Makeup tips from the Pros - Makeup Artists

[kissmesweet]

For the first one, I always thought doing the face first was better. Then you can apply foundation around the eyes easily at the same time. Seeing someone doing it the other way actually bugs me. One advantage might be that, you may end up applying less foundation if you can see how 'distracting' the eyes are. I'm sure it's up to personal preference, but I think most professionals do foundation first.

Thanks! That sounds great.

 

[Ianastar]

I agree with most of what was already mentioned.

I think its all about personal preferences really, and doing what looks best for the person you are working on.

Alot of the "rules" that you hear about or so old. I hate the whole....blue eyes should only wear these colors etc.

to me...if it looks good....it looks good.

I know alot of makeup artists start with the eyes first, as mentioned....that way you can clean up any shadow that falls under the eyes etc.

I tend to do more natural, classic makeup styles, so its easier for me to start with the complexion.

I dont do shadowing or contouring really either, unless for a shoot or something like that. You just dont really need to do that for a everday look.

I dont use a shadow base/primer all the time either. It works great for people that have some discoloration on the eyes, or have trouble with shadows staying on. I prefer to use an actual primer/base that is made for that because they tend to be a bit lighter in texture than a concealer. But in a pinch an actual concealer will work as well.

 

[Alejandro]

When I had my makeup done by a professional, she used a gray blush under my cheekbones, and now I am taught to use a chocolate concealer. Have youi used either one? which is better?

Well I do sometimes want to look like dracula so I use a bit of a greyish beige blush on my cheeks to give it a more genuine look. I wear Strada from MAC which is a pro color now.

 

[Kate_Moore]

Wooooow, just discovered this thread!! I'm learning lots of things reading all this!!

 

[Moriah]

what's a good book I can learn makeup how to's from?

 

[yellowetpink]

Vogue make up book is good! Learnt a lot from it!
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vogue-Make-up-Juliet-Cohen/dp/1844425762

 

[cosmogrl5]

Here are some tips from Carmindy of "What Not To Wear" fame. I love her, and she is so pretty.

Instead of looking for what to correct, we must focus on our best features. Women are always asking me questions like,"Carmindy, how do I make my lips look larger?" Meanwhile that woman has the most beautiful brown eyes that I have ever seen. She doesn't even think about them because she is obsessed with making her lips look huge. What a shame!

When it comes to makeup, I believe in using the right products in the right places to enhance natural beauty. I apply makeup like watercolor painting, using sheer washes of color, allowing the skin to show and a woman’s special loveliness to shine through.

I believe looking good starts and ends with feeling positive. I encourage you to drop the “flaw-focus” and find what is wonderful about your one-of-a-kind face. Embrace it. Celebrate it.

And work it!

Prep the skin for makeup
Before your beauty artistry begins, you must prepare your canvas.
Start off with a daily cleansing and moisturizing ritual to face the day fresh and protected. You’ll find moisturizers with sunscreens built in. Also, SPF-loaded foundations and tints are real timesavers.
Make sure your brows look well groomed. Check them in natural light near a window and pluck away any strays.
If you tend to be really oily it’s smart to apply a product that controls oil like a mattifying lotion.

The brows make the face
Nothing frames the eyes better than perfectly groomed brows. They really can make or break the face. Let’s cease with the eyebrow butchering already. Over-plucking has to stop; this isn’t the 1920's. Achieving great brows is simple; just follow the technique below. My most important tip? Put the tweezers down.

1. Brows should be natural-flowing arches that look uniform and not "little squares with tails." Begin plucking the brow from the inside, close to the inside arch of the nose. Draw an imaginary line from the tear duct up to the brow; that’s where a brow should begin. Anything in front of that imaginary line must be plucked.
2. To find the arch, find the center of the pupil and draw an imaginary line a bit diagonally up. That’s where it should arch.
3. Use the imaginary line to follow diagonally up from the outside corner of the eye. That’s where the brow should end.
4. With an old toothbrush or an eyebrow brush, brush the hairs straight up. If any hairs don't naturally fall back into place, cut them with a small pair of mustache scissors.
5. Look for stray hairs around the brow–on top and underneath– and pluck them away.
6. Check for any sparse areas and fill them in with a brow corrector. You can use a pencil, liquid, powder or whatever you feel comfortable with, but remember that the color you choose should be a bit lighter than your hair color. And less is more, so don't go overboard or you will look like Groucho Marx.
7. To keep the brow in place you can use clear mascara, a bit of hairspray or gel on a brow brush or old toothbrush, or a brow gel.

Lips tips

1. Achieve that perfect lip line–After applying your lipstick, put a bit of foundation on a concealer brush and follow around your lip line, erasing any smudges. Voila: a perfect pout.
2. When to use lip stains–Only use lip stains when your lips are perfectly smooth and you don't have lines around the mouth. To get smooth lips, buff lips with a toothbrush dipped in a little water and sugar. Never rub too hard and always follow with a light balm before the stain.
3. Gloss without the goop–Apply a great lipstick and then dab a bit of gloss only on the inside of the fleshy part of the lower lip. All the shine, none of the mess.
4. For high drama–After applying lipstick or gloss, put a touch of white sheer shimmer powder on the dip of the upper lip and right below the lower lip. Great for evening looks.
5. Wearing red–To get that perfect red lip, lightly apply a pale flesh colored lip liner. Then rub a red lip stain on the lips. Follow with a moisturizing red lipstick. Dry formulas look cakey; super glossy ones slip right off. Avoid red lip-gloss as it gets messy fast.
6. Small lips–Avoid wearing dark colors; they make lips look smaller. Do not draw on a big lip with lip liner. Instead choose light or bright shades of lipstick or gloss with shimmer that catches the light for a magnifying effect.
7. Big lips–Stay away from glossing the whole lip. Apply a little in the center on top and bottom, and then blend with your fingertip across the lips for shine that doesn’t overpower your face.
8. Whiter teeth–Brush teeth with a little baking soda. Then choose lip colors in cool tones for an icy-white smile.
9. Liner disasters–Never choose a lip liner darker than your lipstick. If you like to use liner on the whole lip, use a balm first to avoid chunky, uneven, dry color.
10. Bleeding lipstick–Line the lips with a pale flesh colored lip liner then fill with a moisture-rich lipstick with staying power. Avoid glosses as they tend to run.

All about eyes

Bring out your soulful beauty by enhancing your eyes. Whether your eyes are big, small, round, narrow, or deep set, all eyes will be on you when you give them a touch of glamour. Doing up the eyes is a great place to play with makeup, so have fun!

1. Always apply a highlight shade under the eyebrow and in the tear duct area. This creates at an open, bright-eyed look. Younger women can choose shadows or creams with shimmer; older women should stick with sheer, matte colors like vanilla. Highlight shades include: light pink, white, vanilla, gold, iridescent, and champagne.
2. For a natural day look, you can stop with Step 1. For a little more definition, apply an eye shadow shade across the lid and a slightly darker one in the crease. Blend well; no ‘stripes.’
3. Apply a dark liner to the lash line of the eyes. You can use a pencil, shadow, or liquid depending your desired effect. Liner enhances a full-lashes look to frame your eyes. The closer to the lash line, the more natural the effect.
4. Mascara is a must on top lashes. If you tend to smudge the lowers, skip it underneath. Curling lashes first makes a huge difference on straight lashes. Curled lashes=more drama.
5. When choosing colors, use shades opposite your eye color. Contrast really makes the eyes stand out.
6. Don't overdo it. If you are doing a strong or bright lip, use minimal eye makeup. For a classic look, apply the highlight shade, a taupe shadow across the lid, a dark line along the lashes and finish with mascara.
7. For a sexy, smoky look on larger eyes, rim the inside with a black pencil.
8. When using cream shadows apply only on the lid and not into the crease so the color does not become a creasy, greasy mess.
9. Splurge on brushes. Blending is so important when using eye shadows and having good brushes makes all the difference. I buy some of my faves at art supply stores as well as makeup shops.
10. If loose shadow falls under the eye when you are applying shadow, wipe away with a sponge dipped in a little foundation. It’s the perfect eraser.

source: carmindy.com

 

[Moriah]

has anyone read eve pearl's book? recommend?

 

[ballroombeliever]

Has anyone ever tried Kevyn Aucoin's tip of useing eyedrops on the face as a primer?

 

[Hanne]

Jillian Veran, Director of Artistry for Prescriptives on how to apply liquid eyeliner etc..

 

[lollicandy]

^^I tried to use visine as primer and spot method. Never worked for me. Actually it made my skin itch.

If I have redness/spots I use some face cremes/lotions that have some retin A in it and it does the trick better than visine ever did.

Otherwise I love seeing the makeup artists bags!! And I'm totally in love with theater makeup now, and Ben Nye too. Theater makeup is so much cheaper and more pigmented, I find it hard now to buy regular eyeshadows from Sephora or drugstores.

 

[Belle Princesse]

Wow, great thread...I've only just discovered it!

 

[ApertureRomance]

Ditto ! Thankyou for all the tips

 

[melfreya]

old elle uk article
scanned by me

 

[aadina]

Great tips.

 

[Ilovelefashion]

I keep coming back to this thread, so many helpful tips. I must have read it already a bazillion times.

 

[Suburban Snob]

I heart this thread. I LOVE looking in people's makeup bags!

 

[satin chic]

Laura Mercier Q&A
When did you fall in love with makeup, and what prompted you to start your own line?
At aesthetician school I met a wonderful woman who was my teacher and became a close friend. I was inspired by her, and my love for makeup grew as I learned under her wing.

What was your favorite decade for makeup?
The ’50s and ’90s—I like the style of the makeup for those periods better than the others. I love re-creating the look from the 1950s. And smoky eyes were huge in the ’90s; I like that style.

Which celebrities have you worked with in the past, and do you work with anyone regularly?
Sienna Miller, Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba, Liv Tyler, Gwyneth Paltrow, Oprah Winfrey, Cameron Diaz, Susan Sarandon, Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Heather Locklear, Patricia Arquette, Jaime King, Maria Shriver, Glenn Close, Shalom Harlow, and Gretchen Mol. I still work with Julia and Sarah Jessica.

When brainstorming with a client on a look for an awards show, what's the most requested look?
It depends on the mood and what they are wearing.

What are your top beauty tips?
Cleansing, prepping skin with primer, camouflage without caking with foundation, and liner on lash lines.

What's the one thing women can do to look younger?
Not to cake foundation on the face. By trying to erase lines with a large amount of foundation it actually puts an emphasis on them. Also, accept the fact that you’re going to grow older.

How can someone look great in an instant?
Although this is dependent on each woman’s face, red lipstick is a great go-to trick; it can help give an instant healthy look. For someone with great eyes, she can instantly look awake if she puts a lot of mascara on.

What are makeup-bag must-haves?
Some universal products that women could put in their bag are a gloss or lip balm, camouflage for flaws, translucent powder, cream blush, lipstick, and concealer, which can give an immediate boost.

What's the biggest mistake women make when doing or buying makeup?
Putting on too much foundation—it gives skin too much texture and it hides the pores.

glam.com

 

[satin chic]

Bring your face up to date by Amanda Brown

Warning: You could be adding years to your face by wearing the same make-up style you did a decade ago!

Gone are the thick, gloopy foundation bottles. These days there are light-reflecting, pigment-rich, lightly textured products that all work together, giving you a modern, flawless effect. We take you through the latest products, and give you advice from the experts.

The Aim: A flawless face that doesn't look loaded with foundation
Many of us use foundation as a comfort blanket, for facing the world. So if we find something we like, we tend to stick to it. Wearing all-over foundation is now passe. It has a tendency to look mask-like, and can emphasise lines.

As for colour, a shade that's too dark or too light will drain your complexion. Try out on your jaw line in natural daylight. Strategically applying to where it's needed looks much more natural.

Make-up artist Bobbi Brown recommends having 'a wardrobe' of three shades of foundation: one for everyday use, a darker shade for summer, and a lighter shade that can double as a concealer. 'The idea is to mix any combination of three, anytime you need,' she explains.

Estee Lauder's Individualist Natural Finish Make-up (£21.50/30ml) has excellent tonal range to suit all skin types; oil-free, line and pore-minimising, with reflectable pigments. www.esteelauder.co.uk

Dior's Pure Light, Skin Lighting Sheer Make-up (£22.50/30ml) is oil-free and contains SPF 15. Corrective pigments help erase imperfections and even out the complexion, varying tones to suit. (Stockist: 0207 216 0216)

For those of you who prefer tinted moisturisers, Elizabeth Arden's Sheer Lights Illuminating tinted moisturiser SPF 15 (£18.50/50ml) evens out skin tones while fine lines are blurred with optical diffusers.

Try to aim for skin that is as bare as possible. Change foundations with the seasons, and constantly re-evaluate your skin tone and texture. You may find that concealer pens are all that is required. Especially for around the eyes, nose and chin areas.

The iconic YSL Touche Eclat No.1 (left, £22.50/2.5ml) brings out skin's natural radiance (stockist: 01 444 255 700).

Make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury, who has made Kate Winslet up for British Vogue, says: 'Apply YSL Touche Eclat around the edge of your lips. It helps project your mouth and make it look bigger.'

Dior's Skinflash Radiance Booster Pen (right, £21.00/1.5ml) is also excellent. Jo Fairley and Sarah Stacey, authors of The Beauty Bible, are both huge fans of the YSL Touche Eclat and Dior's Skinflash Pen, describing them as 'miracle workers on dark circles'.

The Aim: Lips with a sheen of colour, not loaded with lipstick
Gone are the days of old, battered, stubby, matt texture lipsticks that languished at the bottom of your make-up bag. Today's lipsticks are hydrating in texture, colourful without the eighties overload and give you a fresh, sexy, subtle sheen.

An excellent lipstick range is the Estee Lauder Pure Colour Lipsticks (£14.50/3.8g). The Pure Colour Crystal Gloss in Crystal Baby (£14.00/3.8g) is a hot colour for kissable lips!

YSL Rouge Pur No.136 Swirly Pink and No.21 Frosted Fig (right, £16.50/3.5g) are fantastic sheer lipsticks.

Protect lips with Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Lip Protectant Sticks (£15.00/3.7g), providing antioxidant protection, SPF 15, and vitamin E.

Even people with thin lips can wear lip liner. Make-up artist Vincent Longo once said: 'The secret is to draw just along the outer edge of the lip line and always to finish the line exactly in the corner of the lips.'
Try Dior's Contouring Lipliner Pencil in Holiday Red and Pretentious Pink (£13.00/1.2g).

The Aim: Eyeshadow application without overload
Years ago, eyeshadows were flat, matt and ageing and easy to over-apply with a heavy hand. Today's technology has moved on. Now containing light-reflecting particles, they are so finely milled they make blending really easy.
YSL 4 Colour Harmony For Eyes in Nude (left, £31.00) will really compliment red or pink lipsticks perfectly.
Estee Lauder's Signature Silky Eyeshadow duos (right, £20.00/4.5g) are great for blending or daytime/evening looks. No. 01 Mocha and No.05 Pink Dusk are particularly pretty.
Dior Powder Mono Eyeshadow (£15.00/2g) is a chic, monogrammed compact with various shades available.

The Aim: Clump-free long lashes
Rid your make-up bag of dry, old mascaras. They do have a shelf-life, and it's important to change them regularly as bacteria can accumulate in the wands. Clumping of mascara is never a good look on lashes!
Lancome L'Extreme Mascara (£18.50/6.5g) give instant lash extension.
YSL Everlong Mascara No. 5 Ever Burgundy (left, £19.00/9ml) adds colour.
Chanel's Inimitable Multi-Dimensional (£17.50/6g) is a must-have (stockists 0207 493 3836).

ivillage.co.uk

 

[satin chic]

Tip from the Top
Stila Global Artistry Director Shawn Peltier

Straight from New York Fashion Week, Stila Global Artistry Director Shawn Peltier made a flying visit to Australia this month. Here, he shares his top tips and tricks.

What is your favourite look this season?
Clean, beautiful skin - skin that looks real and fresh. Coverage is achieved only where necessary and the finish is semi-matte.
The eyes are partially the focus - clean or softly contoured in neutral tones - and lashes are fortified with false lashes (strategically placed top and bottom) and lashings of mascara. Lips take full focus with a wearable fuchsia mouth ( Stila Convertible Color in Fuchsia does the trick!). The mouth is unstructured, as lip liner is not used to define lips. Colour is pushed into lips with fingers and intensity is built by layering. If a woman is confident enough this season, she will wear this look without gloss. If not, a sheer balm or gloss can be used, as long as shine factor is low.

What’s the make-up trick that you use on everyone?
If I am defining the lower lash line with shadow or liner, I always intensify the roots of the lower lashes with mascara. I like to use a flat brush (like Stila Brush #13), and set mascara pigment along the lash base instead of applying with the mascara brush. The look is soft; consistent definition without a spidery-lash effect. Among many things, this is one of the tricks I learned years ago from my mentor, make-up artist and creator of Stila, Jeanine Lobell.

What’s the one product you cannot live without?
A good lash curler. Shu Uemura, Utowa and Kevyn Aucoin are my faves.

What’s your favourite way to create smoldering eyes?
After finishing a smoky eye look, I love to pat a product called All Over Shimmer Eyes onto the centre of lids (to round the eyes out) or onto the inner lid and inner corners (to promote an almond eye shape). The product is a loose, high-shine pigment (comes in several shades including White Gold or Champagne) and feels creamy to the touch. It doesn't flake either. Using this product gives the look a polished, Hollywood effect.

Who is your favourite celebrity face to make up?
Last year I had the honour of working with an American actress named Kerry Washington. She starred in the movie Ray. Although I have made up many beautiful women, I have to say that Kerry's face is not only expressive, but also absolutely flawless. Her skin is a poreless cocoa brown and she has incredible eyes. I also love that she is such an easygoing, gentle woman, with a wonderful sense of humour. For me, beauty within is even more important than physical beauty.

Who would you most like to make up? What would you do?
I would have loved to have worked with Sharon Tate (late American actress married to Roman Polanski...remember her in Valley of the Dolls?). She had the quintessential 70’s look down pat. Gorgeous skin. Eyes in browns and beige and tons of individual faux lashes. Her lips were always beigey apricot/semi-glossy. I would have loved to see her in a soft smoky eye - maybe in a rich khaki (like Stila Golightly) or deep, plummy-rose ( Stila Java or Pigalle).

Step by step

What’s a good way to look healthy, but not made up?
Good grooming is the key to a healthy look. So:
- Make sure eyebrows are shaped well
- Tint and curl lashes
- Exfoliate lips
- Correct blemishes and under-eye discoloration with the appropriate concealer and finish with translucent powder only where necessary. Slightly glowing skin is synonymous with a healthy lifestyle.
- Apply a cream based product onto apples of cheeks and onto lips. Stila Convertible Color in Peony is the perfect universal shade.

How do you amp that up for evening?
Apply a warm, neutral shimmer shadow to eyelids, and apply a brightening Lip Glaze to lips. My friend and fellow Stila make-up artist Sarah Lucero, swears by Pixie Lip Color and Peach Lip Glaze. She says, " Peony Convertible Color on cheeks and this combo on lips equal instant babe!"

vogue.com.au