Make my day
Beauty products can give women a much-needed and quick pick-me-up. But constant impulse buys can result in a stockpile of products only used once, twice or, worse, never. This is where Rennie Fensham comes in. The resident hairstylist and makeup artist at The Hairdressers salon, Fensham is launching a programme to help women create a new look by assessing their cosmetic needs, reorganising makeup kits and teaching women how to utilise their tools. 'I believe most women already have about 70 per cent of the right products to create the cover girl look, they just don't know how to use them,' she says.
And if cover girl is the look you're going for, then Fensham would be the woman to give it to you. Having started her career as a hairstylist in South Africa more than 25 years ago, she quickly became frustrated with salon work and moved to America for further training in hair and makeup. This proved to be a wise choice as she soon landed a gig under Chris McMillan - the creator of Jennifer Aniston's famous Friends style, 'The Rachel'. Training under him during the height of the hairdo hype in the mid-90s was eye-opening for Fensham and after working as a makeup artist on various Hollywood soap operas, she had devised her mission statement: to translate red carpet looks and trends for the everyday woman and to equip her with the knowledge she needs to create the looks herself.
'The problem with most makeovers,' says Fensham, 'is that you look great in the salon when the artist is done with you, but you can't maintain it. Most makeovers are unrealistic and they don't take into account the individual needs of each woman. How can you spend 20 minutes each morning blow drying your hair if you have to be at work by 8am? The average woman won't even own a salon hair dryer so recreating the look is almost impossible to begin with.'
Fensham's programme takes all this into consideration. It begins with a free consultation in which you discuss what you want and, most importantly, what you do. Are you a savvy communications director who needs to run around during the day then turn into a svelte sophisticate at night? Or are you a self-employed mother of two with a flexible schedule to work with? The consultation allows Fensham to get to know the client's lifestyle and personality. From there, a session can be booked.
'Hair and makeup have to complement each other. But I personally like to look at hair before cosmetics,' says Fensham. 'Women hide a lot behind their hair - pain, sadness, fat, wrinkles. But hair frames the face and often gives first impressions. Again, it also has to match your lifestyle and personality. If you are a high-fashion corporate, then you would probably want to keep your hair at a length where you can twist it into a tight up-do during the day then let it fall freely at night.'
Fensham asks all clients to bring their makeup to their first session and after the hairstyle is established, the makeup is carefully dissected. 'Some women are makeup people by nature and instinctively know how to apply their glosses and blush, but maybe they are using the wrong colours. Other women find the process tedious so I work with them in minimising time spent on application and maximising results. I find a lot of western women find it difficult to adjust to the Hong Kong weather and the products they used to use back home may not work here anymore. The most popular request from Asian women is for help on how to make their eyes look bigger. This is actually quite easily done given the right colours and technique in drawing lines and shading.'
Colours, textures, products and brands are all looked at. The build-up of makeup a woman will collect over time can be astounding. Fensham recommends that foundations and mascaras which are not used up in a year should be tossed. Lipsticks and glosses can be used for up to a year and a half, and eye shadows and eyeliners longer.
'For the bare minimum, a complete makeup kit should include some cream and brown shades to bring out the shape of the eyes and brow. Eyeliner, mascara, gloss, lipstick and either a bronzer or blush as the two are interchangeable. And of course, some form of foundation whether in liquid or powder form but I prefer the latter due to the humidity in Hong Kong.'
With Fensham, budget is not important either. 'There are some products of course which are of higher quality, but at the end of the day it's about how you use the products. It's about the technique you use to shade your eyes or that line you draw to define your lips. Different brands also have different chemistries that may or may not work for your skin type - despite at times, the hefty price tag. People in Hong Kong can be quite shy about this but I think it's important to ask for testers before you buy. Sometimes a foundation shade can look great under the shop lights but in daylight is absolutely the wrong colour for you.'
Consultations and sessions can be with individual clients (HK$750/session) or in a group (about HK$500 per head). 'At the end of the day,' says Fensham, 'a woman is a woman is a woman. We all just want to look good and feel great.'
The Hairdressers 2 , 1/F, Shama Place, 30 Hollywood Road, SoHo, Central, tel: 2110 3123
