My Makeup Tips and Secrets


Hello beauties!! I'm going to talk about my top basic makeup tips!! If you know me, have had your makeup done by me or attended any event or master class you’ll know that I'm full of little useful tips and tricks of makeup and all things beauty. Now, if like me you are a complete makeup addict, you may read this and think everyone knows that! However I’ve found that through my job that not everyone does or sometimes we just forget. So ill stop rambling and get on with it. Remember these are just what I would class as basic tips I don’t want to bore you too much and go on and on.

1.       Eye makeup first – if you have your makeup professionally done then you’ll be aware of this tip but a lot of people will still ask me why. When doing a smokey eye (which 9 times out of 10 you’ll find I do) all of your blending can come with eye shadow fallout. So to save you perfecting that flawless base only to ruin it will some dark eye shadow it will save you so much time to apply eye makeup first and then foundation. Some people tend to use a loose powder underneath then wipe it all away but I find this isn’t always 100%. So save yourself the time and disappointment.

2.       Never use your hands for foundation! – Please please please just don’t! Your hands can be full of bacteria not to mention soak up half of your product! Using a foundation brush will give you such a better flawless finish. A sponge can be just as good an applicator but again can soak up your product. If you prefer a sponge I recommend a damp beauty blender (I have a blog post about what these are and how to use them if you are interested click here). I would recommend a buffing brush preferably domed. A flat foundation brush will leave streak marks all over your face. Buffing your foundation into the skin in a circular motion makes for a perfect base. I promise once you use one you will also cringe when you think back to using your hands. I love love love Urban Decays optical blurring foundation brush! Anyone who has tried this cannot fault it in one way and at £20 I think it is more than reasonable for a high end brand.  Trust me invest in this brush and you will thank me later.

3.       Primer! Now I always see girls picking a primer because their friend uses it and her skin always looks nice or they’d like to be dewy so they’ll take the hydrating one. But if you happen to be oily and are using a hydrating primer for dry skin you’re hydrating a face that doesn’t need any more moisture and this goes the other way for dry skin. You’ll be mattifying a surface that is already matte to begin with. Following me? Good! Primer is the base of your makeup, it will give your makeup something you hold on to and helps it last longer. Your skin can penetrate through your makeup and break down the pigments. So do your research, find out your skin type and ask your beauty consultants! They are there to help. Don’t be scared to talk to them. We are nice I promise!

4.       Apply your concealer after foundation. This will save you heaps of products. If you apply your concealer first you’ll use a lot of products to correct the dark circles completely only to buff on your foundation (with a brush of course) and move the entire product around. Your foundation will give you a good coverage alone then you can build on that with you concealer thus saving you product – your welcome! While we’re on the topic of concealer, apply it in a V shape under your whole eye. Inner corner down your cheek till the end of your nose and back up to the outer corner. The traditional way of only applying a small bit on the dark circles alone is a bit dated. This V trick will not only conceal any dark circles or blemishes but highlights and lifts that entire area. Who doesn’t want an alternative to a face lift?

5.       Applying lashes. This is a topic I think everyone has struggled with at least once in their life! Apply lash glue to the band of your lashes then leave the glue for about 15-20 seconds to allow it to go tacky. Doing this means when your false lash touches the base of your lashes it will stick and not slide around removing half of your carefully applied eyeliner. Pinch the lashes in the middle, place them on top of your natural lash and slide them back. Then adjust the corners if needed! Bang! We have lashes!

6.       My next tip I suppose is a bit of personal preference. If you like your brows the way you do them then fare enough. But to make your face shape less harsh, your brows should go from darker on the tail to lighter on the inner brow. Now you don’t have to master a perfect fade brow here. But using a slightly lighter colour on the inside will give your brows a softer look. I love me a big old drag fade brow but if the whole brow is dark it will give your face a more harsh appearance and can drag them down. Brows change up your whole face shape so we want lifted brows for a lifted face.

7.       Skin care routine! Now technically this isn’t makeup! But you cannot expect to not take care of your skin and be disappointed when your foundation doesn’t sit as nice as someone else’s. Now makeup wipes are a great invention! But we also need to cleanse our face. A makeup wipe is not enough to take off a lot of makeup. Using a cleanser will deep clean your face. Also using a light exfoliator once or twice a week will remove all of the dead skin cells. Just be wary if you have sensitive skin once a week may be enough. I also like to use a face mask every now and again to get a real deep cleanse, because who doesn’t love a face mask?

8.       Setting sprays are your best friend!  If you’re going out all day to a wedding or even just like your makeup to stay put on a night out! A setting spray will be your best friend for life!  I know we’ve all been there when you were 15 spraying hairspray in our faces to make sure it didn’t budge. But girls think of all the harmful chemicals in hairspray and you’re spraying it on your face after all that exfoliating and cleansing you’ve been doing. Your skin will absorb this; it will clog your pores and potentially leave you with nasty break outs. Not to mention make your face feel sticky and tight. No thanks! Urban Decay (I know shocker) do 3 different kinds of setting sprays for different skin types. I know so clever. They are all developed by Skindinavia. Not to mention they feel and smell amazing – who wouldn’t want that?

So ive rambled on a lot longer than I thought I would! I hope you’ve all learned something new, try them out and see if they help. As always please let me know what you think. I’ve got lots of ideas for blogs and reviews.

Gemma x x x

Comments