If you apply makeup in stages, as makeup artists do, the result will be much better than if you apply it intuitively. I’ll explain what the steps are and how to do everything without mistakes.
Makeup usually consists of nine basic steps, the whole process will take 20-30 minutes – depending on experience. After a few practice sessions, things will go a lot faster.
Cleanse the face
Before applying makeup, you need to prepare your skin by cleansing and moisturizing. These steps take about 5-10 minutes. Cosmetologists recommend to start with them any makeup.
Washing foam, micellar water or milk for makeup removal should be used to clean the face and wash it with warm water, so the pores will open and clean.
In order to additionally clean the skin and get rid of keratinized particles, I recommend using a light facial scrub 1-2 times a week.
If your skin is red from the procedure, it means that you have overdone the cleansing and need to act more gently. If it looks dull – you do not cleanse well enough.
Moisturize the skin
Now you need a moisturizer, a serum or a mixture of nourishing oils – you can choose the product that you like and are comfortable to use. The product should be applied to the face and left for five minutes – it should be completely absorbed. At the same time you can prepare your lips – apply a colorless nourishing balm and leave until completely absorbed.
To understand whether the skin is moisturized enough, you need to quickly touch the face with the palm of your hand. If the skin for a fraction of a second seems to “stick” to your palm, it is sufficiently moisturized. If there is no fleeting “grip,” the skin is too dry and needs additional hydration.
Smooth your face tone
The skin in different parts of the face may differ in color and have redness. Dark circles sometimes appear under the eyes. In order for the makeup to be well applied to the skin, it is necessary to even out the complexion – this step takes about 2-5 minutes.
To even out the tone, there are several types of cosmetic products. The first is a primer, which is almost invisible. It makes the complexion even and the tone slightly lighter. There are matte primers and with reflective particles. The product slightly prolongs the makeup procedure, but it is effective for creating the perfect tone.
After the primer it is usual to apply a foundation, BB- or CC-cream, mineral cream or a loose mineral base – whatever is more preferable. I use mineral primer and mineral powder since I think that decorative cosmetics in the form of the smallest powder looks more natural and is easier to feel on the skin.
Apply the foundation from under the eyes circles and match your skin tone or a tone lighter. Don’t overdo it so it doesn’t look like you’re wearing sunglasses. You can use concealer for the skin around the eyes.
To choose the right foundation, you need to test the product in the store by swiping it in a strip from the middle of the cheek to the neck. Suitable product that will merge with the skin along the entire line.
Cover up skin imperfections
Dilated blood vessels, acne, or redness can be spot-checked with concealer. It is easy to apply with your fingers or with a special brush.
Concealers are available in different consistencies: liquid, powder and stick. Means vary in color. When choosing, you can be guided by your natural skin tone and to choose a concealer for it.
Another option is to choose concealers of opposite colors. They are good at masking problem areas. For example, acne red can be neutralized with a green concealer. Blue-purple shadows under the eyes conceal a yellowish product. If you need to improve your complexion, a purple concealer will do.
After concealer you need to carefully distribute the foundation all over the face from the hairline, including the neck. It is convenient to apply liquid foundation with a beauty blender – a soft sponge that also absorbs excess sebum.
Give your face relief, radiance and brightness
Now you can give your face relief and expressiveness, correct the shape. On average, it takes two to five minutes.
To make contouring, it is necessary to apply bronzer to those parts of cheekbones that you want to make invisible, and the sides of the nose. Even a foundation one or two shades darker than the skin will do. Apply it with your fingers or a foundation brush, trying to blend it into the skin and blend in without blemishes or streaks.
On the most illuminated parts of the face I suggest applying a little highlighter. It is the area above the cheekbones towards the eyes, the upper part of the bridge of the nose, the cleft over the upper lip and the browbones.
Blush is needed on the most prominent parts of the cheeks, the “apples”. To find them, just smile.
Design the eyebrows
Now it’s time to get your eyebrows done – they can change your whole face. If you’re handy, it doesn’t take more than 5-10 minutes. First you need to comb them lightly with an eyebrow brush, then fill in the gaps between the hairs with shadows, thin strokes of pencil or eyebrow pomade.
In the process you should preserve the natural hairline and the shape of the eyebrows. To fix the shape and color, I recommend using eyebrow gel.
Nowadays there are popular different means which allow making a temporary eyebrow tattoo – permanent make-up for two or three days. There are tints for the eyebrows in the gel base, which not only give color to the eyebrows, but also increase their volume. You can experiment and choose what looks best.
Make eye makeup
For eye makeup to last all day, I recommend using a special eye primer. If you don’t have one, you can use a light-colored concealer. It will prevent eye shadow from shattering or rolling in the creases of the eyelids.
Primer should be applied with a thin layer on the entire eyelid, leave it for a minute to soak in, and then apply shadow.
If there is little skill in handling shadows, it is better to apply one color from the height of the eyelash line to the crease of the eyelid. For a daytime or natural makeup, light shadows with a slight shimmer can be used from the lash line to the eyebrows. At the same time, they will hide the occasional hairs that you forgot to pluck. Use this shade in the corners of your eyes, too, to give them a moist sheen.
Those who have light skin with a cool undertones will suit cooler shades of light shadows. Those whose skin has a yellow or apricot undertone, you can try shades of champagne.
To visually highlight and enlarge the eyes, I recommend underlining the growth line of the upper eyelashes with eyeliner, liner, eye pencil or dark shadows.
Finally, you need to apply mascara – no more than two layers, so that the lashes look natural. To open the eyes and give them more expression, you can curl the lashes with special tongs. The whole process of creating daytime eye makeup usually takes no more than 5-10 minutes.
Lipstick
It takes a couple of minutes to put the right makeup on your lips. They are ready for makeup if you remember to apply a colorless balm first. It should be completely absorbed, so that the lipstick will be smoother and will not accentuate the flaking.
For permanent makeup you should take a lip pencil and completely cover the surface from the center of the lips to the edges. After that, you can apply your favorite lipstick or colored lip gloss.
Fix your makeup
Now I recommend to look at yourself in the mirror and assess the result: make sure that the shadows have not fallen off, all the irregularities on the skin are hidden, the mascara is not imprinted on the upper eyelid. If something needs to be corrected, it can easily be done with a cotton swab soaked in makeup remover.
To fix the result, you can spray a spray-fixer from a distance of 20-30 cm from the face. Four to five strokes is enough.
Fixing sprays make makeup more permanent, they additionally moisturize, nourish and protect the skin from harmful influences. In addition to special products, thermal water and hydrolates – sprays with useful extracts of flowers and plants – cope well with this function.
