Make-Up Techniques

The Dos and Don'ts of Cosmetic Application

I remember being a small child and sitting on a footstool beside my mother's vanity table and watching her apply her make-up. She called it "putting on her pretty face". I was fascinated.

There were these bottles and brushes and powders and pads and she used each one, step by step, creating subtle changes in her face. She added colors, and glosses, and used what she called a wand which made her eyelashes long and thick. When she was finished, she looked different. She still looked like my mother, but somehow brighter.

That was my first introduction to make-up and the alchemy that women all over the world perform every day to enhance their natural look. As I grew up and began to pay more attention to such things, I noticed the girls around me in school and the way they wore their make-up. Some girls seemed to wear none at all, while others seemed to wear lots and lots. A rare few always seemed to be applying make-up, but I could never tell for certain if they had done so without seeing them in action.

As I got into high school and began my apprenticeship in costuming and theatrical design, I learned from my mentor just how dramatically make-up could change a person's appearance. I learned about make-up for the stage productions, and for the real world. I worked with pageant contestants, actors and actresses in community theatre projects and student productions, and began to work with various friends who would ask my opinion from time to time.

In those years spent training and working with different women, I learned that women weren't born knowing how to apply make-up. Most women learn about using cosmetics from watching their mothers, aunts, grandmothers or older sisters and from friends who are also learning to use make-up. If the persons they emulated were skilled in using make-up, the women often did a good job. But some of these young women were perpetuating dramatic mistakes which they had learned.

Proper Make-Up Application:

Learning good make-up application techniques takes practice and patience. And it helps to have someone who is willing to tell you if you've done something wrong. There are books available - and videos too - but while these are useful for learning new techniques or looks, they aren't required in order to learn the basics.

That's what we're going to cover here today. Simple techniques for applying make-up for both daytime and evening wear. We're also going to cover the rules for selecting the right make-up for daytime and evening, because they are very different situations and call for different shades and techniques.

Rule Number One: You can always add a little more.

With applying make-up you should remember that you can always add a little more, but if you use too much, you usually have to wipe it all off and restart. So, be cautious when applying your make-up. Start out light and add more as needed.

The purpose of cosmetics is to enhance a woman's natural beauty. It's important to remember this. Make-up is designed to help minimize imperfections in the skin, and accentuate the shape of the facial features. Yet, it's important to be realistic in your expectations. Often it's unrealistic expectations that lead to overdoing your make-up.

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