Beauty Squared: A Little About Jill and Catherine

So you want to know a little more about J and C? Here is a mini interview we've done to give our readers some insight into who we are and why we're driven to give our opinions on beauty. Is there anything more you'd like to know about us? Ask us!

What's your beauty background?
Jill: I got hooked on makeup young, when I was a kid I remember being fascinated by the colourful eye shadow palettes at Marks & Spencers. I first bought MAC back in the early 90's, when eye shadow was $8.00 CA! I worked on the Shiseido counter for about a year when I was 20. I've been free lancing as a makeup artist on and off, doing weddings, graduations and some indie film work since my early 20's as well.

Catherine: I find it highly amusing that my mother wouldn't let me have Barbie dolls when I was a little girl but now I'm very much obsessed with make-up, beauty and fashion. I grew up in Kamloops and Dawson Creek BC, and rural Saskatchewan so my exposure to glamour was rather limited. The first MAC product I bought was in Edmonton in my third year of university - Tilt eyeshadow (I still have it!) and the MA asked if my eyelashes were fake (they aren't). I've been hooked ever since. I moved to Toronto in 2000 to do a professional make-up artist course and I've worked for Faces in Edmonton, and Lush in Toronto but since the early 00s I haven't done a lot of work. Chatting with Jill has sparked the snoozing make-up artist inside me and here I am!

What beauty trends do you absolutely loathe?
Jill: There's two I can think of right off the top of my head:

1) People who wear way too much mascara to the point where their eyelashes look like some crazy clumpy moustache.

2) People who OD on lipgloss, so they have this weird, thick, greasy looking layer on top of their lips.

Catherine: Oh my, there's lots but here are two very basic ones:

1) Eyebrows are the frame to the face and so many overpluck, overtweeze and overwax. I see women with brows so sparse the hairs look like they're gasping for life and women whose brows are so short and rounded they look like clowns. Doing it yourself is pretty simple but a good brow stylist can be a lifesaver and can show you how to keep them groomed.

2) Too much sun or too much sunbed makes you look so much older than you are. Christiano Ronaldo may be a phenomenal athlete but he looks like an Oompa Loompa and Lindsay Lohan looks like a 45 year old chain smoking cougar car wreck.

Who are your beauty icons/role models? Alternatively, who do you want to give a good scrub and polish?

Jill: My beauty icons are: Kate Moss, Uma Thurman, Linda Evangelista, Francois Nars and the late, great Kevyn Aucoin!

Catherine: I can't argue with any of Jill's! Especially Kevyn Aucoin, who I credit for introducing me to the world of make-up. I have to add Marlene Dietrich to the list simply because she had complete control over the way she looked onscreen. She did her own hair and make-up and directed the lighting so she was lit in just the perfect way.

Any celebs who challenge the mainstream, even subtly, are high in my books: Christina Hendricks, Kate Winslet, Sophie Dahl, Lily Allen, Karen O, Zooey Deschanel, Dita von Teese, Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Audrey Hepburn, Coco Chanel and Martina Sorbara of Dragonette. I want to look like them all!

I would like to hose down, scrub with industrial solvent and give a natural polish to: Megan Fox, Christina Aguilera, Christiano Ronaldo, Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, Perez Hilton, Lady Gaga, Lindsay Lohan, and on and on, you get the picture!

You can only have five beauty products for the rest of your life. What are they?
Jill:

1) Lancome Bienfait Multi-Vital SPF 30 moisturizer
2) Maybelline Great Lash Waterproof mascara in Very Black
3) Shu Uemura ME Silver 945 eyeshadow (yes, the old shade!)
4) Chapstick SPF 15
5) Zeno pimple clearing device

Catherine:

1) Shu Uemera eyelash curler
2) Vitamin A moisturizing cream
3) Kiehl's #1 tinted moisturizer with SPF 15
4) Benefit Benetint lipbalm
5) Tweezerman angled tweezers

What is your philosophy on beauty?

Jill: Never feel like you HAVE to wear makeup. Beautify yourself because it gives you pleasure and is an outlet for your creativity - not because you feel obliged to.

Celebrate your uniqueness! Who wants to look like a cookie cutter?

Catherine: Everyone has beauty, and sometimes all it takes is a bright smile and sparkling eyes. Age as gracefully as possible, embrace yourself at every turn and take care of yourself by wearing sunscreen, drinking lots of water and not counting every laughline!

Make-up is about enhancing, polishing and creating, not about making you fit in or become something you're not. Let it inspire you - even a quick eyelash curl and swipe of lip gloss can be enough to make you feel polished. And on the other hand, don't let anyone make you feel bad for wearing make-up (I've been there)! Wearing it isn't conformist, it's creative and acknowledging your own beauty (something too few women do these days).