#214. Simple Tips for Applying Makeup Better50 Amazing Moms With Dr. Christiana Stephen

Hi Moms,

Now I’m back at work I’ve found myself putting in more effort in the way I present myself – having us all been in lock down and working from home for many months.

For me, makeup is a passion that I have missed doing regularly, and when I fell out of that pattern I quickly forgot many skills that I had learnt over the years. I found myself looking in the mirror halfway through the day and my makeup looking oily and frankly, tired. Something wasn’t right, this never used to happen before.

Yet just like riding a bike, I quickly remembered what I do to make my makeup look great and last all day. So I’ve popped it into a blog, so if I’m ever unhappy with how my makeup is turning out, I know where to look!

These were the 3 most important things that I was forgetting to do:

1) Prepare Your Skin

The biggest lesson I ever learnt when it came to my makeup application is that if the correct base isn’t achieved, then no matter what expensive products you use, your look will never be perfected.

Now this doesn’t mean you have to have a poreless face or no winkles, it simply means that you skin needs to be clean and well moisturised before putting on your face. Doing this before applying makeup will not only improve imperfections in the long run, it will help your makeup apply better – making it last longer and look amazing!

Every morning I cleanse, tone and moisturise – leaving adequate time after this before starting on my makeup; I normally use this time to style my hair. This allows the products time to do their job! If makeup is applied too soon after moisturiser it can cause your foundation to rub off easily throughout the day as the base is too oily.

2) Keep It Minimal

In my opinion, less is always more when it comes to makeup. The main objective of your application should be to enhance your natural beauty, rather than conceal imperfections.

If you have the right mindset behind why you wear makeup this alone will improve your self-confidence because every time you sit down to put on makeup you have to acknowledge what is beautiful about yourself so that you can enhance that with your products. This exercise will help you discover and admire new things about yourself and your skin.

3) Be Gentle

The same relates for removing, as applying your makeup. I always try to use clean fingertips where I can to apply my makeup as I feel I can get more control that way – further to this, the warmth of your fingertips helps to mould products such as concealer to your skin seamlessly.

Beauty tools can be super useful, its just ensuring that they’re used properly and cleaned regularly so as to avoid damage to your skin. Always use light hands so as to avoid any unnecessary pulling that could cause premature ageing and winkles. Where possibly apply products with upwards strokes.

Big fluffy brushes are my go to, I know for those who are professional this may be considered the wrong advice – but for me, it makes applying my makeup easier and helps me to achieve a more airbrushed, natural look that doesn’t require tons of blending.