By Stefanie Humphrey, Makeup Artist
Makeup is an amazing form of art — a simple, yet at the same time, complex tool for taking you from drab to fab in minutes. Makeup allows you creative freedom, emotional expression and instant confidence — transforming you from who you are, to who you dare to become. Believe it or not, most women say they don’t know how to properly apply makeup. But with a few simple techniques (inside industry secrets and lots of practice), you may find that getting glamorous isn’t too difficult — transforming your day look straight into night.
Day
Think Light and Bright: Always use lighter colors in neutral earth tones for day wear — creams, browns, taupes, grays; they look more natural and are bound to match any outfit.
Instant Lift: High cheekbones (or the appearance of high cheekbones), give your face an instant lift. To highlight and apply properly, blend bronzer right beneath your cheekbones and create a slight shadow. The key is to blend upward into your blush, giving a more-contoured-and-refined look.
Neutral Lip Tones: More natural lip colors such as pinks, peaches and plums look great for day wear. Finish it off with a light gloss for perfect-looking lips.
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Night
Line Those Eyes: Great for day, but totally fabulous for night — you can never go wrong with liner. With several different options to line your bottom-lash line, top-lash line, and even your water line, you simply can’t go wrong. It gives you a great dramatic effect, setting the tone for the rest of your look.
Smoke Them Out: A smoky eye is an essential skill to learn for nighttime looks. It’s all about practice and using the right tools. Get a good, fluffy smoky-eye brush and a great darker shadow and you’re good to go. The main secret is blend, blend, blend.
Lips to last through the night: Who wants to worry about lipstick? Lip stains are a great alternative and secret in the industry. Makeup artists have used them for years on commercial and film sets, and top brands all over the world are now incorporating them into their lines. Formulated specifically for long wear, find a shade you like and try it out. They typically darken after they dry, so choose a lighter shade to start with. They are amazing and literally last all night long.