Pixi's perk-up make-up
Make-up artist Petra Strand, founder of cult range Pixi (that's Petra, top left), spills her secrets for this time of year – when faces are often in need of ‘waking-up’, now summer colour’s faded… Brighten your complexion. Revive dull dehydrated skin with a nourishing moisturiser. Reapply for extra ‘quenching’.
- Pixi hero product: Fresh Face, £24, a perfect, peach-toned, moisture-trapping miracle lotion for dull skin – buy here
Prime your skin. A good primer ensures your base stays picture perfect all day, as well as treating skin to an extra layer of moisture.
- Pixi hero product: Flawless & Poreless, £20.50 - a primer with shea butter gives a beautiful velvety finish; it also features extract of willow bark to refine and minimise pores – buy here
- Even out your skin tone. If your skin tends to react to the change in seasons – or you have redness problems - switch to a base with skin-soothing properties.
- Pixi hero product: Illuminating Tint & Conceal, £21.50, is a tinted moisturiser with a full coverage concealer in the lid; it’s packed with essential minerals, skin-soothing plant extracts and is completely hypoallergenic – buy here
Revitalise your eye area. If you look a little tired and/or drawn, brightening your eye area is the equivalent of cosmetic surgery.
- Pixi hero product: apply a touch of Pixi Correction Concentrate, £12, a peach-toned under eye concealer with added skin treating vitamin C and anti-oxidant rosehip, to neutralise darkness – buy here. Then apply Pixi Eye Bright Liner, £10.50 to the lower lid, on the inner lash line – buy here
Shape your brows. Groomed brows are a big autumn look –and wonderfully flattering, so invest in a professional shaping session (we recommend somewhere like Jenny Jordan’s Eyebrow & Make up clinic in London, www.jennyjordan.com, or the brilliant Benefit Brow Bars – click here to find your nearest).
- Pixi hero product: Natural Brow Duo, £12.50, offers a shading and grooming kit in one, suits-everyone shade of taupe – buy here
Lush up your lashes. Choose a long-lasting, smudge proof formula in black for glam upper lashes, and soft dark brown on lower ones.
- Pixi hero product: new Large Lash Mascara, £12.50, in Bold Black and Best Brown, does what it says on the tin – buy here
Go sultry. Give eye make-up a smoky look by tracing an eye pencil gently across the upper and lower lash lines then blend the line out for a delicate look.
- Pixi hero product: smudge-proof Endless Silky Eye Pen, £11 in eight shades - buy here
Learn to love eye-liner. Not heavy lines: think subtle. Use nude shadows on the lid for a polished look, then define and frame eyes with a touch of liquid liner, gently swept along the upper lash-line keeping close to the root of the lashes. It takes seconds and looks incredible.
- Pixi hero product: Lash Line Ink, £12, foolproof dot-on liner – buy here
Give cheeks a ‘pop’ of colour. Rather than powder, freshen up your blush with a sheer gel, which you can build from ‘barely there’ to ‘country walk’ rose.
- Pixi hero product: Sheer Cheek Gel, £12.50 in five shades, has been the best-selling product in their London store for 12 years – buy here
Keep the glow. Fluff on a feather-light powder bronzer as a beautiful finishing touch.
- Pixi hero product: Bronze Bloom Trio, £16, is a soft, sheer bronzer with three shades (bronze, pink and peach) for face and cheeks – buy here
Choose a strong(er lip) look for evenings. If red feels too much, try a chic, bitten-berry stain or tint. For daytime, try a tinted lip balm.
- Pixi hero products: Lip & Line, £12 in nine shades, a perfectly matching duo of lipstick and non-feathering lipliner – buy here - and Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm, £12 in seven shades, is infused with a treatment oils, botanicals and vitamins – buy here
So: no matter how gloomy it is in the mornings, no matter what toll the central heating's taking on your poor skin, Petra's tips should keep you radiant, all season long...