Applying Makeup

FOUNDATION

• Once your foundation is on, gradually apply lighter shades first, slowly working up to your final color. An important fact to remember when you apply makeup, is use colors that blend together naturally. It's not where you place the colors: it's that they work together and blend together invisibly. You do not want this to look like three separate colors.

• Apply foundation on lids before you put on shadow. This prep step will smooth the skin’s surface and prolong eye shadow performance.

POWDER

• Powder will add the finishing touch to your foundation and help maintain a fresh, smooth look throughout the day. You can also use powder, when you apply makeup, just on it’s own for a very natural effect. But whether you are using a loose powder or a pressed powder, never put too much on.

EYESHADOW

• Eyeshadow has the most dramatic effect when you apply makeup. When you look at a women's face, you see her eyes not her eye shadow. The general rule is that light shades bring out your eyes, darker shades give them dimension. If you have small eyes and want to give the impression of larger eyes, you want to stay with lighter shades. If you have large eyes or protruding eyes, you would want to use darker shades. To prevent shadow from creasing, put foundation on your lids first, then powder. This gives you a clean canvas for your colorations.

• Most eyeshadow comes in multi-colored compacts for a reason. Use these colors strategically to enhance your features and draw out the true beauty of your eyes. Your shadow does not have to match your eyes or clothing but if you choose bolder colors, make sure you mix them with some neutral shades for an overall natural look.

MASCARA

• Prepare your lashes by using an eyelash curler on your upper lashes. Apply mascara to the upper lashes first, wiggling the wand as you go. Apply a lighter coat of mascara to the lower lashes to help them look more natural. Brown/black mascara is flattering to most women and doesn't look too harsh.

BLUSH

• One of the easiest ways to get a healthy look is with blush -- unfortunately, it is often misused. Here is the correct and easy way to apply blush: First, start with a good quality blush brush. You can accentuate your face and cheeks naturally. Smile and you will see the fleshy part that stands out the most; this is the apple of your checks. This is your starting point for applying your blush. Apply a light layer of blush to the apples of your cheeks and blend up and back toward your hair line.

LIPSTICK

• If you don’t want to be forever reapplying your lipstick, it is essential to learn the right way to put it on. Keep lips moisturized at night with petroleum jelly or lip balm. Try not to restrict yourself to wearing just one color all the time. Mixing colors is the best way to vary your lipstick shades. The color of your lips can change your appearance immediately. Don’t worry about matching your lip color to your blush, just keep it in the same color family.

• Lip liner helps extend the wear of your lipcolor, balances the upper and lower lips, shapes lips, provides symmetry and lets you alter the look of your lip size, if that’s your intention. To avoid that telltale ring around the mouth and to extend the life and wear of your lipcolor, completely fill in lips with liner before you apply gloss and/or lipcolor. As the gloss/lipcolor wears off, you won’t have that ring effect.

• If your lipcolor bleeds or feathers into any fine lines around your mouth, lip liner is a must to kick off your lip look! Lining lips gives your mouth a gentle shape and helps provide a “boundary” for your lipcolor. After you line the natural contour of your mouth, fill in the entire lip area before applying lipstick. Your lip liner shade should either match your natural lip tone or lipcolor, so as not to stand out.