Sunday, July 6, 2008

The Makeup World

Ok Ladies, here is the fun part... Makeup!!! I just love makeup. It's so much fun to put on. You can be creative, really express yourself, and show off all your different features. Experiment with all the different colors and styles, you can go from a basic day look to a dramatic night look. Spend 5 minutes on your face or spend hours. The choice is yours. Whatever your routine, there are ways for everyone to enjoy the endless possibilities of the world of makeup. Most people do not know anything about makeup, such as how to apply it or what brands to buy. You need to know and understand makeup in order to get the results you are looking for. Have no fear, I will cover all the bases with you. You will look at makeup in a whole new way!!!

Choosing a makeup line is the first step, this is something that should be taken very seriously because trust me, it makes a huge difference in the results. Quality is important when choosing any skin products or supplies. There is a difference between high-quality and generic brands. Another thing you need to think about is brushes. I know you're thinking, "why the brushes?" A brush is a brush right? Wrong!!! Brushes are a huge part of the application so the better the brush the better the results.

The order you put makeup on should also be something to consider. First, you always want to start with your foundation, followed by concealer and then powder. Next you want to apply first your eyeshadow, then eyeliner, followed by your mascara. At this point, you would apply your eyebrow color if needed. Cheeks go next and last, your lips. Lip liner is followed by lipstick and that's it. I know, that sounds like so many steps, right? It's easy, and once you get into a routine, it will take you no time to put on your face.

Ok, so should we get started?

Foundation: This is the base of it all. It evens out skin tone and color, conceals imperfections and protects our skin from the outside elements. When picking out foundation, you want to make sure that it has an SPF of some sort, and you want to test it out to see if its the best color for you. *To test, apply a strip of color to jawline, blend in slightly: the color that disappears is the color for you.

There are different forms that foundation comes in. How do you know which ones are best for you? Here are some hints so to make it easier for you to pick what's best for your skin.

Oil-Based Foundation: These are oil-based and come in a form of liquid, stick, cream to powder or tinted moisturizers. Good for normal to dry skin

Oil-free Foundations: These are water based and come in a liquid form, cream to powder or just powder. These are water based so they give you more of a matte (dull, nonshiny) finish. Best used on oily skin types.

Cream Foundations: This is best for dry to normal skin and gives medium to heavier coverage.

Liquid Foundations: This is best for those with oily to normal skin conditions who desire sheer to medium coverage.

Powder Foundations: Good for oily skin.

Cream to Powder Foundations: Good for oily skin. Goes on moist, but dries to a powdery finish.

How to apply foundation: You want to use a sponge or brush. Never use your fingers to apply foundation. Make sure that you blend well so that you have an all over smooth and even face, going all the way down your neck, so that you do not have a line of color that just stops at your jawline.

Concealers: This is used to cover blemishes and discolorations. It should be applied after foundation. They are available in pots, pencils, wands tubes and sticks and come in lots of colors to make it easy for you to match your natural skin tone. When picking a color you want to try and match as close as possible to your actual skin color. You want this to blend in with your natural skin color as close as it can, you do not want to bring any attention to that area you are trying to cover. Using too light or too dark of a concealer is going to make it stick out even more. You can use a concealer alone or over foundation.

Pot Concealer: Heaviest and provides the most coverage
Pencil Concealers: Give sheer to medium coverage
Wand Concealers: This is a creamy consistency
Tube or Stick Concealers: Medium to sheer coverage

How to apply concealer: Concealer should be removed from its container and put on a brush or sponge. Place only a small amount over the area that you are trying to hide and blend in well.

Face Powders: These are used to add a matte, or dull, finish to the face. Used to set the foundation. Enhances the skins natural color helping to conceal minor blemishes and discolorations. Tones down excessive color and shine.

Two types of powder:

Pressed Powder: Compressed, so they will not crumble. Provides heavier coverage. This is easy to carry in your bag throughout the day for those quick touch ups.

Loose Powder: Not compressed. Best used at home. These can be a little messy!

Face powders come in different weights. Heavier weight is best for oily skin. Light and medium weight are best for dry and normal skin. Face powders blend with all foundations and do not change color when applied. Always pick a color close to your natural skin tone.

How to apply face powder: You want to apply this after foundation using a brush or sponge. Just put a small amount of powder on your brush or sponge and apply all over your face, even on your eyelids. Start at the forehead and work your way down, going all the way down the neck. Make sure you have an even amount on all areas of face.

Eye Shadow: Used to enhance and contour the eye. Available in stick, cream, pressed, dry powder form.

Helpful hints for picking out colors:

*Try not to match eye shadow to eye color. This creates a flat feild of color. Using colors other then your eye color can really bring out your eyes.
*Darker shades of eye shadow make natural color of your iris appear lighter, and lighter shades make the iris appear deeper.
*Try to be more subtle for daytime, and turn it up a notch for night time.

How to apply eye shadow: Heres the tricky part, everyone has a problem putting on shadow, but its really easy. You need three colors. You want to go for a light color, medium color, and dark color. The three colors serve different purposes.

Base Color: This would be the medium color, and it goes on first. This color is used to even out the skin tone on the eye. It is applied all over the lid and the brow bone, from lash to brow.

Highlight Color: This would be the light color, and it goes on second. You want to get a color lighter than your skin tone. This color is applied right under your brow bone. The lighter the color the larger the area will appear.

Contour Color: This would be the darker color, and it goes on last. Applied to minimize specific area to create contour in a crease or to define the eyelash line. This is applied to the crease of the eye only, from inside to out, just run your brush over this area a few times.

Once you do this a couple times you will get the hang of it. You can make the colors as light or as dark as you want, its all up to you. Have fun with it, try all kinds of different color combinations.

Eyeliners: Used to outline and emphasize the eye. Comes in pencil or liquid form. You can create a line on the eyelid close to the lashes to make the eyes appear larger and the lashes fuller.

Choosing a color: Most people prefer eyeliner that is the same color as the lashes or mascara they will be using, but you can do more dramatic colors as well.

How to apply eyeliner: To apply you must have a steady hand and be very careful. With an eyeliner brush, apply to the desired area with short strokes and gentle pressure. You may want to gently pull the skin taut so that it makes it easier for a smooth application.

Mascara: Defines, darkens and thickens the eyelashes. Most popular colors are brown and black but they have lots of colors to choose from. Some of the more dramatic colors really come out looking good. You want to use a small wand if you want more leanth and a big wand if you want more of a full look.

How to apply mascara: Dip into mascara and apply from close to the base of the lashes out toward the tips. You can go over a couple times until the mascara has given you the results you are looking for. Helpful Hint: If you are going to use an eyelash curler, you always want to curl before you apply the mascara. If you use after, eyelashes may be broken or pulled out.

Eyebrow Color: Eyebrow color is used to add color and shape to the eyebrows. Can be used to darken the eyebrow, correct their shape, or fill in sparse areas.

How to apply eyebrow color: Sharpen the eyebrow pencil and wipe with a clean tissue before each use. Lightly apply using gently strokes. You do not want color to come out too dark. For powder eyebrow color, scrape a small amount onto a tissue and use a brush to apply the color. Avoid harsh contrasts beteween hair and eyebrow color. A shade of brown is the best way to go when choosing a color.

Cheek Color: Gives a glow to the face and helps to create contour. Comes in a cream, liquid, dry (pressed), or loose form.

Cream Color: Preferred for dry and normal skin
Liquid Color: This blends well and is suited for all skin types.
Dry Color: Results are a matte finish and is the most popular. Used on all skin types.
Loose Color: For all skin types

How to apply cheek color: You can apply with a brush or a sponge. If you use a brush you want to dip the brush in the color, and start at the apple of your cheek and with light gentle strokes apply up into the hair line. You do not want to stop at the temple. You want the color to blend all the way up into the hair line. When using a sponge, dip into the color. First you want to smile, apply the color right on the apple of the cheek and with the sponge, blend upward until evenly applied.

Lip Liner: Theses are colored penciles used to outline and fill in the lips. Comes in thin or thick pencil form, some double as lipstick. You want to choose a liner that coordinates with your natural lip color or lipstick.

How to apply lip liner: Apply before lipstick to make sure that you have the proper shape and definition. If darker liner is desired, fill in most of the lip with the liner and blend the lip color and liner to avoid harsh lines.

Lipstick: This gives the lips its color, comes in lipgloss as well. Some contain sunscreen to protect lips. It also moisturizes lips to keep them from being dry or chapped. Available in cream glossed, pencils, gels and sticks.

How to apply lipstick: Apply right from the stick or with a brush, press lips together once on to get an even color. You can apply a gloss right over the color if desired.

Makeup Brushes: These are important when appling your makeup. You need to know what each brush looks like and what it is used for.

Powder brush: Large, soft brush used to apply powder or blush; for blending.
Blush brush: Smaller more tapered verizon of powder brush, used for applying powder blush.
Concealer brush: Narrow and firm with a flat edge, used to apply concealer aound the eyes or on blemishes.
Lip brush: Similar to the concealer brush, with more of a tapered edge.
Eye Shadow brush: Available in many sizes and from soft to firm; the softer and larger the brush the more blended the shadow will be; firm brushes are best for depositing dense color rather then blending.
Eyeliner brush: Fine, tapered firm bristles
Angle brush: Firm, thin bristled; angled for application of shadow to the eyebrows or shadow liner to the eyes.
Lash and Brow brush: comb like brush used to remove excess mascara on lashes or to comb brows into place.

Use a Gentle shampoo or brush solvent to clean all your brushes. Lay flat to dry.

I hope that helped some of you better understand makeup and how to apply it. Now that you know a little more about makeup, you are well on your way to achieving the results that you want. Good luck and enjoy! :) Email me with any of your makeup questions, click on view my profile, hit contact. I'll talk to you there!! :)

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