Keep Makeup Natural on Graduation Day

The day you have waited for has finally come: Graduation Day! So you go through your checklist of cap, gown, sensible shoes, cap-friendly hairstyle and now you need to know what to do about your makeup. The answer is simple: keep your makeup natural looking.

Create a Flawless Face First

Since graduation day occurs during warm weather, you will not want to wear a heavy foundation. If you have oily skin, try a mineral powder foundation that has a matte finish like L'Oreal's Bare Naturale Powder Mineral Foundation. For normal or dry skin, opt for a medium to light coverage liquid foundation or tinted moisturizer.

What to Avoid: Stay away from cream foundations, as they can be a little too heavy. Mousse foundation, while light, can start out looking dewy and end up looking oily after sitting in the sun.

Frame Your Face

Since your graduation day makeup will be natural looking, there is little room for anything bold. Prominent brows frame the face and add a touch of subtle boldness to it. Use a brow mascara or brow powder to fill in your brows.

What to Avoid: Do not shave your brows and then create a new one with a brow pencil. This is tacky and unless you want to look like you are about to perform a cabaret or burlesque number, avoid this look like the plague.

A Neutral Eye Is Foolproof

Eyeshadow in neutral tones like earthy browns, taupe, gold and raisin (for deeper tones) work with every eye color. Apply a single coat of lengthening mascara, preferably a no-clump formula to make your eyes pop a bit. If you must wear eyeliner, choose soft black or brown eyeliner and apply a thin line to your lower lash line only.

What to Avoid: Liquid liners and lining your upper lash line are not natural looking; save these options for graduation night.

Apply a Natural Flush to Your Cheeks

For a natural look, blush is not needed. However, if you like having that light flush to your cheeks, choose a shade that matches the color your cheeks become when you blush. A cheek stain--when applied--lightly gives a natural-looking flush to the cheeks.

What to Avoid: Avoid reds or bright colors for your cheeks. Sorry, but not many people actually blush in a true red color. The object is natural, not doll-like.

Create a Flirty Pout

Your lips are where you have a little more leeway when it comes to color. You can opt for the neutral or earth tones to make your natural look uniform or try the 2011 trend of a matte coral. Try a long-lasting formula for your lip color like Revlon Colorstay Lipcolor.

What to Avoid: Avoid reds and shiny lip gloss. Save these for later that night.

These five graduation makeup tips will leave you looking lovely during commencement. Also, neutral tones look natural in the sunlight and in photos. Besides, do you really want to look back at those pictures 20 years from now seeing yourself wearing heavy eye makeup and blood-red lips?