ToshaQ

What are your beauty secrets? How do you keep a high chin and beautiful face? Do you do things differently than the “majority”? When it comes to makeup, do you have a go-to look that, without fail, shows your best self? Do you use Home Remedies for facials or masks? Share your best beauty secrets!

I touched on a few of mine in my Tips 101 post, before this one. For great skin, I always cleanse, exfoliate, and moisturize. Treating your skin nicely is the first step to amazing makeup.

My biggest “secret”, though, is confidence. If I wore emo-clown makeup (this is what I call it to best describe it, please note I appreciate all styles!), I would hold my chin high and wear it as if I love it. We have so many girls with this style of makeup come in, look at the floor, and not speak! If you want to stand out and be noticed, look at people in the eye! I’m a little “out there” according to some people. Pink hair, bright makeup, glasses, and funky style… but it matches my personality. I’m a very “loud” person. I DO like to be the center of attention, sometimes. I DO like people to notice my makeup and say “hey! That looks great!” or even “wow, not so great”… which I hear about the hair in whispers passing by people in the mall. But who cares what others think! As long as I’m seen. I care about me, and my style. If I choose to express it, my confidence will be sitting right on my shoulder so you know I love everything about me!

Please share with me, and the readers, what your secrets are! I’d love to hear.

Also, please take note I reply to everyone’s comments here and there. If you’ve got a question, check back for an answer!
Reminder: Anniversary Contest

So, I tell my clients that makeup rules don’t exist because makeup is what you want it to be. I do my makeup probably entirely different than you do. So, when I give suggestions - it doesn’t mean that it’s set in stone and you must do it in such a way. Here are a few tips that will help your makeup look crisp all day!

1. Use an eyeshadow base. No, I don’t mean a light colored eyeshadow before your regular shadow. I mean a cream-type base that will hold your eyeshadow on all day. My favorite all time eyeshadow base is Soft Ochre Paint Pot by MAC, any paint pot will do though. You need to remember to keep your base a matte finish unless you wish to use a shimmer on your lid. I typically do the Soft Ochre all over, and then if I wish to add a shimmery/colored base to the lid, I do so JUST on the lid, not above it. If you use only a shimmer base, like Bare Study paint pot, your matte eye shadows in your crease will no longer be matte. Some other popular bases are Urban Decay Primer Potion (UDPP, Marsadie did a review here!)

2. Which brings me to my next tip. Matte textures ONLY in your crease!!! I worked for MAC for probably 4-5 months before really understanding basic makeup & color theory. If you use a shimmer shadow from your lid all the way to your brown bone, you’re going to lose a LOT of dimension to your eyes. Use a matte shadow in the crease ALWAYS! If this was one thing I had to put as “Rule #1″, this would be it. The shadow doesn’t have to be brown - there are plenty of mattes that are colored. MAC came out with a collection called Matte Squared this last summer that had 16 new matte shadows to add to the already amazing eyeshadow collection. These are the best shadows I’ve ever worked with! My favorite is an eyeshadow called Handwritten. It’s a dark chocolate warm brown. I use it every single day. My other favorites include Clarity, Fig 1., and Typographic. Makeup Forever also has some great matte shadows.

3. Always use liner & mascara. Typically, this is all many women use - which is okay! However, an eyeshadow application can be the best of the best, but without mascara and/or liner, it looks completely unfinished. The trend lately is liner in a cat-eye shape (see my tutorial here) on the upper lid. Some people don’t like liner on the top and like I’ve told others, it’s about personal preference. I typically use liquid liner or fluidline, but pencil works as well. If you’re a pro at pencil liner, more power to you because I can’t do it! My favorite watersill liner is Graphblack Technakohl liner from MAC. It’s waterproof & smudge-proof!

4. Moisturize DAILY! Whether you have dry, oily, combo, or sensitive skin, finding a moisturizer right for your is extremely important. I have such oily skin I fill an entire blot film usually 3-4x daily (I know right, EW!). But, I still moisturize every single day because it keeps my skin looking and feeling amazing. Great makeup starts with great skin, great skin starts with moisturizer!

5. Great skin also starts with exfoliators. Microfine Refinisher is the best exfoliator that I’ve ever used in my entire life. I used to LOVE the Apricot Scrub by St Ives, but Microfine is the absolute BEST! The exfoliating beads are so small that they don’t tear your face apart or hurt when you’re rubbing your face. I exfoliate about 2-3x a week. If you have dry, flaky skin you may need to do it more often.

6. Use a primer for ALL areas of your makeup! Face, Lash, & Lip Primers are essential to perfect makeup. MAC’s Prep+Prime line is amazing. Smashbox also has a great primer as well. It’s important to prime your skin for the makeup you’re about to apply so (1) it lasts longer and (2) it looks great all day long. P+P Lash is absolute LOVE. I honestly hadn’t tried it until about two weeks ago and WOW was I missing out! I have uber long, curly lashes… and P+P Lash extends them to a length I didn’t think was possible! This is a great product for all lash-types. Lip primer is important too because it fills in the texture in your lip - which everybody has - so that your lipstick or lipgloss looks smooth and silky.

7. Wash, wash, wash!!! You work so hard having that perfect looking skin through moisturizers, primers, and exfoliants, so why in the world are you sleeping with your makeup?!?! Cleanse your face before going to bed. Take that makeup off! Coming from someone who hates to wash her face, please trust me when I tell you how important it is! If you’re lazy like I am, use MAC Wipes! They’re soap and alcohol free and contain many ingredients that help moisturize as well as clean your face. A sugar derivative breaks down the makeup instead of soap or alcohol, so you don’t have to rinse after you use a wipe! I literally keep my wipes on my night stand with a small trashcan underneath and remove my makeup laying in bed at the end of the day.

8 . Lastly, but more importantly, please use brushes! Sponges are the spawn of the devil! They’re disgusting. They’re bacteria-ridden. They do a horrible job and blending. Get a brush! I know it’s usually a huge lump sum to buy your brushes that are needed at a makeover. However, if you choose to go with MAC brushes (because those are the ones I’m educated on, and LOVE) be rest assured because the bucks that you’re investing will last you 10-15 years. They’re handmade, too! Brush are the most important tool you can use for your makeup. Ditch those sponges & quit using your fingers because you’re going through at least three times more product doing so! I talked a lot about my favorite MAC brushes in a previous post here.

What are your tips? Do you have anything to add? Disagree with anything? Share your thoughts!