Now that we’ve finally gotten over the hump, there’s nothing more fashionable than the au naturel beauty that celebrity makeup artists so successfully pull off today. Unfortunately, some girls still tend to find it hard to draw the line between too much, and way too much makeup.
A good example of wearing too much makeup happened to me when my brother-in-law bought a 50-inch, mega-pixel TV. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great TV except that, with this new ultra-clear and mega-size screen, I couldn’t help focusing on every makeup-filled pore on the actors’ faces. Like, while watching Friends, it was quite difficult to ignore that Rachel and Monica have to wear at least five layers of foundation and concealer in order to look the way they did when the series first began, eight years (and wrinkles) ago.
Now, to determine whether you are putting on too much makeup and to avoid any unnecessary disasters, let’s examine the makeup application process.
If, after you’ve spread foundation and concealer on your skin you find it difficult to smile without feeling like there’s a mud mask on your face, you know you’ve gone overboard. Result? Your face will look like it is padded with a layer of synthetic skin, rather than looking fresh and smooth, which is what foundation is supposed to achieve when applied correctly. Worse, this cakey layer of makeup is even more obvious when smiling, laughing or making any facial movements, since the powder accumulates in the cracks of our skin, making our faces look leathery and fake. The key is to put on just enough foundation to even out the natural color of our skin.
Mascara. We girls all now how important this beauty tool is, since it does such a good job of defining our all-too-inconspicuous eyelashes. However, when one applies layers of mascara with inch-thick eyeliner around the eyes, the results are less than perfect. Eyes that pop out at you for reasons other than their natural beauty are, to be frank, quite scary (think raccoon or Uncle Fester). The key is putting on just enough mascara and eyeliner to bring out the natural shape of your eyes, rather than redefining the eye by filling in the blanks with makeup. To add drama and to enhance the natural beauty of the eye is best done with eye shadow and restrained mascara/eyeliner.
Blush is another tricky matter, since there’s no doubt that a bit of blush is necessary lest we want to walk around looking pale and washed out. However, there is nothing more clown-like than wearing too much of it, which, I admit, can be tempting. The trick is to put on just enough to define the cheekbone, rather than painting in faux cheeks on top of the ones you already own. Smile, and apply a few upward strokes of blush on the apples (or fleshy part) of your cheeks for the most natural flush.
Last, but certainly not least, are the lips. For what is more attractive than a pair of luscious, pouty lips? The tricky part here, however, is less with the lipstick itself than with the all-too-often all-too-dark lip liner. I never understood that ultra-dark lip-liner look. The stark contrast between liner and lipstick just doesn’t do anything for me, and frankly, looks quite odd. When one wears dark lip liner, and draws outside the lip line (confusing this with getting maximum lip-enhanced results), the lip looks like a color-in picture in a child’s coloring book. Once again, the aim here is to achieve natural beauty with very light – if not invisible – liner, to avoid the picture-book look reserved for go-go dancers and pin-up girls.
As with everything else in life, when it comes to the miracle of makeup, there is a catch. Wearing too little exposes some of the less-desirable features on our faces. But wearing too much actually draws attention to the fact that we need to wear that much makeup to look a certain way (clown-like, if you ask me). So, when using your eye pencil and brush, keep in mind that makeup is not meant for painting on a new face on top of the one you already have, but to define and draw out the natural features that simply need a bit of fine-tuning to be perfect.