I noticed whilst backstage with SEAMS at London Fashion Week, every make-up artist was using the back of their hands as an easel to test lipsticks, foundations, blushers and eyeshadows – you name the product and it was sure to be mixed on the back of a hand. Something we all do  at home too! Think about when you shop at beauty counters – the back of your hand is always the place where you test products. This is a major sin for the health of your skin. Each time you wipe a lipstick or blusher stain away, the skin becomes dehydrated and sometimes sore. Even just a few wipes of a tissue or one use of anti-bacterial gel dries out the skin. As ITV and Celebrity make -up artist Helen Hand explained to me: “The brush cleaner we use is so astringent it makes my hands feel so dry that they feel hard and tight – it kills my hands.” Her advice to solve this problem? “Always use SEAMS straight afterwards. It softens hands after one application. My colleagues and I love it.”

Next time you are on a beauty shop carry a tube of SEAMS in your handbag. Full of Fragonia Oil a natural anti-bacterial ingredient that helps protect your skin from the spread of germs in used make-up, it also helps to heal. Shea Butter helps to moisturise and protect skin, and Glycerine helps to heal any rashes or irritations you may get from the action of wiping away make-up with tissues. It is also worth noting that testing make-up shades on the skin on the back of your hands does not give a true visual impression of what the colour will look like, how many times have you got a lipstick home only to find it doesn’t look right on your lips! The red pigment found naturally on lips changes  the colour of lipstick so it appears totally different to how it looks on the back of your hand. My advise to counter this is to ask at the beauty counter for a pice of clear tape and spread the lipstick or eyeshadow on the tape then hold it over your lips or eyes to give you a truer idea of how it will look against your skin tone.

Whatever happens, don’t forget to always keep SEAMS close at hand.

Karen J Gerrard