Makeup Part 3: Au Naturale

Recently I was asked to do an email makeup consultation for the girl who wears no makeup and is getting her engagement photos done. Ay ya ya. I wish I could have just done her makeup for her, but the time, expense and logistics just wouldn't have worked out. As I was writing the email, I remembered the last makeup post I did, and the slight freak-out that some of you had over wearing COLOR, at all, anywhere on your face. If you are just NOT that (color) girl, this post is for you.


For the BARELY there, au natural look:
Curl your lashes and apply clear or brown mascara. If you choose the brown route, do a light coating. There IS such a thing as this. Practice using a light touch. And as always, do not pump your mascara wand, this keeps bacteria and air from getting in and doing a number on your mascara.

For your eyes, just choose a shadow for your lids that is as close to your skin color as possible, and a light brown to go in your crease. You want your natural look to still look natural, but this will help the eye pop.

Try this.
Make sure you use a brush to apply, this will blend it WAY better, making it look even more natural....don't just use the pads they provide, your fingers would be better then the pads.

There is a great brush set on sale at Costco right now, that z told me about. I have included a photo here. It is 17.99 for 14 pieces. Ladies, this is a STEAL....it's time to buy brushes for your kits!

For your face, you want to even-out your skin tone. Wherever there is red, blotchy, yellow or dark spots, apply concealer. Get a color match at the makeup counter, and go outside in the natural sunlight to check the match before you buy. Always test makeup on your face (for color match, not allergies), NOT on your hand. I recently heard, the jaw line is best.

For the lightest of light coverage, use either:

Tinted moisturizer (with SPF please you sunworshippers.) The only thing I don't like about the one I linked to, is I can smell the sunscreen....but that's better then wrinkles. ; )

or

Powder foundation applied with a brush for light coverage, and the provided pad for heavier coverage.

Bronzer (don't be afraid) is lighter than blush (in most cases)....and gives your face a more natural glow than a deliberate cheek. But make sure you spot check this and any cosmetic you buy before you apply to your face. I broke out into a rash on the job the other day because of bronzer. Yikes. It was tarte brand.

This bronzer looks good too.

I personally love Bobbi Brown's shimmer brick (another zinone find). It is pricey at 35 dollars, but I wear mine almost every day and it is not even close to wearing out and I have had it for 7 months.

Lips, Go for a gloss but not too much.

This looks super sheer:

A little lip liner would be nice....do NOT just line the outside, fill in the entire lip.

the BEST lipliner is by MAC and the color is SPICE....it is the color of natural lips, but again, if you are going for drugstore brand, try this.
That liner (see link) in the color spices looks good too, but hard to tell online.

Since I don't know any one readers' specific coloring, here is a good test. Hold up silver and gold to your hand/skin. If gold looks better, you have more yellow in your skin, so stay more brown, less pink, but if silver looks better, you can do the "hint of pink" stuff....you will be able to tell the difference in the browns...some will have more pink in them, same with the natural lip glosses. Remember, lip gloss looks pink in the bottle, but it is sheer, do not be afraid.

Take a little time to experiment...buy some eyemakeup remover (my favorite right now is Sonia Kashuk's, at Target) so that you don't start your day with dark around the eyes, and if you are new to makeup, always start with a light touch and then add where necessary. And practice, practice, practice. When you first try makeup, look at yourself in the mirror every hour or so, to get used to it. And hopefully your future husband will not call you a hooker when you simply put mascara on for the first time. If that happens, you might want to save red lipstick for 2011.