Lynette Page: Make Up Artist

When the invite to visit Lynette arrived in my inbox, I was terribly intrigued – I’m getting quite used to handing my face over to someone at a make up counter and have them do something fabulous – put a colour on me I’d never considered before (orange eyeshadow anyone?) or a new lipstick, or tempt me with a new blusher.

But I was already double booked and so I leant on one of my favourite ladies who also loves make up, but actually knows what to do with it and unlike me, can be bothered with more than a spatter of foundation and mascara more than 10% of the time.

Over to you Laura.

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Most days I’m a firm believer in Elizabeth Taylor’s advice; “Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together.”

It is a kind of armor, a time for me to start my day by making myself look and feel at my most confident. I’ve got my war paint on, do your worst!

My love for make up has always been there. Ever since I can remember I used to sit there agog watching my aunty and mum put on their make up and then beg them “do me now please?!!” Flicking through family photo albums there are tonnes of pictures of me in various make up looks from about the age of three years old, clearly loving every minute!

I love everything about make up; the magical transformative effect it can have, the way it can enhance a person’s best features and minimise their flaws – real life magic. For me there really is that element of wonder and artistry about it as someone whose biggest regret is not already pursuing this love as a career, for the moment apart from occasional friends’ weddings it is just a happy hobby.

So, with the offer to meet a real life make up artist I hot footed it down the A49 before Charlie had even finished vocalising the offer!

Nestled in the chocolate box picture perfect village of Knutsford, down a quaint cobbled street Lynette Page has opened her first ever make up bar, stocking her brand new very own range of products. A dream come true for any make up artist!

From the outside the salon strikes the perfect balance between modern luxury and fitting in with its surroundings. Inside the high gloss black and white fixtures and fittings are complemented by a bright mustard yellow feature wall behind the mirrors of the make up bar and a picture montage wall gives personality.

So after a glass of orange juice and a brief chat I got stuck straight into cooing over the products. Her full range was laid out for us to try including base products, eye shadow, eyebrow, blush, lip and eye palettes.

All of Lynette’s products are designed for screen and print so as well as being great quality are highly pigmented, finely milled and long lasting, plus the colour you see in the palette is the colour that pays off on the skin. Hoorah! How many times have you bought a product from the colour it looks like in the packaging only to get it home and the pay off is either really weak or not the shade it appears?

All Lynette’s make up is also grouped and classified by warm or cool tones; this (once you have determined your colouring) makes it really easy to find complementing colours and tones for you. For me this was the revelation of the night as after taking one look at me Lynette said “You’re definitely a cool tone.” This information means that for 27 years I have almost certainly been wearing the wrong colours, wrongly believing that just because I have dark hair and eyes means that I must be warm tones. UH UH! WRONG!

As a rule of thumb I should be going for blue toned pinks and reds, jewel colours, greys, silvers, purples – not orange or brown toned colours.

In addition to selling her new range the shop also works as a beauty bar where you can book in and have your make up and hair done before a night out or special occasion. This is a growing trend I have noticed over the past couple of years in both shops and via mobile make up artists and should do really well in Knutsford with its thriving bar and restaurant scene.

To help with choosing your look Lynette has put together a “Look Book” of inspiration; on trend and classical make up looks to mix and match as you wish which is a great idea to help you visualise what look you are after.

I admired a really strong pink lip look in the book and said that apart from occasionally playing with red, tend to make up my eyes rather than my lips. Well quick as a flash, Lynette had her brightest pink lipstick out and was professionally putting it on me. Whilst it took a bit of getting used to I really liked it and have recreated the look a few more times at home, keeping the rest of my make up simple.

Lynette herself and her whole team were all really welcoming, friendly and down to earth. In her own words she said “The idea behind the shop was that I wanted to encourage people to come in and try the products with no pressure. I want to create a positive vibe, which even down to the pictures on the wall aim to take away all of the pressure and horribleness people sometimes encounter when going to make up counter in a department store.”

As the picture says “A girl should be two things: who and what she wants.”

With huge thanks to Laura and to Lynette and her team for the invitation!