BASIC MAKEUP GUIDELINES
There are three good reasons for applying makeup:
1. To make yourself prettier naturally. This does not mean you should use a minimum of makeup. Perhaps you should use more than you now use. The trick is to be sure that the shades and textures you choose make you look as if you are that lovely, all by yourself.
2. To highlight your good points and camouflage your destructive issues.
3. Makeup protects your skin by acting as an insulator against the elements if chosen correctly to match the texture of your skin. Now let us proceed with the makeup step by step.
BEFORE APPLYING MAKEUP
Firstly skin should be scrupulously clean. Apply cleansing cream and wipe off with cotton soaked in water.
Secondly, apply moisturiser on dry skin and astringent on oily skin. If you have mixed skin, use a moisturiser on dry areas and astringent on oily areas. The skin is now ready for makeup.
Foundation to choose a colour, apply a little on your cheek or inside of your wrist. It should blend in. Apart from that, it would be best to have a shade darker and a shade lighter.
HOW TO APPLY
• Apply light shade to cover dark circles and lines on the forehead and nose-to-mouth lines.
Apply your foundation. Apply a little in your palm to the face with cotton wool soaked in toning lotion for a more natural look.
• After the foundation has been applied, take a good look at your face. Do you have too round a beginning, a broad nose or a heavy jawline? You can minimise these defects by using your darker shade.
A Round Face: Use a darker shade on the sides of the face.
A Large Jaw Line: Apply a darker shade on the jawline.
A Broad Nose: On both sides of the nose, bags under the eyes also can be minimised by using your darker shade under the eyes. Don’t forget your neck and ears.
Powder: Translucent powder is the best as it veils and does not cover. It should only be used if you require a matt finish. Apply with a brush and then dust downwards.
Rouge: Skillfully applied rouge brings a natural blush to the cheeks. Rouge should be only a whisper of colour.
Again, the Colour You Choose Matters: Beige or golden complexions should go for colours like tawny, coral or amber.
Where to Apply Rouge: It should be placed where your natural blush should be. To find that spot, smile widely with your lips closed, and your cheeks naturally rise. Apply rouge on this high area, and fade out gradually towards the hairline.
Note: Never apply a route too close to the nose and low on the cheeks. For nighttime, rouge could be more emphasised because artificial lights tend to rob your face of your glow. Mature ladies could do without blusher or apply a mere whisper of colour if they cannot do without it.
EYE MAKEUP
Start by having your eyebrows neatly shaped. Get it done professionally for the first time. If you want to do it at home alone, never in between your makeup. The best time to tweeze your eyebrows is after a bath, as the pores are open. Apply a little Vaseline and smooth into the shade. All the hairs that detract from a neat shape should start and end, hold a pencil upright from your nose, resting the pencil against the nostril; the pencil should touch the inner edge of the brow. Move the pencil to form an angle ending at the outer corner of the eye. Above where the pencil ends, the eyebrow should end. Tweeze only the stragglers that detract from the clean outline of your brow.
If your face is round or pear-shaped, the outer tips of the brow should point towards the hairline, a long or oval face—the tips should arch down so that the curve will soften the lines of the face.
EYESHADOW
Apply a colourful eyeshadow all over the eyelid area. Don’t extend outside the natural shape or take it above the eye crease.
Next, highlight the brow area with white eyeshadow. Contour the eye by applying brown or grey right at the socket line. Next comes the eyeliner, which should be a thin line drawn close to the lashes. After that comes the mascara, which is a must, eyeshadow should be skipped by those with naturally shadowed lids, darkly circled eyes or wrinkled eye areas.
PROBLEM EYES
Small Eyes, Eyebrows Thin: Pastel or white shadow all over from eyebrow to eyelid and a streak of brown in the socket. Prominent Eyes: Deep dramatic eyeshadow to minimise the size of the lid. Don’t highlight the brow; 1/8-inch thick eyeliner extended into the inner and outer corners. Make a definite socket line to make the eye more deep set.
Almond shape: Pale shadow all over the end and smudge faint brown shadow in the socket. Fine eyeliner all around the eye.
Deep-set Eyes: No socket line. Pastel colours from the eyelid and to the browbone. No dark shadow.
Lipstick: Lipsticks come in all shades to suit every mood of yours. It is best applied with a lipstick brush. Outline the lips first and then fill in with colour. To make lipstick last, blot lipstick powder lightly and apply lipstick again.
To finish off, blot makeup with a cotton pad dipped in ice water and squeezed out.