Everyone does this! You're rushing to get dressed, trying to manage the kids, trying to get out the door at the last minute and you over apply blush. What do you do now there's no time to wash your face or start over? There are many simple tricks I have learned over time that I want to share with you. These have helped me out at the last minute and it beats telling everyone you have a fever!
The first thing you have to do is reverse everything you have ever been told about makeup application. Most of us think that the first thing we start with is foundation. For obvious reasons, it's called the base or foundation, most of us start by applying our foundation, then our powder, our blush, our eyes, and then finally our lips. If all that you are wearing is a little blush and mascara this works fine. But if you are going for a dramatic night on the town/special event look you find that by the time all that stuff is on, you have a mess on your cheeks. Darker color eye shadows have what we call fallout, where some of it doesn't make it to the eyes but lands on your cheeks, if you try to wipe it off you end up with dark shadows under your eyes and if you are going for a really smokey look you can look like one of the Walking Dead Zombies! Lets say you are wearing a bright red lip, you go a little outside the line. This is normally an easy fix but with your foundation already in place you end up with stains. Of course if you have time to wash your face and start over it's not so bad but what if you don't?
Simply change where you start! Begin with your eyes and work out from there! Begin by applying your eye makeup. Any mistakes on the eyes is very easily corrected as long as you don't have to worry about messing up another area.
Begin with your eye shadow. The best thing to make a cheap shadow last is to use a primer or a base to help the pigments stick to the skin. Your regular concealer works just fine for this! If you are using bright vivid colors a white chunky cream eye shadow pencil will help those colors to stand out more. If you over apply a dark color you want to tone down a little try buffing it a little with a clean brush to blend the color in and then reapply a lighter color over it. If it is still too dark at this point using a wet wipe to just start over is no big deal!
When applying your eye liner, if you are using a pencil be sure it is sharp and ready to go. The last thing anyone wants is sharp wooden edges scratching their eyelids! If your pencil is waxy or hard light a lighter and dip the point into the flame for no more than 1 second. Literally poke the flame! Then give it a second to cool before you start so you don't burn your eye. This should help to soften the waxes and allow the pencil to glide on. If you sharpened it too pointed you can gently rub it on the back of your hand to dull the tip a little. If you are going for a winged liner look and you over line it or your line looks a little messy just use a cotton swab dipped in make up remover to help smooth the line and clean off any extra. If this is done where your shadow is, just apply a little bit more shadow to the area. If you find you have trouble getting the line just right apply your liner before the shadow and then just touch up the liner once it's on.
When applying mascara coat the bottom lashes first using the tip of the mascara applicator wand. This helps to prevent any smears from applying the top lashes and then looking up to apply the bottom and the wet top lashes touching your eyelid. When applying your top lashes curl them first, pinch the lashes as close to the base without hurting your eye and hold for 15 to 20 seconds. Release and move the curler about half way out the lash and pinch closed again. Hold for another 15 seconds. Never pull the lash curler and try to hold it as still as possible to prevent ripping lashes out. Place your mascara wand at the base of your lashes on the underside, gently wiggle the wand back and forth as you pull it through to the tips. Allow this coat to dry for 5 seconds and then apply a second coat. Use the tip of the wand to touch up the outside corners and any area that might need a little more. Before this coat has time to dry use a clean dry mascara spool to comb the lashes out and remove any clumps. Use a toothpick to separate any lashes that are stuck together undesirably. If you have trouble with the mascara transferring to your skin you can use a business or index card held between your lashes and the skin to block it from getting there. If you just need to remove a small spot where it got on you, just use a dry cotton swab. Place it over the spot and gently twist and it should come right off!
We still aren't going to apply foundation yet! Instead apply your lips! First apply a light coating of lip primer or concealer to your lips to help set the color. Chapstick makes a very good affordable lip primer. Use a liner to line your lips to prevent the color from bleeding into any small creases and lines around your mouth. Always use the same color as your lipstick or a clear liner. If you are trying to go for the popular ombre lip look be sure to blend your colors to each other very well. Using a liner that is darker just looks silly and can even make your lips look older and weirdly shaped. Apply the lipstick to your lips using a brush if possible for a more accurate application. If you do go outside the line a little just use another cotton swab dipped in makeup remover to clean up the line, after you have your lipstick in place clean up your lines with a concealer and a brush to apply just a little concealer around the lips and blended into your surrounding face. Set all of this with a light dusting of powder foundation. This should help make your lipstick last longer and smudge less. You can apply gloss after this if you wish to wear it. Apply the gloss to the center of your lips and gently blend out by pressing your lips together.
Now we can apply our foundation! But first use a wet wipe to wipe your face to remove any shadow fall out you may have. You can then apply your moisturizer and a primer. I use a primer that has a moisturizer and it helps to blur fine lines and pores! A primer can give you a much smoother application and help it last all day. Whether you are using a sponge or a brush wet it! Then squeeze it out very well so it is slightly damp. This will help keep your tool from absorbing most of your product and you use less of it. Using a gentle stippling motion to sort of bounce the makeup onto your face. This will help to prevent any streaks and smearing. After this use a tissue to blot any excess product and oil. Just put it on your face and lightly press it into the skin and then lift it off without smearing or wiping. Once you have your foundation on apply your blush with a very light hand. If you are using a cream blush apply 3 small dots below the outer half of your eye and use your fingers to gently pat the color in. If you are using a powder be sure to shake any excess product from the brush to prevent too much being added. Using a light hand smile into the mirror and gently dust the blush onto the top part of your cheeks closer to your ear. If you find that you have too much on use a clean dry tissue to lightly buff the blush in. Apply a light dusting of powder foundation to help lighten and blend the blush. You can apply a light dusting of powder to your face to set the foundation using a light, circular motion all over and then another light dusting with a clean brush to remove excess powder. If you have very dry skin I suggest skipping the powder so that it doesn't look cakey and flaky. If you have a few spots that need concealer such as blemishes or dark under eye circles do it after you have your foundation on so that you don't end up packing too much stuff on. Using your ring finger lightly pat the concealer on and blend it into the foundation. Do this before you apply the blush and powder.
Be sure to blend your foundation into your neck and always use a foundation that matches your skin color. The point of foundation is not to fake a tan but to help soften and even the skin tone! A good face powder is great for setting foundation but if you have any oily build up you should use a blotting paper or tissue to help lift off the oil. Adding powder over it will cause a build up of powder and make fine lines look worse.
I hope this helps! I wish someone had told me all this sooner!
Love,
Mom
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