admin Raise your hand if you feel like you’re stuck in a makeup rut. If you’re going through the motions of applying your makeup every morning, some fresh makeup tips are just the thing to freshen up your daily look.
Why It’s Important to Rethink Your Routine
As we move through life, we continue to evolve. We no longer wear the clothes we wore twenty years ago, have the beliefs we had twenty years ago, or listen to the music we listened to twenty years ago.
If you can’t remember the last time you tried something new, switched products, or changed the way you wear your makeup, it’s time to question: is this really for me? Stepping out of your comfort zone can be intimidating, but if you never try new things, you’re closing yourself off to new opportunities. And, even if you think you like your current makeup look, there’s always a little room for improvement.
“It’s all in the nuances,” explains internationally recognized makeup artist Rae Morris.” Many women feel overwhelmed by makeup, but every little thing you do can make the biggest difference.
7 Game-Changing Makeup Tips from Professional Makeup Artists
1. consider the “ponytail effect”
As the years go by, our faces can start to look lower and less upright. The good news is that it’s easy to restore a sense of freshness and structure to your face with makeup.” Rae Morris says, “I like to focus on the ponytail effect.” We love the ponytail effect because the ponytail pulls everything apart and lifts it up, so be careful not to bring everything too close together when applying makeup.”
Finding it hard to visualize? Take a bob and tie your hair back into a high, tight ponytail. You’ll find it pulls your features up and out towards your hairline. If your hair isn’t long enough to tie back, pulling a fabric headband tight will achieve the same effect. Keep this image in mind when applying your makeup, as this principle of lifting your face will complete your look.
2. Smooth out your eyeliner
Many of us like to draw eyeliner underneath our eyes, but did you know that the way you do it could be making your eyes look smaller and droopy?” Rae says, “As we age, the bottom of our eyes become rounder and begin to droop.” Therefore, applying eyeliner under your eyes will make them rounder. If you have really round eyes, don’t wear any makeup under your eyes. However, if you’re a big fan of eyeliner, then draw it in a straight line instead of a curved line. This will enhance your eyes and make them look bigger.”
3. Wear your blush high.
Traditionally, we’ve always been taught to apply blush when we smile. The purpose of this is to ensure that most of the blush is applied to the apples of the cheeks for a full, flattering effect, but this doesn’t always work as intended.
“When we’re young,” Rae advises, “our cheekbones extend from the outer corners of our mouths to just above our ears.” However, as we age, our cheekbones drop. So, if you wear blush when you’re smiling, when you’re not smiling, the blush will be lower. When you look at someone, the position of their cheeks is where their eyes are, so if you try to lift your face up but put your cheeks down, it will be completely out of focus. Always apply blush just above the line that runs from the outside corner of your mouth to just above your ears.
“The other reason I say not to smile when applying blush is that if you smile intensely and then relax, little fine lines will appear on the product and actually create wrinkles – a technique we use in special effects makeup.”
4. Redefining eyebrows
Always draw your eyebrows in a sweeping fashion? Maybe it’s time to tweak your technique.” Rae says, “Drawing rounded brows isn’t always your best trick.” If you have bags or dark circles under your eyes and you round your brows, you’ll actually be drawing a full circle. Going back to the concept of a tight ponytail and what we love about it, look at what it does for your brows – it straightens them out. So, straighten your brows as much as possible, which may mean lowering the actual arch. Doing so will also give you thicker brows. Follow Rae’s method and use mascara, or a little mascara with a thin brush, to straighten the arch of your brows.
“If you find it difficult to draw in your brows, then just apply your brow mascara without worrying too much about the placement or the presence of brows on your skin. Then, use a thin brush with a little foundation to outline your brows and fix any mistakes. Using lighter shades on your brows is also easier to get wrong than using darker shades.
If you’re someone who over-groomed your eyebrows in the 1980s and 1990s, the idea of changing their shape may be daunting, but Rae suggests you also make a slight adjustment to your brow shape.” As we age, the distance between the root of the brow and the inner corner of the eye narrows, which can make us look a little grumpy. A great way to lift the shape of your face is to pluck a few eyebrow hairs from underneath your brows, which will lift this part of your brow. If you’re nervous about changing your brow shape at home, seek expert advice.
5. Creating Plump Lips
Bright lip colors don’t have to be intimidating, and the right placement can make your lips look fuller and more plump.” Rae says, “When I think about lip shape, I always say pinch and push. If you’re fiddling with your mouth in the mirror, you’re looking for the effect as if you’ve pinched the corners of your mouth and then put one finger above your upper lip and one finger below your lower lip and push them forward. By doing this, you’re making the lips taller but a little narrower in width. Technically, you’re making your lips smaller, but they look bigger.
“Look in the mirror and you’ll see little vertical lines around your mouth,” Rae continues.” They start where the lipstick ends, at the corners of your mouth. You can then apply a little more to your upper and lower lips by applying the product right above the upper lip line and right below the lower lip line. Think of your lower lip as a “U” shape, not square at all.
If you make a mistake, it’s easy to fix.” The foundation color on your side is always your best weapon. If you can’t draw clear lines, then use a foundation brush to sharpen those edges.
6. Sculpt your jawline
If the word contouring conjures up images of heavily made-up teens on social media, then don’t worry. You can contour in a delicate and subtle way. Contouring at the jawline is a great way to contour that area and the perfect remedy for eliminating jowl fat.
“What I do,” explains Rey, “is to look at the face from the side and visualize a line running from the center of the chin all the way down to the jawline.” That line isn’t always sharp, but you can contour it. Using a fluffy makeup brush with a small amount of product (you can always add more), sweep this line under the jawline. Repeat on the other side for an even finish.
7. Even skin tone
If you think of your skin as a canvas, then all the marks on the canvas are the paint that tells your unique story. These may include hyperpigmentation from sunbathing when you were a teenager, melasma from a hormonal surge during pregnancy, and blemishes from menopausal breakouts. Over time, the accumulation of these marks can make your skin tone feel uneven, which prevents light from reflecting evenly. According to Rae, “Evening out your skin tone is the most youth-enhancing thing you can do for your face.” You don’t need a heavy primer to make a big difference in your skin tone. Just one swipe of a lightweight serum foundation is enough to gently blur and even out skin tone.
