NO MORE MAKEUP FACE!!

“Hey Donna I’m feeling ugly today.” “Don’t worry Kiki, I’ve just got some wood puddy and spackle from the hardware store, SLAP SOME ON!!” Sound crazy, sure. However, many women do themselves an equally damaging disservice everyday by layering on 50 layers of cheap foundations to hide a few pimples, discolorations or blemishes. In seconds you can change yourself from a beautiful women with pimple, to a run down clown or 3 dollar hooker.

Many women fall victim to the “Makeup face monster” in the same way a junkie gets hooked on drugs. Didn’t think you and the crack whore down the street had something in common did you? Well think back to when you had your first taste of makeup. You put it on, felt good, felt sexy, felt empowered. Then as time went by you started to need more, maybe those pimples were a little harder to hide then before. Next thing you know, you can’t have fun without it. You find your self putting more and more makeup on. You start changing your activities to include it. “Sorry girls, I can’t go swimming with you today, it might mess up my makeup.” We know, it’s hard to here, but WE ARE HERE TO HELP!!!

We enlisted advice from leading professional makeup artist Victoria Stiles to help you get back to basics and learn some techniques to use makeup as weapon of beauty again.

As a makeup artist I come across all different skin types, tones, and textures.  Each face is not created equally therefore the same products are not used for everyone.  When I hold makeup trainings for clients who want to learn how to do a basic face for everyday wear, I start with assessing their skin type.  Skin is the basis for all makeup applications.  Often I compare prepping your skin to sanding a piece of wood—if you paint a wood surface that is un-sanded, how does it look?  The same rule of thumb applies to makeup.  By applying foundation to a face that is not thoroughly moisturized, the result can be flaky and cakey! 

In addition to prepping the skin, choosing the right foundation for your skin color and type is key for a flawless natural finish.  First identify if your skin is normal to oily or normal to dry.  Be sure to choose a foundation that has light to medium coverage—full coverage is typically used for more dramatic makeup, photography, or stage and is usually too heavy for everyday use.  For normal to oily skin types, stick with a matte liquid or powder foundation.  For normal to dry, choose a liquid foundation that is water or silicone based with a demi-matte or satin finish.   Choosing the right color for your skin is equally important—“base face” is not an attractive feature!  If your foundation color is off, the rest of the makeup is off and looks unnatural.  Determine whether you have a yellow undertone or a pink/red undertone.   Based on your undertone, eye a few colors in a range you instinctively think you fall in.  Always match your foundation color to your neck color by swatching a small amount of the product in sections along your jaw-line.  If the section of color along your jaw-line matches with your neck color, congratulations, you have the perfect match! 

Once you have tackled the most important elements to your daily makeup routine, skin care and foundation, the rest is easy!  In order to achieve a fresh look, stay away from rimming your entire upper and lower eye lid with deep black or charcoal shadows and eye-liners.   Instead, choose neutral eye-shadows in soft browns with either a matte or shimmer finish.  Gently sweep one color across the lid, line the top lid with a dark brown or grey eye-liner shade, add one coat of mascara to the upper and lower lashes, and your look is almost complete!  Finish off the look by applying a soft pink or coral cream blush to the apples of your cheeks with a makeup sponge (this will give you a naturally flushed look) and swipe a shade of sheer lipstick or gloss in a color that is one or two steps deeper than your natural lip color.  Quick lip tip:  Stay away from sticky lip glosses—guys HATE sticky lips!

We hope Victoria’s tips help you stay the gorgeous, sexy and empowered woman you are. You can see more of her work and cutting edge tips at:

Victoria Stiles Makeup

Make Up Artist Back Stage

-The Guys