If you want to update your techniques in applying make-up, here are some make-up fallacies and some useful tips to get you started on a fresher and smarter use of make-up.
TONING IS JUST ANOTHER WAY TO CLEAN YOUR FACE. The secret to perfect looking make-up is perfectly taken care of skin. One should never forget the important triumvirate of skin care – cleanse- tone-moisturize. Interestingly, I’ve met women who feels that toning is an unimportant step thinking that it’s just another way to clean the face. Sadly, they can never be more wrong. Toning brings back the face’s acid mantle that protects the face from bacteria. This mantle is taken out after cleansing and comes back after 20 minutes – and a lot can happen in 20 minutes. If you don’t want more bacteria on your face, start toning.
NEED TO COVER UP, PACK IT ON. Foundation can be a bit tricky but understanding your skin type and tone allows you more elbow room in choosing the right foundation for you. However, after choosing the right foundation, some women go to town with applying it thinking that it’s the “cure all” or “erase all” for all facial skin imperfections. This can lead to packing up which causes caking and dried-up faces or more pronounced lines at the end of the day. The term “less is more” can never be said enough when applying foundation. It should be enough to even out your face and allow coverage to extend to the neck and the chest (depending on how low the neckline is).
CTTO
CONCEALER GOES UNDER FOUNDATION. If you are worried about blemishes or spots that you’d like to conceal on your face, do not pack it up with foundation – you can use a concealer to do the trick. However, which comes first? In several articles that I have read, this can be interchangeable. My thoughts on the matter say otherwise.
This technique simply encourages one to use more products more to even out the tone. Ideally, after applying the foundation correct for your skin tone and type, concealer comes dabbed in in very specific areas to camouflage the blemish.
Add a little translucent powder so the concealer can stay in place. Applying the foundation on top of the concealer may move the concealer prompting you to add more product to achieve the coverage that you want. This technique provides more control over the use of the product.
ANY DARK COLORED MAKE-UP CAN BE USED TO CONTOUR. When push comes to shove, sometimes women use any dark coloured make-up as contour. Remember that contour helps in creating the ideal shape for your face. So if you use other products it may not achieve the look that you want given that these products may be created from different powders that tend to reflect light than absorb them like how contour powder does. Using the proper product makes the corrective technique more invisible to the naked eye.
SKIN LOOKS THE BEST WITH HIGHLIGHTER. If contour powder absorbs light to create the proper shadows on the face, highlighters are made of material that magnifies the reflection of light making the area pop and become more noticeable. This is used to make the cheeks, chin and nose bridge more obvious especially when there is none. However, applying more highlighter makes the face look oily and wet especially on a hot summer day which a lot of times make it look unsightly. It also emphasizes blemishes and other skin imperfections like lines and wrinkles. So whoever said that you need more highlighter so you can be seen a mile away may just be saying that to sell you more product.
ALWAYS RETOUCH WITH POWDER. Yes, powder may take out the moisture caused by your sweat after a long day. But, it may cause your make-up to look murky and cakey at the end of the day. The best thing to do is to get a facial tissue and dab it all over your face to absorb all the excess oil from having the make-up the whole day. This allows your skin to “breathe” and look more relaxed. If you add more product immediately, your pores would just want to open up more to dispel all these foreign material from your face. You may also use a personal sponge which can be re-usable or disposable depending on your budget. Just don’t forget to sanitize it properly. After taking out all the unwanted moisture from your face, brush on a light layer of translucent powder or HD powder to refine your look.
The transformative powers of make-up can be awesome. However, the best make-up is still be invisible – highlighting the freshness of your face and not the individual products.