Authors: Kelly Osbourne
One day after school, I went home to my mum and told her I was being picked on. She said we would sort it out. My mum was always available for advice on all stuff girly. If she was away with Dad she'd make sure she could be on the other end of the phone. Even today -and it doesn't matter where she is in the world â we can all call my mum up for a chat or advice.
Of course, in her line of work she's had to be tough. She's one of the few women who've made it in the music business and that doesn't come easy. But even though she's spent a lot of time with men, she's always very conscious of what the right clothes to wear are and her make-up is always immaculate too.
She took me on a shopping trip to the Beverly Center to help me buy some beauty products. I sat with a skin expert at the make-up store
Aveda, where he talked me through a cleansing and moisturising regime that would help get rid of the spots. The shop was on the second floor, tucked away in the corner, which was great because it meant I didn't have to worry about bumping into my friends.
While we were in the Aveda store, my mum said I could have my own makeup set. I choose a six-by-six-inch box that flipped open. Inside, it had concealer, face powder, eye shadow and mascara. The make-up specialist told me how to use it. I'd been watching my sister Aimee, for ages, practising her makeup technique in front of the mirror at home. She'd bought a book from the department store, Barneys, and she would stand with the book opened on a certain page while she looked in the mirror and copied what they did.
The biggest arguments I used to have with my mum were over my sister. I always used to think that she spent more time with Aimee than she did with me. I wanted my mum to spend more time with me. When she was home, my mum took me, Jack and Aimee out on our own so we got plenty of one-on-one time with her. But sometimes I was jealous when she was with Aimee.
I
MET
Neil Young when I was doing my second series of
Project Catwalk
. My make-up artist accidentally fell off the stage so Neil, who was head of the make-up team backstage, stepped in. He has been a make-up artist for seventeen years and is unbelievably talented. As well as doing my make-up, he works with the MAC team and is responsible for some of the most innovative makeup styles you'll see on the catwalks during each season's fashion week. He has done make-up for Shirley Bassey, Grace Jones, Helen Mirren â everyone! As well as being great at his job, he has also become a very good friend. When you're filming all day or on a long shoot, Neil always makes everyone laugh, which is exactly what you need.
Included in this chapter are some of Neil's top skin and make-up tips.
Y
OU
should never leave the house â even in December â without wearing a high factor (and we're talking factor 30) on your face. It's so important and will prevent sun damage (sun in the winter can be just as harmful to your skin).
Don't smoke.
Use face wipes
to remove make-up and cleanse your face every morning and evening (they don't have to be some fancy, expensive brand).
Moisturise, moisturise, moisturise.
A skin care regime doesn't have to be complicated, and you don't have to use expensive products. The most important thing is that your skin needs to be hydrated. If your skin is not moisturised enough, there is no point in putting on make-up.
My sister is fucking beautiful. She really is beautiful. When we were kids, people would stop Mum in the street when we were all out shopping and tell her how beautiful Aimee was. Because I used to see myself as a bit goofy and a little chubby, I would say to mum, âWhy don't people look at me like they look at Aimee?'
Mum would always say to me, âYou'll have your day.' She told me that she had wanted me to learn how to wear make-up so I didn't repeat what she'd done. When Mum was my age, she had just gone out, bought a random kit and slapped it on. She ended up looking a real fucking tart.
That isn't to say I've not had my own make-up disasters. My God, the worst time was when I went to the MTV Europe Music Awards in Edinburgh in 2003, when I was nineteen. I swear to God, I don't know what the fuck I was thinking. My face is
pale anyway, but I insisted on putting on this ridiculously white foundation. I then did the darkest eyes â I practically made them look like they'd sunk into my head. I then did the maddest, reddest lips ever. I looked like bloody Ursula Sea Witch â from
The Little Mermaid
movie. There are all these pictures of me on the red carpet with the singer Beyonce and I look fucking ridiculous. I thought I looked fantastic at the time.
Neil says: Study your face
W
HEN
you're thinking about make-up, you shouldn't just think about the face. You should also think about the hair, the outfit and the accessories. If your clothes are busy, then keep the make-up simple. If you're wearing a simple black dress, you might want be more adventurous with your make-up. Also think about the occasion: Make-up should be fun and playful. If you're wearing a fifties-inspired outfit, sweep over a little red lipstick and a flick of black eyeliner for the ultimate statement.
Really study your bare face in the mirror and examine what you have to work with. Don't think about what you haven't got â think about what features are your strongest and play them up. Don't mask your face with make-up, think of enhancing instead. It's important to understand your face, eye and lip shape so that you can enhance them in the best way. The most wonderful thing about make-up is its ability not only to transform you physically but more importantly the way you feel about yourself. It's instant magic! Try not to do the same make-up every day so that it doesn't become a security mask. Celebrate what's great about your natural beauty and embrace it!.
Never over-tweeze your brows â they are so important for structuring the face. An over-tweezed brow is really ageing because what it suggests is that the hair is thinning. Full brows look so much more youthful. Go to a brow bar and get them done professionally. Always go on recommendation â if the person doing your brows hasn't got a nice shape themselves, don't let them do yours.
Neil's advice on stocking your make-up bag
S
TART
with a good moisturiser to hydrate the skin and a great foundation if you feel your skin needs evening out. Most skin needs foundation only down the centre of the face so apply sparingly and blend out towards the ears. Always seek professional advice when you're matching a foundation. All the major brands have a make-up artist working for them in big department stores. They will advise you on the best shade for your skin. The biggest mistake people make when buying a foundation is using it to make them darker, like a fake tan. A foundation should be used to even out your skin and help make it look flawless. It has to look like your skin in a bottle. There is no point in testing out the colour on the back of your hand. Where do you wear foundation? On your face â so that's where you should test it.
Don't spend a fortune on mascara â so long as you apply mascara in light coats from root to tip, allowing each coat to dry, you can achieve full voluminous lashes with any brand. Always remember to coat the back of the lashes as well as the front so that you coat the lash 360 degrees!
As a self-taught make-up artist I believe anyone can wear any colour around their eyes. It's all about the texture you choose and how much of the colour you see that makes all the difference. A bright blue on the eyes may look great on the catwalk but may look overpowering for an everyday look so opt for a cobalt-blue eyeliner instead â remember less is more and you can always add extra should you feel more confident â it's much more difficult to take away.
Wearing lip colour is about confidence â red or fuscia lips can make you feel instantly sexy, like putting on a pair of heels, but never let the lipstick wear you. If your lips are thin try medium to light tones in satin or gloss to plump them out. If you have very full lips and want to play them down opt for medium to dark tones in satin or matt â this will help to minimize. If you can't get a lip pencil to match your lipstick, go without. Lips look ultra modern when left undefined. If your lipstick bleeds MAC's Prep and Prime lip is great for keeping the colour firmly in place.
I've been lucky enough to have had some amazing make-up artists do my make-up. I've tried to learn good tips along the way. Neil is the best I've ever worked with. He can look at anyone's face and know instantly what will work for their face shape and skin tone. I've never known him not do flawless make-up.
I
WAS
fifteen when I dyed my hair for the first time. We were staying at the Peninsula Hotel in New York. My dad was on tour and we'd flown out to join him. Dad's make-up artist and I were chatting in my parents' bedroom. I'd just had my hair cut really short and I loved it. But I was bored of the colour, which was blonde. She just said: âCome on, Kel. Why don't we dye it?' I turned to my mum thinking she would say, âNo fucking way.' But she was really up for it. I'm not quite sure whether she was prepared for the colour I picked â bright pink! I loved it. And it was the start of my love affair with dying my hair. The only problem was, on my first day back at Westmark School after the holidays, they made me dye it back. The bastards!
Lino first started cutting my hair when I was two years old; I had to sit on my mum's
knee because I was too small for the chair in the hairdresser's. He has been cutting my hair and my family's hair ever since. I am not kidding when I say that Lino has done the hair of every high-profile person you can think of â from Madonna and Kylie Minogue to Catherine Zeta Jones and Dustin Hoffman â and he won the award for the Most Wanted Cut & Blow Dry for styling my mum's hair. He was the head stylist on the first three series of
The X Factor
and he is now based at Daniel Galvin's hair salon in London.
T
HE
biggest thing that pissed me off at school was when the other kids would always make a comment about how pale my skin was. They would turn around and say, âHi, Casper the Ghost'. You'd think they would come up with something better than that but no, they called me Casper. People still make reference to how I'm really pale now. I mean, never in a million years would they have dared to say, âthe blackest night' of a celebrity rapper. But they would have no problem saying, âthe ghostly white' of a celebrity rocker. No problem. Jesus fucking Christ! As if I can help the colour of my skin.
Those comments really hurt. No one wants to be picked on for something they can do absolutely nothing about.
I've worn fake tan twice in my life and I hated the way I looked on both occasions. Who is able to put that shit on properly? On the first occasion, I was going to one of Mum and Dad's parties and thought I would have a fake tan. I bought it from a store and attempted to do it myself. But you've got to exfoliate (remove the dead skin cells) and all that shit, which I'd not bothered to do. As soon as I'd done it, I freaked and decided I wanted to scrape it off. In the end I spent the night walking around the party with different coloured patches all over my chest. Nice.
Another time, I'd been on holiday and I had these weird strap-marks from where my swimsuit had been. I wouldn't have minded, but I'd been sitting in the shade. One of my friends told me to go to a beauty
salon in LA and they would even it out. I stood in the middle of the room in some God-awful paper knickers while this woman sprayed my body with fake tan from a silver gun. I came out ten shades darker than I'd ever tan naturally. It just didn't look right and it really didn't suit me. I looked fucking ridiculous.
Lino Carbosiero â Hairdresser
Lino is really well-respected, so I went to visit him to get his top tips:
Hair do's:
Hair don'ts: