A recent survey revealed the average young woman spends 40 minutes a day on her beauty regime – with some teenagers weighing-in with two hours at the mirror. We asked award-winning cosmetic consultant Jo Burke to show us how it can be done in less than 20 minutes.Hilarie Stelfox reports.

THERE have never been quite as many make-up brands as there are today – with a substantial number aimed at the teenage market.

It’s not unusual now to see 12 and 13-year-old schoolgirls wearing full foundation, eyeliner and mascara, so much so that most schools ‘police’ the amount their pupils use.

Jo Burke, Max Factor consultant at Boots in Huddersfield, says she’s noticed it’s the younger girls who tend to wear the most.

“I see lots of teenagers and they all look the same. They have thick, matte foundation, black eyeliner and lots and lots of spidery mascara,” she said.

“They all think foundation should give them colour instead of using it to even out their natural skin tone,” added Jo.

A One Poll survey of 1,500 women up to the age of 30 found that one in five teenagers spend as long as two hours getting ready in the morning and if they’re going out for the evening they may spend as long as six hours primping and preening.

We asked Jo for her top make-up tips to speed things up and sent teenagers Connie Halstead and Sofija Durward along to be shown how to do it.

Sofija, 14, from Waterloo, admits that she can spend as long as 1½ hours applying make-up for a social occasion and wears make-up for school every day. Both she and Connie, also 14, who are about to begin Year 10 at Heckmondwike Grammar School, say they have been using make-up for two years, with their mothers’ blessings.

In fact Sofija’s mother, who used to work as a make-up artist, showed her daughter how to use cosmetics. “She used to do my make-up for me but now I do it myself,” said Sofija.

Both girls have a morning make-up routine that takes them half an hour. This is to apply the ‘minimal’ make-up allowed at school but still consists of full foundation, concealer and mascara.

Although neither are victims of the ‘orange face’ syndrome, Jo explained that many teenagers use far more foundation than they need and could save a lot of time applying just the right amount.

“Younger girls should choose a dewy foundation, not matte, which looks so artificial on really young skin. They should also find a colour that matches the skin on their jaw and then use bronzers or blushers to add colour on the cheek bone,” she said. Interestingly, older women should also opt for dewy foundation – but for different reasons. Matte products tend to enhance wrinkles!

Connie, from Elland, and her friend Sofija like to wear full ‘war paint’ of eye shadow, eye liner and lipstick when they’re not at school. Jo wanted to show them how to develop a more individual style without using eye liner.

“The rule of thumb is that if you are going for a really wow look and want to wear the really bright eye shadow colours that the younger ones buy then you have to tone down the colour of lips and cheeks,” she explained.

“And it’s not necessary to wear eye liner for dramatic impact.”

She used colours from the new Max Colour Effects range, including a funky palette of yellow, orange and green, to give the girls different looks.

“I love it,” said Connie, who was shown how to use the fresh, summery colours.