Make-up has been used since time immemorial. Most women will have worn it and a number of men will have dabbled in a little guy-liner at some point. Given this, one might wonder that there is anything to be said about it, yet almost every magazine carries a collumn about the latest trends. Interestingly though a little powder might have more effect on your life than you might realise. A few years ago research was done that suggested that female executives were affected by a glass ceiling directly related to whether or not they wore make-up. War-paint indeed! It was considered the female equivalent of a suit and tie. The corporate dress code seems to be relaxing with regard to ties, I wonder if the same can be said for the make-up?
Clearly, there is more to make-up than meets the eye. From the earliest days in almost every culture, women, and often men, have attempted to enhance their features by applying coloured pigments to their skin. It has been associated with celebration, war, death and marriage. We might not think of make-up as being very important when we nip into the pharmacist and pass it, but it is bound into our history and our culture. It can be used to represent anarchy or conformity, to shock or to camoflage. Here are some of my tips and suggestions for choosing and applying it.
In choosing make-up it is necessary to consider whether your skin has a warm or cool tone as this will impact the choice of foundation and blusher we choose. If you are unsure which tone you are select a foundation or blusher shade of each when you test them and try them on your jawline. One will look fine the other will likely make us appear unwell!
Foundation is usually the first to be applied. These days, however, there are optical brighteners. These sound like something from our washing powder and basically do a similar job. Brightener contains shiny particles which reflect the light giving our skin a more glowing appearance. These may be used before or after foundation according to the individual instructions.
Many people will also apply some concealer to blemishes and marks and it is commonly taught that it should be applied first. If, however, you plan to apply a liquid or cake foundation then my tip is to put this on first as this will probably cover most of the imperfections. Less cover up will then be needed and a little more foundation will blend it to an even finish. Other foundation choices include tinted moisturiser, mousse and most recently mineral make-up. The latter two would need to be applied over concealer but the former does not lend itself to cover-up style make-up and best suits those with normal and dry skin-types who are less likely to have blemishes needing cover. Foundation needs to be brought down the neck and blended so as not to create a tide-mark.
A quick word about concealer. It comes in a variety of colours, packaged usually as a stick or compact. They are used identically and can be applied with a brush or your finger. I personally favour the finger technique as the warmth melts it slightly making it blend more easily. The colours are intended for different jobs. Green is intended to minimise redness, peach to reduce the appearance of blue veins and lavender to combat sallowness. To be honest though the trusty beige with cover most imperfections. My tip with concealer is; less is more and blend it well.
Next is usually powder, unless you have used a foundation with a powder finish or mineral make-up. This is an important step as it fixes the liquid based products and allows power products such as eye-shadow to stay in place. People rarely use rouge these days, but companies such as Benefit are bringing out tints that may need to be applied before powder. In this case follow the manufacturers instructions. Loose powder usually creates a finer finish but compact types are good for taking out for a quick touch up. Although most compacts will come with a powder puff a cosmetic brush produces a better finish and is worth the investment. If you are using mineral make-up you should not attempt to use a powder puff as it will produce a very poor finish.
Powdered make-up should be applied next. This includes blusher, shader, highlighter (except the aforementioned brighteners) and eye-shadow. I usually start with the main area of the face before going onto the eyes. Blusher is not that fashionable at the moment with girls going in for a strong look on the eyes and keeping the rest of the look quite neutral. Many of us, though, prefer that little bit of colour. Most face shapes can be enhanced by a little blusher under the cheek bones, but more detailed analysis can offer more specific advice on the ideal application of this, shader and highlighter. Shaders help areas to be less apparent and high-lighters more so. In theory therefore you can make a square face appear more oval, oval being considered ideal and a long nose appear shorter. In practice I find that unless it is for a photograph this means applying rather a lot of make-up and it needs to be expertly done to appear natural. A blending is key.
Eye-shadows usually comes in powder or pressed versions. These again are better applied with a brush than with the sponge applicator they may come with. Two or three colours produce better results than just one. A good method is to apply a light to medium shade over the whole area with the deeper colour brushed into the socket. If a third colour is to be used it can either be used as an emphasis in the middle of the socket or to define the shape at the two corners of the socket. Highlighter can be applied along the brow-line to give "lift". You won't be surprised when I say that these need to be well blended for best effect.
The eyes may be finished with liner, liquid liners are popular again now, and mascara and also popular now, false lashes. Liner is usually applied first, close to the lashes (either bottom, top or both according to the desired look) with more emphasis in the outer corners often leading to a flick which can be smudged to create a smokey look if pencil is used. If false lashes are to be added they come next. Strip lashes are adhered to the lid along the upper lashes while individual ones are stuck to the lashes themselves. The latter are usually applied by a beauty therapist and will usually last between one and three weeks and should be removed using solvent. These are the predecessors of the full sets of eyelash extensions which are fashionable now. These are often made of silk and are costly as they will take anything up to two hours to apply. These take a bit of up-keep and it is inadvisable to swim in them so they are not always the best option but they do give the most natural look and last up to eight weeks. Mascara can be applied over any of these although the semi-permanent ones sometimes recommend against it as it can reduce the time they last.
Finally finish with the lips, lip-liner goes in and out of fashion but is great if you have fine lines around your mouth into which your lipstick bleeds. Sorry smokers, you are more likely to suffer from this problem. Lip-liner is firmer so stays in place and will retain lipstick in the desired area. If using a liner it is applied first to the outer edges of the lips. Next comes lipstick, stain or gloss. Some people prefer to use a lipstick then add shine with a gloss. The lips can be used to change the whole look. If the eyes are heavily made up it is best not to use a strong look on the lips, as this can look a bit clownish... believe me I was there in the eighties! This is one of the reasons that a natural to un-made up lips are popular currently. Statement lips, however, can be a vibrant going-out look.
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