Beauty | Flawless Face

 

Ever seen someone, who on second look is obviously wearing makeup, and still be compelled to remark “Wow, her skin is flawless!”?

Fresh-faced makeup looks prompt this response. Not that intricately applied, brightly colored cosmetics aren’t fabulous, but then the response  usually is “Wow, great makeup!”.

There is a difference. In the first look, the individual is wearing the compliment and in the second, the makeup is.

Ever notice advertisements that promote skin care products, where they would like you to believe that the model’s face is ‘naturally’ clean like that after washing?

Mhmm.. Don’t believe the hype.

Apart from costly air-brushing, the look is as a result of expertly applied makeup in hues that match the model’s natural skin colour and tone perfectly. You too can achieve this look. 

Regardless of makeup trends, a ‘flawless face’ is always in style. ‘Less-is-more’ will always work in your favour when it comes to looking fabulously flawless.  Leave overdone statements for accessories and shoes – things that wouldn’t smudge and smear, and instead work makeup that is classically chic.

Find the right foundation

A little goes a long way with foundation. The new lightweight formulations that appear to blend in, work well at creating a naturally flawless canvas. Take your time to find the foundation that works for you, and invest if necessary, especially if you have darker golden skin.

Mineral makeup is all the rage these days, and often these formulations contain either zinc oxide or titanium dioxide (or both), which are natural sunscreen agents. However these minerals are opaque white in colour, and can make darker skin tones appear ashy, especially when exposed to unnatural lights like camera flashes. 

Use natural hues

Stick to makeup hues that flatter your skin tone. For darker skin tones for example use eyeshadow palettes that are goldy for highlighting, bronze, and coppery for midtones, and deep chocolate and smokey blacks for accenting the outer corners of the eyes. As these colours are close to your natural skin tone, if they start to wear during the day or night it is not hardly as detectable as wearing pale, silvery tones on bronzed skin.

Sheer lipsticks, which look like lip glosses but are longer wearing and less goopy, in natural pinky tones for fairer skin tones and coral-ish hues for darker skin tones, work excellently for a flawless look. Looks like your natural lips, just enhanced. 

Use blotting paper rather than powder for touch-ups

Adding too much powder can make face look cakey and unnatural. Those round cosmetic sponges that come with most compact powders can pick up a lot of powder with one swipe. Putting on makeup this way as a ‘quick touch up’, especially when you are in a rush can result in a look that says, “I just applied compact powder”. 

Once you have properly applied loose powder over the foundation the first time around, let the natural, youthful dewy-ness show through the night, while keeping the excess shine at bay with the use of blotting paper/ tissues.

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Hair | Working with natural tone and texture

Different hair cuts flatter different face shapes. If you are interested in rocking a hue other than your natural hair tone for a change, or would just like to brighten up your face, there are  hair colours/ coloring techniques that work best depending on a person’s skin tone and hair texture.

If your hair stylist is anything worth a damn s/he should be able to give you a lesson on this. S/he should also be skilled enough to let you know that you are dead wrong for bringing in a pic of the waif-like celebrity socialite to the salon with you, when you are the unofficial president of the couch potato club. No judgements, but a spade is a spade. If you find difficulty taking care of yourself, chances are that you wouldn’t find the time to keep up with high maintenance hair.

Unless you are a rock star, moving your natural hair colour more than 2 shades away from it’s natural hue, lighter or darker, is generally not a good idea.

Although the look may work with your dolled up night attire, it probably wouldn’t work for your everyday one.

Also, take a good look at the maintenance of that colour when moving more than 2 shades away from your natural hair colour. You’d have to be at the salon every 4 weeks to reasonably manage visibly lighter or darker roots, and healthy practice suggests that hair should not be chemically processed before 6-8 week intervals.

Do the math and you’d realize that your hair would be under extreme stress. Consider the damage that is done to natural hair that is stripped of it’s colour as well as otherwise processed – permed/ relaxed/ texturized and/or would require daily heat styling.

If you would like to go more than 2 shades for a ‘change’, instead try clip in hair pieces, wigs or lace fronts. If you think the idea of a blonde lace front is crazy wack, that’s exactly what others think when you choose to take your good healthy dark tresses and bleach them blonde.

Be the best you everyday. Find the hair and hair care regime that works for you.

 

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