Putting on My Best Face
Makeup tips from someone who's still finding her style
Almost a year before my egg cracked, I started wearing makeup. Or at least trying to. Over the last year I’ve learned a lot. I still have a lot to learn, but I’ve gained enough knowledge to pass on a few tips to others who may be just starting out with makeup.
This post has turned out to be the longest one I’ve written so far. If you’re reading this via email, you’ll have to click the link to read the rest on Substack.
Quality
The first tip I have is to buy good-quality makeup. Cheap stuff can be good for experimenting with new, bold colors, but good-quality makeup will go on more smoothly, stay on longer, be more water-resistant, and will last longer because you don’t use much at a time.
I personally recommend Smashbox for primer and foundation. More information on specific products will follow.
Brushes
You don’t have to spend a fortune on the best brushes. For the most part, I’m using a combination of a cheap set I bought from Amazon and a few pieces I bought from Shoppers’ Drug Mart (a Canadian drugstore chain that is more of a cosmetic store with a pharmacy attached).
One brush that is important to buy separately is your foundation brush. Buy one with dense bristles to avoid losing too much foundation in the brush. The head of the brush should feel firm, not floppy. I got mine from Sephora, but you can probably find a less expensive brush that will work.
Moisturizer
One lesson I learned from the start: Moisturize before you put on makeup. It’s essential to use a non-greasy moisturizer that doesn’t leave any residue. I use Clarins Hydrating Toning Lotion. It seems expensive, but you only use a tiny amount each time. I also use it before I go to bed at night. It has a very subtle scent and leaves no residue.
Primer
A good primer will help your makeup go on evenly and stay on. I use Smashbox Photo Finish everywhere except around my eyes, where I use (), which is a tinted eye primer that also provides some effect as a concealer.
Concealer
If you’re older (like me), have significant facial hair (like me), or have a face that isn’t hyper-feminine (like me!), concealer is your best friend. Use it under your eyes to reduce the darkness that creeps in with age and anywhere you need to conceal dark areas or facial hair. I use Benefit Boi-ing cakeless concealer.
Concealer can be used as part of your contouring routine, but I haven’t had a lot of luck with contouring yet, so I won’t provide much specific advice on that subject. One area that can benefit from light underpainting that isn’t always mentioned in tutorials is your nasolabial folds, the creases that run from the sides of your nose to the corners of your mouth. As you get older, these folds can become more pronounced. Contouring can reduce their shadow.
Eyebrows
Before applying makeup, I pluck and trim my eyebrows. I don’t pluck much to make sure I don’t go overboard. I just eliminate any dark hairs in the middle, then pull out some of the hairs along the lower edge. I’ve just found a good place for threading, so I hope to have better shaped brows soon.
I also trim the longer hairs. I use a brow comb to comb them up, then down, cutting off any hairs that extend outside my brow line.
I use a Essence Make Me Brow eyebrow mascara in 01 “Blondie Brows” to add the finishing touch. I enhance the shape of the inner ends first, then apply a little bit along the length to subtly add to the arch. Finally, I extend the outer ends, but not too much.
Eyeshadow
The overall tip I have for eyeshadow is to go bolder than you think you should, then blend. My good friend Megan gave me a tutorial a few weeks ago that included bold purple colors painted over an opaque white primer. During the first few steps I thought that look would be far too bold for me, but after blending it looked amazing!
There are many ways to wear eyeshadow, and I’ve only just begun to explore them, so I’ll share the style that I’ve used most often. Purple is my signature color (It’s why I chose my name.), so I most often use a six-color palette that includes three matte purple shades, one purple glitter, one matte neutral, and one glitter neutral. It’s a Revolution palette from Shoppers’ Drug Mart, and it wasn’t very expensive.
I start with the medium purple shade (kind of a plum color) and apply it above my eyelid. I put it on heavier than I want the final effect to be, then blend it with a soft brush. Looking straight ahead, the skin over the bone above my eyes mainly obscures my upper eyelids, so I make sure the eyeshadow goes high enough to be just visible peeking out above my eyes. It’s mainly visible at the outer corners of my eyes.
For my eyelids, I go either lighter or darker. If I use the light purple (almost pink) shade, I cover it with the purple glitter shadow. Rather than painstakingly applying the glitter with a brush, I use my finger to swipe it on. (Thanks to Megan for that technique.) If I use the dark purple shade, I apply a small amount of purple glitter near the inner corner.
Depending on how fancy I want to be, sometimes I use the neutral shade and/or neutral glitter near the inner corners of my eyes.
Eyeliner
The main advice I have to eyeliner is take… it… slow. I still haven’t managed to draw a sharp wing, so I usually make it quite subtle, even when I use my triangular stamp. I draw the wing just above the crease beside my eyes. I don’t really have a consistent pattern for applying eyeliner to my upper and lower lids. Sometimes I draw along the outer 3/4 of my upper lash line, sometimes in the water line (when my hand is particularly steady). I generally only apply eyeliner to the outer 3/8 of my lower eyelids.
As I said, I’m still working on my eyeliner game, so I often skip it altogether. But thanks to a tip from Sophia on Mastodon, I’ll probably work on it more. The tip: Stretch your eyelid before applying the eyeliner so your skin doesn’t shift under the pen.
Mascara
I’ve worn false eyelashes once, which my friend Megan carefully applied to my eyelids. Even after buying an applicator, I still can’t quite get that right. Luckily, I’m getting pretty good at using mascara.
The most important thing about applying mascara is having a steady hand. You may want to rest your elbow on the table or hold your brush hand with your other hand.
I use Smashbox SuperFan mascara, a gift from my ex-wife over a year ago. I wasn’t using it for quite a while because the first time I tried to put it on, I blinked hard, and it went everywhere. But I tried it again recently and the effect was incredible. I have very light eyelashes, so I never realized how long they are. As I was applying mascara (especially on my lower lashes), I wondered where these wonderfully long lashes came from!
I look up to put mascara on my upper lashes, applying it from the bottom. For my lower lashes, I look down and apply it from the top. It might take a couple of tries to get used to the feeling of the brush on your lashes without blinking. Take it slow and apply more to the outer part of your lashes than the inner end.
Foundation
Hey… Why am I just getting to foundation now? Shouldn’t I have applied it before starting on my eyes?
According to this video by Nina Ubhi, there’s a good reason to apply your foundation after doing your eyes. With all of the powder you use on your eyes, it’s easy to drop some of it onto the lower part of your face. If you’ve already done your foundation, you’ll have to touch up the spots where your eye makeup has fallen. Nina advocates a top-down approach. Apply your foundation after finishing your eyebrows and your eyes.
I use Smashbox Halo tinted moisturizer. It goes on very smoothly over the Photo Finish primer, and you don’t need much. A few dots here and there, some brush work, and you’re done.
The one area where I add extra foundation and blend it in is my upper lip, where I still have quite a bit of dark facial hair. (I can’t wait for laser to eliminate it!) The foundation does most of the work. A little concealer on top and my whiskers practically disappear.
Many people advocate using a color-correcting concealer to cover facial hair. Orange counteracts the greenish-blue shadow. So far, the Halo with a little bit of concealer does a pretty good job for me. (Most of my remaining facial hair is white.)
Concealer (again)
After putting on your foundation, refine your concealer to provide a smooth transition around your eyes and touch up your upper lip. Don’t use too much at this stage.
Bronzer
I use Hoola matte bronzer, a recommendation from Sofia, a wonderfully-affirming beauty specialist at a Shoppers’ Drug Mart beauty boutique in downtown Vancouver. I apply it in quick swipes from under my cheek bones to my ears, and just under the sides of my jaw. I keep it subtle, just enough color to give my face a little depth.
Blush
I don’t use a lot of blush, but I recently got a mini stick as a birthday gift from Sephora. I’ve only used it once so far. I applied a patch of it directly on my cheekbones, then used a brush to blend it out. I also used a little bit to highlight my chin. I’m still working on getting it to look the way I want.
Lips
If you compulsively lick or nibble on your lips, regular lipstick won’t last long. I have a couple of shades of lip stain that stays on all evening. I use Sephora cream lip stain and Pudaier Classic Vivid lip gloss, which I bought on Temu. The cheap online order stays on just as well as the expensive stain. (Unfortunately, I my phone camera couldn’t focus on either one for a picture.)
I’ve found the best way to put on lip stain is in several lines. Start a little in from the edges of your lips, then get closer on the next pass. On the third pass, shape your Cupid’s bow by drawing symmetrical lines from each point down to the middle, like an X. You can enhance the bow by applying your lip color just outside the edge. You can enhance the lower curve of your lip the same way. To get even more apparent size, you can use a lip liner pencil just under the lower curve and just over your Cupid’s bow. I’m still experimenting with lip liner to get it right.
In the end…
That’s about all the tips I have so far. If this has been helpful to you, or if you’d like to share any more makeup tips, please share your comments below.
Thank you so much for this! I've been struggling with makeup. I enjoy trying, but still haven't been really happy with my results.