When I first started out playing with makeup, it was really trial and error. I watched YouTube videos and played around with my products, figuring out what worked for me and what didn’t. Now, after many years of experience, these are 10 makeup tips for makeup beginners that I wished someone would have told me right at the beginning.
I hope that these tips will help you out! So here we go.
1.PREP YOUR SKIN WELL BEFORE MAKEUP APPLICATION
I know this seems like common sense, but it bears repeating. As someone who had oily skin, I thought that I should skip my moisturiser before foundation so that my skin will be less oily throughout the day. However, that is not the case.
Even if you’re oily, make sure that the skin is well hydrated! Firstly, if the skin isn’t hydrated, it will produce even more sebum throughout the day as it wants to retain the moisture within the skin cells. This means you’re probably gonna be even more oily.
Secondly, if the skin isn’t hydrated, foundation and concealer may creep into the fine lines that you may have and emphasise them. Moisturiser helps to plump up the skin, making foundation and concealer go on much smoother and easier.
So prep the skin. Use a good eye cream, facial moisturiser, sun screen and primer before going in with your makeup routine.
2. CREAM AND LIQUID ALWAYS COME BEFORE POWDER
This rule is key in planning which products to apply first. Think of powder as the final seal, as it sets all the creams and liquids that you have applied to the skin previously. If you try to apply more creams and liquids over the powder, the product might skip and become patchy.
Thus, I would usually do my products in the following order:
- primer
- liquid/cream foundation
- concealer
- cream contour/bronzer or both
- cream blush
- cream highlighter
- powder
- powder contour/bronzer or both
- powder blush
- powder highlight
3. FOCUS ON THE CENTRE OF YOUR FACE WHEN APPLYING FOUNDATION
I learnt this tip from a Dior makeup artist a few years back. Generally, the first thing people notice when they see you will probably be the center of your face. This means the nose and under eye area. Rarely will they notice the sides of the jaw and forehead in a quick glance.
This means that when you’re applying foundation, concentrate most of the product on the centre of your face and then using your brush or sponge to work the foundation outwards to cover the rest of your face.
Working on the centre of your face first means focusing more coverage on the main focal points of the face. This will allow most of the foundation to be worked into the skin on the nose, undereye and forehead, before blending the excess outward. This helps to prevent excess application of foundation and provides a more natural look.
If you need more coverage after, pin point the spots and dark circles using a concealer.
4. CLEAN OFF EXCESS MASCARA BEFORE APPLICATION
To ensure an even application and prevent any excess clumps on the lashes which can be quite difficult to remove, do not forget to swipe the wand over the tip of the tube.
This removes any excess mascara on the wand, which ensures that you are coating each lash evenly instead of dumping a ton of product onto a specific section of your lashes. Less product on the wand also means your lashes can get into the bristles nicely, making it much easier to comb and coat each lash.
If the intensity isn’t enough with one coat, you can build it up if you want more volume and drama after!
5. WARM UP YOUR PENCIL EYELINER BEFORE APPLICATION
If you use a pencil eyeliner to draw on your tight line, water line or lash line, warm it up first by running it across the back of your hand for a bit. The heat from your body will reactivate the emollients in the product, so it will glide easily on your skin. This prevents any tugging on your eyelids when you use it on your lash line.
Warming it up also reactivates the pigments, so the eyeliner shows up more obvious when you use it to coat your water line or tight line.
6. WARM UP YOUR FOUNDATION AND CONCEALER BEFORE APPLICATION
Similar to the eyeliner, warming up the concealer and foundation will reactivate the emollients, making it glide on the skin and blend much easier.
For foundation, I like to apply some foundation on the back of my hand, use my finger and in circular motions, warm it up before dotting it onto my skin (focusing on the nose, under eye and forehead). Then I’ll go in and blend it out in outward strokes.
For concealer, I usually would just dispense some on my finger, and use the same finger of the other hand to warm it up by rubbing the fingers together. Then, using both fingers, I dot the concealer onto my under eye area before blending it out.
7. APPLY CONCEALER TO THE SIDES OF THE NOSE
If you’re like me and skip out on foundation regularly, make sure to take a bit of concealer and apply it to the sides of the nose. Women in particular tend to have a bit of redness along the sides of the nose, so concealing it really helps to brighten up the face and make you look more awake. I’m serious, try it out!
My makeup routine on some days just consists of me applying concealer to my undereye area, sides of the nose and a little mascara and lip tint. Easy and quick.
8. WING YOUR LINER FROM EDGE OF YOUR EYE TO THE END OF YOUR BROW
If you’re not sure of the angle to add your winged liner, try this. Imagine a line from the edge of your to the end of your brow. This is a good guide for your wing, if you want to achieve a lifted effect with your liner.
The angle of your winged liner can change the way your eyes look. Winging it up gives your eyes a lifted effect. Winging it downwards gives you more of a doe-eyed effect, like in Korean beauty trends. There is no right or wrong way, so do experiment and see which you like more!
For me, I prefer to wing my liner upwards, and I will usually use the edge of my eye and end of my brow as a guide. This also ensures that the winged liner of both eyes are roughly the same angle.
9. USE EYESHADOW TO LINE YOUR EYES INSTEAD OF A LIQUID/GEL LINER
If you’re a makeup beginner, drawing a winged liner using a liquid or gel liner can be quite challenging. You’d need quite a bit of control and confidence to draw the liner evenly on both sides.
To start out, I’d recommend using an angled brush and some dark eyeshadow (it can be dark brown or black) to line your eyes. This is a quick and easy way to add definition to your eyes. This method is also quite forgiving to any mistakes or shaky hands, and looks more natural.
10. FIND DIFFERENT USES FOR THE SAME PRODUCT
Your makeup collection may not be very large if you’re just started. You also do not need a lot of different products to achieve a great look, despite what current beauty marketing says.
More often than not, one product in your collection can be used in various ways. Play around with them, and then build up your collection slowly if you see the need to in the future. Don’t go out and buy makeup products blindly!
Here are some examples of multi-purposing your makeup product:
- Eyebrow pencil can be used as an eyeliner to add definition to your eyes and cream contour (when used lightly!)
- Lipsticks can also double up as cream blush
- Use an angled brush and your mascara as substitute for liquid liner
- Cheek highlighter can be used as eyeshadow and inner corner highlight
- Add a little bit of facial oil to your liquid concealer to use it as foundation (the oil dilutes it and makes it blend easier)
There we have it, my 10 makeup tips for makeup beginners! I know makeup can be intimidating sometimes, as there are countless products in the market and so many makeup tutorials floating around. But makeup can be simple and a few products used wisely can help you achieve a look that gives you added confidence easily.
I hope you learnt something from these tips and that you would try them out yourself! If you want to learn more, I have two masterclasses for face and eyes on Skillshare where I talk face and eye makeup in depth. You can check them out on Skillshare and you can use my link for 2 months free to access the classes:
What is one makeup tip that you will try? Or, what is another makeup tip you would like to share?
Till then,
