6 Dos and Don’ts from Your Friendly Cruelty-Free Makeup Artist : So I’ve been contemplating doing this post for a while now, but I’ve held off because I don’t really like the idea of makeup rules, or telling people that they’ve done their makeup wrong.
I believe that what makes makeup so fun is that, while it has corrective purposes, it’s at heart a brilliant form of self-expression—and who am I to mess with that?
That being said, there are some fairly common makeup “habits” that aren’t doing women any favors and that’s what I’m going to address today. It’s not so much about the colors you choose to wear or whether or not you’re on trend, this post is about correcting makeup techniques to help you get the most out of your makeup application.
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Don’t wear too much foundation.
First, let’s take a second to discuss what foundation is meant to do. Foundation is meant to even out your skin tone and conceal minor blemishes, spots, etc. Wearing too much foundation makes you look dated (hello 1972!) and it’s aging as it settles into lines on your face.
How to tell if you’re wearing too much foundation? If you’re applying it so heavy that you can see a line at your neck or along your hairline, or you can see it collected in the crease around your nose, chances are you have on way too much or your not blending well. If the line is a different color, chances are you are also wearing the wrong color/shade.
Do: apply a small amount to the center of the face and blend outwards towards the edges of your face. The idea is that the center of the face will need the most coverage (redness, dark circles, etc), and the edge of your face will generally need less. If you have some blemishes around the hairline or jawline, you can come back in and target those with a concealer and a small pointed brush. If you find yourself struggling with your application, try using a foundation brush. I usually apply with a flat foundation brush and then come back in with a clean kabuki to blend, or use a damp (not wet) beauty-blender.
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Don’t be careless with your makeup brush
You can easily be lax with your makeup brush and other accessories. But it’s bad and definitely something you want to avoid. Always be hygienic with your makeup brushes at all time. Wash them immediately after use and don’t leave them lying around. They can easily get lost that way and you get to buy them away. It’s not so much the money you spend as the stress of looking for another.
Do: It’s easy to wash your brushes with just lukewarm water. But if you want to make sure it’s sparkling clean, mix a squirt of clarifying shampoo with the water and swirl your brush gently in the mixture. Rinse it with ordinary water
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Don’t overdo it with the contouring.
Now that everyone and their mother’s brother has a contouring tutorial, I’m seeing more and more striped faces out and about. This is an advanced makeup technique and when it’s overdone or done badly, you look like you have dirt on your face or a skin condition. Neither are all that flattering.
Do: If you’re going to contour, it’s best to use products that are specially formulated with the correct tones that mimic a shadow and you can find them available in powders, cremes and liquids. Typically, creams or liquids are more natural looking because you don’t see the layer of texture that the powder can create, but regardless of which one you choose, you need to blend very very well! There should be no visible lines anywhere on your face. You can use a bronzer to contour, but ONLY if the tones lean brown and the finish is matte (no shimmer). If the bronzer looks even a tad orange, don’t use it to contour! You’ll end up looking like you got smacked by Chester Cheetah.
When? You don’t really need much contouring during the day, and daylight is unforgiving so keep it extremely subtle. A touch of highlighter on the cheekbones and some blush is generally enough to add dimension, but you can use a swirl of bronzer if you don’t go overboard. For the evening or if you’re being photographed, you can bump it up a bit but make sure to blend blend blend!
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Don’t forget to tone down your makeup for daytime.
Holy moly there is nothing more jarring than a heavy black, glittery smokey eye and red lip at noon on Tuesday. Sure, this could be considered a matter of preference, and there are certainly circumstances that could call for this look during normal work hours, perhaps you’re in a rock band, you work at MAC Cosmetics, or you’re performing a matinee caberet, but for most people, this is a tough look to rock in daylight.
Do: Try a neutral or grey smokey eye instead, or keep the eyes more subtle and don a bright lip!
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Don’t use foundation or bronzer to create a tan.
I’m not sure when this started, but I see this more and more often these days. There are plenty of really good self-tanning products on the market, but your foundation and bronzer are not meant to make you tan. Your foundation should match your neck and chest, the only reason you would EVER need to apply a darker shade of foundation is if your neck and chest are darker than your face. In this case you would want everything to match so this would make sense. However, if you are a tanner, you really shouldn’t let your body get too much darker than your face (although I applaud your use of sunscreen). It’s better to bring the sunscreen down the body to keep things even or do a fake tan instead.
Do: Oh bronzer, the most misunderstood of the makeup world. Bronzer is great for giving you that sun-kissed look, but only when applied to the high-points of the face, or where the sun would naturally hit (forehead, bridge of nose, cheeks, chin). When you apply bronzer all over your face, you run the risk of your skin looking muddy or dirty, and if said bronzer is on the aforementioned orange-side—can you say “Oompa Loompa, do-ba-dee-dee?”
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Don’t overpluck your eyebrows!
Jeezy weezy, nothing can funk up a beautiful face like a pair of misshapen brows. It doesn’t matter how flawless your makeup, mucked up brows will kill your look every time. You know what I’m talking about when one brow is higher than the other, or they’ve been plucked into really thin upside down commas or arches. I swear, as a makeup artist, there is nothing worse than having to essentially draw on someone’s eyebrows because it never looks great or natural.
Do: Please please please, if your brows need to be shaped, get them done professionally and then let them show you how to maintain them. And don’t forget, if you over-pluck, you run the risk of them not growing back.
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