Make-Up How To:
Looking for some simple tips? Want to up your game on application? Maybe you want to enhance your natural beauty and not sure what colours/tones work? Read on to find our expert tips!
Day Time
Keep it simple.
TIP for the Office
Tuck a small mirror, blotting papers (tissues work just fine for us), hand cream, powder, lipstick for mid-day touch-ups
No Make-Up Makeup Look
Light, shimmery shade on the lids, also on the inside corner of the eyes. This acts to brighten your eyes, apply mascara and light dusting of blush on the apples of the cheeks.
Office Look
Use a medium brown/taupe colour on the lids, blend it into the crease line. Wet a dark shade of brown and using an angle brush, line your upper lashes (you can also line the bottom lashes, very delicately so that it opens the eye), apply mascara, apply blush on apples and a rosy berry tone on the lip.
Application Tips
Start with clean, clear skin.
1. First thing is to cleanse.
2. You want to apply your moisturizer and if you use one, your primer.
3. Apply your Liquid Foundation. As for choosing a colour, you want one that is closest to your own skin tone – use direct sunlight to choose).
4. How to apply? Dab it to your cheeks, chin & forehead (this would be for all-over coverage and ultimate blending) but you can also choose just to spot on the areas you want coverage). Using a sponge or fingers, make sure to blend. (I like to use fingers because our body heat helps melt waxes so blending is easy). Make sure you blend into hairline and neckline.
(NOTE: You can use cream foundation as it will give you more coverage, it’s especially good for more oil-producing skin types as on dry skin individuals it can sometimes look cakey (moisturize well first to eliminate this) – you want to ensure you apply this with your fingers to ensure it’s blended well).
5. Concealer – helps you get the coverage where your foundation just doesn’t; i.e. dark circles, scars and acne spots. Application can be done with brush or fingers. Make sure you cover the whole eye area – including the lid and crease. If you are covering spots, ensure that you have blended well. Remember you are concealing so you want it to look as natural as possible.
6. Setting Powder – helps set the make-up and make skin appear flawless. Really useful if you are prone to creasing eye-shadows!
7. Blush is a great product! It quickly brightens, making you appear vibrant and healthy.
How to choose? Powder blush is the easiest form to blend over foundation. You do want to choose a colour that is natural – so look for a tone you know you naturally flushes to. Below are some basic guidelines though!
Ivory / Light Beige: Choose soft pink shades and tawny rose colours.
Medium / Light Olive: Choose peach and apricot shades, which will instantly warm up your skin and give you a healthy glow.
Bronze / Dark Skin Tone: Choose dare warm colours like cherry and cinnamon, which will give your skin a nice flush.
Darkest Skin Tones: Choose an intense colour such as a deep red, red-brown, or plum.
How to apply? You want to apply to the apples of your cheeks. Look in the mirror and smile. Where your cheeks are raised is where you apply the colour.
You can also use cream blush – which is great because it can also double as a lip stain. This kind of product is great for dryer skin types. Apply with fingers to get the best blending. Love having a cream blush in my handbag for mid-day touch-ups!
Loose powders are great for all skin-types – they give a natural, sheer look and do help eliminate that mid-day T-zone shine.
8. Bronzer – You want to ensure a non-streaking, natural and healthy look.
How to choose? There are so many formats: cream, pressed & loose! Elate Cosmetics makes a great & refillable bronzer we love - find it here.
Fair Skin: use a honey-coloured bronzer
Medium Skin: use a gold-flecked or bronzy coloured bronzer.
Dark Skin: Use an amber shade.
How to apply? You want to make sure your face is dry and that your liquid foundation/creams have settled. Apply to the cheekbones – make a fish face so that they are accentuated. Blend under the apples of your cheeks, brushing towards the hairline.
(You can apply a high lighter here if you would like, just above where your bronzer ends – it will reflect the light and create more angles on your face).
9. Eyes
For your eyes, you want to keep it fairly simple for day time looks. Below there are colour guidelines based on eye colours. You want to apply the pigmented shade to the lids and blend into the crease. If you have complimenting darker shades in the same tone, blend that towards the outside corners of your eyes – you always want the inside corner of the eyes to appear bright. Lastly, you can use a very light shade of (a shade lighter than your actual skin tone to highlight the brow bone – just apply right under the brow). The trick with eye shadow is to play and to experiment until you get the look you want.
Not sure how to build a collection of shades? Aether has made the most beautiful palettes with all the shades you could ever wish for! Take a peek.
Brown: (day) plums, deep purples and deep moss (night) black or dark grey
Blue: (day) earth shades like gold and brown (night) metallic greys
Green: (day) golden beige (night) dark browns and even purple
Hazel : (day) pinks and golds (night) metallic and navy
Eyeliner is great to make the eye pop. Using an angle brush is the perfect tool – it blends well and does not give you the harsh lines that liquid eyeliner does.
How to apply?
Moisten your brush a little and dip into a dark brown or black shade and starting on the outside corner, lining your lashes, gently move the brush along until you have a line that spans from the outside corner to the inside corner.
If you want to line the lower lashes, again, start on the outside corner and run the brush along the lash line (I like to stop around the center of the eye; it makes the eye appear wide and awake but isn’t harsh) to where you would like the line to stop – you can go all the way to the inside corner.
Lastly, apply your mascara and you are all set!
Gorgeous and Bright, with your natural Beauty enhanced!