I love attending the annual conferences sponsored by the VBF, the Vascular Birthmarks Foundation. It’s often like a reunion of friends whom I have never met, folks with whom I’ve corresponded in the past but never seen in person. And there is a comfort in knowing that, at least for a couple of days, I’m not the only one in the room with a birthmark. Makeovers have been a part of all our conferences so far, and I hang out with the makeup artists, gathering new ideas and tips. This year’s conference, which was held in Boston during the last weekend in October, featured makeup by Smart Cover. The company was founded by Flori Roberts, who also heads up Enlighten, a cosmetic line for women of color, and founded Dermablend, now part of the huge conglomerate that includes L’Oreal, Lancome, Maybelline and a host of other brands.
I had my face made up by artist Jennifer Murphy, who is used to special cases like mine —she works in a doctor’s office and volunteers her time doing corrective makeup in shelters for battered women. Jennifer used the Smart Cover Concealing Cream, which is waterproof and dries without powder to a lasting matte finish. It’s a very opaque, but relatively lightweight product, designed to cover birthmarks on both face and body. Here are some of the tips I learned from our session:
1) For darker birthmarks, you can use a two-step process, starting with the concealing cream, and then going over places that need a little extra coverage with the Smart Cover Concealing Stick.
2) We made up my entire face — even under the eyes—with the Smart Cover Concealing Cream, using it full strength over my birthmark, then diluting it at a ratio of about two parts foundation to one part moisturizer to create a lighter coverage in the same color.
3) Opt for a cream, rather than a powder blush, to avoid a mask-like look.
4) If you hate the dull finish concealing makeup can leave, try going over your face with a slightly shimmery bronzer. Victoria’s Secret makes a mosaic compact, which is flattering to most skin tones.
4) To set your makeup, and leave your skin looking fresh, as a last step spray it with Evian water, or try the Vitamin E facial mist available at The Body Shop.
In the makeup room, I met Kay Lewin and her family from the U.K. Many of you are already familiar with Kay’s excellent tips and comments from our newsgroup. She generously brought along a bag full of her favorite concealing foundation, Keromask, and handed out tubes of various shades as gifts. Kay does any amazing job of concealing a dark birthmark. Keromask is even a bit more opaque than Smart Cover for those of you who need a lot of coverage, yet it’s lightweight and easy to use.
Sources:
www.smartcover.com or link through our Birthmarks.com website.
To order Keromask in the U.S., try www.beautycafe.com.
Order the shimmery bronzer online at www2.victoriassecret.com/beauty.
Vitamin E Face Mist at www.thebodyshop.com.
Evian Mineral Water Spray at www.skinstore.com.
