Hi, you are “face to face with Shell”.
Please click on the links below to view the first two parts of this series:
I am now going to talk about when I started to experiment with make-up and got it SO wrong:
Please watch the video below and read on…there are photographs further down the page:
I know I have spoken in pervious videos about me being very comfortable going out not wearing my “full face” but please remember that this was not always the way, I was not always comfortable “wearing my scars” and it took me years not to wear my “full face” of make-up, therefore, I’m going back to the start with you.
Please also remember that every person can wear camouflage make-up.
When my skin had settled, I started to experiment with make-up. When I was burned, I was only 13, therefore, had never worn foundation before; I had no experience at all of how to apply it or even what foundation I needed.
I was burned in 1984, therefore, there was no internet, etc., so everything I learned had to be from books or professionals; by professionals, I mean the make-up counters of department stores, although, my first experience of going to a counter was not the best:
Please click on the link below to find out this story:
TEENAGE STUFF (PART 1) BEING LEFT OUT AFTER BEING BURNED
A make-up artist told me a few years after I was burned that you want a blank canvas to work from; meaning to get the foundation right and then build on it.
My biggest mistake when I started to experiment with foundation, was to make my face look too white. In my mind, I was thinking “I really need to cover up all this redness, therefore, why do I want to use blusher, I’m trying to cover-up the redness, not add to it”. To me, there was method in my thinking but I couldn’t have been more wrong.
The photographs below show my “pale foundation”:
I was so intent on making my face look white, that I was actually drawing MORE attention to my burn scars. Even on holiday abroad, I would still wear my make-up far too light in colour, I was so afraid of the redness showing through (not thinking to show the lovely, safe tan, which actually helped my scars appear more natural and “blended”).
The photograph below shows me with a “safe” sun tan:
Please click on the link below, to view the page where I talk about a “safe” sun tan/fake tan:
SUN TAN/FAKE TAN TO EVEN OUT YOUR SKIN TONES
Another problem that I found was that the foundations specifically designed for scarred skin, were far too thick and the ones I used were the wrong colour, once again, drawing more attention to the fact that I was scarred.
I went to the Red Cross and while the woman was very helpful and caring, the make-up was just not for me; the colour was too yellow and the make-up too thick; again, drawing more attention to my scars. It had to be applied with my fingertips, pressing the cream onto my face. There wasn’t a lot of blending.
Heavy foundation can also make you look older. A doctor once told me that I looked younger in my mid-twenties, than I did in my teens (he was looking through my Health Record photographs at the time).
You might be very tempted, as I was, to use too much foundation to “cover-up” your scars. I found that it actually drew attention to my scars, instead of distracting from them. It took a few years to get this into my head.
It is all trial and error and I know that camouflage make-up has come a long way from when I was first burned.
Stay safe, stay strong, and we’ll chat soon.