Makeup Tips

today's makeup was done using the exact same products as in this post, with one exception. i used nyx's butter gloss in the shade "devil's food cake" instead of the moxie on my lips. also, i did less coats on the mascara, and eyebrows because i prefer to do a softer eye when using a bold lip color.

Makeup Tips:

when asked about extremely trendy things that might not stay in style for long, such as coral/orange lips, deep eggplant vampy lips (like my pictures above), super dark thick eyebrows, extreme highlighting and contouring, etc. i would suggest that you try out those colors/products in a cheaper line first until you find that you either one: LOOOVEEE it for more than just one day, or two: it stays in style long enough to have used the product up. this way you are not investing (yes, i said investing, because i believe skin care and make up are truly an investment) in trendy things that you will only find in the bottom of your bag a few years down the road and be sad about the 30+ dollars you spent on something you didn't end up using.

makeup with freckles/age spots: this is one of my most common questions by my clients. i think they feel comfortable asking me because i am covered from head to toe with freckles. (thanks mom.) i always suggest to pick a foundation that matches the lighter color of the freckles, or, the color of their neck if they only have freckles across their cheeks. i also suggest to use a medium coverage foundation that contains spf. i find that when trying sooo hard to make your freckles go away while using a full coverage foundation, you just cause other problems like your face looking cakey or your pores appearing huge. yet, with a light coverage your freckles peek through just enough to make your skin look uneven. i like medium coverage with my freckles because if you look close enough you can still see my skin and freckles underneath, yet that's only when looking very close, so, the average person doesn't know i have freckles and my skin looks smooth and has an even tone. also, highlighting and contouring adds some dimension and a variation of color to your cheeks, so that also helps because where people would usually notice freckles before if you only had foundation on, after contouring there is something more to look at and trick the eye when looking at your cheeks that a small freckle/dark spot usually takes a back seat to what a person sees. lastly: apply foundation with a brush, if you use your fingers you will be able to see streaks on top of your darkest and largest freckles/dark spots. using a brush will help eliminate this. i prefer using powdered foundation for this very reason, it is the only product that has left me 100% without streaks.

finally, do your makeup in great lighting. i put all my makeup in this ikea cart so that i can move it from window to window while i do my makeup. if i do my makeup in the morning, i know which window to do it by, if i am doing it in the evening, then i'm in a different place. makeup bags work well for this also, but, i have quite a few products that wouldn't all fit inside one bag. also, once your makeup is done, check it out in different lighting situations. for example my bathroom is very poorly lit and so i will check it in there, make sure i don't look terrible, also in the car, where you are encircled by natural light, checking your makeup in these different lighting situations will help you feel more confident about your makeup wherever you go through out the day.