Caroline Jayne Makeup Artistry believes that beauty begins on the inside but uses makeup to creatively enhance a persons natural beauty on the outside. Caroline’s business is makeup, tanning, High Definition Brows, and Nouveau lashes – Extend; Express; and LVL Enhance. She is an official stockist of Ciara Daly, High Definition and Bellamianta tanning products.
For this issue I am going to focus on achieving a flawless base. I think we all agree that make-up alone won’t give you this, as the condition of your skin depends just as much on what you put in your body as what you put on it, but we can certainly do our best to help achieve the flawless base that so many of us desire! Here are some tips on how to achieve this:
- Hydrate your skin – I can’t stress the importance of taking care of your skin, because the better skin you have, the less makeup you’ll actually need. Besides drinking lots of H20 (because what you eat/drink affects your skin), invest in skin care products like serums and SPF-rich moisturisers that work with your skin type.
- Apply primer. There are lots of good primers out there so choose the one most suited to your skin. The purpose of facial primer is no different from paint primer – just think of your skin as the wall with its natural imperfections and colour challenges. Makeup primer provides a smooth surface on which to apply makeup, and it also helps keep it in place.
- Apply the foundation. This is the canvas for the makeup so it’s important to get it right and that you choose the correct one for your skin type. Creams and liquids are good for heavier coverage, dry or aging skin, and powders, sheer foundations and tints are good for younger clear complexions. The correct shade for you will disappear on your skin without blending. Apply your foundation with a brush. I use either the “‘My Hero” Ciara Daly foundation brush (kabuki style) or the High Definition stipple brush (one which has white tipped bristles). It’ll stop you applying too much product and will blend beautifully. I am a stockist of both of these brushes. Be sure to blend any lines, even taking the foundation onto your neckline to ensure even toning. When you’re finished your skin tone should appear even and it shouldn’t look like you’re wearing a lot of make-u
- Correct and conceal. Always apply concealer on top of your foundation that way you’ll use less and the foundation will provide a nice base to apply it. Concentrate on under the eyes, the corners of the eyes, redness around and under the nose and the chin area. If you suffer from dark circles use a peach colour corrector to neutralise the dark discolouration before adding a skin-toned concealer on top. For any redness, a green colour corrector can be used in the same way. A great tip is always to blend your concealer/colour corrector with a tiny bit of your foundation to ensure it colour matches and blends seamlessly.
- Set with powder. Powder really helps to set your make-up and remove excess shine. When choosing a powder don’t be tempted to go for a tinted one that matches your foundation. A translucent one is best, either in loose form or compact. Apply with a powder brush lightly dusting your cheeks, forehead, nose and chin. A little should go a long way, don’t over do it or you’ll dull the effect of your foundation and take away the natural dewy glow of your skin.
That’s it! Follow these five steps and you’ll have a lovely clean base on which to apply the rest of your make-up. Oh, and if opting for heavy eye make-up, I suggest doing your eye make-up first as dark powders can drop on to your lovely clean base and muddy it.
