A Few Tips and Tricks......

Pretty much every girl loves makeup right? But that doesn't necessarily mean every girl knows how to apply it. In my years of practice, reading beauty magazines, and experimenting, I have come across quite a few tips and tricks that are sure to help you look your best.  Below are a few that I thought were worth mentioning:

Want to make your lipstick last longer?

Herer are few steps to ensure your kisser stays looking great for hours:

Step 1: Start off with clean, flake free lips. Use a clean toothbrush and a lip scrub to gently buff away any flakes.

Step 2: With a lipliner, outline your lips first, then fill in the rest of the lips with the liner.

Step 3: Using a square of toilet paper (1 ply) , press toilet paper to your lips and gently dust with loose powder. The powder will seep through the fibers in the toilet paper and adhere to the liner underneath.

Step 4: With a lipbrush, fill in your lips with lipstick. Blot once on a piece of toilet paper, then reapply another coat of lipstick.

All done! The combination of the lipliner, loose powder, and lipstick, along with blotting, should help your lipstick stay on longer.

To make your eyes look bigger and brighter:

(One thing that always makes your eyes look great is having clean brows. They frame your face and can either make or break your look, so be sure to keep them trimmed and neat. Don't overpluck, but be sure to get rid of any stray hairs)

Step 1: Apply a light bone colored shadow all over your lid and up to your browbone.

Step 2: HIghlight your browbone, inner tear ducts, and under eyes with a shimmery champagne/white eyeshadow or pencil. Dab a small amount of the same shadow on the center of your eyelid, right where where your eyeball is and blend gently. This step really makes the eyes pop.

Step 3: Line your upper eyelids as close to the lashline as possible, keeping the line thin and clean. Bring the eyeliner down to your lower lashline, but only bring it in about a third of the way, don't line the entire lower lashline, this closes the eye area and makes them look smaller.

Step 4: Curl your eyelashes and apply mascara to both top and bottom lashes.

Step 5: Line your waterline with a shimmery white pencil, then blend gently so you don't see an obvious line.

Your eyes should be looking big and bright!

How to make your lips look fuller:

Many of wish that we could trade looks with Angelina Jolie for a day, just so we can see what it would be like to have full lush lips. Well, since that's not really an option,  here are some steps to faking the pouty lip look:

Step 1: Start of with clean and buffed lips. Line just  outside your natural lip line with a llipliner that matches your natural lip color. Fill in lips and make sure there are no obvious lip lines.

Step 2: Apply a lip plumping gloss  or lipstick over the liner.

Step 3: Dab a shimmery gold or or champagne colored eyeshadow in the middle of your lower lip and blend gently, but not so all of it disappears.

Step 4: To really highlight your lips, outline them with concealer and blend, then set with powder. Apply highlighter to your cupid's bow to emphasize it.

Your lips should look full and kissable!

For a dewy,  rosy face:

Want a fresh, dewy face that makes you look healthy and glowing? Read on:

Step 1: Starting with a clean, moisturized face, apply concealer to any parts that need covering up (undereyes, around nose, any blemishes).

Step 2: Dot on a light, sheer foundation or tinted moisturizer and buff it in thoroughly. Try not to use a heavy foundatin, choose one that has a lighter consistency so that you get a light, healthy look, not one that looks like you're wearing a ton of makeup.

Step 3: Apply a rosy pink cheek stain or cream to the apples of your cheeks and blend.

Step 4: Add a touch of highlighter to your browbone, cheekbones, and bridge of your nose.

Step 5:Apply a small amount of Vaseline petroleum jelly to your cheekbones and apples of your cheeks, but not too much, you don't want to look greasy. Skip the powder because it will stick  to the Vaseline, and besides, you don't want a matte finish to this look. I know the Vaseline is sort of sticky, but it looks great! (For the rest of the face, stick with sheer, shimmery shades for the eyes and lips)

Glowing skin never looked so easy!