Bridal Makeup

5 Basic Makeup Techniques Every Bride to Be Needs to Know!

1. How to Apply Foundation:

Iv seen girls buy the most expensive foundation on the market , slap it on their face with wide, thick strokes of their hand and then complain why it isnt doing any good. Here are my tips for applying foundation

• Use very small, short strokes and spend as much time as possible. Focus on one small area, complete that move to the next. Big, wide strokes from you cheek to your chin – like you are painting a wall is a total no no. If you ever go and get a trial from a good makeup artist- notice just how much time they spend, getting into nooks and corner, covering yr face in small short strokes and being patient.
• Apply it in thin layers, building it up one  at a time : Thin, sheer layers are always better than thick, heavy ones. Letting your natural skin breathe through is important and it gives you an idea of how much foundation you need
• Not every part of your face requires the same amount of foundation: Most of us are darker around the mouth area, with relatively spot free cheeks. You might want to spend more time concealing the darkness first, and going over that area with more foundation,, and keeping the coverage on your cheeks very runny and light
• Always keep your strokes from top to bottom direction. This is something Vimi Joshi taught me, that if you go in any other direction, you are going the opposite direction of hair growth, causing your hair to stand up and make your skin look uneven
• Please put foundation on your neck. Pretty Please.

2. How to Conceal Under Eye Circles

• The idea behind concealing your eyes (something, I learnt from Lisa Elridge) is to apply concealer ONLY where it is dark.
• To make this clearer, here is a quick tutorial 

How to Apply Concealer to Under Eye Circles: Tutorial

If diamonds are a girls best friend, then concealer is her best fren-emy. It has all the makings of a best friend- it hides all your secrets (like just how late you slept after partying last night), conceals all your flaws and stays with you throughout the day. Hoewever, you use it incorrectly and it becomes your worst enemy- it can make your panda esque dark circles look like something out of a horror movie !!

Here is how i apply concealer (thanks to some videos by Lisa Elridge), its pretty basic but might help some of you…

Left Before, Right: After

Step 1: Choose the right concealer color and consistency

I prefer using concealers that are light and runny under the eye. I feel like thicker concealers get deposited in the lines under my eye but its really a personal choice. Color wise, theory says that you should choose a yellow concealer for dark purplish circles, and a coral/orange concealer for bluer dark circles. Now honestly, my dark circles are red, so i don't really follow that theory. Essentially – i choose concealer just a shade lighter than my foundation (which is yellow toned)- if it blends into my skin seamlessly, that's all i need.

Step 2: Identify the darkest areas under your eye. Take your time doing this, its an important step

For me , my darkest area is on the inner corner of my eye till halfway down my eye and then on the outer corner

The idea is to apply concealer ONLY  where you are the darkest. If you notice the picture above, the area between the two marked areas is not dark and the same color as the rest of my face so i dont need concealer there. If i were to apply concealer on the entire area, it would just lose its point- The dark areas would become lighter but the light areas would become lighter too, so in contrast the dark areas would still appear darker.

Step3: Take a concealer brush and apply concealer only to areas where you are darkest (if you have a runny concealer then they are best applied with a concealer brush. Infact i use a damp brush to get best results- a little tip i got from a reader (Thanks Brenda!))

Just pat down and move quickly, dont drag your brush or try and create strokes. Pat and move. Like i said before i have only applied cncealer to where i am darkest.

Step4 : Take your ring finger and blend

The ring finger apparently has the softest touch, so use that and very lightly pat the edges of the concealer to blend it out.

Step5 : Thats it ! You can apply a loose powder over it to set it, or just let it be.

That's it ! Now you can fake your way to a great nights sleep !

2. How to fake the J Lo Glow

You are a bride, you NEED to glow . People just NEED to think that the happiness is making you glow, but actually its just highlighter. Dont tell them that though!

• Here is a quick tutorial on faking the j lo glow :

How to get Dewy Glowing Skin With Makeup : Tutorial

I suspect there is a ghost on my blog who wants  dewy looking makeup very badly. Im not being delusional, i have a logical explanation to it ! See, when i put that poll on the right hand side ..in the first 2 days, all the categories had an equal number of votes. I tweeted about how unhelpful that was, and then …2 hours later the skin tutorial went ahead by a huuuuge margin!! Thats not all, the votes on the other categories actually reduced from 9 each to like 5 each or something (How does that happpen unless there are supernatural forces around???????) Anyway, i dont want to get on to the wrong side of spookie stuff you know … so here goes…

Step 1: Just Moisturizer.

Step 2: Liquid Foundation (Lakme Invisible Finish Foundation)

A few quick points:

• Using a foundation brush makes a HUGE difference . It just helps foundation blend seamlessy into the skin .
• I dab on foundation at the back of my hand , dip in my kabuki and then apply all over face. Dont forget to apply on your neck or yll be multicolored, and on areas lik eyelids, upper lip etc

After Foundation

Step 3: Concealer (MAC Select Moisture Cover)

Areas where you need to apply concealer(specially Indian women)

• Around your mouth- a lot of us have discoloration around here.
• Part where your nose meets your face(if that makes sense). Might seem inconsequential, but conceal that and see instantly your face looks clearer.
• Under the eyes- use your ring finger and dab it on. Dont rub or stretch, make your finger wet for easier application. 
• Around the eye area- another place where indian women have major discoloration

After Concealer

Step 3 : Highlighter (Colorbar Radiant Glow Highlighter Pen)

Areas where you need to put highlighter are the highest points on your face:

• Apples of cheeks extending till hairline
• If you have a fat nose , then down the bridge of your nose makes it look slimmer
• The brow bone makes for an arched eyebrow
• The bow of your lip- gives an illusion of a fuller pout
• Basically , if you face the sun and think of where the sunlight would hit you directly- thats where highlighter need to go.

After Highlighter

Step 4: Cream Blush(Add to the dewy! – MAC Lilicent)

Dab on the cream blush just below the highlighter

• Cream blushes add to the wet dewy effect of highlighters .
• Use a brush or finger to blend
• Your cream blush should blend seamlessly into your highlighter which should seamlessly blend into your foundation. Use a brush to blend it all together
• Think of these 3 as one makeup product all mixed together. They should all flow into each other to create a glowing dewy illusion.

The dewy look

Step 5:  If you have oily skin- then apply powder(leave your cheeks out though). For normal or dry skin, you can skip the powder. I skip it. Apply the rest of your makeup

Step 6: If all else fails. Just shoot with the ‘soft skin’ mode of your camera :p !!!  

Hope that helped girls. Now go ‘Do the Dew!’ 

• Mixing your foundation with a shine mixing medium is sometimes also a good tehcnique to start with. 

3.  How to make your skin talk

You can get away with zero makeup, if you have gorgeous skin. So make sure you do your research about what products work for me. Well moisturized, plump skin with just liner and lipstick is probably more pretty than anything any foundation will achieved

• Increase your water intake manifold 3 months before the wedding. Drink atleast one BIG glass every hour.
• Make sure you have sunscreeen on no matter where you are- its not about whether there is sun outside or not. It doesnt matter. You need sunscreen all the time.
• Have a small in home facial routine- Mine involves steam, black head removal, splashing face with cold water ,massaging with a cleanser, and a freeman face mask.
• Do NOT sleep with makeup on. The smartest thing you can do, is either invest in a solid makeup remover, as a makeup remover+ night cream in one. But remember as a bride you will be wearing solid makeup every night, and if you dont remove it properly you will very likely have raccoon eyes.

4. How to do a pretty basic eye : 

The eyeshadow

• If you really are just not getting how to do your eyes- then this is a cheat method that i like to use: Cheat Method for eyeshadow . It doesnt get easier than that- 2 contrasting bases, one single eyeshadow.

Easy Eye shadow Application Technique: The ‘Cheat’ Method

So, you are new to makeup but still want  some semblance of nicely done eye shadow. No, you do not understand the word blending, neither do you have too many brushes to do it. Using more than one color on your lids scares you, and you have never in the past worn eye shadow out in public. I hear ya….

This post is specially for all those of you who are makeup novices and want to ‘cheat’ your way to eye shadow glory.

You will need:

• A white eye pencil (Im using Maybelline eye pencil)
• A black eye pencil (Im using lakme black satin kajal)
• A light colored eyeshadow- preferable a neutral color or light pastels (Im using a shimmery light golden from my Inglot pallette)
• A basic eyeshadow brush. (Im using a vega brush)

 

Step 1: Apply the white eye pencil on the inner half of your eye lid. You dont have to be neat here. Just an approximation

 Step 2: Take a black eye pencil and and put it on the outer half of your lid very lightly. If you can, then on the top most  part (crease area)  extend the black pencil inwards into the white area a little bit. This is not really necessary though!.

 

Step3 : Use your fingers and just rub where the white meets the black in the centre of the lid so that it doesnt look very stark. Again, no need to be accurate

 

Step 4: Take any light eyeshadow. Apply it all over your lid. You dont need to bother with blending etc, because the darker and lighter base underneath already give it that 3 d dimension.

 

Step 5: put another layer of eyeshadow. Put black liner and mascara and finish!

 Another result of the above technique:

Contrary to what it looks like in the picture above, i havent used two shades of purple. it is simply a lighter base in the inner corner and a darker base in the outer corner..

This method is good for:

• Applying light colors, and neutrals. Darker colors dont work because – the intention is to let the white and black base come through and add dimension. With a dark eyeshadow, it covers the overpowers the white and then it  looks like one color all across the lid

One drawback of this method:

• It does result in your eyeshadow creasing.Because of the bases underneath, the creasing does happen..but if you are very new to makeup and just want a way to wear eyeshadow then honestly, that should be the least of your worries.

Some things you should keep in mind

• Use a good quality pigmented eyeshadow
• Dont make the black base too dark

• A basic, pretty eye is simple. It just needs  a sheen on the lid, and an eyeliner. You can skip all the crease color, the outer corner etc if you arent comfortable
• Invest in 1-2 pretty eyeshadow colors that work well with Indian Clothing. Something neutral and gold like Mac Wood Winked, Mac Expensive Pink. In fact, here are 6 great  eyeshadow colors for indian formal wear from Mac: Mac Eye Shadow Swatches

6 Mac Eyeshadows That Look Great With Indian Wear

Its the start of the wedding season …and while my calender this season is relatively free (most friends are not even close to being married, and most cousins are married with kids), im sure all of you have a ton of festivities coming up! Here are six  Mac Eyeshadows that i think look great with all the Indian fanfare.

•  Mac Bronzed Eyeshadow is a luxuriously rich deep dark brown with shimmer. Gorgeous color to wear with a lot of gold (which we know we see a lot of in Indian clothes!) but also really pretty paired with purple or green. It is one of the most richest and pigmented eyeshadows MAC has made and a definite must have!
• Mac Amber Lights is a bright yellowy gold. Its a lot more golden than how yellow its looking in the swatch and goes great with most wedding fanfare
• Mac Expensive Pink is the most gorgeous peachy gold eyeshadow , and one of my go-to eyeshadows for pretty much any pink/ peach/ gold/ neutral indian outfit. It really isnt like the swatch and i know its looking baby pink in it, but its just a tiny little hint of pink with a lot f peach and gold! It just never seems to photograph the way i want it to!

•  Mac Cranberry eyeshadow is a plummy reddish shade with a frost finish and a tiny hint of silver reflects in it. It goes so well with indian colors, and while wearing this all over your lid might be too dramatic, but a little trick is to add a little bit of it on top of browns in the outer corner. It just instantly gives dimension (much like coppering does) and turns an ordinary two toned eye into a professional looking one.
• Mac Antiqued eyeshadow is a rustish – brown color which is really great as an all over lid color, or even an outer half color. I find that it sometimes photographs slightly orange on some people- but i totally love this on me. Its very versatile.
• Mac Mythology eyeshadow is a peachy copper  eyeshadow which is really glittery. I cant say i totally love this shadow, because i find it doesn’t match up to the pigmentation levels of the other ones, but i really really like the color and its a shame this isnt available in any finish apart from lustre (which by the way, is my least favourite eyeshadow finish).

• You could also, just buy a glittery paint pot like Mac Genuine Treasure and a black liner over it. Simple. Classy. Effective.

Mac Genuine Treasure Paint Pot

Mac Genuine Treasure Paint Pot Review

Genuine Treasure has got to be the prettiest paint pot EVER. Its like this bronze  taupe color in the pot with tons and tons of golden shimmer!!  On the eyes it’s just a super pretty sparkly gold on a sheer brown base..On its own , its just the easiest way to do a glamorous night eye and adds sparkle to your lid. I just love it !!! It’s so pretty on brown eyes!!Whats even better is that even though this is dark, it still does its job as a paint pot and makes shadows appear more vibrant. My concern while buying this was that i didn't want a pretty sparkly base that didn't do its job as a base, but I need not have worried. This is pretty awesome in that department. It elongates the wear of the shadows like its nobodies business and makes sure they remain crease free.

It does have its pain points thought-its quite high maintenance so it dries really quickly ..you need to be somewhat of a Schumacher to blend this out because *poof* its dry already!! It also has a considerable amount of fallout as you build the intensity of the shimmer ! So it could learn a thing or two from other Paint Pots (but honestly this one is so gorgeous,i m sure it’s too full of itself to take lessons).

Left: Mac Plum Dressing over Genuine Treasure as base, Right: Mac Plum Dressing Without Base

Mac Genuine Treasure on eyes, with matte black in outer corner…and Mac Rich Purple Chromagraphic Pencil

Price: Rs 1350/-

Recommendation: Mac Genuine Treasure Paint Pot is a gorgeous bronze with gold shimmer packed into it. It looks great worn it’s on and also does a fab job of being a base (elongates wear + no creasing + vibrancy) , however it dries really quickly so you need to be very quick in application or it wont blend well (I suggest building up thin layers of this rather than going at it all hog). It also has fallout issues as you build the color which is a but annoying.

PS:  If you arw wondering whether lighter shadows show up on this. Don't worry- i tried expensive pink on this in the store and it looked very vibrant on top of this!! This is limited edition so grab it now!

The Eyeliner

• Eyeliners should really thinnest at the inner corner of the eye, and  thickest either at the outer corner (if you like a slight bit of a cat eye effect), or thickest at the center with the outer corner swept out (for a wide eyed effect)

The Lashes

• You MUST, and i mean MUST with a capital M , invest in an eyelash curler. MUST. It makes a world of a difference to how your mascara looks and gives that whole fluttering wide eyed effect that just elevates your look,
• If you can really master the art of wearing false lashes then i highly recommend you learn how to. False lashes that give that extra oomph that a regular mascara doesn't!