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I found this on-line awhile ago and I’ve been meaning to post it. THIS is how it’s done, ducklings. Flawless skin, beautifully blended, elegant neutral eyes, (OK, too much blush) and the dramatic pop of coral on the lips. She has super short hair but it’s a STYLE. It’s not just flapping around on her head. Of course she’s a beautiful MODEL and this has been photoshopped and stuff, but it’s still inspiring.
One of you asked me recently to do a make-up tutorial (you know there are a few under Video Tutorials in the archives, right?) and I do want to try to make time soon. The question was, “How do I do that kind of make-up where it doesn’t look like I’m wearing a lot of make-up?”
It starts with serious attention to skin care. If your skin isn’t healthy, there isn’t any product you can put on top of it that will improve its appearance very much. Stop tanning immediately and make a commitment to SPF. Exfoliate regularly, moisturize regularly. USE EYE CREAM RELIGIOUSLY.
If you do these things faithfully for a year (my skin changed drastically for the better in my late 30’s when I started using a strong anti-oxidant serum every morning), you will see a huge difference. That’s all I have time for today, cookies. Must run. But guys, I’m talking to you, too. A facial every few months is also a big help, and especially if you have blackheads. Blackheads = EWWWW!! I was on the phone last night to a dear male colleague and told him that I was going for my first Botox injections this Wednesday. He laughed and laughed, but only because he had been looking into the same procedure for himself. I told him that if he took better care of his skin, got his eyebrows groomed and had a dermatologist or other trained professional take care of the spider veins all over his nose, he wouldn’t need Botox. He responded that that was probably true, as he had “the grooming habits of a barnyard animal.”
We hooted over that one, but he does! And his sweaters smell like old dirty laundry sometimes and it’s because he works in group homes and does overnights and sometimes sleeps in his clothes, and he needs to stop storing clothes in a ball in his car. There comes a time when you can no longer trade on your boyish good looks and charm. You have to start sprucing up and taking your appearance more seriously. Rumpled and musty/stinky is okay when you’re young, but over 40 it just gets creepy. I’m glad my dear guy friend knows that. And it’s not because I’ve been hounding him about it for over a decade, either, I bet.
I’m still trying to come up with the question or comment this raises in me. I’ve been trying to figure it out much of the day. I guess it boils down to, “Really? THIS is how it’s done?”
Because, yes, she’s gorgeous, but I look at that and I would expect you to say that this is NOT how it’s done and that the gorgeousness cannot hide the unnaturalness of the makeup. A neutral eye? That’s a neutral eye? That skin is flawless? It just looks unreal to me. Synthetic even. And the blending is good? That blush seems…how to put it? It stands out. I believe I may have thought the word “clown.”
And, again, hard to compare because she is a model and I don’t know how the photo was retouched or what this is an image of or for, but I got that tilty-head thing going as I try to figure out how this really relates to an appropriate use of makeup for ministers.
The skin care I get. I’m all over the skin care. But I’ll need some help, here, on seeing this as a model for clergy cosmetics. It’s just so…um…thick, is the word that comes to mind.
Yea, you’re right in many ways. It’s very thick. The blush is NOT blended. I think it was the sense of proportion that I loved. The lack of hair volume off-set by serious FACE. The lips are fantastic against the smudgy eye. It’s all very fashion model, but I hoped that you all would be able to translate to our reality. Maybe not such a good idea and more confusing than it was worth. Maybe I should have said, “SHE’s GORGEOUS! BEHOLD!” And left it at that…
OK that makes sense. And she’s gorgeous.
I’d like to think I successfully pull of the “I’m wearing makeup but you can’t really tell” look. I use a concealer on any blemishes or red areas (like around my nose) and I use this Garnier brightening thing under my eyes and powder foundation. I find that anything with more coverage feels too heavy on my face, and at this point in my life I can get away with very sheer coverage. I wear eyeliner on my top eyelid with a neutral eyeshadow (taupe/brown or gray). No mascara, as I am blessed with long black lashes, and it just flakes into my eyes anyway. I top it off with a coral blush (way less than the model) and subtle (not super shiny or sparkly) lip gloss and I’m good.
I know that my makeup is very subtle because one day I wore actual foundation and went a tad heavier on the makeup because we were having professional head shots taken at the office. The first thing one of my (male) coworkers said to me that morning was, “Are you wearing makeup?!?” 🙂
I spent half an hour having a makeup consultation on Friday, and they made the same point about skin care. I wasn’t sold on all the makeup they used (brow gel???). I tried not to let my jaw drop when they explained it would only take 20 minutes each day to put all that on myself. I did buy some really cool eyeliner I’ll try some time, though. I am going to go exfoliate now.
It takes me less than 5 minutes to do my makeup. Twenty minutes is insane. I don’t even spend that long blow-drying my hair, and I might take that long in the shower if I have to shave my legs.
Where did you get the 20 minutes idea, Elly? I actually love nothing more than sitting at my vanity table with lots of time to spare and fooling around with make-up. I find it fun and relaxing. I’ll never like drying and styling hair — I’m just no good at it. And young lady, I hope you’re not leaving the water running while you shave your legs for 20 minutes! Al Gore will be very mad at you.
Which anti-oxidant serum do you use? I’ve been adding vitamin C crystals to yogurt and smearing it on my face from time to time. It actually disappears into the skin. I’m also using a little Retin A but I fear greater sun-sensitivity.
I have to give a shout-out to collagen supplements for good skin care – skin is tighter, wrinkles smooth out. Also helps with joints, hair and nails.
While there’s plenty of good stuff you can put ON your skin, one of the best ways to ensure a healthy complexion is good diet and rest. Fish, plenty of veggies and fruit such as blackberries, blueberries, strawberries, all those rich dark colors. And of course, no smoking and stay out of the sun! I was married to a plastic surgeon for many years and his patients included carefree sunworshippers and tanning bed devotees.
I was responding to Trisha’s comment directly above mine. And the taking 20 minutes to shave is probably an exaggration. 🙂 Sadly, mornings are always a rush, so I rarely have the luxury of playing with makeup.
For natural-looking makeup, I really have to second PeaceBang’s suggestion to go to someplace like Sephora and ask for a makeover. Even though the makeup artist (and they are artists!) applied much *more* makeup than I will ever wear, she taught me invaluable things about colors that work naturally for me, (gold shimmer can look subtle; who knew?) and products that I never knew existed but can make all the difference. (red-reducing lotion.) You can buy the products that make sense for you, leave the rest, and come back for more later. Made quite a difference for me.
Agreed, OldHouseGal. I saw the best results with my skin when I began eating much more healthfully, and drastically cut down on the amount of sugar I was consuming (including fruits – berries are the lowest in sugar so I pretty much stick to those). Sugar is very aging. When I combined better eating with the collagen supplements, it took things to the next level.
You can make a fantastic night cream by whipping coconut oil in a mixer. I’m only 27, but I can see my hereditary eye bags starting to come in and I’d like to hold them off as long as I can. I added a few drops of lemon oil to mine for fun. Result: depuffed eye bags and super soft skin in the morning.
You can also make a salt scrub with coconut oil and any coarse grained salt. I added some shea butter I had lying around and that seemed to improve the texture.
Coconut oil is fantastic for skin care. 🙂
[Oh my gosh, I LOVE coconut oil. I heard that it was great for skin care. I’m going to try it. I have some on hand and it smells so good! – PB]
Be careful with salt on skin. Think about sugar instead–it’s the glycol acid stuff you spend money on via the acid treatment and it’s a cheap dissolving scrub.
Gina, which collagen supplement do you take? Lately, I’m trying to heed the fact mad cow disease has popped up in the U.S. (hello grass-fed). And I read that oral collagen doesn’t make it through your digestive tract as collagen. That said, gelatin really seemed to grow my nails.
Carol, this one: http://www.costco.com/Browse/Product.aspx?Prodid=11673449