Enhancing your natural beauty –
Aligning make-up and skin tones
I often spend quite a bit of time talking to my clients about the use of colour and it’s effects – how wearing the right colour garments around your face can lift your completion, making you look younger, healthier and your eyes more alive. So, when it comes to make-up it’s equally important you get it right. Now make-up is not something I very often talk about but as we get older we lose natural definition and end up needing a bit of help to regain this. Don’t get me wrong I’m not advocating necessarily a full face of make-up but a little blusher, mascara and lipstick can go a long way.
The key to confident make-up is celebrating and accentuating your natural beauty. Your make-up should enhance your features, make your eyes look alive and define your lips. To achieve this you need to be working with the right tones to suit your natural complexion.
Don’t go overboard, choose just a few products or shades that work for you that are in the right palette for you. So you really need to know if you have a warm or cool skin-tone. A warm skin-tone will suit colours with a yellow tone in them, like peachy shades. Think of earthy colours and golden tones. Whereas if you have a cool skin-tone you should opt for more rose-tinted shades, smoking greys for eye shadow and a shade of pink for your lipstick.
If you are finding you have less definition in your facial features be careful not to go with anything too strong, more muted tones are going to work better to compliment your natural features, so for example, red lipstick is definitely one to avoid.
Did you know that your make-up will always sit better on moisturised skin? So, wait a few minutes after applying your face cream. You will also find that you use less make-up. Then start with your eye make-up rather than your foundation in case any powder drops. Opt for cream blusher over powder for mature skin.
What else should you be wary of as your skin ages? One thing would be wearing strong liquid liner on your upper lids as the harshness of this can be ageing. Also, if you’re going for a strong colour on your lips (because you have more definition in the contrast between your eyes, hair and skin-tone) opt for it in sheer instead of a matt finish. And always blot after you’ve applied for a more natural look.
Finally, just something else to think about – when was the last time you had a sort out of your make-up? Perhaps now in lockdown is a good time to re assess what you’ve got and replace the mascara that you’ve had far too long – experts say they should be replaced every 3 months because of the build-up of bacteria on the wand which can lead to eye infections.
The shelf-life for foundation after opening is 6 months to a year. If it starts to smell odd, separate or change in colour, ditch it. Keep your fingers away from the neck of the bottle so that it stays germ-free for longer. Instead, tip onto the back of your hand before you apply.
Concealer has a one year lifespan – when using to cover a blemish, don’t touch the spot with a brush, then dip it back into the pot, as this can also spread bacteria. Once again, pour the product onto the back of your hand and apply it from there. If your concealer starts to change in texture, replace it.
Lipstick is meant to be one year to 18 months but I’m not sure I agree with this, I reckon it can be kept a tad longer. The time to say goodbye is when you notice it becoming dry or a bit gloopy. Did you know that if you keep lipsticks in a cool, dry place and they’ll last longer?
I am definitely a make-up minimalist but a little bit can go a long way so long as you align your few products with your natural colours.
As always, don’t hesitate to get in touch if you need any help.
For more helpful styling tips why not follow me https://www.facebook.com/LesleyClarkeStyleAdvisor
or Instagram: lesleyclarkestyleadvisor
