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Best face forward! Makeup tips

We bring you a second excerpt that provides advice on makeup application from the book 'Beauty Unleashed' by Dr Dinyar Workingboxwalla (click here for Part I: Kitchen remedies for your skin).

These are a few of my savvy makeup secrets, culled over many years of tending to women’s skin needs.

Face

• To acquire and maintain good skin, have it professionally analyzed and treated. You see, you can never paint a good picture on a dirty canvas. A proper skincare regimen pays great dividends.
  
  
• Avoid using powder blusher over a cream blush. Unless expertly blended, it can cake and look unnatural.
  
  
• For neat, natural looking eyebrows, tweeze them lightly, making sure the brow begins on the same parallel line as the inner eye corner and fades out gradually over the outer eye corner. Boost scanty brows with light feather strokes of an eyebrow pencil. Then, using a brow brush, blend in the lines.
  
  
• Finish makeup with an application of baby powder all over the face. It takes on the colour of the base and provides the same effect as translucent powder.
  
  
• For a sheer, pretty look, apply foundation with a moist sponge.
  
  
• Less makeup is best; the more sheer your makeup base is, the less makeup you will need to look good.
  
  
• Experiment with the consistency of your makeup base so that natural skin shines through, by mixing it with a dab of moisturizer or a drop of rosewater, depending on whether your skin is dry or oily.
  
  
• Avoid contouring your face, it looks very artificial. Leave it to the professionals when you head out for a photo session.
  
  
• Always blend. Makeup should never look obvious, it should just enhance the skin and features.
  
  
• If you want to sport a tanned look, don’t invest in new makeup. Make your own foundation colour by blending a little brown eye shadow in the palm of your hands and mixing it with your base, adding a drop of moisturizer. The amount of shadow you use will determine the intensity of the hue.
  
  
• Want your teeth to look whiter than white? Wear dark red lipstick and flash a dazzling smile.
  
  
• Never use moisturizer under your foundation if your skin is oily. Your makeup will streak. Instead, use a makeup primer.
  
  
• The order of your makeup routine should be:
  Prepare skin with a cleanse/tone/moisturize ritual
  Makeup base
  Pressed powder
  Eye makeup
  Lip colour
  Lastly, cheek colour to balance your lip colour
  
  
• Liquid makeup changes colour because of the acidity of your skin. In most cases, it turns orange. Make sure that there isn’t any orange base to your makeup; a peach shade, for instance, is to be avoided. It’s better to use beige shades: you can never go wrong with beige or a light tan colour. I personally recommend a face blotter used under makeup, this will ensure colour stays fresh for ten to twelve hours.
  
  
• Don’t apply blusher near your eyes. It will make the face look rounder.

Please click NEXT to keep reading...

Excerpted from Beauty Unleashed: A Comprehensive Guide to the Perfect Skin and Hair (Rs 295) by Dr Dinyar Workingboxwalla, with the permission of publishers Westland Ltd.

Please click here to buy from Rediff Books

Eyes

• Build up the lash effect by first applying mascara, waiting for it to dry, then powdering the lash tips and applying mascara again.
  
  
• If lashes are light, emphasize them by having them dyed. There are now special dye services for eyebrows and eyelashes in salons abroad which will catch on soon here. Eyelashes and brow dyes are totally different in their manufacturing processes. Alternatively, use permanent false eyelash extensions done by a good therapist.
  
  
• For the smudged, sexy look, the eye is shaded first with a pencil in brown, grey or navy, and then softened with a cotton tip. A beige powder shadow is then blended over the eye.
  
  
• Quickly transform a day look into an evening look by using gold or silver eye shadow.
  
  
• Try a brown eye shadow regardless of the colour of your eyes or skin tone. It is a universally complementary shade.
  
  
• To make lashes look longer and eyes larger, separate lashes with an eyelash comb after you apply mascara.
  
  
• Always keep brows a shade or two lighter than your hair colour.
  
  
• Line the lower eye rim with a soft navy blue pencil, it intensifies eye colour and makes the white of the eye look whiter.
  
  
• Shade only the outer half of the eyelid and leave the inner corners bare; the look suits just about every eye shape.
  
  
• After you have all your eye makeup on, lightly brush the entire lid area with a pale pink frost blusher. This gives a nice warm glow to your face.
  
  
• Spectacles will hide your eyes, so they must have a dramatic effect from behind the lenses. In order to do that, they must be completely contoured with colour. Use eye shadow and pencil generously. Mascara, too, should be used abundantly on both upper and lower lashes. Eyeliner can be used on the top lids and a pencil inside the lower lids.
  
  
• To cover up age-revealing lines and shadows under the eyes, use a makeup base two shades lighter than the colour of your skin, diluted with a bit of moisturizer. Smooth on gently. I find this better than using concealing creams and sticks which often form a deep crease when you smile.

Mouth

• Add fullness to thin lips with a lighter lipstick or clear gloss. I like to correct the mouth shape with pencil only when the lip line is uneven.
  
  
• For a soft and luscious daytime look, mix two complementary lipstick hues, one from the orange family and the other in a red shade. Apply carefully to lips with a brush and smooth lip gloss on bottom lip only.
  
  
• Transform a day look into a dramatic evening look in a minute with the application of a lip pencil. Then, mix red, brown and nude lipstick on a brush and apply over the lips. Dab highlighter powder on the centre of the bottom lip for a great, long-lasting shine. Dust the same highlighter powder over cheekbones and brow-bones to add further shimmer; this looks super with a tan.
  
  
• For a seductive yet soft mouth, define the lip-line with an auburn or light brown pencil. Then fill in with clear or tinted gloss.
  
  
• To prevent lipstick from forming vertical lines around the mouth, apply liquid foundation with a sponge on the lips. Before putting on lipstick, blot the lips with a tissue, powder lightly, than use a lip pencil around the natural contours of your lips. Then apply the lipstick.

Other tips

Don’t try to conceal zits with concealer

Most concealers are too thin to camouflage a blemish. Also, because it is only one shade lighter than your skin, it actually highlights the spot. Instead, dot the spot with a blemish cream with salicylic acid or a stick foundation that matches the skin exactly. Pat, don’t rub, the area with a finger and set it with loose powder.

Lip liner after, not before, lipstick

That way you can look at your lips and see where you need to downplay or highlight. To avoid that old-fashioned ring around the lip line, use lip pencils that match your lipstick and draw a very subtle line around the lips.

Do not use waterproof mascara

It’s very difficult to remove even with eye makeup remover and can irritate your eyes, causing redness and puffiness.

Avoid creamy foundations

If you have oily, acne-prone skin, avoid cream foundations as they are heavy and can clog your pores.