FOUNDATION: Whether you have a dry, normal, oily or a combination skin there is a foundation for all type of skin. For dry skin, you get creamy liquid foundations, these contain extra moisturizers to help prevent further dryness of the skin. Normal skin will do either with liquid or creamy foundation. For oily skin, use non-greasy cake foundation and on combination skin use a foundation for normal or oily skin. If the latter is chosen, put a little extra moisturizer over the cheeks before applying the foundation. Apply the foundation on a spotlessly clean and a lightly moisturized skin. Select a foundation which is color of your skin or a shade darker than it. Apply a little foundation to your forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, front and nape of the neck and ears. Blend thoroughly with upward outward strokes over the entire face, under the jaw line, back to the ears, over and around the eyelids and the mouth. Cover all the areas of the face and the neck. A few extra seconds of blending and rubbing will · give the desired even finish to the face. The keynote of applying the foundation is to achieve smoothness and transparency so that you skin looks beautiful, vibrant and natural both in the day light and artificial light.
POWDER: Powders have two uses – one to set the make up for a Long-lasting matte finish and two, to absorb and shine that appears during the day. Loose powders are best for setting makeup. Use a large clean puff or a clean ball of cotton-wool. Dip it in the powder and lightly pat and press all over the face. Do not rub or slide, this will only disturb your smoothly applied foundation . Flick off surplus powder with a soft brush. Use a color that matches your foundation or one that is colorless like baby powder. Powder should be applied before applying the rouge.
ROUGE : Choose your rouge in a matching shade to your lipstick. But if you cannot get the same shade you can use the lipstick itself as a rouge. Rouge adds sparkle to your eyes and puts a glow in your cheeks. Blend a little rouge between your fingers, smile, then place three dots in the mound of your smile. Blend it along the natural curve of your cheekbone inwards towards the nose in a line with the pupil of the eye, as you look straight ahead. The outer portion should be smoothed out and up till it fades towards a point where it almost touches the corners of the lower eyelids. All edges should be blended with fingertips into a fade away effect with the foundation color. You should always use rouge sparingly. It is better to go without rouge, than to use it indiscriminately and appear like a clown.
EYE MAKEUP: Your eyes can be made to look attractive providing you know how to make them so thereby enhancing your charm further. The first step towards eye beauty is to have well-shaped brows. Keep your eye brows in shape by plucking out stray hairs. The only way to tame an out of balance and an uneven brow line is to tweeze or thread the unruly hair. Removing eyebrows by tweezing or threading is the best known method. Take the sting out of the operation by dabbing the eye-brows with a piece of cotton wool dipped either in eau-de-cologne or astringent lotion. Then, take your tweezers and holding the surrounding skin taut grip the hair close to the roots and give a sharp tug in the direction the hair grow. Always pluck the hairs from underneath the natural brow line and never from above.
Hairs over the bridge of the nose are never a pretty sight, therefore always pluck them out from between the eyes. Remember that the most beautiful eyes are so spaced so that in the distance between them another eye can be placed. To prevent the skin from bulging after plucking wrap an ice cube in a piece of cloth and gently massage the area. Plucking should be done every alternative day for a consistent well groomed look. However if the hair are too small to come in the grip of the tweezers, camouflage the green color by applying a little foundation over the area and blending it well into the skin. Bleaching also helps in camouflaging.
An eyebrow pencil is necessary to fill in the sparse areas. Darken the color of the eyebrows if too light and to recreate missing eyebrows. The general color rule for eyebrow pencil is black, as black brows predominate among women in India. Sharpen the pencil by making a flat chisel-shaped point. Begin reshaping at the nose end of the brow, to a point beyond the outer corner of the eye. Make every effort to follow the original curve of the brow and never extend the brow too far beyond the outer corner of the eye. The eyebrows should be refashioned by a series of fine lines but never drawn in a solid line. The pencil must be used to tint the actual hair of the brow and not the flesh in between. A well-shaped dark brow on the other hand, may require no penciling, whatsoever just a net brushing with little cold cream or vase-line.
EYE SHADOW : Eye shadow gives an enchanting touch of depth and mystery to the eyes. It is often more dramatic and effective when it harmonizes with the color of your dress. For day, choose a subtle light shade and for evenings when artificial lights soften and tend to drain color from the face wear heavier shades. Before applying eye shadow, use foundation over the eyelids because it makes a good base for the eye shadow. Eye shadow should be only blended in the upper eyelids. Close one eye and place a small amount of color close to and almost touching the upper eyelashes from inner to outer corner of the eyes. It should then be blended with your index finger or brushed upwards into a fade away effect below the eyebrows. It should be darkest near the lid. Two shades can also be used – one next nearest to the lashes should be of a deeper shade then the one used on the rest of the lid. The use of a deeper shade close to the lashes gives the eyes extra glamour.
EYE LINER: A soft line drawn next to the upper "lash line" with the eyeliner makes the eyes look larger and brighter. Liquid eyeliner applied with a fine brush produces wonderful results. To line upper eyelid, after the eye shadow is blended to a correct position, dip the brush in color, hold outer corner of the eyelid taut and draw a fine as close to the lashes as possible, beginning at the inner corner of the eye and finishing just at the outer with a slight upward turn. To line the lower lid, with the index finger, hold lower lid down and away from the eye and draw a faint line starting at the inner corner of the eye at a point corresponding with the upper line and continue along the lower eyelid to just beyond the outer corner slanting slightly upwards as before. Blend the lower line carefully, making sure no flesh is visible between the line and the lashes.
MASCARA: It is a must for the starry eyed look because it makes the lashes appear longer and thicker. First brush the lashes downwards over upper eyelids. Mascara goes on better under a fan. The lashes do not gum together due to air. Apply mascara with a clean brush. Choose either automatic roll-on or liquid mascara. Use the one you find easiest. Cover the brush with a light coating of mascara and stroke it on the lashes working from the base to the tip. The lower lashes should be just tinted with color. If your mascara smudges the while applying it on the lower lashes, slip a piece of paper underneath before you paint them. When the first coat is dry, apply a second one. Finally, go over the lashes with a dry brush to separate them and to remove excessive mascara. Use a cotton bud dipped in hot water to remove any smudges left by the mascara. If properly applied, the lashes should be a series of individual hair, not one solid mass. For day time, only one coat of mascara should be used and for the night two. For the stunning glamour girl look after the mascara is completely dry take a little gold or silver eye shadow on the fingertip and stroke the ends of the upper lashes from below, this is very effective for the late night parties.
If your eyelashes are thin or spare you can try false eyelashes. First, put on eyeliner and mascara on your own lashes to curve them, then remove eyelashes from their case. If they are too wide for your eyes trim them at outer ends. Then pierce the neck-of adhesive tube with the pin provided. Holding lash firmly at centre point with tweezers, apply thin line of lash adhesive along the root strip of the lashes. Looking down into the band mirror, apply the lash as closely as possible to natural lash line and centrally on the eyelid. Loosen grip with tweezers and use tweezers to place inner and outer corner of lash in position. Draw a thin eye line over base of lashes with eyeliner to hide lash base. To remove false lashes simply peel lash base from eyelids starting from the inner end. Women who wear glasses can also make the most of eye makeup. Rather then mask out the eyes glasses draw attention to them so you can do with a minimum use of eye makeup. Use eye shadow because it flatters the eyes behind the lens and helps absorb the glare. Use an exotic shade in the evenings to give your eyes an extra impact. Use mascara in moderation on the upper lid, but there should be just a suspicion of it on the lower lid.
LIPSTICK: To apply lipstick properly for the mouth to appear beautiful, you must learn to use the lip brush effectively. You cannot shape the mouth without it. The color of your lipstick should complement your complexion and harmonize with the color of your clothes. Brown, yellow and emerald green colors look nice with a red lipstick. Pastel color look becoming with soft shades like pink, whereas whites and blacks call for bright and dashing colors like different shades of orange. Every fashion conscious woman should keep at least 3 shades which could go with all her dresses. You can also mix and match them to go with every color scheme. Extremely dark shades adds years to the face therefore never, never invest in a very dark shade. A medium shade makes the face appear young and attractive.
Wear pastel shades of lipstick in the mornings and for the evenings use deeper shades to minimize the effects of electric lights. Before applying lipstick, apply foundation cream to your lips because this makes a good base for your lipstick and at the same time it blots out the natural lip line so that you can outline a prettier shape with your brush. Fill the brush with plenty of color. Steady the hand by placing the elbow on a firm surface.
Fashion the upper lips first with the lips slightly apart. Start from the outer corner following the natural curve of the lip and work towards the centre. Let the tip of the brush draw the line on the upper lip. Use the side of tile brush on the lower lip, working atone half of the lip at a time.
When the outline is dearly established, fill it generously with color. Give them a dewy look with a touch of cold cream or vase line. Lipstick can be effectively used as a bindi also. Lf you have a wide forehead then use a big round bindi but on a small forehead use a very tiny bindi. A big bindi will dwarf the size of your forehead. You can also make different designed bindis on your forehead with the help of the lipstick brush.
Besides the same colored bindi as the lipstick will make your face look very elegant, smart and attractive. You can also change the shape of your lips with the help of the lipstick.
Thick lips : They can be made to look thinner by painting them within the natural lip line and covering the remaining area with foundation cream.
Thin lips : If the lips are too thin, the upper lips can be extended a little above the natural lip-line, but care must be taken to see that the ,extended portion follows the natural curve of the lips. The lower lip should be full and well-shaped by extending the Lip line a little below the natural lip-line of the lower lip.
Drooping lips : To perfect drooping lips, straighten curves with fuller lines to the corners.
Dry lips : Apply a little colorless lip salve or cold cream or vase-line before applying lipstick. These will help to soften and brightenthe lips.
Top lip too thin : Add fullness by drawing a new line outside the top lip, making it the same depth as lower lip.
Top lip protrudes over narrow lower lip : Emphasize the lower lip. Widen and lengthen it slightly, fill in the drooping curves of top lip, then fill in the shape.
Chapped lips : Before applying lipstick use a soft piece of to welling material for removing rough bits of chapped skin, then rub a little cold cream or vase-line on them before applying lipstick. Always use a lip-gloss on chapped and dry lips to keep hem soft.
PERFUME: Perfume should be used as a finishing touch to good grooming. A dainty perfume helps a woman to create an aura of loveliness and to appear alluring and attractive always. Therefore, form a habit of using it during the day as well as the evenings so that it becomes a part of your personality. From the wide range of light, flowery and heavy perfumes available in the market, select the one which is most suitable to you. When selecting, do not jut sniff at the bottle, rub a little on your wrist, wait a few minutes till the alcoholic contents evaporate, then let your nose be the judge. Do not buy a perfume because it smells good on a friend, because its reaction depends mainly on the chemistry of your skin.
Once you have bought the right perfume use it to the best of advantage. Use it on the throat, ear lobes, behind the ears, wrists, nape of the neck, temples, inside the bends of the elbows and chest. Perfume applied on these pulse spots stays alive because of the warmth of the skin at these places; the body heat releases the fragrance and you will give out a perfume wonderfully feminine. A clear and economical use of perfume is to cut a piece of white flannel (perfume clings to this fabric longest) soak it in your perfume and tuck it in you bra, or at the waist where the warmth of the skin sends the fragrance out as you move. For the evenings when you want to be truly striking, perfume the palms of your hands also. Always carry a phial of your perfume in your bag. Thus, when you renew your makeup you can also renew your charm. Heed should be taken when applying perfume for it can stain clothing, therefore, always apply it to the skin but never directly on your clothes. On an oily skin, perfume clings longer so use it sparingly, but if your skin is on the dry side, add an extra dash for good measure. Finally, never make the mistake of applying perfume just before leaving your house. The scent will vanish quickly in open air. Apply at least 20 minutes in advance to give it time to set. If you cannot afford to include expensive perfume in your wardrobe, then use a good cologne. This must be used more lavishly to give you a delicate lingering fragrance and garden fresh feeling.
