In last week’s post on insecurity, I bared my face to the world. I believe that God uses His creation to decorate the landscapes and blank canvases of the earth and sky. In the same way, I feel that God gave us a blank canvas with our faces. Enhancing the gorgeous features God gave us shows appreciation for the uniqueness of our appearance.

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Before putting on makeup, however, you should always, always, always, start off with a clean slate. Pun intended.

Step 1: Wash your face.

Before you wash your face, take off your eye makeup. This is a “do what I say, not what I do” situation because I normally sleep with my eye make up on. Yes, I know it’s bad for me. Yes, I’m trying to do better.

Washing your face neutralizes your ph levels in your skin and can help prevent that orange streak around your jaw line. Skin care also helps the makeup go on smoother. I like Mary Kay’s Timewise cleanser (which includes a toner and exfoliant), but when I need to really slough off some dead skin, I use a stronger scrub from Target or Walmart, like the Apricot scrub.

Be gentle when you wash. Always use an upward-and-outward motion to avoid pulling down on your skin. Gravity is already working us against us, my friends. Up-and-out! Up-and-out!

Step 2: Supplement and Moisturize!

Supplements are the anti-aging creams, sun-spot correctors, sunscreens, etc that you put on before the moisturizer. You want those products applied directly to your skin, not on top of the moisturizer, so moisturizer is always the last product before your makeup.

Step 3: Apply Eye Primer and Concealor

 While my supplements and moisturizer are soaking in and drying, I apply concealor and eye primer. I love Urban Decay’s eyelid primer. My eyes are “hooded,” which means you can’t see most of my lid when my eyes are open. This means my eyeshadow has a tendency to “pool” in the crease of my lids. 

Eye primer reduces any redness on my eyelids, and keeps my eyeshadow on longer and helps it look brighter. I use less eyeshadow when I apply the primer first, so my shadows last even longer!

Step 4: Apply Foundation

Now that our faces are as clean and primed, let’s move onto foundation.

Foundation is all about “erasing” your face into a clean canvas, meaning, use foundation and concealer to even out skin tone. Sometimes I even put foundation on my lips to blend the lip line and create a truly even starting point for cosmetics.

I don’t consider foundation to be “makeup.” Instead, foundation is part of my skin care routine. It prevents the pollution in the air from getting into your skin. Whether you choose a liquid or powder foundation, use it everyday. Every day.

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You can use your fingers, a sponge, or a foundation brush to apply a liquid formula. I like to use my fingers, and dot it on the areas that have skin spots or extra redness.

Do the “stripe-test” instead of testing the foundation color on your wrist. Stripe the foundation on your jaw line to see if it blends into your neck.

Sephora has an amazing color-match system created by Pantone that takes pictures of your skin and undertone, and emails you a list of all the brands and colors that work best for your skin. It’s really cool.

Once your foundation is applied, you get to move on the artistic side of makeup. Powders and blushes let you sculpt your face. Nose a little too big? Make it look smaller. Need to create the illusion of higher cheekbones? Not a problem. Want your neck to look thinner? Done.

That’s coming next time in the Power of Makeup Series, Part Two continued. See you then!

[callout]In case you missed them: Power of Makeup series, Part One,  Part Two: Foundation,  Part Three: Sculpting,  Part Four: Eyebrows,  Part Five: Eyeshadow, Part Fiveb: Eyeliner and Accent Colors, Part Six: Mascara, Part Seven: Lips[/callout]

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