addition to its line of facial exfoliators is no exception. What strikes your first, as soon as you open the Green Tea Scrub ($9.99) is that it smells divine. So fresh and invigorating. And it's rich and creamy so the product doesn't slip off your hand before you've had the chance to use it!
It's a chemical and mechanical exfoliant so it combines the deep, pore-cleansing powers of salicylic acid with natural exfoliating beads for those who like to "feel" the product working. Due to the levels of salicylic acid it features (one percent), you can use the product daily, which comes in handy for people — like me — who always forget the last time they exfoliated. Was it yesterday? Was it two days ago? Was it four?? And as well as clearing skin, the scrub actually helps to reduce redness that's part and parcel of breakouts by harnessing the power of its hero ingredient, green tea.
Victoria Beckham often hits the red carpet looking all primped and preened, but she's not immune to nasty breakouts. Until now. Because Posh has found the key to clear skin: pregnancy! British Vogue is reporting that: "Victoria has tried everything under the sun for her skin, yet nothing has worked as well as getting pregnant with her fourth baby. The hormones really suit her and she's said this pregnancy has cleared up her spots!"
Pregnancy is known to really affect the skin. If you're lucky you can expect a radiant glow, but if you're unlucky, acne can actually flare up as the hormones affect oil production. Pigmentation that you never knew you had can also come to the surface. But not if you're name's Victoria Beckham. Oh no. We LOVE that Victoria's not only adding to her adorable brood, but that bub #4 is rumoured to be a girl and her skin is the best it's ever been. Go, Vicks! And congrats once again, Mr. and Mrs B. We cannot WAIT for the arrival!
OK, so Justin Bieber and Katy Perry might not be too happy with me relegating them to second place, but Caroline Wozniacki is number one in the tennis world right now. And my guess is she's feeling pretty good about herself, having kicked her acne and landed a cosmetics contract with Proactiv. The Danish tennis player — currently in Melbourne for the Australian Open — was first introduced to the brand by friends.
The news coincides with the new formulation of the products, which now feature microcrystal benzoyl peroxide. The new formula not only works faster, but is also gentler on the skin*. Caroline says of her new role: "I'm glad I have Proactiv. A lot of athletes struggle with their skin because we're always sweating, and we're under a lot of stress. I see other girls in the locker room trying to cover their pimples with makeup, but they know it's not going to work. The minute you start sweating, it comes right off. It's really nice to wake up with great skin on the morning of a big match because then I can focus on the yellow ball instead of pimples!"
*Based on US user group survey, January 2010.
Recently our Reader Review Panel tried the Clean&Clear® Advantage Pimple Control Kit. Was it clear skin all 'round? Here's what they had to say . . . 
jeujeu, age 29, said:
"I found the pimple control cleanser left my skin feeling extremely clean. A little tingling around the sensitive eye area though. The toner was good and the moisturiser had a non-greasy feel and absorbed quickly. The Spot Gel was very handy for any outbreaks I could feel and rectified the problem with regular use within about 48hrs. In all a very affective pimple control routine that I would use and recommend."
Over the years I've heard a LOT of things said about spots. Who hasn't? The one that interests me the most is when people say that a blemish in an area of your face correlates to something else. Interesting. I decided to get to the bottom of it once and for all with a little help from skin guru, Emma Hobson, Education Manager at the International Dermal Institute.
A) The Western view of this is that hormones secreted through stress are different to the ones during puberty; both can lead to increased breakouts but they tend to be in different places on the face and body. Acne vulgaris (puberty) can be found on the upper back, chest and mainly on the cheeks. Stress acne, however, is common on the neck and under the jaw, as well as the forehead. Stress acne doesn't generally have the same severity as acne vulgaris.
Had a bad breakout of bumps on your cheeks and chin that just won't go away? Experiencing a lot of redness? What you're dealing with could be a very common skin ailment, Type 2 rosacea — not acne — and your course of treatment could be making the problem worse. So how can you tell the difference?
Are you fair-skinned and female? Rosacea can happen to anyone, but it's extremely common in those with paler complexions and three times more common in women than in men.
Do you have any visible veins in your face? If you can see little red veins in the skin on your cheeks, nose, or chin, you may have telangiectasias, a symptom of rosacea.
What do your bumps look like? Rosacea bumps are larger, but have no visible fluid. They never come to a head, but can stay on the skin for about a week.
Is your skin ruddy? If you've got very red cheeks, you flush frequently, or just generally experience a great deal of skin redness, you may have rosacea.
Do you have a lot of eye irritation or dryness? About half of all people with rosacea also experience eye irritation, so if you have some of the other factors listed here as well as frequent dry eyes, rosacea could be the culprit.
Blackheads. Ugh. What is all that gunk in there, anyway? Well, mainly dead skin and oxidised sebum (the oily gunk that comes out of the sebaceous glands). It even sounds gross, doesn't it? Sadly they're a common complaint—from teens to adults, boys to girls, the imperfections crop up, often around the nose, chin and forehead as this is where we have the most sebaceous glands. If you think you've tried everything you can to rid yourself of the little beasts, but yet, they're still there, don't lose hope, we've got a solution.
Neutrogena is launching WAVE® Blackhead Eliminating Pads that can be used on your WAVE® Power Cleanser daily and get this, they remove blackheads from the very first use. The innovative vibrating cleanser, when combined with these targeted pads, helps to unclog pores effortlessly and effectively. The pads feature salicylic acid, which helps break down the build-up, and have a beaded texture to help sweep away dead skin cells, leaving skin smooth, soft and, most importantly, clear.
WE WANT YOU to join us on the Neutrogena® WAVE® Goodbye to Blackheads Challenge and see what a difference clear skin can make. To be in with a chance of being picked to try the products, simply share with us in the comments section how you feel when you have blackheads or blemishes. Do you just want to stay in and hide, do you get upset, angry?
