Foundation is one of the secrets of fabulous, flawless-looking skin. No longer heavy and greasy, today’s foundations are specially formulated to give you longer-wearing, more natural coverage. Your first installment in the foundation story: zero in on your skin type, then pick the blend that’s made for you.
Application
Learn to apply foundation properly for a smooth, “no-seams” look.
For sparkling bright beauties, start with the right tools:
If you wear glasses, keep in mind that …
The Causes
Although allergies and allergic reactions to particular substances are not inherited, a tendency to them can be. If, for instance, both your mother and your father suffered from allergies, you have a 57 percent chance of them too. Approximately 15 percent of all women are said to be highly prone to allergic reactions, 25-30 percent are less easily sensitized (which means they will react adversely only to some substances, sometimes), and 55-60 percent are relatively allergy-free or only rarely prone to allergic reactions. But, on the whole, allergic complaints are on the increase, and cosmetic dermatitis and skin sensitivities are leading the field. For instance, in one study of skin ailments in the mid-seventies it was found that where, four years before, only 3 percent of the patients in Britain seen by dermatologists were suffering from skin reactions, in the space of a very few years it had risen to 14 percent. (more…)
Finally put on your eyeliner. A good way of emphasizing eye shape without looking too obviously made up is to use a pencil in the same tone you are using for your eye shadow, dotting it all along the upper lashes and then just under the lower ones so the two lines meet at the outer corners and form a little triangle. This kind of liner looks good when it is gently smeared with a brush or fingertip to blend it into the surrounding area and keep it from looking too heavy. You can also use another color line drawn on the inside of the lower lid if you like. If you use a light color there, such as off-white, it will make your eyes look bigger. If you use a bright color such as electric blue or brilliant green, it can look great for evening. (more…)
Highlighter is a powerful tool when it is used wisely. When carelessly or wrongly applied, it can make a face look positively absurd. The best highlighters are not white. Bone white is too harsh. Instead choose a pale ivory foundation to use as a lightener on the areas of the face you wish
For most women, one of their best features is the eyes. Perhaps this is because eyes reveal so much of what goes on inside one. Makeup for eyes should emphasize this and show off the eyes‘ beauty and color. It should never be applied gratuitously, as it often is. (more…)
There are three parts to any good external skin care regimen, regardless of your age or the type of skin you have:
1. Regular, thorough cleansing
2. Protection from moisture loss and external roughness
3. Protection from the ultraviolet rays of the sun
These are the basics. They are simple, and there need be no mumbo jumbo about them. One can include a fourth part to skin care too, and that is treatment. This extra can correct problems, help preserve youth, and revitalize the look of skin.
You can give your skin treatments either internally from vitamins, minerals, and diet, or externally in the form of hydrotherapy, or by applying special creams, oils, or herbs, or by using specific exercises to strengthen muscles before they have a chance to sag or to correct neglect. The treatment part of skin care is where the art comes into it, and here you need to consider your specific skin conditions and problems. The other three are all parts of the simple craft of skin care, and it is very simple indeed. (more…)
How, physically, you handle your eyes has a lot to do with how long the skin around them looks young and how clear and bright they are themselves. Eyes don’t need to be favored to stay beautiful and healthy, but they don’t need abuse, either. Yet they are faced with it most of the time, in the form of air pollution, smoke, misapplied makeup, and mismanaged makeup removal. The skin surrounding your eyes is thinner and finer than anywhere else on your face. It is also only sparsely supplied with oil glands and therefore highly prone to expression lines. This is where a good eye cream can help. They come in several varieties. Some (usually the more expensive) are designed not only to protect the skin in the area from dehydration but also to plump it up for several hours to minimize the lines there. (more…)
Every good makeup begins with a water-in-oil moisturizer and a sunscreen lavishly applied over clean skin and then given a chance to settle in. It is rather like making a mayonnaise. You can’t rush things. You need to wait for your skin to take to the moisturizer before you put on your foundation; otherwise you will end up with a flawed finish and your makeup will not last. “Taking” time is usually about two minutes.
In addition to the ordinary moisturizers, there are also tinted ones on the market. These products are halfway between moisturizers and foundations. They impart some color and also provide you with some measure of protection from water loss. In France they are often called creme sport, because they can be worn, by women who ordinarily would not want to cover their skin with a foundation, for instance during a tennis match. They give a very light cover but can be a nice way of simply adding a healthy glow to your skin. Some of them also contain sunscreens. (more…)
Makeup products offer you two things: coverage, which to some extent will conceal minor flaws and blemishes in your skin, and most important, color. There are literally hundreds of different makeup products on the market. From the amount of advertising that accompanies the launch of each of them—the new wand-lipstick or foam cheek color or moisture- encapsulated powder—you would assume that to do a good job of making up her face a woman needs all of them. You don’t. In fact you need very few.
Neither do colors change a great deal from season to season, in spite of the fact that each cosmetic house brings out new autumn or spring collections. If you gather together a simple range of shades for eyes, cheeks, and lips that you know look good on you, there is no reason to replace half of them with each new season’s arrivals. Yes, there might be the new shade of fuchsia lipstick which you fancy or a new-formula foundation (foundations seem to get better and better each couple of years), but the quality of a makeup product is not dependent on its price, although the package—including the little compacts, mirrors, and applicators—is usually better the more you pay. (more…)
The brushes you use, the sponges and absorbent cotton, and even your mirror and lighting are all-important in getting good results from your makeup products. You need to acquire a collection of them, keeping your tools immaculately clean and using them every time you put on
your makeup. It is always tempting to put on an eye shadow with your finger or to apply powder with a dirty puff, but the results are never good, and the makeup you put on that way doesn’t last as long as it should. Also, many of the little padded wands and brushes supplied with eye shadows and cheek colors look great in their compacts but won’t really do the job of applying colors properly. And once any applicator wand or brush is dirty, you will never get good, smooth application from it. (more…)
When you use makeup, you are practicing the age-old art of illusion. But the illusions makeup offers you are subtle ones, not complete changes of character, age, and coloring. Try to achieve that, and you carry the use of makeup too far; then, instead of being your friend, it will suddenly become an enemy and make you look foolish, too old, or simply less well than you could look. So the first rule of good makeup is simple: Never try to change your face with it.
After that has been said and after you have come to terms with the fact that whether or not you like it, your jaw is square or your eyes small or your skin a different color from what you ideally would like, then there is a lot you can do with color to make you look better. And that, after all, is what making up your face is all about. Whether you are after a freshly scrubbed, natural look (which incidentally takes a lot more artifice to achieve than you might imagine) or a more elaborate-looking, sophisticated face, the makeup you choose and the way you apply it should make you look more attractive, more interesting, healthier, and simply more yourself. (more…)
According to Kathleen Walas, International Beauty and Fashion Director at Avon Products, gentle cleansing is best for skin. For all skin types, Ms. Walas recommends a two-step process using cleansers and toners.
Cleansers remove dirt, perspiration, soot, and other pollution and makeup from the surface of your skin. Cleansers include soaps, lotions, creams, and gels. Use a cleanser and lukewarm water to wash your face; too-hot water can dry your skin. And use a gentle touch—scrubbing can irritate the skin, worsen existing problems, and even cause premature wrinkles. When you are finished cleansing, be sure to rinse carefully, removing all remaining residue of cleanser. (more…)
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