Beauty Tips for All

You could say that I have a love/hate relationship with makeup. Some days I enjoy playing with all the different colors.

But then there are those days when my liner refuses to go on straight, my bronzer makes me look weird, or my lashes refuse to curl. That's when I want to toss my makeup bag out my bathroom window. 

These are ultimate tips that would help a lot..

Lesson No. 1: Spend some bucks on your tools

"To me, tools and products are equally as important as the makeup skills that you have,". So if you really want to apply your makeup like a pro,Do what the professionals do: Use the proper brushes for application."

Here are 8 basic brushes you need

1. Foundation brush

2. Concealer brush 

3. Fluffy powder brush

4. Blush brush 

5. Small blending brush 

6. Flat eyeshadow brush 

7. Precision angle brush 

8. Lip brush 

Once you have your tools, you need to know how to hold them. 

"Where you hold a brush on the handle affects your control. The closer your fingers are to the barrel (the silver section beneath the brush head), the more pressure you put on the brush head and vice versa." In general, if you want to apply color evenly, place your fingers on the center of the brush handle.

Lesson 2: Know your face shape and fix it

 "Contouring is the art of highlighting and shading. "Anything that is lighter than the skin tone will make an area more prominent, anything darker will make that area recede."

Here is how you can alter your face shape.

If you have a round face and want to make it look more oval: Apply a bronzer a shade or two darker than your skin tone in a "3" shape alongside your face: on your temples, the hollow of your cheeks, and your chin.

If you have a prominent forehead: Shade around the outer edge of your forehead along your hairline to minimize the area with bronzer. 

If you have a flat or wide nose: Shade alongside your bridge starting from your inner brows. Then highlight right on the center of your nose.

Lesson No. 3: Make your eyes pop by changing their shape

Just like how I learned to use highlights and shadows to contour my face, I found out that I can use the same info to alter my eye shape, too. Whether you have drooping lids, narrow-set eyes, or they're simply too small, you can use your knowledge of light and shadow to change them.

If you want to add definition: Sweep a light bronzer through the crease of the eye, which is halfway between the lashline and the eyebrow. "As you age, the eye area loses elasticity, and things aren't as shapely as they used to be,"

If you have narrow-set eyes: To elongate your eye width, apply a black liner to the outer half of both your upper and lower lashlines, connecting at the outer corner. 

If you have drooping, heavy lids: Use what you just learned about highlights and shadows to lift your eye. Apply highlighter above your crease, from the inner to outer lid. Make sure you blend well.

If you have small eyes: Apply a beige-colored eyeliner to your lower inner rim, which will help make eyes look more open. Then use a black pencil liner along your entire upper and lower lashlines, connecting the lines at the outer corner.The key is to blend the liner with shadow, going outwards.

Lesson No.4: Attractive lips

Before makeup school, I had no idea there was an ideal lip shape. Apparently, your lips are most balanced when the upper and lower lips are equal in size, or thickness. If they're not, you can use your knowledge of highlights and shadows to re-contour them.

Step 1: Apply foundation to your entire lip. Not only does this help remove the natural pigments of your lips for truer lipstick colors, but it can also help you realize where your liplines actually are.

Step 2: Using a white eyeliner pencil, very softly feather the pencil over the natural contour of the lip. Or use the pencil to make lips fuller or thinner by drawing it past your natural lipline or within it.

Step 3: Redo the line with a lip pencil in the color of your lipstick.

Step 4: Apply lipstick with a lip brush in a downward motion. So, from your cupid's bow to each outer corner, then from your outer corner to the center of your lower lip. This ensures an even application of the product.

Step 5: Apply a light shade of base foundation around the new lip line, blending to a soft edge with a lip brush.