Little Beauty Tricks

Today’s beauty tricks deal with makeup. We all love to wear it, whether it’s subtle or quite heavy, we all wear makeup. I on the other hand, actually never wore that much make up until my sister introduced me to this wonderful world. I wear makeup: A) To just feel good about myself, B) Because it’s fun, C) Because I am a girl and I can, D) The list could go on and on and on…

In this article, I would like to highlight a few beauty tricks that will leave you looking and feeling fabulous!

Trick No. 1: Wear the right shade of foundation, powder and/or concealor. On many occasions, you’ll find a lady wearing makeup that is much lighter than her complexion. That is a no-go zone. A lot of cosmetic companies have different shades that suite any/all skin tones so there is no excuse. One trick I use: I take a picture of myself to see if the makeup I am wearing suites my skin tone. If I look ashy or flashed, that is definitely a no go zone. So get the right tone and stop looking flashed or ashy in your pictures.

Trick No. 2: When buying foundation, powder or concealor, do not test it on the back of your hand. If you’re like me, your hand is probably much lighter than your face or vice versa. You shall end up with a lighter tone and then we’re back to square one – the ashy or flashed face. Just test it on your face! You can wipe it off later.

Trick No. 3: Do not use dirty sponges or brushes to apply makeup. These carry bacteria. We all fall victim to this but wash or change your sponge regularly in order to avoid a buildup of bacteria on your skin. These in turn cause blemishes and/or pimples. This brings me to point no. 4.

Trick No.4: Stop sharing or “begging” for people’s powder. Nothing is more disturbing than this. Of course, if you’re siblings or really good friends AND OF THE SAME TONE, that is fine. But stop asking random girls in the bathroom for their makeup. You are probably not the same tone and how sure are you or is she that you are clean? And this takes me to point no. 5.

Trick No. 5: Use a brush to apply powder and/or foundation. First of all, there are different brushes for all sorts of makeup. So ask for the right brush. A brush is cleaner than a sponge and let’s your pores breathe when you use it to apply powder. It also lets your powder breathe (if you are using a compact powder) so your powder doesn’t get those hard lumps over time. In my opinion however, this brush makes my powder get done faster so I stick to the sponge. I also use my hands to apply my foundation and concealor. This is ok if you know how to, and keep clean.

Trick No. 6: Wash your hands before applying makeup, and after. Period.

Trick No. 7: Cleanse, tone and moisturize your skin for more natural looking  make up. And of course, for better skin.

Trick No. 8: Do not sleep with makeup on. Try your hardest not to do this for so many plain and simple reasons. However, the most important reason that I go by: the makeup you sleep with damages the skin cells on your face and may make you appear OLDER! This is especially true if you wear foundation. It is ok and normal to forget every now and then but not all the time.

Trick No. 9: Last but not least, the eyebrows! I am a victim of this but I am too “afraid” (for lack of a better word) to grow my eyebrows. In my opinion, we commit so many eyebrow felonies; it’s the most misused and worst done area on our face. Shaping your eyebrows should be done to subtly draw attention to your eyes and the rest of your face. Now this business of just having a little line drawn; or having a brown or different color eyebrow (yet your hair is jet black); or having your eyebrow extend until it touches the corner of your eye; ... has got to stop. When shaping your eyebrows, ask the person doing it to just shape them. Please leave hair on them. Do not completely remove them! I know people with naturally thin or close-to-hairless eyebrows: you can still shape these and then PROPERLY fill them in with either one of these: brow pencil, brow powder, brow gel or brow pens. Always add color subtly and keep adding if need be. Please, get a color that is the same as your hair color.

Start your work week looking and feeling amazing! 

Perfectly sized and well shaped eyebrows