Elke's Makeup Tips

The late Kevyn Aucoin was the ultimate transformer. He lived to take a face and make it look completely different. Just look at his makeup books. It's all the about the transformation.

This makeup artist lives for the product. Mac, Bobbie Brown, Nars. Just look into their makeup kit and it's like looking into the makeup counter of the hot product of the moment.

This makeup artist is all about creating. Pat McGrath comes to mind immediately. It's about color, and creating a piece of art from your canvas, or in this case, your face. Colors, vivid, bold.

Yep. This is me. It's all about perfection. The brush, the application, the perfect face. I get all excited about creating the most beautiful, perfect face. I don't really care what product I'm using. Yes, there are some products out there better than others, but to me, it's about creating perfect beauty in the end.

Here are some of my fav makeup tips.

Prepare, prepare, prepare.

Want your makeup to go on flawless? Well, the canvas has to be prepared then. And that means moisturizer. The easiest way to get just the right amount on, is by applying it with a makeup sponge. The perfect amount will be evenly applied over the entire face.

The eyes have it.

Want eye shadow to be picture perfect all day? Get in the habit of applying foundation on your eyelids only first. Then apply your eye shadows. When done, lightly mist water or your Evian bottle mister over eyes to set. Let dry. Then apply the rest of your foundation and makeup as usual. By doing eyes first, you save precious minutes by not having to clean up your fly away eye shadow powders. Or any clean up that you have to do is easy. A Q-tip in moisturizer and fallen eye shadows sweep away.

Let's Cover Up.

Want perfect coverage? Apply foundation first and then your concealer. Foundation will hide about 75% of all the discolorations you see on a bare face. Then just go in with concealers on the most obvious. You save time and product this way. Also, forget about finding the perfect concealer shade. It doesn't exist. But you can make it. Just apply a dab of your foundation into your concealer before you apply. Viola. The perfect shade for you.

Blushing

Blush is a sure fire way to look 5 years younger, instantly. How? With the right color. Look for the most natural flush color you can find. Trick: Apply blush on the inside of your wrist. If it looks natural here, it will look natural on your cheeks.

Eyebrows give expression.

Make sure yours say the right thing. Eyebrow powder should be 1-2 shades lighter than your hair color. The same shade as your hair can look too overpowering on a face and darker than your hair color is just too severe.

Lash Curling - make it an essential.

Nothing opens up eyes more than curling the eyelashes. Make it easy by curling at the base of the lashes, hold for 10 seconds, walk 1/2 way out, and then curl for 10 seconds more. Always curl on clean lashes.

Mascara Basics

Want model length lashes? Do what the pros do. Apply mascara to the tops of the lashes as well as the underneath. Look down into your mirror, and brush your mascara wand on the upper side of your lashes...then look up and brush through again on the bottom side.

Lips 101

Want a perfect lip line? Use your light brown eyebrow pencil to line lips. Apply a bit more on the inside corners of the lip on both top and bottom to create a depth on the outside of the lips. Apply your lipstick or gloss over. You've just created a 3-d effect lip. Larger, brighter, fuller, without doing the dreaded 'clown' mouth.

Want more?
Just for my readers, it's a free preview chapter from The Makeup Course Ebook.

Chapter 7 Preparation

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT CREATING PERFECT SKIN. FROM SKIN CARE, TO FOUNDATION, CONCEALER, TO EVEN CREATING THAT J.LOW GLOW.

DOWNLOAD CHAPTER 7

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