As a licensed cosmetologist, I would like to share how to develop the art of truly being a makeup artist on your own face.

First, please toss out old ideas you may have had, as well as the “one size fits all” beauty tips you’ve picked up along the way. You don’t want any pre-conceived ideas that may cloud your judgment.

Get in front of a mirror, with natural light. Cleanse your face, moisturize, etc. to get it ready for makeup. Get all your brushes, makeup gathered and pull your hair back out of the way. Imagine yourself as your own artist, with your face as the canvas upon which you are about to create a look.

There are 2 very important principals to remember. Light colors bring out, gives the illusion of an area being forward or front. Dark colors set back, creates a look of depth. Now, really study for your face for a few minutes, don’t focus for now on any particular area, look at shape overall. It might help to even write down notes about impressions you get. What areas seem to need brought out? What areas seem to need to be set back? An example would be a very round face would need an area in the cheeks set back (darker) to give the illusion of higher cheekbones, more slender face, at the same time using some lighter shades on the forehead area above the temples to also create a look of lengthening the face. A chin that is a bit undercut would need to be brought forth more to give the appearance of being more prominent than it is (lighter color).

When using lighter & darker colors for shading & highlighting, be sure to blend very well and use a light touch. Choose a foundation that is very close to your natural skin coloring. I personally have recently discovered mineral makeup (you can do an online search for several brands) or you can use any brand you want. I just have found these very easy to use for using light & dark colors where needed. Blend, blend and blend more, you don’t want anything that looks obvious or any streaking appearance. Also if you’re a light blonde, you wouldn’t use something super dark for shading because you wouldn’t be able to blend it in a way to look natural. Use a shade that’s 1 or 2 shades darker than your natural skin tone, same with lighter shades, 1 or 2 shades lighter than your own skin tone.

Look at your eyes closely now. You want to create balance. Not every eye will look best with the typical medium color on the lid, darkest in the crease and highlighter on the brow. Again, look at your eye shape, what needs brought forth (light), and what needs to recede (dark). A person with deep-set eyes for example will do best with a light to medium shade on their lid, the lightest side in their crease, and a medium shade on their brow bone. The person with the deep-set eyes needs to avoid dark colors altogether, it will only accentuate the problem. Having the lightest color in the crease will help bring forth their eyes, making their eyes look bigger, wider and not set back. This is the opposite pattern of what is typically told.

If a person has eyes that are close set together, you want light colors around the inside areas of the eyes (near the nose) to give the appearance of more space being there, making the eyes look wider apart, and darker colors on the outside edges.

Play with the different looks until you get the right one for your bone structure. It also helps to stand back away from a mirror, from across a room to look, as you get a better feel of overall balance than right up close. Don’t be afraid to try new combos you hadn’t thought of before, it might be the perfect fit for you!