In my beauty bag: Rose Matafeo

Rose Matafeo is a Samoan/Scottish/Croatian Billy T award-winning comedian (the honour recognises up-and-coming New Zealand comedians with outstanding potential). Until recently you may have seen the 21-year-old hosting U Live, well she's now a contributor on Seven Sharp and Jono and Ben at 10 (and, just quietly one of Stuff Life & Style's picks for funniest women in the biz').

We met the vintage-loving former Auckland Girls Grammar head girl in her local coffee shop and asked her about beauty.

"I wear makeup mostly at work, on-stage, on shoots and when I want to look nice. Other than that I try go most of my time without it or use it sparingly. I'd rather people know what I look like without makeup so they don't freak out when they see me!

I was pretty late to learn how to use makeup and do my hair - my mum never wears makeup and has dreads so she didn't have much to teach me as a teen!  She did bless me with pretty manageable skin though, as well as encouraging me to go natural whenever I could.

I shower and moisturise in the evening so in the morning I go straight to M.A.C Studio Fix Powder, a little bit of Clinique natural-coloured eye shadow, Maybelline liquid eyeliner, Lancome mascara and a natural M.A.C lipstick.

I only exfoliate when I go to my Mum's and she has something nice! 

I used to have really crazy curly, frizzy hair. I get it chemically straightened nowadays which makes it so much more manageable. I do miss my curls, but after 19 years of looking like Diana Ross on a humid day, I was ready for something different!

Because of what I put my hair through I have to put back as much moisture as possible. I use Redken shampoo and conditioner, a Pureology protein spray thing after I've washed it and I rely on Batiste dry shampoo (I can't wash my hair more than 2-3 times a week or it gets too dry).

I usually curl my hair a bit with a hot curler - and I am trying to learn how to curl with my mint green ghds.  I want to look like Mary Tyler Moore all the time so apparently I need a bit of hot roller action.

I don't always wear perfume but when I do it's usually Moschino Cheap and Chic! Love.

I wear St Ives, Palmers cocoa butter and sunscreen on my body - although I'm brown I hate to burn.  I keep my nails short and I don't paint them because I am so bad at it.

At night my makeup is pretty much the same as for day, except I'll maybe wear a fun bright orange or red M.A.C lip colour, and perhaps go a bit more overboard with the liquid eyeliner flicks.

Everything comes off at bedtime with a makeup wipe and eye makeup remover. I wash my face with Cetaphil, then moisturise with a light oil-free moisturiser. And that's me!

I think that makeup should really enhance what you already have rather than cover everything up."

Society beauty back home after 200 years

A TRAGIC beauty who wooed crowds in London and beyond has been returned to her marital home in Worcestershire more than 200 years after her death.

Born in 1733, Maria Gunning was the first wife of the 6th Earl of Coventry, and was heralded across England for her beauty.

She died at 27 after suffering blood poisoning from lead make-up, commonly used by women of the time.

Now, she has been returned to the National Trust’s Croome Court in the form of a portrait, uncovered at an auction in Sussex.

The 18th century painting was found by Lord Flight, chairman of the Croome Court Appeal Comittee, at an art auction and will now be housed at the stately home, near Pershore.

Lucy Hadley, house conservation and engagement officer, said: “We are ecstatic about this find and we’re so grateful to Lord Flight for gifting this pastel portrait of Maria to us.

“It is the first major donation of an object to display to our visitors which is so closely linked to Croome’s Georgian heritage. We are really looking forward to putting her on display for our visitors this winter.”

Maria enjoyed success in London as a society beauty in the mid-18th-century but, after years of applying the fashionable lead-based white make-up, the poisoning eventually erupted through the skin on her face.

 As her husband remodelled Croome Court into the building seen today, Maria hid herself away in the house, with only the light of a tea-kettle, as she was so distraught over her ruined beauty and did not want anyone to see her.

Brow Rehab: Reshape Your Eyebrows

With a simple raise, a small furrow, or a quick lift and hover, eyebrows convey surprise, frustration, shock, and excitement more effectively (and less annoyingly) than an exclamation point on a tweet. But sometimes, eyebrows can send unintended messages: Too much tweezing can lead to bewildered or timid and retreating arches. Wipe away that worried look (if you can). With a little grooming savvy, the main thing your brows will communicate this season is sex appeal.

Overtweezed Brows
Anyone with a magnifying mirror and tweezers can recklessly prune their brows, but patiently growing them back? That takes real pluck. Here's how to undo the damage.



• RETIRE THE TWEEZERS. It takes three to four months to see real change, and up to a year for brows to grow back entirely. "The first week is the hardest. It feels like the hairs are mocking you," says Ramy Gafni, a New York City brow groomer. "But if you leave them alone, those random little hairs will eventually form a full brow." If a stray is growing at an odd angle, resist the urge to tweeze—trim it instead.

• MIND THE GAPS. Fill in sparse areas with a brow pencil (eyeliners are too creamy and heavily pigmented). Go one to two shades lighter than your hair if you're a brunette, or try taupe if you're blonde. "Otherwise you'll look like Joan Crawford," says Gafni. Use short, angled strokes in the direction of hair growth to beef up bald spots, but stay within your natural brow line. "Never create an arch with makeup," says Gafni. "Even the right shade can look obvious. Your bone structure should create the arch for you."

• SHAPE UP. Define the arch (the brow's highest point, just beyond the iris as you look ahead) by yanking a few hairs beneath it. "The most common mistake I see is people taking too much off the ends," says Kristie Streicher, an eyebrow groomer at Warren-Tricomi salons in New York City and Los Angeles. Eyebrows that fall short look tadpole-y and aging, since the ends thin as we get older, she says.

Overgrown Brows
Frida Kahlo is the exception, not the rule. "Strong brows need to have shape and separation," says Streicher. "Otherwise they'll overwhelm your face."

• DIVIDE AND CONQUER. When hair verges on the dreaded unibrow territory, you need to grab the tweezers. Hold a pencil vertically from the outer edge of your nostril to your eyebrows to determine where each one should start.

• MAKE THE CUT. Removing bulk from your brows doesn't always mean pruning them. Nine times out of ten, a trim is all you need. Comb your brows straight up with a spooley brush, then trim only the longest hairs, staggering the length as you go. "Cut one hair a little longer and one a little shorter, so your eyebrows don't get a crew cut," says Streicher. Follow up with a brow gel to keep hairs in place.

• END WELL. "It's a sin to shorten beautiful, long eyebrows," says New York City brow groomer Joey Healy. Unless the tails of your eyebrows dip too far below where the heads begin (which can result in a dragging effect), leave the length alone. Make sure to taper the ends to a clean point for a sharp finish.

Comma Brows
If you raise your eyebrows while tweezing, you're likely removing too much from the arches and ends. The result? Comma brows.
• ACHIEVE BALANCE. "Taking weight from the front will actually make the ends appear thicker," says brow expert Eliza Petrescu of Eliza's Eyes salon in New York City. "Your brows will be instantly more natural looking." Lightly fill in with a brow pencil, concentrating color on the sparser tails

Angry Brows
Brows that look like an upside down V (think Michelle Obama in 2008) can make you seem angry, says Gafni.
• AVOID THE POINT. For a friendlier effect, remove a few hairs from the top of the arch. "Forget the old rule that says you should never tweeze above the brow," says Tonya Crooks, owner of Mirror Mirror Beauty Studio in Los Angeles. "If a few hairs are interfering with an ideal shape, they need to go, period."

• FOCUS ON THE FRONT. Using a spooley brush, comb up the inner half of your brows and trim any hairs that extend far past the top. (Those hairs in front can get really long.)