Last week I wrote a post about beauty, make-up and transformation in collaboration with the #bewareofangels campaign for the release of Thierry Mugler’s new Angel fragrance and in that post I made a statement that may have surprised some people: As much as I love makeup (and can’t deny it, it’s a well-documented fact
on this blog) I find that if anything, makeup detracts from natural
beauty.
I realize that comment might surprise people (it surprised my mom!) so I wanted to follow up on that thought. This is actually something that I’ve had a desire to talk about for awhile. I love make-up, you all know that I do, I talk about it often. But I don’t think that make-up equals beauty. I think that your natural self is beautiful; I think that beauty comes from within. I do think that if make-up is going to change someone’s appearance, it’s going to detract from their natural beauty.
That being said, I also think that make-up can be used to enhance features, so today I thought I’d talk about a few different ways to do so.
FOUNDATION OR CONCEALER TO EVEN OUT SKIN TONE
I have redness in my cheeks. Sometimes it looks like a nice flush, but other times it looks like a stop sign… or close to it, anyway! I like to even out my skin tone to camouflage some of that–especially when the redness is more intense. If the redness isn’t too bad, I reach for a BB cream or concealer… something light, because I don’t want the heaviness of a foundation. But if the redness is really bad, I turn to a foundation. If you have a foundation on hand and want something lighter, but don’t want to invest in a BB cream or tinted moisturizer, mix your foundation with some of your moisturizer. {The foundation that I’ve been using for awhile is the MAC Matchmaster foundation. My favorite BB Creams are the Benefit Bigger Than BB and the Dr. Jart + Black Label BB cream. However, foundations/BB creams/tinted moisturizers work differently on different people, due to skin types, etc. If you’re unsure of what to use, visit some beauty counters and/or Sephora and Ulta and ask for samples.}
DEFINE THE EYES WITH EYELINER, MASCARA & EYE SHADOW
I feel like one trait that people always say they like about themselves is their eyes. I do, so I have always liked to make them pop! One way to do this is to provide some definition with mascara and eyeliner, to draw them out a bit. To make the color of your eyes more vibrant, use a colored eyeliner. To add some more definition, contour your eyes with eye shadow. Find a shade that’s slightly darker than your skin tone to blend into the crease. If you want to bring out the color of your eyes, use a colored eye shadow. There are guides about which colors to use for different eye colors, but my suggestion is to play around and find out what you like. I’ve found that I really like using green’s and grey’s to bring out the green in my eyes and blue’s will make my eyes appear turquoise. Perfect for mermaid looks! {My favorite eyeliners are the Urban Decay 24/7 pencils. The Rimmel Scandal Eyes are a great drugstore alternative. The eye shadow that works best for my skin tone is MAC’s Wedge.}
USE WHITE OR NUDE EYE LINER TO BRIGHTEN TIRED EYES
How many times has someone told you, “You look tired!”? I always hate hearing that. Not only do I already know I’m tired, but I always wonder how bad I look when people comment on it. I’ve also heard that when I’m not tired and have always wondered, “Eh?” To brighten your eyes and camouflage the redness when tired, line your waterline with a white or nude eyeliner. A little bit of white liner will even make your eyes look bigger! I tend to gravitate towards nude liner, though, as it’s less harsh than white.
CONTOUR & HIGHLIGHT TO GIVE YOUR FACE MORE DEFINITION
You can contour and highlight to slightly change the shape of your face. Do you want to define your cheekbones or make your nose appear smaller. Find a contour shade that’s a little bit darker than your skin tone {for me, it’s MAC Harmony Blush}. Pucker up like a fish and blend the product into the hollows of your cheek and use a smaller eye shadow blending brush to contour the sides and tip of your nose. Using highlighter on your cheekbones will make them pop {my favorite is MAC’s Hush Cream Blush}. I’ve found that for extra definition, it’s best to use a cream product. For contouring, a shade one or two darker than yours will do wonders, as will a shade one or two lighter than yours for a highlight. {I like to use the em Cosmetics Chiaroscuro contour/highlight stick since it includes both products in one.}
BOLD LIPSTICKS CAN HELP PORTRAY YOUR MOOD
Of course, there are “rules” to what colors you can wear during which seasons, but you know how I feel about rules: they are made to be broken! Rules of the make-up/art/writing kind, of course. I think that a lipstick can enhance how you’re feeling by bringing out different moods. Reds always always make me feel glamorous, pinks playful, plums artsy, and I could go on, but I’ll stop here. {What moods do colored lipsticks bring out in you?}
Those are a few of my tips for using make-up to enhance your features (or mood). They’re not groundbreaking, by any means, but they’re things that I do on an almost daily basis.
What are some of your tips?
