July 26, 2010



I thought of making this post to talk about some of my own makeup application tricks. As`you all know I'm not a trained makeup artist but I do love makeup and thought I could share what I do and what works for me (and most likely will work for you).

1. I use a gradient shade to blend in my highlight into my crease 90% of the time. My most used shade is MAC Wedge which is a light taupe colour. You could also use Soft Brown but I prefer Wedge on my neutral to cool skintone.

2. Speaking of skintone, always pay attention to your undertone. When you wear the wrong shades for your undertone your skin can look sallow, while the right shade will give you a natural glow.

3. I always tightline when I do a smokey eye or with any type of dramatic lining. For the makeup newbies, tightlining refers to lining your waterline with a black khol pencil. If you skip this step, the eyes will look unfinished compared to the dramatic/smokey makeup you have going on. My signature product is MAC Feline which is soft and super dark.

4. I use a matte highlighter on my browbones perhaps 95% of the time. I'm not a fan of how shimmer highlights photograph. The only exception is when I wear all matte shades on my lid. My product of choice is MAC Blanc Type e/s.

5. When in doubt, I wear shades that bring out my eye colour. I find the eyes to be most ppl's best features so I focus on them. For my hazel eyes, I like to use shades of plum and burgundy or any warm toned purple.

6. I always set any liquid foundation with translucent powder. Even the best quality foundations last longer with powder. I don't like to use coloured powdered though as I find it makes skin look cakey and I don't dig that on me. My holly grail setting powder is Ben Nye Translucent Powder.

7. When I'm applying my foundation, I always sweep what ever is left over on the brush on my lips as well. I have very pigmented pink lips and this will help erase them a bit to show my lipstick colour better.

8. I love pigmented lip glosses and always were them with a complimentary lip liner. Use the lip liner to line and fill your lips and then apply the gloss on top. This will prevent the liner from bleeding and give it a polished look.

Hope you guys find these helpful. Please add your own application tricks and tips to the comments.