When it comes to makeup, consider the following: apply it in the right way to enhance your natural beauty, bringing out your most appealing features, minimizing your flaws, (usually only self perceived flaws) and feeling good when you look in the mirror is what every woman wishes to accomplish. Read these tips on achieving the perfect makeup application everyday!
Start With a Fresh Canvas!
This is so important ladies! Don’t overlook this step. Just as painting a masterpiece on a piece of paper that has previous notes taken on it is near impossible to achieve. You absolutely must have a clean, moisturized face to start with.
For dry skin, make sure you moisturize daily. If you have flaky, dry skin then make sure to use a facial scrub followed by a toner and a rich moisturizer.
For oily skin, use a facial mask followed by a toner and a light moisturizer.
For dry, cracked lips, use chap stick or Vaseline. Apply it liberally to your lips and use a tooth brush to gently scrub them. Make sure you scrub lightly in a circular motion. This will remove any dead skin on your lips and also give your lips a nice plump that will last for a couple hours.
Use visine in if your eyes are red or feel dried out.
Pull your hair back away from your face. You need to have a canvas to work with here. Trying to work around your bangs or working around the shadows your hair creates, is not a good thing.
Use the Right Tools
I am almost positive that Van Gogh did not use a child’s paint by numbers brush to work his canvas. You too, should pay attention to what tools to use and how you use them to apply your makeup.
There are many brushes and sponges that you can use, however, these are the essentials:
Your own fingers – Using your fingers to apply foundation gives you the most control
Powder Brush – For setting your powder and using to add blush and bronzer for color
Eyeshadow Brush – Used to apply color
Blending Brush – Essential for blending eyeshadow
Eyeshadow Contour Brush – To get dramatic eyes
Blush Brush – For blush and shading
Eyelash Separator or Toothbrush – For finishing mascara
Makeup Sponges – To blend and even out foundation
Tissue – For removing makeup from hairline or cakey areas
The Application
Think about your canvas here. After you have made sure you have evened out your skin so it’s not too dry and not too oily. You have pulled your hair back away from your face. You are looking in the mirror about to apply your makeup. Notice the shape of your face, the dimension of your features, and focus on your best features.
The first step is to conceal. Conceal each area of your face that is out of place, whether it be circles under the eyes, blemishes or red areas. Just apply the concealer, no need to blend yet.
Next apply your foundation. Make sure not to get too close to your hairline. I suggest you apply a liquid or creme foundation to your cheeks, chin, nose, and low on your forehead. Work the foundation around your face, keeping it out of your hairline, and working down under your jawline. You don’t want any lines or beaks of color. You also need to avoid getting foundation in the hairline.
Before you apply your eye makeup, use extra concealer under your eyes. Applying a thick coat of concealer under your eyes will catch any shadow that falls in the application. This will also allow you to correct any mistakes without having to wash your face and start all over.
At this point your face may look a little cakey from the makeup you have on, you haven’t blended your concealer or foundation and you have a thick layer of concealer under your eyes. This is where you want to be. Your foundation should be applied first, all over your face, including your eyelids, but not blended to perfection… yet.
Play Up Your Eyes
First apply your eyebrow filler. Whether you use a pencil or shadow to do this, doesn’t really matter. So whatever your preference is. However, shadows tend to look more natural, pencils can have a “drawn in” look.
Next, apply an eyeshadow base or use your good-for-all concealer to help hold your eyeshadow color in place. Apply color to your eyes using an eyeshadow brush.
Your eye shape; spaced far apart, close together or symmetrical, will determine how you should apply the color.
For eyes that are spaced far apart, use a darker color on the inside of your eyes, close to your nose. Use a medium to light color on the outside corner of your eyes.
For close set eyes, use a light color on the inside part of the eyes and a darker color on the outside.
For eyes that are symmetrical, apply the dark color on the center of your lid, using a lighter color just on the inside corner of your eye.
For a dramatic look, choose really dark contrasting with really light colors. For a more natural look, stay with neutral colors, keeping the light and dark colors more subtle.
Blending is the most important part of any makeup application. Blend the basic colors together extremely well, adding more color as the final step to get a more defined look.
Adding a darker shade to the crease, pulling color out at an angle, or sweeping color under your eyes are all examples of how you can get a more dramatic or night time look.
Line your eyes. Use a liquid liner for the most dramatic look, or a pencil liner for a soft, natural look. Eyeliner helps the eye look more defined and gives your eyes the “pop” you can’t achieve without it.
Make sure you stay close to the lashes, try and get into the lashes as much as possible. While applying eyeliner to the top lashes, you can lift your eyelid to get in between the lashes. If you apply to the bottom lashes you can choose to go on the line above your lashes, or in the lash line as much as possible.
Start to apply eyeliner from the center of your eye. If you want the “cat eye” look, go a little thicker with the line in the center, pull out to the outside of eye and angel up. Then go back to the middle and make the line disappear into the inside of your eye.
If you use white eyeliner on the inside line of lower lashes your eyes will appear bigger and less tired.
Apply mascara to both the top and bottom lashes. Two coats minimum. Don’t forget to separate the lashes using an eyelash separator. A toothbrush also works great for separating the eyelashes.
After your eye makeup is on and perfected, its time to perfect the rest of your face. Take a tissue and wipe away the extra concealer from under your eyes, taking any falls of shadow along with it.
Finishing Touches For Face Makeup
Blend your foundation gently with a makeup sponge. Add a little more concealer where needed. Now it’s time to highlight.
Look at yourself in the mirror. A general rule is to highlight the t-zone of your face. Use a concealer that is a couple shades lighter than your normal concealer or get a good facial highlighter. Apply a small amount to the tip of your nose, the outside part of your eyes, both the top above the eyebrow and right below your iris on the bottom, and your chin.
Use a bronzer that is one to two shades darker than your foundation to minimize specific areas.
The goal is to use shading to achieve the look of symmetrical features. Your forehead should be the same length as the area from the bridge of your nose to your upper lip. Your upper lip to the bottom of your chin. As well as from the side hairline to your nose… on both sides. This is the ideal face shape. If you already have this, then you will just use a bronzer to add color and a highlighter to make your features pop. If not than you will use shading and a highlighter to trick the light and help you achieve this.
Think of it like this; If for instance, you have a high forehead then you would highlight right above your brows, and shade the area around the hairline. Use the dimensions given and start to shade right where it would be symmetrical.
If you have a wide nose then shade the sides of it, while highlighting the center. Play with it, you can shade away a double chin, but don’t forget to also highlight the bottom part of your cheek. Remember to shade away the imperfection and highlight what you want noticed, but the two always go hand-in-hand. You highlight and shade, not one or the other.
Next apply blush to the apple of your cheeks, then go over your face one last time blending any visible lines. Take a tissue and go over your hairline, around your lips, and anywhere that looks heavy or cakey.
After you have perfected your coloring, blended away any lines, and worked with the shading and highlighting to compliment your face, then you can set with a loose or compact powder. Your final step should be lipstick. Line your lips with a natural lip color before applying color or gloss.
As a final note, remember to blend very well, most of your time applying makeup should be spent blending. This is the case for perfecting foundation, getting gorgeous eyes and making blush look fabulous. Blending is the key! Make sure you have the tools to help you do this and take the extra time to actually blend everything you put on your face. You will look stunning if you do!
