Not every woman is lucky enough to have their own makeup artist on speed dial for the most effective and sophisticated beauty tips regardless of the season, fashion or climate! As the sister of a successful hair and makeup artist, Natalia MUA, I am lucky enough to be trained skillfully and pick up a few of the insiders’ secrets along the way. Whether it’s for personal use, a bride, a location shoot or to simply look hot on a night out, these tips and tricks are undoubtedly going to improve your overall makeup from amateur to PRO.
As all things in life start with a good base, it is fundamental to incorporate that into your daily beauty regime and perfect your skincare. Gentle washing and moisturizing is a must. We are often advised to find the perfect foundation match by finding the closest shade to our neck, believe it or not – not washing our necks when washing our faces can naturally cause discoloration.
Find a moisturizer which has the good balance to your natural oils and skin type. From past experience, I’ve found Clarins Hydraquench to diminish the flakey patches in the Winter whilst keeping your skin looking matte and hydrated throughout the day. During the warmer months, Elizabeth Arden Visible Difference works wonders as it is thin enough to spread sparingly to protect your skin from pollution and dirt.
Once your skin is in great condition, your makeup will glide on easier for a natural radiant appearance.
Every woman has some sort of stress to deal with, whether it is health problems, working life or family life; concealer becomes your best friend! Application is key! Always apply your concealer using a soft but firm brush in a semi-circle shape following the dark line curved around your lower eyelid. Once you have formed your template, simply pat on your concealer gently filling in the semi-circle. It is important to realize how thin our under-eye skin is therefore, we should take extra care and be as gentle as possible to avoid premature wrinkling and sagging skin.
Once the concealer has been applied to your under-eyes and any scars/pimples/blemishes, it is important to blend and buff it into the skin for a flawless base. Even a large, fluffy blending eyeshadow brush will do wonders for blending concealer if used in a gentle, circular motion.
When applying your foundation, it’s best to use a foundation which suits the condition of your skin at the time and also the season, using a foundation brush and blending sponge working downwards towards your neck to avoid streaky lines. During the Winter months, I like to use a moisturizing foundation with full coverage, such as MAC Studio Sculpt foundation whereas this would be far too heavy for the Summer. When it’s warm, depending on the condition of my skin after I have washed and moisturized in the morning, I normally use MAC Pro Long wear foundation, MAC Studio Fix Fluid foundation or Dior Skin Forever Foundation with MAC Studio Fix Powder buffed on top for a long-lasting, matte coverage.
Being obsessed with beauty secrets used by celebrities, often leaves me frantically ‘Googling’ searching high and low how to achieve the almost impossible looks. One of my best kept secrets (until now!) is MAC Fluidline Gel Eyeliner – Dip down used to define eyebrows. I’m definitely not a fan of thick, over-powering eyebrows often seen on the runway at Fashion Week, but I have seen the major difference in a woman’s overall appearance by accentuating the definition of their natural eyebrows. Apply a small amount of the gel eyeliner to your eyeliner brush and apply, starting at the end half of the eyebrow and using the excess product left on the brush to fill in the fronts of the eyebrows.
Accentuating our eyelashes is becoming an ever-growing popular trend among celebrities and beauty-lovers around the globe. If you have the patience, dip a Q-Tip, wiping off the excess and apply closely and carefully to your upper lashes every night for a month and you’ll see beautiful lashes grow in length and volume! For those looking for a quick fix, Velour Mink lashes are amazing 100% authentic mink fur false eyelashes which can give any occasion that extra va-va-voom with a natural flutter often sported by beauties Kim Kardashian and Jennifer Lopez.
No matter what your skin complexion is like or your skin type, as long as your foundation and your eyebrows are fully polished and ‘clean’, your additional makeup will work as the perfect companionship! I hope these beauty tricks come of use in one way or the other, I would love to hear your thoughts!
Shenali Natalia
www.nataliamakeup.com
@nataliamua
