MAKEUP!
Checkout Annah
Moore's
site!
Makeup! ~ by Annah Moore I am not a professional makeup artist, but I've been asked by several people how I do mine, so I thought I'd share it here. Some of my friends are very good at makeup too, and if I can, I'll get some tips from them to include. If you have any tips or tricks you like, send them to me, and I'll post them. Click HERE to read suggestions! I have had lots of exposure to women's makeup and making up, since I've been part of the "gentlemen's club" circuit for about 10 years. No, I didn't dance, I was the one playing the music. I was a DJ. I got the chance to see thousands of different women's faces, day-in and day-out, and I could tell what worked and what didn't. When the girls would talk to me I would study their makeup work up close. Sometimes commenting on it and asking questions. By far, the best part of that job was that the DJs could (and sometimes had to) go into the dressing rooms to talk to the girls or to find the next performer. I was lucky that I was liked enough that they didn't mind me hanging out in there. When the club was slow, or before we opened up, I would hang out and watch them do their entire makeup routines. This was great, and I learned a lot about doing makeup and hair, and what not to do, too. Many of the girls made-up with performance-styles, some did minimal makeup and some did what appeared to be their regular, everyday make ups. No matter how they did it, I learned from it. Now you know why I stayed in that business for so long! A lot can be learned from simple observation. It's getting yourself into a position to observe that can be the hardest part. Stuff like this is fun to do. White grease-paint, dramatic lines and high-contrasting colors make for some way-cool photography. Alright, here we go. Well, first of all, this is no longer my current regime. I do very thin layers of everything for a more "natural" look. I can't stand having a bunch of stuff stuck to my face, especially foundations and powders. But I do like the smoother, even skin tones that they provide. This is essentially what I do, though I don't moisturize every day and I don't use concealer anymore. I think some natural skin "things" add character to a person's face. Also, I only do one layer of mascara and I make it only enough to turn my medium-brown lashes an almost black shade. Also, I don't do anything to my brows but pluck them anymore. Soon I plan on separating this section into different styles. Here are the basic steps: Wash your face. Moisturize it. Apply foundation. Conceal and Highlight Powder First thin layer of mascara Shadow the eyes Blush it Second thin layer of mascara (if necessary) Eyebrows Lips Finishing powder First, a few basic things to remember! The skin on your face is VERY SENSITIVE! Be very gentle to it, especially around your eyes. When you wash your face, do it carefully, and use gentle cleansers. Use your fingers as much as you can before you use a washcloth. Washcloths can be very abrasive. You don't need to sand off a layer of skin every time you clean your face. If you do, your face will be sore, a lot! Ouch! Also, you should know your skin type, oily, dry, normal, etc, and get cleansers and makeup that are designed to work with your type. Your face is a canvas. Your makeup your medium. You are the artist. It takes practice to get it the way you want it. Make sure you have 3 or 4 hours set aside when you practice doing makeup. Have a good place to do your makeup. Don't stand up and do makeup. Sit down! Have a good mirror about a foot from your face, with lots of 25watt bulbs around it. Don't use a light from above or you'll get odd shadows. It's important to cast as few shadows onto your face as possible. Have a counter where you can rest your elbows firmly for maximum control. A comfy chair, like an office chair, is good to have too. One that is adjustable in height is even better. Don't worry if you mess something up! It's really no biggie. Just gently wipe the mistake off, fix the canvas and try again. Know what you're wearing! You MUST know what clothes you're going to wear BEFORE you put on any makeup. The reason is because it is important to gear your makeup style and color to your clothing style and color. If you wear a pink dress, a pink lipstick and pink eye shadow may look better than using blue eye shadow and dark red lipstick. Coordination is key to looking right overall. Match your colors to your own natural color. Your hair color is VERY important to consider, too. If you have red hair, you surely don't want to use a bright pink eye shadow or lipstick. Brown and gray shades are much more natural. Bright, bold colors (blue, yellow, pink) provide a much less natural skin shading than browns, red-browns, and grays. If you want to look natural, stick with the natural colors. If you want to look wild, go for the bolder ones. Know where you're going, and what time you'll be there. You need to know where you'll be spending most of your time when you are going out with your makeup on. If you're going to a dance-club where it's mostly dark, and then going back home, you could go for some more intense color and style. But if you're going to the local Drag Bar to hang-out before going to eat breakfast afterwards (where you'll be in a brighter venue), you'll want to tone-down a bit and keep your style and color simpler and not so bright. If you are going out during the day to shop or just do everyday stuff, you'll definitely want to stick with natural colors, and less of them. Go very easy on your makeup. Less is more. Eyebrows. Many trans-people don't, or feel they can't, pluck their eyebrows for fear that someone they know, or work with, will key in on it and uncover their secret. I think most people don't notice things like other people's eyebrows anyway, unless of course you have a tiny little line of hairs for eyebrows. I pluck mine every other day, and no one has looked at my eyebrows any differently. Eyebrows provide excellent shaping to the face, and can really make or break your overall look. So keep that in mind. Keep your hands clean. If you get makeup on your hands, wipe or wash it off right away. You don't want to get lipstick on your eyelids, or mascara on your cheek! Don't share your makeup or makeup tools! This is a MUST. NEVER share makeup. The risk of infection or passing of any kinds of germs is too great. Get rid of old liquid makeup. If you've left a mascara or foundation sitting around for more than 2 months. Pitch it! You'll likely never use it anyways, and the chemical structure of liquid makeup changes over time. Especially with the oil-based formulas. Don't be in a hurry! Make sure you have lots of time. Some soothing music is helpful, too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Skin tone The basic underlying tone of your skin is important to know. Your tone will be either yellow or blue based. Most makeup is yellow or blue based, too. When you buy reds, they will have a base color of yellow or blue. Make sure you know whether your natural color tones are yellow or blue-based to make sure the colors you buy go well with your overall skin tone. If you have a yellow skin tone and buy a blue-based red lipstick, it will just not look right. I'm sure we've all bought colors we thought looked great, but when we got home we realised they just don't look right. This is probably why! Blend A key element in good makeup is blending everything together. You want to leave no harsh lines from any makeup you apply, except for around your lips, and your eyebrows, and sometimes your eyeliner depending on what type of makeup you are doing. Thin layers are better! One or two very thin layers of color are way better than a couple of thick ones. Makeup never looks right when it's glopped on in thick layers. This applies to ALL makeup. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As you can see now, there are many factors involved in doing makeup the right way. Of course you don't have to follow these rules, but if you do, I am sure you will see better results! Now that that's said, there are a few "tools of the trade" that you will need to have on hand. Here they are. Tissues. Have a box of facial tissues within arms reach. Make sure you get the kind that don't leave little "tissue hairs" or fuzz. Cotton. Large cotton balls are pretty good, the big chunks of cotton are good too because you can break off the size you need. Brushes. Invest in a set of quality brushes. They are indispensable, and usually better than the little ones that come with the compacts. Makeup sponges. For applying foundations. Sponge-tip applicators. Excellent for blending and applying eye shadows.. Cotton swabs. Useful for blending and wiping away tiny mistakes. Sometimes good for application of shadows. Pencil sharpener. Must have! Got to keep those eye and lip liners sharp! Tweezers. Good for getting rid of little, unwanted hairs, of course! Eyelash curler. A handy little item. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now, you need some makeup to work with. Here's a basic list of what you need. Foundation. Match it as close to the color of your face as possible. It helps to have two shades, one the same as your face, and the other a shade darker for contouring. Concealer. Usually in a stick. Good for covering certain spots. Highlighter. Handy for accentuating certain features of your face. Blusher. Have at least three shades of blush. Eyeliner. A good eyeliner pencil is a necessity. Don't settle for the cheap stuff! Have black, brown, and even white or blue shades. The white and blue can add a little pizzazz when you're out at night. Mascara. Have two. One that's a shade darker than your lashes, and a black one. Use waterproof. It's actually easier to clean off than you think, and it doesn't leave your face stained black as much after you take it off. Plus, it won't run down your face if you get it wet, and you can use it to emphasize your eyebrows. Just make sure you get a good mascara remover. You can get these in oil and non-oil based versions. Eye shadow. Have as many colors as you like. I don't think I can have too many different colors of eye shadow, but I stick with some basic colors most of the time. The compacts with three shades are nice. A palette full of shades excellent. It's important to have a selection of shades that are iridescent and non-iridescent. Iridescent shades are the ones with the sparkles or pearly shine in them. You don't really want to wear these out during the day, as they draw lots of attention because they are so bright. They are great for nighttime use, though. I always try to use non-iridescent colors for daytime use. Eyebrow pencil. Have two shades. Use both to make a more natural look. I like to use the waterproof mascara a bit more than the pencils because I get more control. But you have to be careful not to overdo it! Lip liner. Lip liners can do wonders for your lips! You must be careful not to use too much lip liner though. A heavy black line around the mouth can make it look sunken inward. It's best to use a lip liner that's just about two or three shades darker than the lipstick you'll be using. Lipstick. Have several shades to work with. Use lip brushes to apply your first coats. Powder. Have a powder the same shade as your foundation, and one a little lighter. Finishing powders are good to have, too. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Okay, you've got all this stuff, right? If you don't, don't fret. Get it when you can. Don't buy it all at once, unless you want to spend your rent on it! Do the best with what you've got. Alright, on we go with the process! Wash your face In order for your makeup to last more than a couple of hours, your face must be very clean. Wash it with a good facial cleanser. Don't rub! Try to use your fingers as much as possible rather than a washcloth. Be gentle. Rinse well, removing all traces of cleanser. Of course, if you need to shave, now is the time to do it. But you should wait a while after you shave so that your face has a chance to relax a bit before you apply makeup. Some foundations can burn or itch quite a bit if you have shaving cuts on your face. I try to shave a bit earlier, like a half-hour to an hour before putting on makeup. Moisturize it Use a good facial moisturizer. I use Oil of Olay's original formula. It's non-greasy and works very well for me. Remember that a moisturizer doesn't actually add moisture to your skin. It provides a thin layer of oils that keep your skin's natural moisture in. Blot off any extra moisturizer with a tissue. You want the very finest layer. Let it soak into your skin for a few minutes. You can arrange your makeup or something while you wait. Apply foundation Foundation is what smoothes out your canvas so that you have the best surface to work with. Smoothing is mostly color-smoothing, not bump or wrinkle smoothing. If you try to smooth-over bumps or wrinkles you can end up with a cakey mess. Some girls I know have thick beard/mustache-growth they need to cover. Sometimes shaving just won't make it go away, and you can still see the shadow of the hairs below the makeup. They use a product called Derma blend, which is a very thick foundation that really covers. It was developed originally for burn victims. It is very hard to remove, from what I hear. It can also be tricky to use. Make sure you've got lots of time to practice with it before you go out in it. I've used L'Oreal's Au Naturale cake foundation to do the same thing. It's about $11 a cake, and lasts for about 25-30 applications. I only use it on my beard/mustache areas now. After electrolysis, I'll just use liquid foundation. Liquids provide the best look overall. They smooth well, and leave the most natural look. I recommend using a thick blend on your hairy spots, and liquid on your upper cheeks, nose, eyes and forehead, and over the mustache/beard areas to blend the two together. Make sure your Derma blend and liquid are the same color!! With a liquid, dab dots onto your face, and use a makeup sponge to spread it out evenly, then dab it to press it into the skin and leave a good texture. Smearing will leave smear-lines, which will show up later. Don't put too much foundation on. You can wet the sponge to make the application thinner if you want. Cover your whole face, from your temples to your hairline, and down and around your neck as much as you need to. Be careful not to get any into your eyes, but do cover all external skin, even your lips. You don't need to apply foundation to the inner part of your lips, but at least around the outer rim so that you can better define the shape of your lips later if you want to. Wait for a few minutes Let the foundation settle for three or four minutes. Your powder will adhere better, and your foundation will look better and last longer if you do this. This is a good time to arrange your makeup some more. :) Just kidding. Conceal and highlight Now is a good time to see the spots you'll need to conceal. Use a concealer to carefully touch-up any spots you want to hide. It's also a good time to use a highlighter to bring out your cheekbones, forehead, etc. Blend both very well. Use thin layers. Press in powder Use a piece of cotton, or a large cotton ball, to gently press loose powder into your foundation. Use a pressing/rolling motion. Don't rub across your face! Make sure you press it in. You don't want to use a brush at this point. Pressing it in locks it into the foundation more securely and looks better, too. If you just brush-on the powder at this point, it won't have a good staying quality, and it and everything else on top of it will just fall right off after a while! First layer of mascara It is important to do a single, thin layer of mascara now for two reasons. First, it gives you an idea of where your eyes are on your face, which is an important reference for other stuff like shadow and liner. The second reason is that it is best to build up thin layers of mascara, letting each layer dry, and using an eyelash brush to separate the eyelashes. This will make your eyelashes look beautiful and more natural instead of clumpy and trashy. Use an eyelash curler before your first application to get some extra "umph" from your lashes. Line your eyes This is a very tricky thing to do, and takes a lot of practice. You can use eyeliner pencils or liquids. Liquids are fun, and look best only on the eyelid, but not on the lower rim of the eye. They make a very bold, hard-edged line. Pencils are good for providing any form of line from soft to hard-edged. You can use a blending stick or cotton-swab to smooth-out the lines for a more natural look. The picture shows a more iridescent, night-time style. Begin by lining the undersides of the upper eyelid (A). You can emphasize the inner corner of your eye by lining the inside surface (B). Be careful not to poke your eyeball! Bring this inner corner line together with the upper line. Build up the width of your lines very gradually. You can either line the inner surface of the lower lid, the corner edge of it, or the outer part of it (just below the lower lashes), or any combination of the three. All provide different effects. I prefer to line the corner edge most of the time. Whichever you chose to try, slowly build the line up from the inner corner to the outer corner (C). Always make the inner corner lines thinner than the outer. This keeps the visual "weight" of the eye balanced. A current trend is to not line the lower eyelid at all. This looks nice with a thicker line of liquid eyeliner on the top. Apply eye shadow Choose colors that will coordinate with the outfit you plan to wear! Eye shadow is very tricky to apply, and there are a few general techniques that are helpful. If you have close-set eyes, shade the outside areas (A) under the brow and above the lid to make them appear wider. If you have far-set eyes, do the opposite, and shade toward the inside under the brow and above the lid (B). Use your brighter colors on the center of your eyelid and fade it outward toward the corners of the eyelid. Blend in a medium color in each corner of just the lid (C), or use the bright starting from the inside and fading to darker on the outside (as shown in the picture). Use your lightest color just under your eyebrow to visually lift your brow bone (D). Sometimes, depending on the dramatic affect you want to achieve, you can use lighter shades on your lower lid too (E), or blend your darker shades from the lower/outer part of your eye up into the upper shadows (F). Blush it Try to apply blush to the areas your face naturally blushes. You can blend your eyes into the rest of your face by bringing your lighter shades of blush up and gently blending it in with your eyes near your temples (A). Use the lightest blush to highlight your cheekbones and make them appear higher (B). Carefully build thin layers of darker shadow just under your jawbone to help lift it even more (C), but be careful not to make it to dark or your cheeks will look unnaturally sunken in. You don't want to look like a corpse! Think of a triangular shape here and use that as a guide. Make your darker blush a bit wider toward your ear and come to a point under the highest part of your cheekbone. Second thin layer of mascara Use an eyelash comb to separate your lashes, then apply a second thin coat of mascara. I recommend stopping here and most times, you don't even need to add a second layer. I don't do any more than one layer these days, unless I'm going out to a wild club or something... but I don't really do that very much anymore. Eyebrows You can contour your eyebrows with the eyebrow pencils, or darken them with your mascara. Don't use the black mascara though, unless you have black hair. A general rule is to have your eyebrows one or two shades darker than your hair, but no more darker than that. And eyebrows that are much lighter than the hair color look very odd! Who knows, if you do that, maybe you'll start a new fashion trend! Lips Lips are one of my favorite things to put makeup on. They can be so mood-defining at times. Lips have more nerve-endings in them than any other part of our body, including our fingertips! They can be very sensual. They are petals on a flower. You can use lip liner if you wish. I do. Even if I don't want a dramatic affect. There are a few reasons. (1) The liner helps to keep lipstick from bleeding, (2) Liner is easier to get a good outer edge with, (3) Liner can redefine the overall shape of your lips in many ways. If you have narrow lips, you can make them appear fuller by lining to the outside of the natural rim of the lips. The rim is the little "edge" that sticks out the most. Kind of like a mountain ridge. If you want to bring out just the upper or lower lip, you can do that, too. If your lips are too big, you can bring them in by lining just inside the rim. Whatever your needs, line the outer edge of the lips with lip liner (A). Don't use black liner unless you plan on using a very dark lipstick, or unless you are making a very bold statement. A general rule here is use a liner 1-3 shades darker than your lipstick. You can cover your entire lips with liner to keep a strong, even color for several hours, but you lose the lining effect this way. Apply your lipstick to both lips (B). I prefer to use a brush to apply lipstick initially. You can swab a lip brush through your lipstick and brush it on. Start from the center of the lips and work your way toward the corners of your mouth. Carefully apply over the liner. You can choose to cover the liner completely, partially or not at all for different effects. Use a tissue and blot (or lip-press by "gumming" it). Then put on another coating of lipstick. This helps to press-in the color which helps to keep your lipstick in place a little bit longer. (not the best example...) Finishing powder You can use your loose powder, if you want to. But there are finishing powders on the market which are supposed to help "set" your makeup into place. There are some other tricks to setting makeup, but unless you plan on going hog-wild, I don't really think they're necessary. You can use your large powder brush to gently brush on a very thin layer of loose powder. Be very careful not to touch your lips with the brush or you may smear lipstick all over your face! Generally you can use this brushing to somewhat "pull-together" your cheeks, eyes, nose and forehead. Don't leave any extra powder on your face. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Final Notes If you do any part of your face with makeup, do the whole thing. It looks unbalanced if you do only your eyes or your lips. If you have a certain facial feature which you feel is an asset to your beauty, you can use your makeup to bring more attention to it. You can use makeup this way also, to draw attention away from features you don't want people to look at. But make sure you make these subtle hints, or you will end up drawing more attention to the things you don't want people to see! If you make a mistake, wipe it away gently, then reapply foundation and powder as necessary. It's very hard to "patch holes" like this, but after you practice you'll get better at both fixing mistakes and not making them to begin with. Don't get caught in a rut and use the same colors, methods and styles forever. Use a variety of techniques and colors. Keep people wondering what you'll look like next time they see you. This adds an amazing amount of intrigue to your character, which will keep people interested in you, along with your wonderful personality and sense of humor! Most important of all? Have fun with it! You should be ready to rock! If you want to, you can write down what colors you use and where you use them, so that you can duplicate a makeup that you've done which you like alot. This is really helpful considering all the combinations of colors and methods you can choose from. Now get out there and show the world your beautiful face!!! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Removing Makeup Removing makeup is just as delicate a process as putting it on, and you should treat your face very carefully when you do remove it. Here are some important things to remember: Make sure you don't use an abrasive washcloth, as this can leave your delicate facial skin raw and sore. If you use waterproof mascara, gently remove it with mascara remover. You can use a tissue soaked with remover to gently massage the eyelashes with and kindly pull the tissue from the roots of the eyelashes outward, slipping the mascara off of the lashes. Don't squeeze to hard to avoid pulling out your lashes. Start with one eye first, using the other eye to help you clean. Try to avoid getting any cleansers into your eyes at all, but if you do, make sure you're using ph-balanced formulas that won't burn or irritate. After you do both eyes, use a soft washcloth with cleanser (I recommend Noxzema for Sensitive Skin), and gently massage around your lips, removing the lip liner then the lipstick. You may want to wipe off most of the lipstick with a tissue first to keep your washcloth from getting too oily with the lipstick. Use your hands with some cleanser and work it into your cheeks, chin, nose, forehead, etc., and gently wash away the rest of your makeup. Try a good facial toner (Sea Breeze makes a good non-alcohol one) following the directions on the bottle. You can also moisturize with a good, non-oil moisturizer, too. I use regular Oil of Olay.
