Everyday makeup is all about sticking to the “less is more” motto. You want to know how to strike the perfect balance between looking put-together and not having spent hours in front of the mirror experimenting.
Our advice is to stick with products that match and enhance your natural features, rather than trying to change things. If your eyelids are naturally tinted light pink, for example, find a similar shade of eye shadow. If your lips are already berry toned, a raspberry lipstick is perfect.
To help you out, we’ve compiled a few dos and don’ts to help you determine which products to focus on for daily use, and which to save for glamorous nights on with the girls.
Do Use A Light Foundation
Make sure when you are applying your foundation that it is no more than one shade darker than you natural skin tone. Save the darker shades for a night time/evening look. Day-to-day you want to appear as natural as possible. Wearing foundation, but appearing as if you aren’t wearing any at all.
Keep in mind your choice of concealer for everyday makeup as well. Stick to a concealer that’s just two shades lighter than your natural skin color so that you don’t draw further attention to, for example the tired area under your eyes.
Do Use Blush On Your Cheeks
The ever popular contouring trend has unfortunately led us down a path where we think we need to have sharply contrasted cheekbones ALL THE TIME. This is not the case. Contouring for everyday makeup can become tiresome and caked (depending on your activities throughout the day). It is hard to maintain throughout a busy work day schedule.
No matter the time of year, you should absolutely consider blush a daily beauty essential. Blush has the ability to make your skin look instantly radiant, healthy, and glowing. It’s also one of the least fussy products to apply, either with a stick or a fluffy powder brush.
Side Note: DON’T smile as you apply blush to the apples of cheeks. Doing this raises them, so when you stop smiling and cheeks return to their normal position, the blush color ends up being lower on the face and closer to the mouth. Not good.
We recommend trying out our Lavish blush palette, which you can purchase here. A 10 colour blush palette that lets can create a custom shade that’s perfect for you.
Do Find A Nude Eyeshadow
Most of us are pressed for time while getting ready in the morning, so why bother applying a smokey-eye? This extreme look is great for formal occasions, but will make you look seriously overdone when worn to the office.
So instead, we recommend, when applying your everyday makeup, using soft, neutral eye shadow colors. Taupe, nude cream, or even a subtle coral will help give you a natural looking glow.
DO add a dab of a lighter and softly light-reflective shade to the center of your eyelid for a bright-eyed look. Use a small, flat eyeshadow brush, knock off the excess shadow, and lightly press/dab it in the middle of the eyelid.
Need a neutral eyeshadow palette? We’ve got you covered with our multi-use palette, containing 25 neutral shades to define, line, and highlight eyes and brows. Find it here.
Don’t Wear Heavy, Voluminous Lashes
If you haven’t got lash extensions, you may feel you need to wear heavy voluminous lashes during the day. Don’t. It’s going overboard. Your eyes might feel naked, but wearing false lashes all the time might effect your natural eyelash growth and damage your waterline. We recommend saving falsies for night looks and just using a touch of mascara to darken and lengthen you natural lashes.
If you truly feel insecure without them for your everyday, we have a line of natural lashes that we give you length and an extra va va voom. You can find them here.
Do Wear Light Shades of Lipstick
For the perfect nude, everyday lipstick we recommend using a lipstick that is one shade lighter or darker than your natural lip color for the perfect nude lipstick.
DON’T use dark-hued lipsticks on thin lips. Well, dark lips should definitely be reserved for night time looks anyway, but if you must during the day, use a brighter shade rather than a dark one.
Top Tip: Apply concealer to the outer corners of your lips to give your lips a lift, and then apply concealer or highlighter around the edge of the lower lip to give yourself a pouty lip.
Find your perfect shade of nude, bright, dark or bold lipstick from our line of matte liquid lipsticks here.
Dry hands, irritated skin, chapped lips—those are just a few of the telltale signs that indicate winter has arrived. Winter can be a disaster for your skin — making it dry, itchy, and irritated. Cold conditions outside can leave your skin feeling raw, while the heat from indoors can easily remove moisture from the air and therefore from your skin.
Being proactive and updating your skin care regime to suit the season, can really help you battle the Wintery elements. We have put together a list of Winter skin care tips that we guarantee will keep you skin healthy, happy and glowing!
Look For Signs of Dryness
Make sure you are checking for signs of dry skin daily. You will notice things like your foundation patching, where it normally doesn’t or chapped lips becoming a daily (and very annoying) occurrence.
These small giveaways are signs of dryness in your skin that can be caused by the colder weather. When you start to notice these changes, it might be time to work in a new routine to you winter skincare regime.
Limit Time Spent (and Temperature) in the Shower
Taking long, steamy, hot showers may be very tempting during the Winter month, but your skin will be much better-served with a 5- to 10-minute lukewarm shower (or bath).
You should also avoid using excessively hot water when washing your hands and face, rule of thumb, if your skin turns red, the water is too hot. Washing your hands in cooler water appears to be as effective at removing germs as warm water and is less irritating to skin, so be mindful this season.
Apply Sunscreen (That’s right, Suncreen!)
Even though it’s December and you may not see the sun that much throughout the festive season, on bright winter days, snow reflects the sun’s rays — up to 80 percent, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation — increasing your risk of exposure.
That means whether you’re out on the slopes, playing in the snow, or just out shopping, make sure to apply some suncreen as it’s just as important in the harsh winter weather as it is in the Summer sun.
Also, don’t be fooled by the dark, dismal, dreary days packed full of clouds. UV light can penetrate even the darkest day, so make sure you apply a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of 15 or higher to all exposed areas of your body.
Stay Hydrated
You should be paying extra attention to staying hydrated throughout the Winter months. Even though temperatures are much colder, the winter also brings much drier air, which can unexpectedly lead to dehydration. This in turn can cause your body to feel sluggish and run-down, with muscle fatigue and dry skin sometimes being a side effect.
The colder weather of winter is often used as an excuse to exercise less and eat more. This can lead to weight gain, which can be further exacerbated by not drinking enough fluids.
Exfoliate, Exfoliate, Exfoliate
Even though you are trying to keep as much moisture into you skin as possible throughout the winter months, you need to add exfoliation to your winter skincare regime. As we try to get as much moisture as possible into the skin, we need to clear a path for those products to penetrate.
If you have too many dead skin cells, that path is blocked and your skin remains dehydrated. Using oil and moisturizers regularly won’t do you any good if you’re not starting with a primed surface, so remember to exfoliate at least once a week to keep your skin, healthy and glowing.
Need a Festive Makeup Look?
How about this holiday glam look? Perfect for Christmas parties, family gatherings and day to day festivities.
