I've been compiling this page for a little while. Actually, it's been a long while. For those of you that aren't really into makeup, I'm going to talk to you about the basics and show you what items you should have in your makeup bag to start out with. Now don't panic, I'm not telling you to go out and buy everything at once, but these are just some ideas of how you can add onto what you already have and build your perfect everyday look. I'll be explaining what things are, what colors you need, etc.
Eyes
There are so many makeup eye diagrams on google, it can be damn right confusing to understand when there are so many different diagrams! So I've picked two that complement each other and show you what one diagram can't do alone. If this is too confusing, let me know and I'll do my own diagram on my own eyes.
Take a minute to look at these photos. You can divide the eye up into 4 basic parts or colors. To achieve the most basic look, all you need is 4 eyeshadow colors, maybe even 3 if you're using a pencil/liquid/gel liner. It's really easy, you can look at my tutorials, I tend to do this application for most of the more basic looks.
The Eyes
- Highlight: is the lightest color. it is also sometimes used as a base on the entire eye area (lashline to brow). If it is a bit darker, only use it from the crease up to the brow. This goes on first
- Lid: Second, we move onto the lid. This should be the medium color. Apply it all over the lid, but leave the outer lid empty.
- Crease & Outer V: This is the 3rd step and the darkest color. Apply into the fold of your eye. I like to take it halfway (middle of pupil) and bring it down into the outer lid. That is what the Outer V is. It makes a V shape and its on the outer part of the eye.
- Liner: I usually use the same color I used for the crease, or I take an even darker color. This is the last step. You can apply an eyeshadow/pencil/liquid/gel/whatever you want. You line your upper and lower lashes, and if you do not have sensitive eyes you can even go and do your upper and lower waterlines.
Eyeshadow Primer
Nowadays almost every eyeshadow company makes primers. What do they do? They keep your eyeshadow down, keep it vivid, and prevent it from creasing. If you're using pharmacy brand eyeshadow I strongly suggest you use a primer. If you're using more higher end brands you don't need it but I do encourage you to use it.
Now what colors to pick?
Assuming you have no makeup collection whatsoever, I would suggest buying nudes/neutrals/browns/beiges first before all else. These are the kinds of colors you are most likely going to wear to school or work everyday. You can research different brands and shades online, so you can go into the store with an idea of what you want and some shades you'd like to see. Of course, if you prefer purples or another color, by all means buy purples.
Urban Decay's Naked palettes are excellent for this neutral look.
Too Faced's palettes are a bit more shimmery and sparkly but they do come with instruction cards, called Glamour Guides, that make it easy and fun.
You can also go to MAC and buy a quad. Have a makeup artist help you if you're not sure what colors to get. I would suggest Shroom, Naked Lunch, Cork, Bronze,Woodwinked, Espresso, and Brun to start with. Get Carbon (matte black) as a liner.
Sephora also comes out with palettes throughout the year, this is a great way to get a lot of eyeshadows without having to spend a lot of money. Their Christmas Blockbusters look insane. But in a very good way.
If you don't like browns, you can also try purples and greens. Go with whatever you feel most comfortable with. You can even go neutral and use a tiny splash of color.
Now what finish to pick?
Matte, shimmer, glitter, oh my! Older women should go with matte colors and younger women can go either way. Now glitter, I would only use one shadow per look unless you're going out clubbing. The glitter can get a little bit overwhelming when your whole look is made entirely of glitter. Not to mention it will probably get all over your face. Using matte and shimmer together gives definition to your look. Personally, I like using shimmer for the highlight, and I alternate between matte and shimmer for the lid and crease. I use matte or shimmer for the liner, depending on what kind of look I'm going for.
Mascara?
There are a ton of different mascaras. It might take some experimenting to find one that's right for you. I find that mascara really completes any look and makes your eyes stand out. If you were to wear only one makeup product, I would pick mascara because it makes your eyes really stand out. Tip: tightline your upper waterline with eyeliner to make your lashes appear fuller.
The Face
I'm going to talk about concealer, foundation, blush and bronzer in the most basic sense. Contouring and highlighting won't be covered today. That'll have to wait for another time. I'm still having a bit of a time mastering contouring, but I think I'm starting to have it covered. Practice makes perfect after all.
Face Primer
Face primer preps the skin for foundation and it can even smooth out your pores, creating a nice smooth canvas. I also find I use less foundation when I use a primer and the foundation glides on the skin and gives a better finish. I recommend investing in a primer. You would apply it after moisturizing. Many companies make face primers so there are many to choose from.
Concealer
There are basically 2 types of concealers that one can buy. One for undereye circles and one for blemishes. Why 2 types? Why can't I just buy one?
Concealers for undereye circles should be a shade darker than your foundation and should be more yellow-toned because you want to cancel out the blue/purple. This should be applied before foundation. The formula is liquid.
Concealers for blemishes should be the same shade as your foundation because it is applied after your foundation. It is applied after so you're not putting a ton on at first and then smudging it off when you put foundation on. The formula is thicker and creamy because you want to cover pimples, and to cover it you also have to build up to the bump and cover around the bump.
There are also color correctors, but I won't be talking about that here. That'll be in the more advanced page that I will eventually be doing.
Foundation
There are two tones that you can fall into. Yellow and pink. Most people are said to be yellow. I'm pink. So it can be a bit hard for me to find a foundation and a universal colored BB cream will probably not work for me because it most likely caters to yellow-toned people.
How to tell if you are yellow or pink-toned? The easiest, surest way would be to go to a makeup artist at a counter and have them color-match you. Then go to a few more artists in different stores and have them color match you again. We're all human and make mistakes. You want to be sure what tone you are before you go out and start buying foundation. If you are yellow-toned and you put on a pink-toned foundation, it won't look right. Same for pink-toned putting on a yellow-toned foundation. Hold up a piece of paper to your face. Does your face look more pink or more yellow? It's also possible to be neutral, meaning in between yellow and pink. This means you can go either way for foundation.
That's about all I can tell you about foundation. Honestly, if you try on the wrong tone, you will see a difference. An idiot sold me MAC Matchmaster, which is more yellow-toned, even after I told him I'm pink-toned numerous times. I tried it on at home, and it went on yellow on me. I returned it promptly.
There are also various levels of coverage, ranging from sheer to full coverage. There are also different types of finishes, like matte, satin, etc. It's up to you to pick what kind of coverage and what type of finish you are looking for in your foundation.
Blush
Does the old saying "pinch your cheeks to find your shade" ring a bell? Well that is not the shade you should be going for. For applying blush, the most basic technique is smiling and doing the apples of your cheeks. Another technique is to start where the pupil is (don't apply your blush right to your nose) and brush away from the face on an angle going up towards the end of your brow.
I tried to find a face chart showing where to apply blush and bronzer but I couldn't find a decent and simple one. I might edit this page one day with my own face chart.
In my own personal experience, light skinned girls with pink undertones should go with pink blush. It complements your skin extremely well. Stay away from orange though.
If you are yellow-toned, I would go for more orange/peach colors.
Women of color are able to wear very bold colours, like red, fuschia, orange for example. But lighter blushes won't appear on darker skin and might look a little ashy.
That's about all I can tell you for blush. Haven't had the opportunity to practise makeup on different people so I'm telling you this from observation. I actually found my favorite blush color by accident, I wanted to try Benefit products for the first time so I bought a set of 4 products (which was an amazing deal) and I ended up loving the blush that came with it. It's Bella Bamba. By trial and error you will discover what colors and shades work for you.
Bronzer
I won't be talking about contouring, but on how to give your skin a healthy a glow by applying it all over the face. Firstly, there are two types of bronzers, matte and shimmer.
Matte bronzers are usually used for contouring but they do give you a nice warmth without looking too shimmery. It is the most natural looking way to give yourself that darker look.
Shimmer bronzers shouldn't be used for contouring but they make great all over bronzers. I find they really give a nice finish but if you have oily skin it can make it look even more oily.
You should apply bronzer wherever the sun naturally hits the skin, across the forehead, down the nose, on the chin, the temples, around your face.
Some bronzers are more orangey, some are more brown. I find that bronzers tend to be either hit or miss for me so it's easy to see what works and what doesn't. Try an orange and a brown bronzer and see which color works best on you.
When I bought Too Faced's Pink Leopard, I bought it because it looked cute. But it turned out to be my favourite bronzer and I use it daily. Recently, I bought a matte bronzer because I wanted to try contouring, and it was tough to pick one out. I ended up buying Too Faced's new Bronzed and Poreless and I really like it. It's lighter than their other bronzers so it's perfect for my light skin.
Lips
I am not a lipliner girl, I must admit. All I know is that you don't want to pick a color that is too much darker than your lipstick color. You want it to define your lips and also blend in to your lipstick color. Try to match the colors as best as you can, or go one shade darker.
Now for lipstick and lipgloss, what I was saying for blush colors can also apply for lips.
Warm-toned girls should use peachy/apricot lip products.
Cold-toned girls should use pink lip products.
If you are fair like me, you should use light shades for a more natural look. The darker your skin is, the darker a shade you can pick.
Even though pink looks the best on me, I still have a range of colors that I like to play around with, especially if I'm doing a look and I know that, say plum for example, would look killer in that look. I'll go with plum. It's fun to mix and match lip colors, so here I am only telling you what would look the best, especially for an everyday look. I'm not telling you that you cannot wear any other lip color.
So that's all for now! This is a very basic makeup post that covers every category of makeup and explains how to use it and how to choose which colors that go best with your skin type and color. I hope this helped you and you were able to choose products that work with your skin and color. Now, I am going to list some products that I would choose if I had no makeup whatsoever and wanted to start getting into makeup. I will give you examples for light skin, medium skin, and darker skin. I would also love to talk about different skin types at some point, but right now this is going to be very basic and about color.
Imagine you have no makeup products. This is going to be the basis for your "shopping list". For the blushes, bronzer, and lipsticks, obviously not all of them are going to be on your list. I mentioned quite a few so that you could pick out one or two colors that appeal to you.
EYES
Eyeshadow Primer
Too Faced Shadow Insurance
Urban Decay Primer Potion
I use both primers, but I do use Too Faced's Shadow Insurance more. Eyeshadow primer helps the eyeshadow stay on without creasing and it also helps the color to pop out more than it would without a primer. This is an essential product that will help you build your eyeshadow look.
Eyeshadow
MAC Eyeshadow Quad in: Shroom, Naked Lunch, Wedge, Woodwinked, Espresso
You should definitely have a quad that has work appropriate colors to start off with. You can also have a second quad with darker eyeshadows for night. You also want to have a range of finishes, never strictly one type of finish because you want the different finishes to help add dimension to your look. I was originally going to put Shroom in the picture but for some reason that shade was not available in the Build Your Own Quad part of the site. So I put Naked Lunch instead, and it's a color that I use all the time. I will eventually include a photo of my own shadows in a quad so you can see what they look like in real life. I think that with these 4 eyeshadows you will be able to build a couple different looks and you can also use Espresso as an eyeliner. If Espresso if too dark for you, I would recommend using Charcoal Brown instead. If you aren't familiar with MAC, you get to build your own quad so you're able to choose exactly which colors you want.
Eyeliner
Urban Decay Triple Threat Eyeliner Set (Rockstar, Demolition, and Zero)
I thought this was such a perfect eyeliner set. It has the basic colors that a person needs to pull off any look. It comes with Rockstar, which is a matte eggplant purple; Demolition, which is a darkest matte brown; and Zero, which is a matte black. I think that the basic eyeliner colors that one needs are: black, brown, purple, green, white, and beige or pink. Blue is also an option. With these basic colors, you will be able to add a nice pop to any look. This set of mini eyeliners starts you off in the right direction.
Mascara
Too Faced Lashgasm
MAC Zoomlash in Zoomblack
There are many different types of mascaras that do different things. The mascara you buy will depend on what you are trying to enhance. Do you want volume? Thicker lashes? Longer lashes? Waterproof? Defined lashes? The shape of the brush also has a big role in this. Plastic brushes with little bristles are really good for defining lashes, whereas those old bristle brushes are fantastic at building volume. The shape of the brushes also play a role too. Too Faced's Lashgasm mascara has a plastic wand which is great for defining lashes and MAC's Zoomlash mascara has a bristle wand which is great for building volume. So it's up to you to choose what kind of lashes you want.
FACE
Face Primer
Too Faced Primed and Poreless
I am definitely a big fan of primers, and this one is my favorite. It helps to smooth out your skin and pores to create a flat base to work on. It also helps me use less foundation than I would without having used a primer. It really makes your skin feel smooth and prepares it for your foundation application.
Concealer
MAC Select Cover-Up Concealer in NW20 (for under eye circles)
MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NW20 (for blemishes)
As I mentioned earlier, you need 2 concealers: one for your under eye circles and one for your blemishes. For both concealers, I use MAC. Their Select Cover-Up Concealer has a very full coverage and is liquid. It covers up under eye circles like a dream. For under eye circles, you want to pick a shade that is slightly lighter than your skintone, and that is to brighten up your face. For blemishes, I use Studio Finish Concealer which is a cream (you want a cream for blemishes) and you should also choose a shade that matches your skintone and foundation exactly. I use NW20. NW has a pink undertone and their NC has a yellow undertone. NW is for cool toned girls and NC is for warm toned girls. They have a range of shades for the lightest girl to the darkest girl.
Foundation
MUFE HD Foundation in 110
I use Makeup Forever's HD Foundation. It is buildable and you can go from sheer to full coverage. I really like the texture of it and I love how it goes on my skin and how it feels on it. Shade 110 also matches my skin tone exactly, and I've never had a foundation that did that before. They have a very big range of shades, they have 26 which is more than MAC, so I'm sure that any girl can find a shade that matches her skintone. Mine is 110 and it's about the lightest one they have.
Powder
MUFE HD Powder
Too Faced Primed and Poreless Powder
I use loose powder so I've listed two of them. Loose powder is better than pressed powder for setting your makeup. I also prefer to use a brush than to use the poof that comes in the package. I use Makeup Forever's HD Powder to set my foundation in place. I use their Kabuki brush that came in a face set that I got from them at Sephora. It's your basic white powder and it absorbs oil and helps to keep you shine free. Too Faced's Primed and Poreless Powder does the same thing, except it is a light beige color instead of white like the other one. I think that they are both very good powders. If you really want to use a pressed powder, I've heard only wonderful things about the new NARS Light Reflecting Pressed Powder. I haven't used it myself, but everyone is raving about it. Too Faced is also coming out with a pressed powder version of their Primed and Poreless Powder in the near future.
Blush
NARS Orgasm
This is such a universally flattering blush. It looks amazing on everyone. It is a peachy pink, but more towards the peach side, and it has a bit of shimmer. This blush is beautiful.
Benefit Bella Bamba
Bella Bamba is similar to NARS Orgasm, except it has more of a watermelon pink color. For a very long time, this was my favorite blush. I still love it, but I've discovered others that I love.
MAC Cremeblend Blush in So Sweet, So Easy
This is a beautiful yellow pink cream blush. It goes on softly, without putting on too much color at once. It is buildable so you're able to reach the perfect amount of pink that you want on your cheeks. This is my current favorite blush.
Chanel Joues Contraste in 64 Pink Explosion
This is a deep pink color with a touch of shimmer. It is a baked blush, so it goes on light but it is very pigmented and the color is buildable. For me, I need just a little bit but because the blush is a deep pink, darker girls can also wear it.
Benefit PosieTint
Benefit ChaChaTint
These liquid cheek and lip tints by Benefit offer colors than appeal to almost everyone. Posietint, which is a light pink, is great for girls with lighter skin while Cha Cha Tint, which is a light orange/coral color, is great for girls with darker skin.
NARS Blush in Exhibit A
This red blush looks like it would be amazing on a woman of color. Obviously lighter girls like me would never be able to pull it off but I really think that this color would look amazing on a very dark woman of color. Looking at photos online, I really don't think it is all that flattering for lighter skinned girls but it really looks beautiful on darker girls. Other dark colors, like NARS Seduction would also look beautiful on darker girls.
Bronzer
Too Faced Pink Leopard
This is my all-time favorite bronzer. It has a light bronze, darker bronze and pink and you swirl it with a brush to get a beautiful glowy color. If you are really light like me, you can use it as an all over bronzer, to give you a beautiful glow. Medium-toned girls can even use it as a blushing bronzer and add color to their cheeks.
Too Faced Bronzed and Poreless
This is a pore-perfecting bronzer and it is so soft. This is the lightest color matte bronzer that Too Faced has and it is a perfect color for me and all other light skinned girls. I use this to contour and I even use it as an all over bronzer to give myself a slight tan. I have to go light on the application to make sure I don't apply too much. I don't think that medium to dark skinned girls would be able to use this bronzer because it is very light, but medium skinned girls should try it out because they might be able to wear it.
Too Faced Sun Bunny
This is their best-selling shimmer bronzer. I like the color of this bronzer but it is a tad too dark for my light skin. Medium to dark skinned girls would love this. It would give them a nice sun-kissed glow.
Too Faced Chocolate Soleil
This is their all-time best selling bronzer ever! It is matte and it is a dark brown color, and yes, it smells like chocolate. It is very dark and I have to use an extremely light hand with it. While it might not be ideal for light skinned girls, I think this would be perfect for medium to dark skinned girls. This would be the perfect contour bronzer for them.
LIPS
Lipstick
N u d e s
Too Faced La Creme in In The Buff
NARS Lipstick in Belle De Jour
P i n k s
Too Faced La Creme in Marshmallow Bunny
NARS Lipstick in Schiap
P e a c h e s a n d C o r a l s
Too Faced La Creme in Juicy Melons
NARS Lipstick in Barbarella
M a u v e s
Too Faced La Creme in Honey Bear
NARS Lipstick in Damage
R e d s
Too Faced La Creme in Stiletto Red
NARS Lipstick in Red Lizard
Ligloss
N u d e s
Too Faced Glamour Gloss in First Time
NARS Lip Gloss in Chihuahua
P i n k s
Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Barely Legal
Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Chihuahua Bite
NARS Lip Gloss in Turkish Delight
NARS Lip Gloss in Angelika
P e a c h e s a n d C o r a l s
Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Plush
NARS Lip Gloss in Orgasm
NARS Lip Gloss in Giza
M a u v e s
Too Faced Glamour Gloss in Sex Pot
NARS Lip Gloss in Belize
R e d s
NARS Larger Than Life Lipgloss in Norma
NARS Lip Gloss in Rose Gitane
So that concludes my list of products to help you start building your basic makeup set. Obviously, the point of this was not to tell you that you absolutely needed to buy every single product listed. I wanted to show you different colors and shades so that you can pick out a color that looks beautiful on you. I'm saying this especially for blush, lipstick and lipgloss because I showed a ton of products. You do not need to buy products in every single color I mentioned, you only need what looks beautiful on you. For example, I have very light skin with a pink undertone. I tend to stick with light pinks and peachy pinks. I do not looks good in mauves, dark berries or very orange corals so I tend to stick with colors than compliment my skintone, unless I'm doing a certain look.
I want this page to help people that are new to makeup to understand the different varieties of products and hopefully this gives a bit of insight into the whole choosing "what's good for you as individual" process. I hope it helped you to understand more about product placement, colors, shades, and everything else. If you have any questions about anything I wrote here, please ask! The different ways to contact me are written below.
I also want you to know that I own every single product shown except for the Exhibit A blush, and a lot of the lipsticks and lipglosses shown, only because a lot of the colors just do not work for me as they would on somebody else.
Thank you for reading this page and if you want to support me you can always Like my Facebook Page, Steph Stud Makeup. You can also follow me on twitter, @stephstudenny and you can use the hashtag #stephstudrequests to request a particular tutorial or makeup look that you would like to see me do.
Steph xo.
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