Glam up your look: Secret makeup tricks that will change the way you look forever!

Doing the right kind of make-up can be a total hit and miss affair. Nowadays with so many online videos,  it should be easy to know how to glam up on the go. It’s not as simple as it looks though – the  perfect mid-day eye make-up can end up looking garish rather than glamorous and that sexy smoky eye can end up  looking like a black eye. As you can see down below, there is a difference in good and bad makeup. Even the best looking people can end up looking horrible with the wrong application of makeup.

For a day to day look, I truly believe nobody knows your face like yourself. Lets face it, going to get your make-up at Natasha’s doesn’t mean that you are gonna look like her (although it would be great to believe so).  Each person has their own style, and you know what suits you best.  And does it really make sense to have plastered professional make-up every time? I don’t think so!  First of all, if you add it up it can really get heavy on your pocket  and why not  just pick up a few little tricks yourself? After all, your face is your own canvas.

Bearing that in mind, I decided that a little short course is definitely a good investment in myself. So when someone told me about ‘The Colour Therapy’ by Masuma Shah, I thought it was a great idea to ‘brush up’ ( that would be an understatement, as I realized I knew NOTHING about make-up)  my skills. Masuma is a very thorough teacher,  and gives you a lot of in-depth knowledge on the art of make up. Being very experienced herself with several courses under her belt,  she is  hands on and  very patient (even with a bozo like me). She gave a lot of personal attention, not only teaching the basics of makeup, but actually guiding me in what kind of products that would suit my skin. Before the course started there were a few basic tools that we bought from the local ‘Vicky’s’ at Khadda market.

On a side note for all you make-up junkies, this is a great shop!

So I got together all of my make up gear (some expired, some old, some new and some stuff that I was totally clueless about how to use) and heading off to her weekend course. It was a 2 day course, with one day dedicated to learning about how to do your base, and the second day we were taught two types of techniques for the eyes:  The Colour Wash Technique and The LMD (Light Medium Dark) Technique

1. The BASE

This is actual the canvas that you need to prepare, and according to my make-up guru, if you got this right then all the rest will flow. So how do you prep your face?  1) Cleanse 2) Moisturize  ( Some great moisturiser by Neutrogena & Dermalogica)  3) Skin Screen – This is really important as you are exposed to such strong UV rays 4) Primer – This serves as the barrier between the skin and makeup

The next step is applying the foundation for the face and concealer for the under eye area. For everyday wear one can use a  BB  cream but you need to select foundation according to your skin type.  There are four different types of applicators you can use to apply foundation 1)  Beauty Blender 2) Touchme Sponge 3) Stipler Brush 4) Your own fingers! ( The Beauty Blender and Touchme Sponger are available at Vicky’s).

2.  Countouring and Highlighting

Then you come to the Contouring and Highlighting. Countouring is done in 5 areas on the face and highlighting in 6 places .

Countouring is done using an angular brush  in the following places – 1) Hollow of the Cheeks 2) On the Jawline 3) Side of the nose 4) Top of the forehead 5) Temple. The shade is always matt which is 2 shades darker then the foundation, and creates depth in your face. Highlighting on the other hand, is always shiny and applied on 6 areas 1) Above the cheekbone 2) Centre of the forehead 3) Bridge of the nose 4) cupid bow 5) centre of the chin 6) In between the the countouring on your jaw

And finally the last thing of all –  blend, blend, blend! Good make up is all about the perfect blending, and there should be  no harsh lines! And whats the perfect tool for this, the supersonic Beauty Blender of course!

3. The Blush

Blush is applied to the apples of the cheek, if your going for a pinkish lipstick shade then stick to a pinkish blush and if your going for a peach/brown lipstick then  go for a peachy blush.

4. Eyes for the Day time

The Colour Wash Technique is very simple and straightforward, and is done using just one colour from top to bottom. Accentuated with some eyeliner and mascara, this is perfect day and evening makeup.

5. Eyes for the Night time

You can use the LMD technique which, literally mean Light, Medium, Dark. So you eyes goes from a lighter shade from the inner eye, into a darker shade towards the end.

5. The Lips

When it comes the lips, there are loads of colours and choices. Apply lipstick with any flat brush, and  for some extra oomph to your lips add in a little bit of gloss to the middle of to make them appear fuller.

6. Seal it

Last but not least you have to seal your make-up with this baby, and it will withstand all the heat, humidity and dust!

As you can tell, applying make-up seems pretty scientific, but actually its not, but one needs to know the techniques and get some individual advice on what suits your skin, face and personality. Masuma’s introductory class was great for that and has really changed my attitude towards the way I apply my makeup, although i would have liked to spend more time practicing my techniques because there is still a lot to experiment with.  For those of you interested, she has another workshop coming soon on the 23rd and 24th of May with a special segment on the ‘ultimate smokey eyes’.