EXPERT SECRET | Find your best side? There's an App for that

SURE, YOU can look in the mirror and try to discern which side of your face is more flattering in pictures. We all have a good and bad side.

Most of us do, at least.

Some won't. Sorry about that. Tis life. And genetics. But, like Wallis Simpson, Willem Defoe or Rosy de Palma, we're sure you'll work whatcha got, right? Do the interesting thing instead of the mainstream attractive thing. 

It's not vain.

Okay, it is.

But it's true.

We want to look good in pictures.  Mostly, I want to look good in pictures so that when I'm old and wrinkly with boobs getting tangled around my knees, I can look at my pictures from younger days and be like "would you look at that, granddaughter/grandson/herd of cats... grandma wasn't half bad in her day. Sure, she had a droopy right eyelid, a nose that was whacked out of line in a hockey match... possibly Rene Zellweger cheeks and a rather short neck but, hell, it all seems to work okay together. In any event, it's hotter than wrinkly grandma is now", or something along those lines.

You surely want the same.

Don't lie.

I know you do, if the number of pictures you post of yourself on Facebook has anything to say about it.

Yes, anyone with pictures numbering in the hundreds on Facebook likes to look at themselves.

Fact.

Anyway, you'll look loads hotter (or interesting, if you lost the genetic lottery) in those pictures if you figure out which is your hot side vs the fugly side. The solution is simple. In fact, dare I say... there's (now) an App for that? Cuz there is.

It's Echoism.org and it let's you snap a pic of your face and then mirrors both halves to create a whole face from each half of your face. Two yous! Sweet. Because one wasn't enough, right.

Why?

Because apparently symmetrical faces are hotter than asymmetrical ones. Mainly it's a good time because it doesn't work correctly. You end up looking more like the reflection in a fun house mirror than exact full-facial glamour shots of your two halves but whatevs. That might even work for the interesting types.

The trick to using it right is actually getting a picture with your god-forsaken iPhone that isn't wobbly, fish-eyed or featuring uneven halves of your face.

Good f-ing luck. 

I had an impossible time of it but see that some people on the site made a better go of it than I did. Might I suggest the webcam on your computer instead?

Also, there should be an option to NOT upload your pics to the website if you don't want to! For now, if you take a pic and decide to keep it, it automatically gets posted to Echoism.org.

For the design savvy, I suggest a DIY version of this. Snap a pic -- or use one of the hundreds on your Facebook profile, open it in Fireworks or some other imaging program, slice it in half, copy the halves and then mirror them to their parent halves. Same thing as Echoism.org but with more accuracy. And private.

Like this (a makeup-free me):

Top pick is just a makeup-free me one fine morning. Below it's bloody Jekyll and Hyde. I'm as asymmetrical as they come. It's two different people but smooshed together they equal me. Personally I dig the evil left me better.

Do you have a best side? Or are you perfect like Denzel? 

TRIED AND TESTED | Super serums reviewed

THIS HAS been a long post in the making.

It's not easy (I know, smallest violin in the world...) trialing all these serums. Each takes several weeks, it's near impossible to control for all the other variables in life and sometimes it's hard to tell whether any change in your complexion is down to the jam-packed active ingredients in your products or, say, a monthly shift in hormones, lack of sleep, new exercise routine, drinking too much... whatever. It, just like your products, all affects the skin.

Since October, we've been trialing all of the products below. There are a few amazing products we'll use forever, some that didn't quite make the cut (or visible difference) on the lightly lined, still acneic, sometimes oily but perennially dry skin of a 30 year-old prone to rosacea during the winter. (Meaning, they might work for you but if you fit that narrow description, they probably won't).

Some are nice-to-have but not need-to-have and we know there are thousands of other serums out there that many of you swear by, have forever sworn off or are entirely indifferent towards.

We might get to those someday but for now, here's what we have to say about...

Burt's Bees Radiance Serum

I've seen with my own eyes the raw ingredients that go into this mixture.

More natural than, say, Megan Fox... by a looooong shot (99.86% natural). 

In fact, its ingredient list is downright hippie-tastic (Water, glycerin, alcohol denat., royal jelly, glycyrrhiza glabra (licorice) root extract, glucose, xanthan gum, phenoxyethanol, sodium chloride, glucose oxidase, lactoperoxidase, caramel).

The big dose of coveted Royal Jelly delivers vitamins, minerals and amino acids, Licorice is great for those who flush easily or have skin redness problems (read: ROSACEA). Glycerin attracts water to the skin. Phenoxyethanol is used as the stabilizing agent (or one of them), which some fervent organic types eschew, but, when needs must. It's that or parabens, ladies.

It's marketed as anti-ageing.

The texture?

Super watery so very unlike the highly viscous nature of most serums. The dosage and application instructions are respectively a few drops and patted onto the face.

But who can rub just a few drops of water all over his/her face!? I added the drops to my night cream and massage it in or added it to a cocktail of other serums and smeared it around.

The short-term effect?

A bit of instant luminosity to the skin although it feels slightly tacky once on the skin but the skin also does feel much more moisturised than it does pre-application.

The long-term effect?

 Calmer, less ruddy skin, slight evening out of overall skin tone. I didn't notice a different in fine lines or acne.

Must-have or nice-to-have?

I would say really nice-to-have. It would make a great addition to a skincare routine added to your daily moisturiser or nightly treatment. Plus, it's one of the few products that will have Royal Jelly in such a concentrated amount and, having seen the Royal Jelly in the Burt's Bees lab, I can tell you it's the real deal.

Random association:

One of Roald Dahl's brilliantly dark stories in Tales of the Unexpected is titled Royal Jelly. A must-read for any diehard Dahl or, indeed, Royal Jelly fans out there.

Do you have a favourite serum? Something you can't live without? Do share!

Stay tuned for the upcoming super serum reviews:

Nude Skincare Advanced Cellular Renewal Serum

Dr. Nick Lowe Super Lifting Serum

Olay Regenerist 3 Point Super Serum

Filogra 30ml Meso+ absolute anti-ageing serum

Russell Organics Camelia, Kukui, Seabuckthorn and Rosehip Oils

Somme Institute Serum (Step 3)

Alpha H Liquid Gold Intensive Night Repair Serum

FROM THE FRONT | The new class of lip and cheek stain

FOR THOUSANDS of years, women colored their cheeks and lips with rogues made from crushed flower petals, berries, beets and bugs. Geishas reddened their lips and the corners of their eyes. At one time, applying rouge to ear lobes was fashionable. During the Victorian era, when makeup was associated with immorality, a quick pinch of the cheek and a few nibbles on the lips brought blood to the surface and flooded the face with a flush. Fads have come and gone, but the desire for a healthy, ruddy complexion persists.

A new class of lip and cheek stains offers a previously unheard of choice of colors and formulations that are easier to apply, blend and coordinate. The new stains last longer and offer better coverage and skin-tone matching than stains of the past. They make great lightweight and long-lasting alternatives to lipstick and blush, especially during makeup-melting humid summer weather.

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