If you’ve got any beauty questions I might be able to help with, leave a comment to this page or email me at Bee@beelovesbeauty.com

Cely asked: Hey Bee, can you recommend a shampoo for hair that gets greasy quickly? For my hair to be nice I have to wash it everyday which isn’t always possible and can be such a chore. Xx

Hey Cely 

I sympathise, because I totally hate washing my hair! It’s like, the worst chore. So when it comes to hair greasiness, I want my washes to last as long as possible. So there’s a three pronged attack.

First prong: Scalp. If there’s anything up with your scalp, it can make it either greasier or drier, or paradoxically both. If your scalp is allergic to anything, or has just a general dermatitis, I recommend giving Alphosyl 2in1 a go because it is incredibly soothing. If you have any dandruff, Nizoral dandruff shampoo is awesome.

Second prong: The wash. To have a long lasting shampoo you need to remove as much of the oil that is present as possible. I use a small amount of shampoo to cut the grease initially, rinse it out and then apply a second “proper” dose of shampoo which then foams up brilliantly. I use the simplest shampoos for cleansing, like Vosene (marketed at teenage boys!) which is basically just a hair-safe detergent and a clean smell. Fewer ingredients leave less build up and less likely to irritate my scalp. I rub in the shampoo for a couple of minutes and then rinse it for ages, rinsing is incredibly important and unbelievably boring. When you think it is done, rinse more. *Yawn*. Use as little conditioner as you can cope with and rinse it really really well. This is incredibly boring too. What can I say?

Prong 3: After the wash. Dry your hair completely as soon as you’re done. Wet hair picks up scents and whatevers from the air and allows it to flow along the hair. Once your hair is dry, there is one rule: Don’t Touch It. A generation ago, women didn’t wash their own hair nearly as often, they went for a shampoo and set weekly and left it at that. Setting lotion held hair in place and wrapping it in a net at night kept it there. Without touching, you don’t stimulate the scalp to be greasy, and you don’t spread it along the hair. I brush my hair with only a few strokes, and only the bits that need it.

Doing all these things, my hair goes 4 days between washes usually, it won’t keep it clean forever, but washing every 4 or 5 days takes up a lot less of my time than washing every day, so I don’t mind the extra effort!

Nenkah asked: Does your makeup last the entire day? Does it always look this perfect in photos? Even by mid-day I’m looking a bit pale (bad-pale) and non-make-up-y, so I think it really is time to invest in some decent brands and def that dark circle thing. I’ve tried to get make up help for them before, but even the make-up ladies failed at covering them. I guess make-up has come a long way since I was 14

Does my makeup last all day? Well.. it doesn’t all last all day. Lipstick wears off first because of my love of hot drinks in the morning, and the fact that I seldom bother to reapply, I end up with lipstick until mid morning unfortunately. My eye makeup generally lasts well if I’ve put it on carefully and avoid touching it, but my eyes are quite deep set so my mascara can leave a bit of smudge under my eye by the end of the work day. I’ve been really pleased to discover a mascara with a “tubing” formulation which is absolutely no-transfer (you have to soak it in water to remove it) and this lasts all day, actually, it will last *days* if you don’t wash it off. As far as paleness goes, blusher or bronzer is the answer but you have to actually use it – lots! It’s an adjustment like the brows, but you need to build up a layer of colour or it won’t last. I’ve found that, unlike other cosmetics, more expensive formulas aren’t necessarily better for blushers. I say experiment with blush colours you like enough to wear a visible amount of.

For foundation – it’s the one thing which really *really* seems different in the expensive brands. I didn’t think it could be so different but it seems that the finer-milled higher quality ingredients really seem to make a huge difference to appearance, texture and longevity of face makeup. I like to use compact foundations for the convenience and the fact that the textures seem to work with my skin. I like a full coverage to provide a blank canvas for whatever I put on after, but I have to make sure what what I choose isn’t drying or irritating, and stays true to colour when it settles in.

One of the few high street brands I got along with is this powder foundation from Max Factor. At £10.99 it’s not exactly free but it gives really good results if the colours match your skin tone. The one downside with it is that it gets used up quickly – I think it works out at the same price per use as some of the more expensive brands. It lasts all day.

A more expensive foundation, used in one of my posts, is the MAC Mineralise. It gives a lovely natural finish and it’s very easy to use. It’s around £25 which makes it very pricey per use – probably a special-occasion thing? It looks brilliant in photos all day, and I haven’t noticed any telltales like tide marks on chin or anything.

I’ve also bought this “Studio Fix” powder foundation which is MAC. It’s around £20 and I’m so impressed with it. On application it’s very full coverage so it can look a little powdery, but once it settles in it’s a really good long-lasting finish which seems to resist all sorts of challenges like hat wearing or light forehead sweating – it stays on until you take it off. I think it works out at a similar or cheaper pence-per-wear as the Max Factor and it’s a superior formula.

The studio sculpt concealer is around £13 and seems to last forever. It’s very good. It doesn’t last as long as the foundation but it lasts the whole work day, you’d probably want to touch it up a bit on the way to the pub after work.

This foundation is next on my to-buy list. I had a sample in a magazine, one of those tiny tiny sachets and I couldn’t believe it lasted 6 days and it was so good IT ERASED MY PERSONALITY. My face had nothing except brilliant skin all day, amazing. It’s the longest lasting of all the formulations I’ve mentioned and you don’t need to use much. It’s around £25 but it you get the chance, get a clarins rep to match you a colour of this and give it a try.

Make up has definitely come a long way! It really surprises me. It’s well worth getting your shade matched at MAC and Clarins and giving one of these things a try. Let me know how you get on!

Hannah asked: Do you use a highlighter (not the fluorescent kind, obviously) under your eyes? I was going to invest in the Touché Éclat pen but ended up buying (read: being pressure-sold) the Estee Lauder equivalent and it’s actually amazing. I’m not a big make-up user (like I said; in the process of learning) but I do think I’ll be buying this product for the rest of my life.

The only light-reflecting concealer I’ve used is the L’oreal one, and that’s ok. Today I’m wearing Benefit It Stick which was free with Glamour a while back and now they’ve stopped making it – nooo! It’s much better than their new offering “Boing” hopefully they’ll bring it back.