CONCEALER!!! Types, uses and how to apply.

Concealer is the one staple in a woman's beauty arsenal that can dramatically change your appearance. Used correctly, concealer can brighten a tired face, it can cover up blemishes and it can totally conceal under-eye circles. Many people are afraid of concealers because they don't know how to find the right shade or apply it properly. It can be daunting, but once you know the basics and try the application process below, you'll find out that concealer are the beauty product ever produced. A basic rule of choosing a concealer is that it should be a shade or 2 lighter than your skin tone. 

TYPES OF CONCEALER

Most women use concealer to lighten the areas under the eyes. Others use concealer to cover up pimples, acne scars, tattoos and even spider veins. Concealers are not a one-size fits all formula. Different concealers work on different problem areas. Here's a rundown:

• Under-eye concealer is best for camouflaging the circles under the eyes. This concealer won't work on redness or blemishes. 

• Correctors work to cover up extremely dark under-eye circles. Peach tones and pink tones work best to counteract the dark colors.

• Yellow-toned concealer that matches your skin tone exactly is best for covering up blemishes, tattoos, etc.

• Body concealer is great for covering up veins on the legs. 

• Heavy duty concealer works to cover up tattoos and bad scars. 

HOW TO APPLY CONCEALER

Concealer looks most natural when you work in "sheer layers and build it up gradually. To properly apply concealer, follow these directions:

1. Apply several dots of concealer under the eyes close to the lashes. Apply a dot to the inside corners of the eyes. You can use your finger or, for best results, try a small-headed brush with firm bristles.

2. Using the pad of your middle finger, tap in the concealer (always tap, never rub). Make sure to blend well. You can also use your index finger. There's no real rule to it, but I find the middle finger tends to be gentle.

3. Apply concealer on other uneven spots on the face -- including the chin, and around the nose and mouth if need be and tap in.

4. Apply another layer if you need more coverage.

5. Dust fine, loose powder over your face to set your concealer. According to makeup artist Scott Barnes in Allure Magazine, loose powder applied with a fluffy brush is "the secret to good concealer."

How to Disguise Dark Under-eye Circles

It's best not to use your basic concealer to try to disguise dark under-eye circles. Instead, choose an "under-eye concealer" specially formulated to cover up dark spots. These work by brightening the dark areas under the eyes and are not to be used to camouflage redness or blemishes.

How to Cover Up a Pimple

Use a stiff brush with a pointy, fine tip to dab on a concealer that matches your skin tone. It's important to apply only to the red areas, not necessarily to the raised area. Let the concealer dry. Apply a second layer. Set the concealer with a dusting of translucent powder. If you find you overdid the concealer, use a tissue to gently buff the concealer away. If that doesn't work, moisten a Q-tip with makeup remover and gently apply to the pimple. Then re-cover the pimple with concealer.

HOW TO DISGUISE A POCK MARK AND DEEP SCAR

You can disguise a concave pockmark or scar by using an angled brush dipped in a concealer that's a shade lighter than your skin tone. Fill in the center of the pockmark without going over the edges and then dust skin with translucent powder. If the scar is raised, use a concealer that matches your skin tone and pat the scar with the concealer, setting the concealer with powder.

5 steps to a clear skin

Every flawless makup starts with a beautiful and clear skin. Just like every other thing, you need to take care of your skin to make it beautiful. In this post, am going to show you 5 steps to having a clear skin. This is an every day routine that needs to be religiously followed to get the desired result.

STEP1

Run a wash cloth under hot water and immediately press it onto your face. The water and steam will really help clean the dirt from your pores. This also opens your pores, making it easier to clean them. Be careful that the water is not too hot when doing this.

STEP2

Wash your hands well with an antibacterial soap. You can't wash your face effectively with dirty hands. If you have a cleanser, wash your face after you remove the cloth. This time, apply the cleanser without wetting your face first. Make a tiny "puddle" in your hands, squirt the cleanser in the puddle, put your hands together and wash your face. Rinse with warm water.

STEP3

Get 2 tablespoons of sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Stir so it's like a thin paste, and add one more tablespoon of sugar. Stir again and drain out some of the water. get ur hands wet rub them on your face so you have a little bit of water on your face.scoop up the sugar and water and put it on one of your cheeks. Scoop again and put it on the same cheek. Then rub in a circular way an rinse

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STEP4

Get about ten drops of lemon juice on your hands after you wash your face. Smear on your face for ten seconds, but be careful. Lemon juice is strong and if it burns only keep it on for three seconds. It breaks down the dirt in your pores that the cleanser missed. This is your "toner".

STEP5

Splash cold water on your face or rub an ice cube on your face. because if you weren't following the directions earlier and splashed cold water on your face, your pores will have closed. The water is like a key to your pores; hot water unlocks, cold water locks. Doing all of these steps with open pores will get almost all of the dirt and bacteria out, thus keeping your skin clear. 

Tips on how to create the "No Makeup" Makeup Look

Wearing less make up can bring out your natural beauty while still giving you a bit of enhancement. There are many advantages to limiting your make up regimen, including less money spent on cosmetics, healthier skin, more confidence, and less time spent on make up in the morning. Despite this, wearing little or no make up can be daunting, especially if u have bad skin, unshaped eyebrows or broken/dried lips. Today am going to show you how to successfully pull off the no make-up look while having a beautiful glowing skin.

1. Clear, healthy skin will give you more confidence, as well as removing the need for foundation or concealer.

* Determine your skin type. You must do this before taking action to improving your skin so that you can choose the appropriate products, and so that you know what problems you have to tackle, and how to treat them.

* Develop a good skin care routine which is suitable for your type of skin. It's important to stick to a routine as strictly as you can, this is because it can take a while for the routine to start improving the appearance of your skin, and can sometimes take time for your skin to adjust to the new things you are doing to it.

* Generally you should include: a gentle day to day cleanser, a twice weekly exfoliating facial scrub, an appropriate daily moisturizer, treatment for when spots pop up, and a face mask to use once a week/whenever needed.

* Don't be too harsh on your skin. Try to avoid strong products, and choose natural or sensitive products instead to prevent your skin from becoming irritated or dry. You could even try out DIY methods by making your own face masks to avoid harmful chemicals. If you have any specific problems, such as acne or scars, then it's recommended that you approach a specialist such as a dermatologist or your doctor to help you to develop a treatment that is right for you.

2. Take care of your lips. A soft, plump pout looks nice and kissable, but dry chapped lips can look scruffy and unhealthy. Moisturize your lips with some balm before bed, (stay away from very cheap brands as they can cause your lips to become even more dry in the long term), and exfoliate your lips every now and again to keep them smooth, (don't bother spending money on special products, sugar works fine). Also, avoid smoking, and drink plenty of water to keep your pout looking good.

3. Shape your eyebrows. A good set of brows can frame and flatter your face. Plucking is the easiest and cheapest way to shape them, just be careful to stand back from the mirror every now and again to make sure that they're even and that you're not over-plucking. If you're not brave enough to do them yourself, eyebrow shaping is widely available and fairly affordable, you could get them professionally plucked, waxed or threaded. This is definitely one of the most important steps to natural beauty as it helps to give your face more definition.

THE "NO-MAKEUP" MAKEUP LOOK

Moisturize your face. Using a small dab the size of a pea, gently rub in an unscented, oil free lotion. For a more natural look, instead of using foundation, use a tinted moisturizer. Tinted moisturizers blend in while evening out your skin tone and commonly contain SPF. Those lucky girls with clearer skin will look best using tinted moisturizer.

Apply concealer to any blemishes and around your eyes. Applying your concealer before foundation helps keep foundation to a minimal amount. Make sure this is the exact same color as your skin. When you apply the concealer, do so directly on the spot and not around it. This is to avoid a halo effect and emphasis of the spot. Set with beige powder. Be careful not to overdo it on the concealer; you only need enough to cover the spot.

Take your finger or a sponge dab in the foundation, and dab it on your face, blending it until it looks like your skin tone. Be sure to go underneath your jaw line; if you stop at the edge of your face, there will be a clear line where the foundation ends, making it look like you’re wearing a mask. If you have bags or discoloration under your eyes, make 3 dots on the line of the circles under your eyes. Blend it gently using your ring finger.

Apply Bronzer or blush(never apply both for a natural look). Some people wait until after they have applied makeup to their eyes to add bronzer or blush. Bronzer is a great way to give yourself a natural glow. Lightly brush bronzer all over your face (or just along your cheekbones and T-Zone for a natural suntan appearance). However, bronzer can look silly on people with pale skin if applied incorrectly. If you were not happy with bronzer, you can apply blush instead. Creme blush generally works better than powder because it gives you a dewy look and lasts longer.

Apply a sheer nude lip color. Avoid using chalky lipsticks or shiny lip glosses. Lip stain is generally best because it looks natural and lasts all day. Use a color that's close to your natural lip color.Dab a tiny amount of the shimmering blush onto the center of your lips. Test this step out at home before going out with it on--some people do not like the look of blush in the center of your lips. Do what feels (and looks) best to you!

Enjoy your dewy, fresh, radiant look.

How to clean your makeup brush

Now that you know which brushe to use for contouring and which to use for concealing, do you also know that you should be cleaning your makeup brushes? Washing your makeup brushes should be a regular part of your beauty routine. When you use your brushes, bits of makeup, oil, dirt, and even bacteria can get trapped in the bristles. So while it might seem basic, skipping this step can lead to clogged pores and breakouts. Not to mention the fact that quality makeup brushes can be expensive. So learning how to properly clean them is one of the best ways to protect your investment

Luckily, cleaning your makeup brushes is quick and easy. The first step to keeping your brushes clean is picking up a daily brush cleaner and spritzing it on your brushes after each use (I like Sephora’s Daily Brush Cleaner). Once a week, it’s time for a deep cleaning. (Note that your brushes will need a few hours to dry after a deep cleaning, so I’d recommend washing them after you’ve applied your makeup that day.)

Here’s the right way to deep clean your makeup brushes…

You will need:

• A shallow bowl

• Gentle clarifying shampoo or baby shampoo

• Your sink

• A lint free cloth

Instructions:

1. Begin by running your brushes under lukewarm water, rinsing out all of the residual makeup. Try to focus on the actual bristles while avoiding the part of the brush where handle meets the head, as this can loosen the glue over time .

2. Fill a bowl with lukewarm water and a squirt of shampoo, and gently swirl your brush tip in the water. If you need to, you can also swirl the brush in the palm of your hand to work up a lather.

3. Rinse the brush tip under running water once again. Repeat steps two and three until the water runs clear from the brush.

4. Use a cloth to wipe your brush clean, reshaping the bristles as you go.

5. Lay your brushes flat on a cloth to dry.

And there you have it! Your makeup brushes will be as clean a whistle. It’s also worth mentioning that there are specially formulated brush shampoos on the market. A gentle clarifying or baby shampoo will do the trick just fine though.

Makeup brushes and their uses

There are different types of make-up brushes which makes it very confusing to use. And unfortunately with make-up brushes you can’t just start with the smallest one and work your way in.  There are so many brushes and so many uses that it can be quite daunting and hard to know where to start.  But once you learn it, it’s definitely worth it, so let’s begin with a list of the most common make-up brushes and their uses. 

Foundation Brush

As the name suggests, this brush is designed for applying liquid foundation. Foundation brushes have tightly packed bristles of varying lengths to help achieve a smooth, non-streaky finish. You can apply foundation to your face and then use the brush to spread and blend or alternatively apply your foundation directly to the brush and then apply to the face, starting at the nose and working your way out. The second method uses less product and allows for a more precise application.

Powder Brush

The powder brush is one of the largest make-up brushes and has a wide variety of purposes. It is soft, full and rounded, allowing it to easily pick up powdered products. You can use it to distribute powder evenly to large areas, such as the face and neck. Simply pat the brush into your powder product, dust off any excess and apply using sweeping and circular motions. this brush can also be used to apply bronzer.

Stippling Brush

A stippling brush, also known as a duo-fibre brush or skunk brush is a multi-purpose brush that is most commonly used with liquid foundation, blush and bronzer. The black bristles are tightly packed together and usually made out of animal hair. Poking out above these are the white bristles, generally made from synthetics.The flat, circular, feathery head provides lightweight and buildable coverage that won’t remove any of the make-up you've already applied, so it’s perfect for layering.

Concealer Brush

This brush may be little, but when used correctly the impact it makes can be huge. We’re always told to pat in concealer not rub, but this can be difficult when applying with your fingers. Use this brush to gently pat on your concealer for smooth and flawless coverage. Whether it’s dark circles under your eyes, spots or discoloration, this nifty little brush will give you more control over those annoying imperfections. 

Blusher Brush

A blusher brush is used for applying your blush. The blusher brush is made with fine, gentle fibres with a soft rounded head. It’s ideal for applying powdered colour to the apples of your cheeks and blending it up along your cheekbone.

Contour Brush

The slanted bristles are intended to mimic the angle of your cheekbones, so it’s perfect for blending, highlighting and shading using a bronzer or illuminating powder. 

Eye Base Brush & Angle Eye Shadow brush

There are many different types of eye shadow brushes, but these two are the most commonly used. The eye base brush is used to apply colour to your entire eyelid. It’s wide, flat and short, with a bevelled edge to allow smooth application without pulling on the eyelid. Once a base colour has been applied, the angled eye shadow brush or contour eye shadow brush is then used for layering colour and creating hard lines along the eyelid crease. 

Smudger Brush

Sometimes found on the other end of an eye pencil, a smudger brush is ideal for softening hard lines and creating a smoldering look. The dome shaped bristles are shaped to fit perfectly into the crease of the eye and is a must-have for creating smokey eyes.

Lip Brush

A lip brush is a great way to achieve a perfect line when you don’t have a lip liner handy (or can’t find the right colour). The sculpted tip of the lip brush allows for precise application and lining of the lip, while the short and firm bristles gives flawless overall coverage. It’s also a more hygienic way to apply lipstick if you tend to share with housemates, friends or sisters.

Recommended brushes:

1. Lancome Foundation Brush

2. Natio Powder Brush

3. ARTISTE Stippling Brush #17

4. Bobbi Brown Concealer Brush

5. The Body Shop Blusher Brush

6. MAC Large Angled Contour Brush 168

7. GLO MINERALS Eye Base Brush

8. Natio Angle Eye Shadow Brush

9. ARTISTE Rounded Smudge Brush #29

10. Avon Retractable Lip Brush

Do you use make-up brushes to apply your make-up? What is your hero brush?

FIVE DIFFERENT WAYS TO CREAT OMBRE LIPS

Post by Delia beautifyandclearify

Salut! Today I want to show you 5 different ways to create ombre lips. The word "ombre" is a French word, which means "to shade". Nowadays "ombre" is widely used term in beauty and fashion world: ombre hair, ombre lips, ombre clothes, ombre decor, etc.  

In this blog post I want to show you how you can create your own ombre styled lips using different techniques and tools. Let's get started!

#1. Ombre lips using lipliner or eyeliner pencil. Use lighter color as a base color and apply it all over your lips. Then using darker colored pencil create ombre effect by outlining lips or darkening inner center of your lips, whichever you prefer. I applied white eyeliner pencil as a base color, and using my brown-ish lipliner I outlined the shape of my lips. Then, took the white liner again and blended the colors until there were no edges, but smooth transition between the colors. When creating ombre effect remember to blend the colors using lighter shaded pencil. For a glossy finish, apply a lipgloss carefully, so that the colors won't mix together, losing the ombre effect.

#2. Ombre lips using lipsticks. Just like it was described in point #1, apply lighter lipstick as a base color all over your lips and create ombre effect with the darker shade using lip brush. If you are not comfortable using a brush or don't have one, fingers work just as well as any lip brush. Blend the colors smoothly, and that's it! Apply gloss if you want a glossy finish. 

#3. Ombre lips using lipstick and a lipliner/eyeliner pencil. This is my favorite way to create ombre lips, and i think it is one of the easiest ways as well. Apply lipstick all over your lips, create an ombre effect using darker or lighter shaded lipliner/eyeliner pencil. You can use either lip brush or your fingers to blend the edges of the colors together. Apply lip gloss for a glossy finish. I've created this ombre look by applying liner on the corners of my lips. 

#4. Ombre lips using lipstick and eyeshadow. Apply lipstick of your choice all over your lips. Take a little bit of the eyeshadow on your brush or a finger tip and carefully apply it on the center of your lips by gradually blending the edges. I would recommend you to pick lipstick color which has a higher contrast with an eyeshadow color, since ombre effect is less visible when the base color is light (as you can see in the pictures). 

#5. Ombre lips using eyeshadows. On my previous post I posted a picture of purple ombre lips, which were created using eyeshadows-on-lips ombre technique. You can play around with different colors and create various looks using this method. Let's do rainbow lips! First, apply concealer all over your lips and apply lip primer or an eyeshadow primer. Now start packing the rainbow colors one after another. Once finished, clean up the outer edges of the lips using concealer. Apply gloss for a glossy finish. Enjoy!

Hope you find this blog post useful. Have fun creating lovely ombre lips!

BLACKHEADS....Home remedies that actually work.

The key to getting rid of your blackheads is unplugging the pores and dislodging the buildup. While it might be tempting squeeze it out, it's not something I recommend. Your fingers have oils and dirt on them which could cause further breakouts. lets's face it: blackheads can be difficult to cover up. The mixture of oil and sebum that hits the skin's surface creates large black dots that darken your skin, enlarge your pores and look unsightly. There are over the counter products that works well for blackheads but before you buy any product, look at the product pack for the following ingredients...

Look for cleansers, exfoliators and acne products that contain salicylic acid, glycolic acid or benzoyl peroxide - or a combination of those. Products that include these ingredients loosen the dead skin cells that can get clogged in your hair follicles. These ingredients can literally help unplug the follicles. These chemical exfoliators are different than the grainy exfoliators. They work evenly and effectively without causing your face any irritation.

Instead of dropping cash at the drugstore, you can quickly banish blackheads and shrink pores with home remedies that work to naturally cleanse, tone and balance the skin. Much gentler than prescription medication, natural blackhead remedies will have you saying bye to blackheads and hello to beautiful skin.

WORK A HOMEMADE WASH

It's crucial to stick to a cleansing routine twice a day when trying to eliminate acne-causing bacteria from your face. Help combat blackheads with a homemade wash consisting of 1/2 cup of rolled oats, 1/4 cup of water, 1/2 tablespoon of honey and 1/4 cup of lemon juice mixed in a bowl. Scoop a dollop onto your fingertips and gently massage onto your face, in small circles, for at least 30 seconds. Rinse with warm water and pat dry with a clean towel. The oats exfoliate the skin and absorb excess oil; lemon kills bacteria, while the honey adds necessary moisture back into the skin.

SCRUB FOR SUCCESS

Two or three times a week, use a natural abrasive scrub that exfoliates dead skin cells, brightens your complexion and evens out the skin's surface. Mix together 3 tablespoons of fresh cream, 1 cup of white sugar, 1/2 cup of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of ground almonds and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Massage over your entire face in a circular motion for 1 minute. First rinse with warm water, followed by a splash of cold water all over your face. Pat dry with a clean, soft towel. Cover any extra scrub with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator for the next use.

MAKE A MASK

Apply a homemade mask to your face twice a week. Mix together 1 part almond powder and 2 parts rose water for a smooth paste. The almond helps exfoliate the skin, while the rose water acts as a mild antiseptic. Smooth the mask on your face using your fingertips, being careful to place a generous amount on the problem areas. Leave on your face for 15 minutes and then rinse thoroughly with cool water. Place any remaining mask in the refrigerator for the next use.

Try these products for one month and you will be surprised at how beautiful and glowing your skin will look.