Three Stroke Application

Apply nail varnish properly and your hands will look heavenly, apply it wrong and they will look the complete opposite. If you have a little patience you can have a professional look, if you don’t you are better off visiting a professional (expect high annual nail varnish bills).

Follow these straightforward nail varnish professional steps and you will be on the road to heavenly hands:

Nail Varnish Polish Application Steps:
1: Clean:
Use warm soapy water to wash nails (and under the tips) ensuring that they are completely dry before proceeding

2: Base Coat:
It is essential to use a good base coat with all polish applications. Stroke in the middle from the base to the tip of the nail. Then apply the base coat from the base of the nail to the very tip on both the left and the right part of the nail without touching the skin (if possible) – known as the 3-stroke application (as shown in the picture above). Wait a minute before next step

3: 1st Coat:
Use the 3-stroke application method used above and apply a light layer of your chosen colour. Wait a minute before next step

4: 2nd Coat:
The second coat adds depth to your nail. Follow the 3-stroke application again until fully finished

5: Protect:
Use a good quality top coat, this will protect your nail from chipping and peeling (leaving the top coat out can make your nail look dull very fast). Only a light coating is needed (you guessed it use the 3-stroke application method)

6: Perfect:
Using a very thin brush dip into a good quality nail varnish polish remover and gently eliminate any nail varnish polish that accidentally found its way onto your skin. This will give you greater precision than using cotton wool.

If there is just one thing to take away from this, make sure you use base and top coats for a longer lasting professional nail varnish finish.

Pretty

Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Or subscribe by entering your email address in the sidebar

Using a skin concealer can either hide your imperfections (yes, we all have some) or if applied incorrectly draw more attention to them (spots, blemishes, redness or acne).

I spoke with a makeup artist friend about skin concealer yesterday (supposed to talk about her honeymoon) for about an hour and have summed up her advice & tips below.

Choosing the right skin concealer:

• Make sure you visit good department stores or makeup boutiques (more than one) to colour match the skin concealer using a makeup consultant (doesn’t mean you necessarily need to buy there and then can always order online after)
• Try not to use the same skin concealer under the eye area and the rest of the face (mainly because of different skin tone)
• If the stores allow, ask them for samples and try out once or twice before buying
• Choose a skin concealer that is one shade lighter than your normal skin colour, this is because you are trying to blend your blemishes (darker) to the surrounding skin (lighter)

Liquid, cream or stick skin concealer?
These are just simply different ways of applying skin concealer, her advice was simple, just choose the method you are most comfortable with when applying makeup.

Skin concealer application:

• Apply skin concealer after foundation – reason: just touch up on blemishes / spots that the foundation has not worked on otherwise you will potentially wipe away concealer if you apply the other way around
• Start off by using concealer brush to target the blemished area then gently use the ring finger to blend the concealer into the skin for an even finish and blend

In a nutshell, take time to select the right skin concealer for you and then take time and care in applying.

There will be a separate post for hiding dark circles (coming soon). Don’t let shop counters confuse you just take this knowledge with you so that you can make up your own mind (also, it’s always useful to take a friend along when choosing skin concealer for an independent opinion).

Pretty

Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Or subscribe by entering your email address in the sidebar

Subtle Make Up Blusher

All of us have different face shapes and smiles. This is why you may need to apply make up blusher to a different part of your face to someone else. Good news is the techniques remain the same.

There is different advice out in the market and each makeup artists may use a technique that suits their application style. The make up blusher style below is one of the most popular and easiest to achieve, and can be tweaked to suit your needs.

Make Up Blusher Application Steps
(Difficulty Rating: Easy)

Make up Blusher - Apple

1: Smile – this will show what is commonly referred to as the ‘Apple’ part of your cheeks (as shown by the Pic above)

2: Use a medium sized make up blush brush and dip into your selected powder (start off with little colour) and blow or shake off the excess

Follow the Green Line

3: Starting at the bottom middle of the ‘Apple’, gently and softly apply the colour all the way up to the temple area as shown in the Green Line picture above (the colour should fade by the time you get to the temple area, otherwise you have put too much blusher on the brush or you are pressing too hard against your skin)

4: You can repeat step 3 up to three times to get the look or definition you are after.

The type of blusher brush you use will affect the overall finish of the make up application. It is advised that you invest in a professional make up blusher brush as these will help achieve a professional look and will last a long time.

Once again start off with little colour and build up (don’t want you looking like a drag queen!). As normal any questions let me know.

Pretty

Subscribe to my RSS feed and get loads more!
Or subscribe by entering your email address in the sidebar