The Wedding Season

Every bride deserves to be the very special lady of the day and look her best. And why not? Its the most important day of her life. The hairdo, the makeup, the bridal trousseau and how the bride conducts herself is the focus of everybody's attention on this day and you will certainly feel much more comfortable, if you have already done the dress rehearsal first.

Here are some useful tips for the bride:

• To cover the reddish skin, use sheer color corrector and apply tinted moisturizer of yellowish green or olive green shade to neutralize it.
• Pink color blush is not for the wedding day, generally speaking. Try bronzer under cheekbones instead.
• Bright lip colors may be warm such as orange-red, orange-gold, copper and warm beiges, creams and caramels or cool such as fuchsia, magenta, blue-reds, shades of lilac and pink and make lips look plusher and fuller.
• Deep warm lip colors such as yellowish and orangish browns; mahogany, deep warm reds and chocolate and deep cool shades such as cool brown, taupe, deep purple, plum and blue-toned burgundy underplay too much thickness of lips.
• The subtle look can be achieved by using the air-brush a lot and sticking to light shades such as cream, gold, lime green and brown for warm skin undertones and lilac, plums and soft pink for cool skin undertones.
• Neutrals are the safest choice to make you seem a bride endowed with natural beauty.
• Be sure to coordinate you overall look: all the colors should have either warm or cool tone while your hair, make-up, jewelry and gown should correspond to the carefully chosen theme.
• Hairstyle is usually chosen, after completing the makeup to suit the looks of the bride.
• If you are not used to wearing heavy makeup, keep your hands away from blue and green eye shadows.
• For olive and dusky skinned ladies, maroons and brown lip colors are the safest bet as well as the golden tones.
• Hairstyles are often adorned with pearls, rhinestones, flower buds, golden lace, satin ribbons, jeweled hair bands and tiaras among other hair ornaments and may range from the simplest French braid or bud to complex and elaborate hairdos.
• Bridal makeup includes all the attention to the minutest of details. Don't overlook them for the finished look.
• A timeless makeup look will keep your wedding snaps fresher forever, so try not to give in to the fads of the day.
• Foundation with a high pigment level is recommended. Though a high definition full coverage base would work wonders due to very heavy lights used during photography.
• Don't forget to cover your neck, chest, area behind your ears with foundation and makeup too.
• Morning weddings need natural look makeup while evening weddings need more formally adorned brides with darker makeup shades.
• Lighting also determines your makeup. A well-lit area uses lighter colors while deeper tones are good for darker areas. Fluorescent lighting will add a greenish tinge to everything so avoid green shades.
• Try not to be too dramatic but there is a secret seldom revealed: red lipstick makes teeth appear whiter!

Me in Action

Face Contouring Makeup Tips

How to contour your face with makeup

You can give your face a mini makeover without resorting to plastic surgery. With the right contouring makeup tricks, create the illusion of a slender nose, sleeker jawline and all-over slimmer face. Here's how...

How to contour your nose to make it look slimmer

To contour a wide nose to slimming effect, apply the darkest color to the outside of the bridge and keep the center lighter. You can use makeup to achieve a slimmer-looking nose by using two shades of foundation or one bronzer—simply sweep bronzer along the sides of the nose, leaving the front of the bridge bare.

How to contour your jawline to recede a double chin

To diminish a double chin, use this contouring makeup trick: sweep bronzer under your jawline to make the area appear to recede. As a general rule, light makeup colors highlight an area, calling attention to it and making it appear more prominent (good for brow bones and cheekbones). Dark shadows create the illusion of a shadow and make areas of the face appear to recede (good for droopy lids and puffy undereyes).

Prep & Prime

1

Its most important to Cleanse. Wash your face, with a formula designed for your skin type if possible. Examples include oil-free for skin that is oily or moisturizing for skin that is dry or more mature. If you are still wearing eye makeup from a previous application, be sure to remove it with an oil-free eye makeup remover solution prior to washing your face with cleanser so oil will not interfere with your new eye makeup.

2

Next Exfoliate. Use a product designated as a "scrub" to remove dead skin cells and flaky skin. Wet your face, rub the product all over your face and neck and rinse off. Thorough rinsing is an absolute must, so you may want to do this while you are showering.

3

Apply eye cream and sunscreen if necessary. The experts will tell you to apply sunscreen daily, and it has been shown to prevent skin cancer and premature aging, so it is extremely important. However, the truth is that even oil-free sunscreens can prevent your makeup from being as long-lasting as it might have been, and they often make skin look shiny or give it a white cast. If your skin is oily, you might want to skip the sunscreen and instead find an oil-free foundation that has sunscreen included, usually marked "SPF 15." If your skin is not oily, apply an oil-free sunscreen. And whether you are applying suscreen at this stage or not, you will still need to apply a moisturizing eye cream at this stage. This will help your undereye concealer go on smooth.

4

Apply foundation primer. Foundation primers used to be a high-end makeup product that could be difficult to locate and expensive. A lot of cosmetic companies like MAC, Kryolan are now offering primers that feel good on your skin, create a smooth surface, and prolong the life or your makeup application. Certain primers also claim to smooth fine lines. Apply a dime-sized amount of primer to the back of your hand and then apply to the face with your fingers. Start with your nose and the skin around your nose because this area tends to have the most pores and possibly some oversized pores that need to be filled in. Then work on your chin and forehead, and then your cheeks. Do not forget to apply a little to your neck.

5

Apply eyelid and lip primer if desired. Many brands are now starting to offer eyelid and lip primers, though they are not as easy to find as foundation primers. Some of the most popular are made by MAC Cosmetics. They can be found online or in major department stores. If you spend a lot of time on eye or lip makeup and you need this makeup to last into the evening or through the night, these products are worth the expense. Eyelid primer can conceal redness or blue tones around the eye and prevent eye makeup from creasing. Lip primers prevent lipstick, gloss, or pencil from "bleeding," or migrating away from the lip.

LASH UPPPPP

Mascara gives a finishing touch to your eye makeup, opens up your eyes. While applying mascara you must cover the lashes from roots to the tips. Deposit the color on the mascara wand by twirling it in the pack and then cover the upper lashes from their base to the tips in full strokes to make the lashes look thicker, longer, well defined and separated. Mascara is applied from the underside by holding the wand horizontally parallel to the eyelid and the brush is rolled slowly in the upward stroke. For lower lashes, one has to be more careful so as not to smudge the under eye area and the wand is to be held vertically and mascara is applied from side to side. Less mascara is used on the lower lashes and extra color should be blotted off using the tissue paper. It is best to use more than one coat of the mascara, which combs the lashes too so that they do not look stuck together.

Various colors of mascara such as brown, navy and green are available and can make you look funky instantly. Incase you wish to use the same mascara on more than one person, its best to use disposable wands to safeguard from any infections. Wiggle the brush a little at the roots of the lashes as it allows the bristles to move between the eyelashes, combing them and separating them. Let mascara dry between any of the two coats and comb the eyelashes to separate the wet lashes. Do not rub eyes to remove the mascara but use the eye makeup solvent instead. Before applying mascara, use an eyelash comb or damp toothbrush to comb your lashes. Always use a clean and fresh mascara wand on damp lashes.

Black mascara can be used by anybody at anytime though blondes should only use it for bright night makeup. Thin and short brush is best as it is easier to control and gets to the corner of the eye easily. It is also advisable to powder the under-eye area before applying mascara to avoid smudging. Curl the lashes before applying with a lash curler and then use the wand in a zigzag fashion to make the lashes look wider and brighter. Applying mascara only on the upper lashes lend them a dramatic touch, while applying it lightly on the upper and lower lashes, make the eyes seem wider. A gel-based mascara enhances the lashes while thickening mascara looks more dramatic and adds volume to your lashes. Brown, navy and aubergine shades add subtle and sophisticated touch to your eyes while redheads can use burgundy shades. Women with strawberry-blonde hair may try different shades of brown. Be sure not to match your mascara color with your eye color.

Get to bases !!

Applying Foundation

Choosing the right foundation is the first step to a successful makeup result. Perfect matching foundation can only be assessed by correct estimation of skin type, natural color and skin tone. Since most Caucasian, Latin, African and Asian women have yellow-based skin, they must buy foundation with a yellow base too so that it doesn't look like a mask. However, Asian women from the south-Asian region have skin with a yellow-greenish undertone and thus, need a foundation that has same color of pigment as the base. Experts often use two or more shades of foundation to highlight the best features of the face and underplay the low points. To master those skills, need a lot of practice and study. Yet, there are a few points that we can keep in mind while using the foundation at home to give the best possible results, for daily purposes:

• Blend the cream foundation smoothly using a cosmetic sponge /brush in long sweeping motions.
• Cosmetic sponge helps you to manage and apply foundation more easily and gives a better and smoother result. A brush would also give you similar results.
• For perfect matching, foundations should not be tested on hands or insides of your wrist as the color of your face definitely differs from the color of these areas of your body. The best way is to test the foundation on your jaw line and see whether it matches the natural color of your neck or not. Matching under different light settings gives you a better idea about the correct foundation for your skin.
• Foundation needs to be blended, properly, especially under the jaw line, into the hairline, on the ear lobes, corners of the nose and mouth and over and under the eyes, so that they don't let on the difference that the foundation makes to your skin to the viewer.
• To retouch a particular spot, reapply the foundation there lightly and blend it with the rest of the face. Then powder it lightly with the translucent powder to let it set properly.
• Touchup with dual active powder foundations can easily help you to change your look from day makeup to night makeup as it works as foundation as well as powder. For sheer finish using this foundation, you just have to dampen your cosmetic sponge a little.
• While applying liquid foundation, it is better to put small points of foundation at different parts of your face such as forehead, nose tip, chin and cheek bones and then blend a little at a time on the face to give a more finished look.
• You can use powder foundation just like the normal compact powder.