I’ve been writing about beauty – makeup, hair and skincare – for about 14 years now and I swear there’s rarely a week that goes past when I don’t learn something new.
Often the new stuff is tied up in new developments in products.
Other times it’s solid advice from skin therapists and makeup artists working at the beauty coal face, so to speak, on a day-to-day basis.
Last Saturday at my pre-birthday celebration with the girls, I spent the afternoon furiously jotting down notes in between mastering a smokey eye.
I have previously left the smokey eye well and truly alone. The only time a smokey eye has made it on to this face is via a professional. Previous “at home” attempts have rendered me looking like a panda who’d escaped her cage for a night of too many Flirtinis* and not enough food.
Not so with the the step-by-step advice from Aisling and Marni at The Foundation.
These girls sure do know their way around a makeup kit. Between them they’ve created thousands of “faces” including high profile work at Channel 9, Marie Claire, The Lifestyle Channel and Virgin Blue. They’ve tried and tested so many products over the years that they were able to create their makeup line based on what they know works and what they know we need.
The lessons they give, however, are not just about their own products, which are incredibly good and realistically priced. The lessons are about making it super easy for busy, everyday women to run out the door each morning looking halfway polished … or helping women pull together a totally glam makeup look for a night out with the girls.
Here are the 10 tips I took away from The Foundation:
(Some of them you may already know theses. Some I did too … but it is always good to get a gentle reminder 😉 )
1. Using a foundation brush will save you lots of money in foundation and create a seamless, blended look.
2. Put your concealer on AFTER foundation. You will use less and it won’t look as obvious.
3. Our eyelids are the most oily part of our skin – use a specific eye primer to help your colour stick. In a hurry? Just use eye primer on its own – you’ll look brighter.
4. An illuminator is your under-eye and cheekbone makeup’s best friend. Use it and you will look way more fresh than you ever feel.
5. Blush is a hereditary condition – you wear it where your mum would 😉 This is not necessarily a good thing. Smile, and apply to the apples of your cheeks, not in wide upwards sweeping movements.
6. If you ‘re going to attempt a smokey eye at home, do the eyes first then clean up the fall-out BEFORE you do your foundation.
7. Layer your makeup look with cream products and powder for a long-lasting finish. Set your whole makeup look Invisible Blotting Powder with invisible setting powder.
8. Make your eyes pop by adding shimmer dust to the centre of your lid and inner corner – over your eye colour.
9. Wiggle your mascara brush from side to side, brushing outward and upward when applying to eye lashes.
10. Define your brows to frame your face.
* Flirtinis are cocktails for my past. They sound like a drink that a personal hygiene company would come up with in a marketing campaign but they are actually a deliciously dangerous combination of vodka, champagne and pineapple juice.
Do you collect makeup tips like, well, a makeup sponge? What have you learned over the years what works best in practice for you? Share your tips below. And would you like a smokey eye tutorial?
Comments 27
As a formerly trained make-up artist and cosmetician, I can tell you Nikki that all these tips are spot on 🙂
Here’s a great fixer-upper if you happen to smudge or blink when applying your mascara – whatever you do, DO NOT be tempted to wipe away mishappen mascara when it is still wet! If it has ended up under your eye or on your brow – LEAVE it while you finish the rest of your make-up routine. Then lastly, grab a cotton bud and gently wipe away the mascara. Once dry it will simply flake off, leaving absolutely no smudges or traces behind!
Oh and just another tip – eyeliner doesn’t belong underneath your eyes! On the upper lash line, it helps to make the lash base appear thicker, thus opening up your eyes. Putting it underneath only makes your eyes look squinty and you like a drug addict 🙂
Blush on the apples is debatable. . It’s definitely not always the most flattering to place on the apples of your checks, depending on how we all age, for some this would Visually drag the face downwards if their checks arent are perky as they once were. With a foundation brush too- it can be a great foundation saver. However, depending on skin types this can leave a flakey or streaky finish. I definitely would not recommend for dry skin. However I love your tips about highlighter, eyebrows and concelor after foundation!
I’ve got dry skin and the brush works for me!
As a former trained make-up artist, I can tell you that:
Blush is not about “creating cheekbones” – it is solely for putting some colour to where you would naturally blush… and this is your apples! It is all about looking healthy, not creating lost angles 🙂 Give it a try!
Thanks for sharing these great tips, Nikki! I am a huge proponent of primer (face and eye) and always make sure to put my concealer over my foundation. It’s good to know that I have been on the right track. As for blush, I definitely only just learned that it was APPLES ONLY and to use bronzer/illuminator for the cheekbones. So much better now!
I have to admit I am better at a DIY smoky eye than lipstick – I always seem to bugger up lipstick and anything darker than a coral or pale pink ends up looking gothic on me. I think I just need to find the right shade of red lippie, but I haven’t had much luck yet!
Finding the right red is Holy Grail stuff. Found mine last year – Napoleon Perdis’ Lady in Red. Changed my life!
Thanks for sharing some of our tips Nikki! Glad to see you were listening so well 🙂 Another tip I’d like to share is how to keep red lipstick from coming off to quickly (never a great look!)… Step 1. Put red lipstick on. Step 2. Blot it with a tissue. Step 3. Brush an invisible blotting powder on top of the lipstick (this is the important step!). Then start the process again from step 1 to step 3. Finish with one more application of red lipstick and voila your red lips will not budge!
Love this tip!
Too funny, I think I have been doing a smoky eye for 25 years, day and night!! They suit me! I haven’t left home without eyeliner since I was a teen. I’m just careful not to overdo the under eye. My biggest tip is to smudge everything in the eye dept! And to choose between eye or lip, definitely not both. I use a lip pie with just a bit more colour than my own real ones and never any lip liner, my lippies never “leak”, and I go heavy on the eye. I always feel like a freak with a dark lip, but not eyes.
You are very, very wise Mummaducka!
Ooh ooh have been waiting for this post! You are so generous with your tips and advice Nikki, thank you. Looks like I’ll be adding illuminator to cart. Have a great day!
You too Kell … am a little addicted to illuminators so think you will be too!
Love the tips Nikki. Due to you, I now use illuminator and actually know where to put it. The smokey eye is one of the hardest things to achieve. I always find that if I accidentally get mascara smudged on my eyelid that a bit of saliva (only my own) on the end of a cotton bud will remove it. Only use your own spit on your own eye though. I don’t think this will be in the professional makeup artists bag of tips but it works for me. I actually feel more confident to wear makeup now, thanks to you!
LOL … Sandi! Yes, only use your own!
Thank you for those tips Nikki ,I do have a foundation brush but hardly ever use it ,from now on I will,Never really knew what to do with an illuminator but now I do i will be getting my glow on,I have artificial light by smashbox.I know all the other tips but I have a few of my own ,Always use primer as you get older I find it helps,I always do my brows but I use brow powder I look sick without it,and I bought this little pen thingy by simple that is a makeup remover and you just run it over the bits you want erasing ,It works a treat too and I like to use a lip pencil in a nude colour .
YES YES please I would like a lesson in a smokey eye…..!
Ok, will bring do a smokey eye post! And I love the sound of that makeup remover! And I love Smashbox’s under-eye illuminator.
Loving my first try of Garnier BB cream today – thanks for the tip Nikki!
Enjoy Julie … long-term you get good results too!
To clean up eye makeup or remove stubborn mascara or eyeliner- coconut oil on a makeup remover pad works a treat! RMS Beauty sell coconut oil in small pot but the ones you get from the supermarket are just as good…!
Love that idea!
less is more…it’s much easier to add more makeup than it is to remove it.
x Marnie
Brilliant tip, Marnie!
Would love a smokey eye tutorial! Thanks for the explanation of your ‘flirtini’ (sounds very nice)- I initially thought it was your observation of the behavioural end result of too much bubbly!!
LOL Rebecca … it could well be interpreted as that too 😉