Makeup is an art, and art is very personal.

I am not going to impose on anyone my personal tastes in colors or types of makeup. I will, however, suggest that you use makeup to emphasize your best features an always to coordinate clothing colors with makeup shades. Just remember one thing; if within 24 to 48 hours of trying a new makeup, your skin breaks out - regardless of the brand name or price -- take it back!

Use darker shades of foundation

To conceal a double-chin. Darken the areas below the jawbone.

To shorten a long nose. Darken the tip and the front of the nostrils.

To narrow a wide nose. Darken the sides of the nostrils.

To lower a high-bridged nose. Darken down the center of the nose.

To narrow a wide face. Darken the cheeks, from the center back toward the ear.

To slim down the neck. Darken the neck on the sides, below the ears.

To sink protruding eyes. Darken the upper and lower eyelids.

Use lighter shades of foundation

To widen a narrow face. Lighten the cheeks from the center backward toward the ears.

To shorten a long neck. Lighten down the sides of the neck, below the ears.

To bring out sunken eyes. Lighten the upper and lower eyelids.

To bring out hollow cheeks. Lighten the sunken area.

To hide dark circles under the eyes. Lighten the area.

To widen close-set eyes. Lighten the forehead and nose area, between the eyes.

Regardless of the shape of your face, you can determine the correct application of blush using the "pencil" rule.

Place a pencil under your nose, going straight across your face. Never apply blush below this line.

If your face is

Round and wide. Start at the lower outside corners of your eyes and continue almost to the nostrils. Blend well.

Long and thin. Apply to the sides of the cheek, away from the nose and center of your face.

Has high cheekbones, with hollows below. Apply blush on the cheekbones, away from the sunken area.

Oval or heart shaped. Apply blush to the center of cheeks. Keep the same distance from the hairline to the outside edge of the color as the distance from the nose to the inside edge of the color.

Work with what nature gave you, not against it!

Remember the pencil rule? You can use it again to shape your eyebrows correctly. There are three points you need to worry about.

The inner center point. To find it, place a pencil so that it runs along the nose to the inner corner of your eye and up to the eyebrow. This is where the eyebrow should start.

The highest point of the arch. To find it, align the pencil (don't poke your eye, please!) along the center of your pupil and up towards the eyebrow.

The outside endpoint. Place the pencil so that it is aligned with the corner of the nose, the outside corner of the eye, and the forehead (yes, like a forward slash). The end point of your eyebrow should gradually taper off at this point.

If your eyes are

Set too far apart. Apply eye shadow from the inner corner of the eye to the outer rim of your pupils.

Set too close together. Apply shadow from the inside circle of the pupils outward to the end of the eyebrows.

Deep set. Apply eye shadow all across the eyelid. Blend from the inner corner of the eyes to the outer point of the eyebrow.

Have protruding or puffy upper lids. Apply eye shadow from the inner corner of the eyes, just below the eyebrows, to the outer tapered point of the eyebrows.

Highest point of the upper lip. It should round off at the same levels and align with the top of the nostrils.

Outside corners. They should be in line with each other, the same distance from center and in a vertical line with the center of the pupils of your eyes.

Lower lip. Should be the same width as the widest part of the upper lip, at its highest point.

Sides of upper and lower lip. They should taper to the same width.

 

In this case, most of us need to help "Mother Nature" a little bit. There are four points to consider for perfect balance. Using a lip pencil (don't ever lose that pencil!), determine the following:

I hope all this is helpful and that everyone was able to learn one or two new and useful tips. Let me know!

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