Preparing the face: Wash, exfoliate, tone and moisturize your face before applying make up.
Oil control is very important.
If you can, use oil free formulated products.
Keep hair away from the face.
To reduce puffy eyes, use Preparation H Foundation: Choose a thicker formulated foundation rather than the sheers ones that are used in daily applications so that all blemishes are covered easily.
Blend foundation from chin to neck so that they are of the same color.
Powder: Use lots of it, and reapply between shots, to create a mat finish look.
Concealer: Two shades lighter than skin to cover blemishes and dark spots; apply before foundation application.
Contouring: Contour cheeks and eyes to create a sculpted look.
Use foundation in a shade that is 2 to 3 shades darker than normal skin tone.
Eyes: Highlight eyebrow bones using light shadow to create lively eyes.
Avoid eye shadow that is too frosty or shimmers excessively – it will appear shiny.
Apply eyeliner with precision.
Use waterproof mascara.
Overall application needs to be slightly heavier than normal make up.
Lips: Use lipstick and liner of same color, in a shade darker than natural lip color. Five Make-up Mistakes to Avoid
1. Entirely too much blush - Blush is supposed to look natural, flushed, and pretty.
Think J.Low.
She has it down.
Apply your blush before ANY other color on your face.
If you look like you could throw on lip-gloss and mascara and run out the door, you're good!
The best blush color?
No, it is not fuschia.
It is a pinky/peach.
Look for something with soft shimmer, a pinky/peach that looks young, fresh on anyone of any age.
(J.Low and Lara Flynn Boyle rarely make an appearance without it on.)
Moreover, it is all about location, location, location.
Smile, tap blush on apple cheeks.
Done. That is where you blush.
Period.
Easy. 2. The dreaded blue eyeshadow a la 1960's.
Okay, I think whenever someone is in that dreaded "color" shadow mode, it is because someone at some time said, "gee, that looks great honey,” when it painfully did not.
We are suckers for a compliment. Beauty is supposed to make you look at the whole image.
Not just one thing.
You want the whole you to shine.


In photography makeup, a trait of a good makeup artist is if their makeup style blends in with the whole photo.
It does not stand out like a sore thumb.
I feel complimented on my work when someone oohs and aahs over the photo, not my work.
Then I know I have done a good job.
3. Navy blue, dark blue, any blue. - Anything with blue, dark blue or grayish blue around your eyes really brings out the dark blue circle under it.
Copy a color on your face that you don't like in your makeup, and it will look worse.
Way worse.
Case in point: a red dress with sunburn.
See?
Doesn't work.
Go warmer, chestnut-y, bronze-y in shadows and liner instead.
Trust me.
4. "You're looking a little tired.
Are you feeling ok?" - We have all been there.
If people ask if you are tired when you are not it's could be your makeup.
Incorrect make-up color choices can actually make your skin look tired.
How?
By unintentionally wearing colors that have gray in them.
A grayish pink blush, a grayish mauve-y lipstick, and a grayish eyeshadow -- even your foundation might be gray.
So much gray can make you look tired by bringing out the gray in your skin.
The good news is, you do not need a facial.
You need another color.
How can you tell?
Put your cosmetic color onto white paper.
What color do you see?
If you see gray, that is the culprit.
And gray is the #1 added color to cosmetics.
Makes me wonder how many women have run to the skincare counters to get the latest alpha-hydroxy, skin brightening wonder creams, only to find out it's really the makeup that makes you look, well, you know, tired.
5. The old school overdrawn lips. Overdrawing the lips does NOT make your lips look bigger.
It can make you look like a clown.
So how do you fake the illusion?
It is in the color and the shine.
Yes - shine!
Start our with a lighter color, think about a nude pink.
Look for a shade that mimics your lip color, or is two shades deeper than your actual lip color.
Apply to your lip line and not a millimeter more.
Then add shine.
Shine bounces light and gives the illusion of a fuller pout.
Try Bobbi Brown's lip-gloss.
She has a different type of shimmer going on in her lip-glosses that makes your lips look three-dimensional.
It truly works.
There's a lot of great make-up out there to play with.
Stay away from these common pitfalls and you are well on your way to looking fabulous. Black Eagle Studios