5 makeup techniques that changed how i do my face
For the better, I think? But that’s subjective.
I’m okay at doing makeup (on myself… I have never once attempted to do it for someone else and the thought gives me the absolute fear, so thank you MUAs for your service). I have spent a good portion of my waking hours watching YouTube tutorials and then trying to recreate them on my own face, and through this, I have learned a few things, which I will share in the hope that they also help you. Be well.
Look straight ahead for winged eyeliner
It sounds simple, I know. But as someone with hooded eyes, keeping my eyes open and relaxed and looking straight into the mirror while applying liquid eyeliner has greatly improved my wings. This way, your hoods don’t cover the liner when your eyes return to “resting” position, and you can form the wing around the creases. You may recognise this as a Katie Jane Hughes special — she has taught me so much about eye makeup for hooded lids, and for that, I will always appreciate her.
Use your sponge to work in powder products
I think I picked this up from Julia Adams, one of my favourite YouTubers — she applied a powder highlighter with a brush, then tapped her foundation sponge over it to work it into the skin. The overall effect was much more natural, but you still get the nice bling of the powder. I do this all the time now to make everything seamless. No stripes of glittery highlighter, no harsh lines of blush… it’s almost like an airbrush? A very easy and very effective technique.
Set cream products with powders
This tip came into my life via an interview with Beyoncé’s makeup artist Sir John, who did her makeup for her Coachella performances in 2018. I also discovered Lemonhead glitter through Beyonce’s Coachella makeup, so I owe a lot to Sir John at this stage. To ensure her face stood up to hours of sweating on stage (I am immediately sorry for saying that Beyoncé sweats. I’m sure she doesn’t), he first applied cream bronzers, blushes, and highlighters, then set them all with their powder equivalents. It makes sense, right? And it works — I tend to employ this technique when I really need a look to last.
Pinpoint conceal
I don’t think I’ve ever watched a Lisa Eldridge video without learning something. Her pinpoint concealing technique was so helpful when I was dealing with acne, and I still use it now when spots crop up. I would always pile on foundation when I was feeling less happy with how my skin looked, even if only the lower half of my face was afflicted.
Lisa advises using less foundation overall, then “pinpoint” concealing spots and pigmentation with high-coverage concealer on a tiny eyeliner brush. The idea that I could cover blemishes with a minimal amount of product was quite revelatory for me. For swollen, cystic acne (which I dealt with regularly), she recommends playing with light and shade and using a slightly darker concealer to make the spot “recede” from view. Genius! But what else can you expect from Ms Eldridge?
Apply bronzer and blush higher up than you think
The contouring trend royally messed up my approach to bronzing. I thought I had to apply it under the cheekbones to “carve out” my face, but in reality, that only works if you have prominent cheekbones to begin with. My preferred method now is to apply bronzer higher up, on my cheekbones themselves, and then layer blush almost to the temples.
I discovered this technique in this video from Jamie Paige (another fave YouTuber of mine) who in turn learned it from the makeup artist Hindash, and I really haven’t looked back. Obviously, where to place products depends on your personal face, but for me, putting everything higher up lifts my rounder face and contours better than traditional contouring ever did. I had followed that tutorial pretty exactly in the picture below, and I still think this is the best my base makeup has maybe ever looked?
There! My makeup secrets, laid out for all to see. There’s nothing too tricky here, but these tiny tips have helped me perfect certain elements of my makeup. I would obviously love to hear about your favourite techniques so I can steal them for myself. Share and share alike!
Thank you for reading Vanity Project! I just got a few of the new Lisa Eldridge lipsticks and I am simply living. I think it’s time for a lipstick post… see you soon for the next newsletter!
Love all of these techniques, the only one I don't really do is pressing powder products in with a sponge because I don't always have a sponge but it such a good way of getting everything to mesh with your skin instead of sitting on top of it. I love the hooded eye one too, I do it with eyeshadow now as well. I love wearing my blush higher too, it totally changes the shape of your face and doesn't make it looked dragged down. Looking for to the lipstick post now!