Basic Beauty and Makeup Tips

Use primer to even out skin tone, hide discolorations and smooth out pores. Apply over entire face with a makeup sponge and then blend it in.

Concealer is thicker than primer and it is used to cover trouble spots, blemishes, red areas and dark circles. Use your ring finger to apply concealer. Lightly pat the concealer to blend at the edges. You don't need a lot because a little goes a long way.

• Yellow primer is great for black or blue undertones such as the ones under your eyes. Mint helps tone down the appearance of red skin. Mauve helps warm up yellow undertones. Natural primer is for all skin tones and it helps smooth over pores and fine lines for a flawless look.

• Dark concealers can also be used for contouring.

- Pat along either side of the bridge of the nose to help narrow the look of the nose.

- Brush under the cheekbones to make cheeks look more angular.

• When you choose your concealer color, you need to pick one that matches your skin tone or one that is a tint lighter. It will help to use a mirror in the outdoor light to see how colors look on your skin in natural light.

Foundation and Powder:

Choosing the right color is the most important step with foundation. You need to pick one that matches the exact color of your jawline.

Dot foundation on your forehead, cheeks, and chin using a foundation brush, clean fingertip, or sponge and blend all the way to your hairline with light, long strokes. You need to continue blending over the jawline and onto your neck to achieve a natural, seamless look. Check your face and neck in a natural light to make sure that the foundation is blended in all areas. The foundation should disappear into your skin.

To give your face a silky, natural finish, follow with a light, even dusting of loose powder. You should dip your powder brush, or puff in loose powder, shake or knock off the excess to avoid uneven distribution. Apply powder over entire face and neck.

To help maintain a flawless finish throughout the day, apply pressed powder as needed using a sponge or clean powder brush.

• If you're over the age of 30 you should avoid powdering under the eyes because it can emphasize fine lines and wrinkles. Use powder on your T-zone area only.

• For the best color match, pick a powder that is a little lighter than your foundation.

• If you can see the powder, you have used too much or need to blend better.

Cheeks:

Blush can be used in a variety of ways to enhance your cheek area. An effective way to use blush is for contouring. Contouring is easy to do and can be used by women that has round faces who wish to create the illusion of a longer, thinner face.

You should start by selecting a blush or bronzer that is one or two shades darker than your skin tone. Envision an oval shape over your face.

Use a powder brush and begin just below your cheekbone, lightly sweep the darker shade around the outside of the oval, continue down along the jawline. Be sure to combine well for a natural look.

Now you want to apply your blush. The blush should be a tint that complements your skin color and looks as if it comes from under your skin's surface. Apply the blush starting on the apple of your cheek, in line with the center of your eye. Sweep it up toward the hairline, and then blend it in to remove lines.

• You should apply blush while smiling to focus on the apples of your cheeks.

• You can highlight your cheekbone by applying a lighter color of blush above the cheek between the apple and the eye.

• Blend for a natural look.

• Use bronzer instead of a blush to create a sun-kissed look.

Lips:

The skin on your lips is thinner, allowing the blood vessels to be visible and it has no oil glands. So you need to keep your lips moisturized, defined and beautiful with these simple techniques.

For moist supple lips you should exfoliate and then apply a lip balm. Next, apply a lip primer to fill in lines and give your color staying power.

Begin adding color with a lip liner. Lip-shaping pencils keep color from smearing and emphasize lip shape.

Then you will apply your lip color. Go slightly darker or use the same color as your lip shaping pencil. You should never be able to see your liner.

The final step is to add a little extra shine by finishing with lip gloss. Coat your entire lip or add a little bit in the middle of your bottom lip for a fuller look. Lip glosses can be worn alone, giving a sheer result, or may be worn over lip color to create a dazzling custom color.

• Primer treats dry lips, fills tiny lines and helps maintain lip color and prevent smearing. You should make it part of your daily routine.

• Lips thin as we age. Take years off of your look by using your lip liner to create a fuller lip line.

• Some women naturally have uneven amounts of color in their lips. To neutralize normal lip color, dot foundation on your lips, blot, then add lip liner and lip color as usual.

Brows:

Brows that are well shaped can provide a face lift and enhance your look dramatically. As we get older, our eyebrow color fades and our brow hair thins.

Brush brows upward. Trim excess hair above the top of your natural arch.

Look at the shape of your brow. Your brow should begin at your inner eye, peak at the outer edge of your iris and then fall in a straight line from the peak. Remove any hair outside of your desired shape.

Choose a brow-shaping pencil or a powder eye shadow that is similar your brow color. It should be a little lighter than your natural color. Use gentle, feathery strokes to fill in and define the brow, don't draw a continuous line. Blend with a stiff brow brush to make sure brows look natural and are shaped to flatter your eyes. Lastly, set the shape of your brows by using a brow brush or brow-setting product.

• You should never try to change the shape of your natural brow arch with tweezing. Instead, you should follow your natural arch and enhance it by plucking stray hairs.

• Groom brows after a shower when skin is softer and pores are open. Or you can place a warm wash cloth over your brows for five to ten minutes before tweezing.

• You should always use natural light when tweezing your brows.

Shadow:

Eyes are the focal point of the face so shadow techniques should suit the shape and color of your eyes. Start by patting shadow control crème over the entire lid to help prevent creasing and streaking throughout the day.

When you apply eye shadow, create a base by sweeping a light color that matches your skin tone over the entire area from the lash line to the brow bone.

Then use an angled brush to define the crease of your eyelid with a medium or dark eye shadow. To open up your eyes place a dot of a lighter shade in the inner corner of each eye and blend. Finally highlight just under the eyebrow to lift they eye.

• Apply a light layer of powder under your eyes before applying eye shadow so that if color falls under the eyes when applying you can easily whisk it away.

• When using more than one color use less at first and increase layer by layer until you reach the color that you want.

• Blend well. Avoid perfect lines between eye shadow hues by blending one hue flawlessly into the next.

Eye Liner:

You can use a pencil/liquid eye liner or eye shadow with an angled liner brush to line the eyes.

Lining under the eye will give the illusion of wider, larger eyes and makes the lashes appear thicker. Apply the liner on the lash line from end to end and gently blend with an angled liner brush for a natural look.

Lining the upper eye lid creates the illusion of fuller lashes. Draw a smooth line along the top lashes. Make sure the liner touches the lashes with no gaps.

• You should avoid upper liner on hooded eyes.

• Take your liner all the way from end to end.

• You should keep it thin. You can always add more if you need it.

Mascara:

Complete your eye color application by coating and extending your lashes.

Start at the base of the upper lashes, wiggle the brush back and forth to separate the lashes, and then pull the mascara brush up and outward toward the hairline.

For a fuller look continue brushing your eye lashes with the wand to shape and fan your lashes.

Brush lower lashes back and forth with the mascara wand.

• To open the eye and make them look bigger use an eyelash curler before applying mascara. You should never use the curler after applying mascara because your wet lashes will stick to the curler.

• Don't forget lashes in the outer corners of your eye since they frame the sides of your eyes and add fullness.

• You should avoid pumping the wand up and down in the tube because it will allow air to get inside and dry out your mascara. Instead, turn the wand inside of the tube.

• To create fuller lashes use a lash primer before applying mascara.