Most high schools have a minimal make-up ruling but don’t hold lessons on how to apply it. Now one Huddersfield school has invited its Year 10 and 11 girls to take advice from the beauty experts.

Hilarie Stelfox reports

WE’VE ALL seen them – teenage girls caked in orange make-up and with thick black eye-liner.

But beauty experts say they are often getting it wrong even though the youngsters are convinced it looks fine.

Hayley Higgins, beauty team manager for Boots in Huddersfield said: “The problem is they think they know what they’re doing. But they’re applying the wrong foundation – usually the colour they want to be rather than the colour they are – and far too much eye make-up.’’

While secondary schools generally tolerate a certain ‘made-up’ look among students, they draw the line at teenagers who go too far.

And the problem of too much make-up is set to spread to younger and younger pupils.

Janette Button, Head of Year 10 and 11 at King James’ High School in Almondbury, has noticed that girls are starting to wear make-up earlier than they once did.

“It’s not an issue in Year 7 but from Year 9 onwards – age 13 and 14 – we start to see quite a number wearing make-up for school,’’ she said.

“We buy in make-up remover and nail varnish remover and every tutor is provided with this. If the girls have too much on they’re asked to remove it.’’

This year, however, instead of just supplying remover, Janette has taken a proactive approach.

When buying the supplies of remover from Boots she was asked if the school would be interested in taking part in a dedicated beauty evening in the store for students in Years 10 and 11.

“I thought it sounded like a good idea,’’ said Janette. “It’s not something that I would have done within school hours. I thought of it as more of a treat for the girls – a nice break from course work.

“It’s the first time we’ve done anything like this.’’

And so the first teenage beauty evening was staged last week with consultants from the store giving demonstrations to 40 students.

The consultants were divided up so they could take small groups through ‘tutorials’ on skincare, foundation make-up, eyes and cheeks and lips. The aim was to show them suitable make-up looks for school and out-of-school.

“The evening was really successful,” said Hayley. “The girls were really receptive and interested in what we had to say. They asked a lot of questions and took on board what we were telling them.

“The teachers were also really interested. This is something we’ll definitely do again.’’

Following the event, Hayley plans to approach all secondary schools in Huddersfield to offer a similar service.

“We’ve already got a group of girls from Almondbury High School booked in for an afternoon make-up and skincare lesson in our beauty room,’’ she said.

“Word got out that we were doing the event for St James’ and they asked if they could have something similar.

“It worked really well. The girls were quite surprised when they saw how grown-up they could look with much more natural and understated make-up.’’

SKINCARE is all important during the teenage years when skin can be difficult to manage and prone to blemishes.

According to Catie McLoughlin, Boots skincare brands consultant, too many young people rely on quick and easy cleansing wipes to cleanse their skin and/or remove make-up and don’t follow up with a moisturiser.

“They need a proper regime of cleansing, toning and moisturising and they need to choose the right products for their skin type,” said Catie.

“Young skin tends to be oilier but can also have dry areas so it’s a question of finding skincare products that won’t dry the skin out but are also not too oily.

“Keeping the skin clean and well moisturised is all important. Teenagers with spots should avoid using harsh face washes because they strip the skin of moisture, which makes it dry and can actually cause more spots.”

NO 7 CONSULTANT Raj Kaur says the biggest mistake teenagers make when applying foundation is that they “overload.’’

“They use far too much all over their faces and use foundation to cover blemishes when they should be putting on a concealer,’’ she says.

Teenagers blessed with a perfect complexion need no foundation at all but, says Raj, those who do wear it should be choosing from one of the many ranges of tinted moisturiser or light coverage formulas.

“Blemishes should be covered with concealer, well blended in, and the foundation should be used just to even out skin tone and make it luminous,’’ she explained.

Selecting the right colour can also be an issue. “You see a lot of teenage girls with orange faces because they’re trying to look like the celebrities in the magazines who all have spray tans,’’ added Raj.

“To find the perfect foundation you should do the ‘three-stripe test’ on the jaw line below the ear using three different shades and go for the nearest match to your own natural skin tone.’’

Raj also demonstrated how to use a foundation brush to literally ‘paint’ the face.

“Brushes give a lighter coverage and don’t overload the skin,’’ she said. “You also use much less of the product so a bottle of foundation lasts longer.’’

BEAUTY therapist and self-service brands consultant Sarah Coates has noticed that teenagers tend to opt for the Katie Price (pictured) or Cheryl Cole full-on glamour look when choosing lipsticks and lip glosses.

“The Barbie pink is very popular,’’ she said. “They like to go a bit on the wild side with lip colours which is fine for outside of school, if they want.

“For school they need to look more natural and I’d say that less is certainly more.

“Sheer lip glosses and nude colours work for everyday use.’’

Blusher is also easy to overdo.

“Less is more with most make-up,’’ Sarah added. “For a natural blush, smile and apply lightly with a brush to the apple of the cheek.’’

Applied too much? Simply use a cotton wool ball to remove a little and then dust over with powder – no need to start again.

“Using the right foundation is essential for a natural, flawless look, but you shouldn’t use foundation to give your face colour,’’ says Jo Burke, Max Factor consultant.

“That’s what blusher, lip gloss and eye-shadows are for – to add colour.’’

EYE MAKE-UP for school wear, says Benefit counter manager Francesca Brand, needs to be understated and pretty.

“The biggest mistake teenagers make is to use dark colours and go for thick black eye liners,’’ she said. “I remember being 17 and using a lot of eyeliner. My driving licence picture looks absolutely dreadful I’ve got that much eye make-up on.’’

“Teenagers really need to go for softer colours and use brown eyeliner instead of black.’’

Benefit consultant Mel Senior offered the following guide for using eyeshadow colours.

“For green eyes choose soft beige and pink for day time and purple or plum at night.

“For brown eyes choose soft beige and pink during the day with blues, purples or greens at night and with green eyes, soft pinks and lilacs are good for the day with purple and gold at night.

“Essentially, purple in its many shades is a colour that suits anyone, with beige and gold close contenders.’’