How does make-up work?

[Nana Yeah!]

Seriously, I have no idea what product does what and why. Should I get a powder, or a cream? What do you put on first, concealer? And what is concealer supposed to conceal? How do I know what color I am? Oh, and my face is darker around my mouth... what do I do about that? How do I know which color lipstick to use, or does that not matter?

[Jay]

These are my everyday staples, nice and basic. No one taught me how to do my makeup so I experimented until I got it right. You can get all of these things at the drugstore. These are all ordered by what you'd put on first.

Concealer- I'd say unless you have really bad hyper pigmentation/ dark circles, you can generally skip it if you have a good foundation. It's kind of hard to blend and find the right shade/ consistency if you're new to makeup. But if you feel you need it, pick a shade one or two shades lighter than your skin, and with a pasty consistency. I actually have a black eye right now and I'm using straight up yellow for under my eyes, because yellow cancels out purple, it's hilarious.

Foundation- A medium coverage works for most people. I recommend liquid foundation because you can build coverage, with compacts and powders you can easily look cakey or like you're wearing a mask. Start with a nice drugstore foundation; pick the two shades closest to your skin if you can't find an EXACT match (the one closest and then one that's obviously darker) Buy some sponge wedges and test it out at home. I don't like using fingers or brushes, the color becomes too opaque. Squeeze a pea size onto each cheek and go to town with your wedge. It should blend flawlessly into your skin, if not add more dark/ light. True Match from L'oreal kind of rules, they have a huge range of colors and it takes the guesswork out of undertones. For the dark around your mouth, you can use the lighter shade, just blend blend blend. If you're oily finish with a matching or translucent powder, using a huge fluffy brush and NOT the sponge that comes in the compact. Those things suck.




Eyeshadow- I only use it for special occasions. Don't put it on all the way to your eyebrow. I usually just stick my finger into the shadow, pat it on to my eyelid only, and let it do it's thing. I end up with a nice, smudgy imperfect wash of color. Bright purple and dark brown look nice on everybody. Avoid red, white, and light blue.

Eyeliner- Black kohl pencil is pretty much all you'll ever need. Start with a light line on your top lashline, don't worry about keeping it straight, you can smudge it a little if you mess up. I usually get all up in the mirror and stretch my eyelid to make it easier to draw on. If you want more definition/ drama keep going over the line to make it darker and thicker. You can even wing it out a tinnnny bit, no Amy Winehouse-ing it. Resist all temptation to draw a line on your bottom lashes. It makes your eyes look really small.

Mascara- Covergirl Lash Blast (in the huge orange tube) is great. You only need one or two coats on your top lash line and you'll look like a doll.

Lip junk- . If you choose to wear lipstick everyday put on lip balm first, and then one coat of lipstick, and then blot most of it off onto a tissue. It gives you a nice wash of color. As for lipgloss there are tons of brands, flavors and colors to play with. Warm pink/ peach flatters everyone. It's very hard to pull off red because everyone wants to pick the pretty bright red when in reality their most flattering red is more pink or brown. Stay away from shimmery or sparkly lipstuff if you don't want to look like a science teacher.

[K!m\m/]

this is difficult.. u can try things by applying them to ur hand..

concealer first.. thats mainly for dark areas *ie ur lips* and then do the powder.. that should get everything to an even level.

lipstick? depends on ur mood. i prefer nude or, clear lips.. but sometimes when im feeling naughty i try deep reds. id recommend trying lipsticks on too.. like go to a counter and try em on with a qtip or use ur hand.. really upto you. hope this is helpful <3

[Mlle d. Sade]

If you have oily skin or even sorta oily skin or have shine problems I'd skip liquid foundation and use a powder and maybe use a little concealer w/ translucent powder over it. But if you find powder foundation makes you look like you're wearing a mask (which is the main problem with the stuff; start off using a really thin layer if you choose powder) use the liquid but be careful to take care of your skin and prevent pore clogging as much as you can with oil absorbing translucent powder. I don't know if you have oily skin at all but this is a mistake I made when I first started wearing makeup; there was just too much gunk in liquid foundation for my oily skin to handle.

Great starter palette for which colors to use; great guideline:
http://www.ethnic-beauty-central.com/
This site is pretty much everything you need to know with how-to vids from that diy site linked in the articles.

Choosing colors for skintone:
http://www.ethnic-beauty-central.com/black-beauty-makeup.html
The palette is at the bottom of the page.

This site is mostly only a guideline, when you get more comfortable step outside the box.

Here's a green makeup company with the best color selection for different skin tones I've ever seen: it includes undertones
http://www.crushgroovecosmetics.com/Herbal-Mineral-Makeup/Raw-Earth...
It's also some pretty good stuff, worth it for the price. My skin has improved even wearing it as infrequently as I do.

Another one with not so good selection in foundation but cool with lip stuff and mascara.
http://www.monave.com/

[Dixie Mason]

L'Oreal True Match is pretty good, although I need to try a lighter shade. The one I bought in the summer is WAAAY too red (despite being a "neutral"), although it's otherwise pretty close. My current favorite is Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse. I tried L'Oreal Bare Naturale, but it's too messy. I wouldn't recommend mineral foundations; they get everywhere like baby powder. Bare Naturale eyeshadows, however, are great, as are the Dream Mousse ones. I wear green, purple & brown eyeshadows... they look good on most people if you choose an appropriate shade. I prefer cream-type shadows to powder and I like a little shimmer, even in the daytime.

As mentioned, concealer is optional if you have pretty good skin or a decent foundation... in fact, if you have good skin to start with, I'd skip the foundation all together, maybe using Cornsilk translucent powder, rice powder tissues (http://www.adiscountbeauty.com/page332.html) or something like that to cut down on shine. Lipstick is pretty annoying to me... it can feel gross and get on your teeth. A gloss or a lip stain is better. Dark eyeshadow can be brushed on as eyeliner and it's more idiot-proof than pencil or liquid liner, plus it's a softer look.

[Dixie Mason]

I almost forgot; some brands have little cards to find your skintone match for foundation. And my friend tells me that is you buy makeup at CVS and it doesn't match, you can return it. That's a plus. Also, try to apply your makeup in as much natural light as possible so you can see how it really looks. Nothing is worse than looking good in dim light, then strolling out into the sun and looking like a giant moron.

[Nana Yeah!]

Thanks everyone, you guys are awesome. Keep it coming with the tips though; everyone's added something more awesome each time

[K!m\m/]

post up a pic of your makeup afters too :)

Nana Yeah! said:

Thanks everyone, you guys are awesome. Keep it coming with the tips though; everyone's added something more awesome each time

[Khamila]

target lets you return makeup .
nordstrom and sephora also do. they have great policies.
check your inbox i sent you a message.

its ujp to you what you want to use and depending on what kind of coverage. even what type of skin you have.
you may just want a bit of a tint, which you can make yourself by taking a concealer/foundaiton and mixing with lotion
i have oily skin and i generally wear only powder on a normal day. but when i go out at night or to church or get dressed up i like full coverage. so i use a mattifying liquid.
You should always set your cream or liquid with powder though.
Creams are generally heavy/full coverage.
i put my concealer on AFTER i do foundation (sometimes before) but sometimes if you put foundation on after you tend to wipe it off.
Concealer is to conceal imperfections or discolorations such as undereye circles or blemishes or old acne scaring. this would be ideal for around your mouth.
in doubt, go with a sheer gloss. basically anything with gold in it will look great on most people. if you go to say, the mac counter, the people will be able to help you there. if you dont wanna spend all that money you can still let them tell you and just try to find something that color.
as for blushes, colors like raizin look good on basically everybody, that could be a good starting point.
maybe post a picture of you someone here may be around the same shade as you.
i would recommedn signing up for Specktra.net because people show looks showing you exactly what was used so if you see a lipcolor you like, you can go get it. =) Also its good because people will post the shades they wear in other brands. it would even help if you went to mac and got "fitted" for a color because at least on that website theyre macheads and so they will be able to tell you what drugstore foundation you can use. you can also get great recommendaitons there.
honestly you gota just get out there and start doing it.

[purple8 garcia]

i have tried using a concealer and it works great on me. try the natural shade of concealer I think it best suites you.
| eyelid plastic surgery |

[Gullah*Gotham*Glitter]

Target doesn't allow you to return Makeup. I tried to return some IMAN and they will not take it back if its been opened. CVS on the other hand does allow you to do open returns.

Khamila said:

target lets you return makeup .
nordstrom and sephora also do. they have great policies.
check your inbox i sent you a message.

its ujp to you what you want to use and depending on what kind of coverage. even what type of skin you have.
you may just want a bit of a tint, which you can make yourself by taking a concealer/foundaiton and mixing with lotion
i have oily skin and i generally wear only powder on a normal day. but when i go out at night or to church or get dressed up i like full coverage. so i use a mattifying liquid.
You should always set your cream or liquid with powder though.
Creams are generally heavy/full coverage.
i put my concealer on AFTER i do foundation (sometimes before) but sometimes if you put foundation on after you tend to wipe it off.
Concealer is to conceal imperfections or discolorations such as undereye circles or blemishes or old acne scaring. this would be ideal for around your mouth.
in doubt, go with a sheer gloss. basically anything with gold in it will look great on most people. if you go to say, the mac counter, the people will be able to help you there. if you dont wanna spend all that money you can still let them tell you and just try to find something that color.
as for blushes, colors like raizin look good on basically everybody, that could be a good starting point.
maybe post a picture of you someone here may be around the same shade as you.
i would recommedn signing up for Specktra.net because people show looks showing you exactly what was used so if you see a lipcolor you like, you can go get it. =) Also its good because people will post the shades they wear in other brands. it would even help if you went to mac and got "fitted" for a color because at least on that website theyre macheads and so they will be able to tell you what drugstore foundation you can use. you can also get great recommendaitons there.
honestly you gota just get out there and start doing it.

[Gullah*Gotham*Glitter]

Powder, Liquid, or Cream depends on your skin. If you have naturally dry skin, I don't recommend powder. If you have oily skin, I don't recommend Liquid.

When it comes to make up the serious from the amateurs are really seperated on how they apply makeup and what they use.
Foundation is the FOUNDATION of your makeup. I highly recommend that you find the right foundation for yourself first. There are three common undertones; red, yellow, and olive.

Concealer isn't necessary for everyone. If you don't have a lot of blemishes or marks, you don't need it. Besides there are some foundations that have a full enough coverage that you wont need concealer.

Around my eyes are darker then the rest of my face and my face is different color from my neck. If I buy a foundation that matches my face, then it brings out my natural two-toneness, not a good look. So I have to buy a foundation that matches my neck. Perhaps you should just go with the darker color.

Lipstick color depends on the season, your complextion, where you're going etc. Berries look good on most women of African descent. Think pinks and purples. You should also start your lip collection with some neutrals, like brown and something to do a nude lip.

Play around with both drugstore and department store cosmetics.

www.sephora.com
www.maccosmetics.com
http://store.hello-gorgeous.net/stylistyle.html

Try NYX, Wet n Wild, Crush Groove Cosmetics. And let us all know how your progress is going