An Incomplete Guide to Makeup featuring: The Face
So you walk into a Sephora for the first time and are, understandably, a bit lost. There are so many different brands and colors and tools, it’s all quite dizzying. I think, at its best, makeup can be a wonderful tool of artistry and self expression. I won’t get into makeup at its worst tho….
Anyway, I want to go over the basics in a way that hopefully makes sense to those who want to learn. I’m going break this into sections of face, eyebrows, eyes, and lips. And I want to preface this by saying that makeup has no rules! If you want to wear concealer as eyeshadow whomst am I to stop you? This is just a guide of how things are typically done. So let’s get started!
First things first: Skincare! I won’t pretend to be an expert in skincare, but your skin is important. Keep it moisturized with lotion/cream/gel and protected with sunscreen and please, please, please wash your makeup off before you go to bed! If you exfoliate, don’t do it everyday, no matter what Kylie Jenner says. (I can make a separate post for skincare if y'all want more detail.)
Things you typically wear on your face are primer, foundation, concealer, powder (setting and finishing), blush, bronzer, highlighter, and setting spray. You do not have to wear all of these things at once or, any at all if you don’t want to, but some people do. Just know that, unless you want it to move around your face, any liquid or cream product should be set with powder.
So you know how if you need to paint a wall, it needs a primer to help it stick to the wall and to protect the wall? Makeup primer works the same way. It protects the skin and helps the foundation stick (more on foundation later), can control oil, and can blur “imperfections” such as some texture and large pores. There are two main types: silicone based and water based. I’m told that matching the primer brand and foundation brand is good because the products are made to work together but I have never tested this myself. I’ve also been told that you should match silicone based primer and foundation and water based primer and foundation.
Silicone based primers: (If you see words ending in -cone,-methicone, or -siloxane in the first few ingredients then the primer is silicone-based). These have a smooth, kind of thick, texture and are good for blurring pores, fine lines, and texture.
Water based primers: (water is probably the first ingredients). These have a watery texture, are light, and are good for dry skin (1).
These are very Your Mileage May Vary on what works for you.
If makeup primer is like paint primer, then foundation is the paint. It gives you a blank canvas to work with. This is your base. It evens skin tone and depending on the coverage, covers blemishes, redness, dark spots. Coverage can vary from BB/CC creams (basically sunscreen/lotion with some tint in it and also very difficult to find in darker shades) to super full cover up your past mistakes type coverage. Just like paint, it comes in a spectrum of matte (no shine) to gloss, called radiant or glow, which is all shine. What you want depends on preference and how oily your skin is. For example, if you have really dry skin, a super mattifying foundation might make your skin *too* dry.
This section primarily focuses on liquid, cream, and stick foundations as I don’t and have never worn powder foundation.
Next, we need to talk shades because the whole point of foundation is that it matches your skin. To find a good match you need to know your undertone, which can be a little complicated. Generally, when makeup says it’s “cool toned” they mean pink, reds, and blues. If they say “warm toned” they mean yellows, golds and peaches. Neutral lands somewhere in the middle. It’s not an exact science but this page may help you.
Shade ranges typically go, from lightest to darkest, Fair -> Light -> Medium -> Tan -> Dark -> Deep
Some drugstore* options with good shade ranges are: Maybelline, Nyx, Colourpop, L’Oreal Paris, Covergirl and E.L.F
Some higher end options with good shade ranges are: Nars, Too Faced, Estee Lauder, Fenty, Lancome, and MAC
You can use a brush or a sponge (or both!) to apply foundation. I like to apply with a brush and blend with a damp sponge, but that’s just personal preference. :)
(Image: A picture of 5 different types of foundations brushes that are labeled, from left to right “flat/paddle brush.” “stippling/duo-fiber brush,” “flat-top kabuki brush,” “buffing brush,” and “round-top kabuki brush (good for powder foundation).” In between the buffing brush and round-top kabuki, there is a pink, tear drop shaped sponge.)
Drugstore: Morphe, E.L.F, NYX and Real Techniques
High end: Sigma Beauty, MAC, and Sephora Brand
I think I’ll do another post some other time about techniques with each but moving on!
Think of concealer like heavy duty foundation. It is thicker and more full coverage than foundation and more for small areas than the full face. Just like foundation, it does vary in the amount of coverage. It can go above or under foundation. There are three ways to use concealer: Spot covering, color correcting, and highlighting and contouring.
Spot covering is what it sounds like, covering small spots that the foundation might not have covered. Typically done with the same color as the foundation.
Color correcting is taking a color and that isn’t your skin tone to “correct” some blemish or darkness. So brief rundown:
Peach: Dark spots on light to medium skin tones
Orange: Dark spots on tan to dark skin tones
Red: Dark spots on deep skin tones
Green: Persistent redness from acne
Yellow: Mild redness
Pink: Dark circles and overall dullness on light skin tones
Purple: Dark circles and overall dullness on dark skin tones (2)
Highlighting and Contouring**
Popularized by Kim Kardashian. Highlighting is taking a color that is lighter than your skin tone and, well, using it to direct attention to certain parts of your face (or brighten up the under eye area). Common areas to highlight are under eye/above cheek bone/center forehead/chin/bridge of nose. Can also be used under an eyebrow to help shape it.
Contouring is taking a color that is darker and cooler than your skin tone and using it to deepen/chisel your features or create the illusion of shadow. Common areas to contour are under the cheekbones, around perimeter of forehead, around the jawline, and the sides of the nose.
You can highlight and contour with foundation or powders, but it’s often done with concealer.
Drugstore: Maybelline, Colourpop, Milani, L’Oreal, NYX
High End: Nars, Too Faced, CoverFX, Makeup Forever
Can be applied with a sponge or a brush, like the few below. They tend to be smaller than foundation brushes because you use less concealer.
(Image: 5 small brushes shown vertically) (3)
There are two main types of powders, setting powder and finishing powder.
Setting powder, which may be loose or pressed in a pan, prevents base makeup from moving and can prevent areas of the face from getting oily and breaking up makeup. Often done with translucent powder. Despite its name, MOST white translucent powders are not actually translucent on dark skin tones. It will appear as a grey cast, but you can get “translucent” powders in tan, beige, and yellow. It can be very hard to find good translucent powder.
Drugstore: Maybelline, Morphe
High End: Laura Mercier, Beauty Bakery, and Fenty Beauty
Finishing powder is what it sounds like. You put it on after all of your makeup is done to get it all nice and airbrushed looking. These are typically are loose powder and aren’t really used as much as setting powder. Sometimes finishing and setting powders are used interchangeably (4). At the end of the day it is just powder that goes on your face.
Drugstore: Colourpop, Maybelline, Morphe, NYX
High End: Sephora Brand, MAC, Ben Nye
Setting powder is typically applied with a sponge (damp or not) and pressed into the oiliest parts or parts you want to highlight, called baking.
Finishing powder is typically dusted over the face with a big fluffy brush like this one.
(Image: A black makeup brush with a round, fluffy, white tip that is widest at its top) (5)
This, along with lipstick, is probably one of the most well known aspects of makeup. Blush can be powder, cream, or liquid and is used to bring a bit of flush back to the cheeks (or nose for some people). Can be matte or sparkly. Not all blushes work for all people and this largely depends on skin tones. A light pink blush will look grey on me for example. And yes, blush can work on dark skin, it just depends on the color blush.
Drugstore blushes: Colourpop, NYX, Maybelline, Milani, and Morphe
High end blushes: Nars, Makeup Forever, Lancome, MAC and Bobbi Brown
Cream or liquid blush can be applied with fingers or a sponge. Powder blush is applied with a powder brush, which is also the brush above!
Many people confuse bronzing and contouring. The purpose of contouring is to make your face look more chiseled (or snatched as the kids say). Bronzing is to make you look a little more sun kissed and tan. It’s typically a powder (I have never seen a cream or liquid bronzer but I’m sure it exists) and can be matte or sparkly. It’s applied in about the same place as a contouring might be, but softer and more diffused.
Drugstore bronzers: NYX, Colourpop, Maybelline
High end bronzers: Anastasia Beverly Hills, Nars, Bobbi Brown
Applied with a fluffy powder brush or angle brush or short stipple brush.
(Image, a black brush with a silver hilt and black bristles. The brush is flat on top and angled to the right) (6)
((Note: You can also do a powder contour with that type of brush!))
And here, the shiny champion.
I don’t know how to describe it other than it’s put on certain spots to make light reflect there. It can be liquid, cream, or powder. Some people want a nice subtle glow. Some people want to look like they’re trying to flag down a plane. It might be put on the cheekbone, under the brow bone, on the tip of the nose or down the nose bridge.
Here is an example of it in use:
(Image, white woman with dark hair in makeup and wearing Stila Glitter and Glow Face Highlighter on her cheek bones, under the brown bone, on the bridge and tip of the nose, in the inner corner of the eye, and on the forehead)
I find that silvery/white highlighter tends to look washed out on dark skin, but there’s no hard and fast rule on what colors to use. You can go from more traditional colors like gold and silver or you can wear purple or green or blue highlighter. It’s all up to you!
Drugstore highlighters: Physicians Formula, Maybelline, NYX, Colourpop, and ELF
High end highlighters: Anastasia Beverly Hills, Stila, CoverFX, Hourglass, and Laura Geller
If it’s a liquid or cream it might be applied with fingers or a sponge. If it’s a powder, it can be applied with a tapered brush or fan brush like so
(Image, two makeup brushes. One has a round tip that is wider in the middle and slimmer at the top. One has a tip that is shaped like a fan.) (7)
Last but not least! This is spray that helps melt your makeup into your skin/reduce the appearance of powder, and helps your makeup stay put. This is the last step for the face. All you do is just spray it all over your face.
Drugstore: Morphe, E.L.F., Colourpop
High end: Too Faced, Urban Decay, MAC
*I know Colourpop and Morphe are not sold alongside drugstore products but the prices are comparable
**I can do a post on Highlighting and Contour techniques if anyone wants
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