Women have a very special relationship with makeup, it helps us out to amplify our beauty and we have been using it since centuries ago, for example Greek women used charcoal as eyeshadow and white powder to lighten their skin. Some people criticize using makeup saying that it’s an attempt to hide behind a “mask” and that is related to confidence issues, I think that in some cases that might be true, but a lot of us wear makeup because we love it and can be as confident with or without it.

For me, makeup is another way to express myself, just as fashion. Through makeup I can change the way I look giving a wide variety of options: I can choose an everyday, very light look or I can choose a very dramatic sexy look. And like a lot of women, I’ve personally experienced the empowerment of wearing a red lipstick and knowing that I look great!

Some of you have been asking me about some tips for doing my makeup and I really want to share with you some very useful tips that I’ve learned from some of the best makeup artists that I’ve had the pleasure to work with. While I was writing this, I realized that I, in fact, have a lot of useful tips, so I decided to make this a two-part post so you can have all those tips! And without further delay here they are:

  • Before applying your makeup, take a moment to appreciate the “you” without makeup, fall in love with your features as they are uniquely yours.
  • Try to get in the habit of using your makeup time to drink a glass of water (or two)
  • Be sure to apply your makeup in a well-lit area, meaning make sure you have light on both sides of your face. Applying your makeup in front of a window is a great idea!
  • Pick one feature you want to emphasize and the go for it
  • Good brushes, like good makeup are worth the investment.
  • If you’re dealing with a pimple or a breakout, apply a couple of eyedrops to the irritated spot. This will reduce the redness a little… but it’s nor acne killer, it’s just a temporary fix so you can cover it more easily with makeup.
  • If you want a smooth, flawless finish on your skin, blend, blend and blend. The best blending is achieved by moving your brush in a circular motion.
  • When applying your foundation remember that you don’t want people to see it when you leave your house!
  • To choose the right color for your foundation match it to the color of skin of your collar bone or chest, not on your neck as it is lighter. 
  • You can apply some contouring underneath the tip of the nose to give the illusion of shortening the nose.
  • To find the apples of your cheeks, simply smile!
  • Applying blush on the apple of the cheeks makes up the face more youthful, applying blush under the cheekbones slims the face and makes it appear drawn.
  • Cream blush can be used on the lips for a softer and more natural look.
  • When lining your lips, you can also use a pencil that’s labeled as “eyebrow pencil”, if you like the color, you can use it for lining your lips, in fact, it might last longer!
  • Always be sure to line directly on the lip border or just inside it, but never outside the lips!
  • When choosing your eye shadows try to pick the ones that contrast with your eye color, instead of trying to match the color of your eyes.
  • For eyelashes that stay curled, hold down the eyelash curler for a count of 20 and then apply mascara immediately.
  • You can warm up your eyelash curler by rubbing the part you apply to the lahes back and forth between your fingers
  • Don’t pump the wand into the mascara as that incorporates air into the product and dries it out. Instead swirl the wand in the tube.
  • When applying liquid eyeliner first remove the excess liquid on the palm of your hand, so that it’s not so wet and you can have more control when applying the line.
  • If you mess up your liquid liner, just grab a q-tip, put a drop of corrector and wipe away the liner.
  • Sometimes you can accentuate your eyes just with false eyelashes instead of putting eye shadow.
  • If you want your makeup to last longer, spay a hydrating mist after you apply your setting powder.

What do you think? Do you have your own useful tips for make up? It’d be great if you’d share them so we all can learn more tips!

XO