Applying makeup is truly an art form, and anyone who claims otherwise has obviously never tried it themselves. There are professional makeup artists who manage to turn themselves into different celebrities, faeries, dragons, and zombies with the help of their makeup kit, and their skills are unparalleled. While you might not need to turn yourself someone else, being able to apply your makeup like a pro is a useful skill, which is why we offer you a few useful tips.
First things first
Before you apply any product to your face, you need to ensure that your skin and pores are clean. Applying makeup to skin that’s been ‘burdened’ with dirt and oils and clogging your pores even further is the best way to cause outbreaks and inflammation. Use gentle cleansers suitable for your skin type and make your face squeaky clean before you apply any makeup. This is the only way to have flawless makeup and keep your skin healthy in the long run.
You need a primer
Some people choose to skip primer, but if you have problems with uneven skin tone or imperfections you’d like to hide (scars or pimples), primer will help you do that. Your pores will not appear as prominent, the texture of your skin will be smoothed, and what is more, your makeup will last longer, which is great if you have a long and hard day ahead of you. A great number of primers are available, and you should look for the one which will not ‘burden’ your skin but make it healthier.
Foundation follows
The most important thing about foundation is to find the one that matches your skin tone perfectly, which means that it will look natural when you apply it to your neck and chest too. Don’t use too much or you risk it melting and ruining your clothes. Put some product on the back of your hand and use your fingers, a makeup sponge, or a silicone beauty blender and blend it so that there aren’t any lines which indicate where your foundation starts. Start with small amounts, practice your moves, and don’t forget to cover your ears, neck, and hairline too.
Conceal carefully
Any obvious imperfections should be covered with a bit of concealer: blemishes, pimples, and dark circles around your eyes. While foundation should be as close to your natural skin colour as possible, concealer should be a bit lighter to brighten and even out those problem areas. Put concealer under your eyes, on your forehead, and on your chin a bit, and blend it with the foundation.
Make me blush
While blush can make your whole look more natural and give you that healthy glow, you should be careful and not overdo it, or you’ll look like you have a fever. Apply a small amount of blush on the apples of your cheeks using a makeup brush and if you want a more radiant look, you can add a bit of sparkly highlighter to your cheekbones, on the bridge of your nose, and just under your eyebrows. An important thing to remember is to stick to the same texture: if you’re using powder, choose a powder blush, otherwise choose a cream blush. That way your makeup will look more natural.
Eyebrows on fleek
Eyebrow trends change rapidly, and these past couple of seasons girls have been wearing their brows full yet perfectly shaped. If you don’t have full brows, you can fill them in with an eyebrow pencil or brow powder. Choose a product whose colour is close to your natural one, or just a tan darker. With small strokes, create ‘hairs’ to fill in the gaps in your brows, then apply concealer and highlighter under them to make them really stand out.
Eyes to die for
Eyes are the windows to your soul, so try enhancing them so that everyone will take notice of their shape and colour. Use an eyeliner on the outer corners of your lower lashes and your upper waterline and use a brush to smudge it a bit. If you really want to make your eyes ‘pop’, you can use fake lashes or choose a more permanent solution and get a lash infill that will make you forget about mascara for weeks.
Success doesn’t come overnight, and before you actually become a pro you should spend hours working hard and perfecting your skills. Just because you aren’t making progress as fast as you thought you would, it doesn’t mean you’re doing bad. Be patient and give yourself time to improve; the most important thing is to like what you do and to find pleasure in practicing, and success will follow.