| The question these days is no longer “Do Singaporean women wear too much makeup?” Rather, it’s whether they’re wearing it right. Time and again we’ve seen ladies who lunch who look like they’re going to a dinner ball, and brides who look like they’re getting married to Frankenstein. What to do?
So 88DB.com Lifestyle approached former beauty queen Audrey Quek for her expert opinion. Ms Quek, who runs her eponymous image consultancy business, not only knows her color palettes and makeup brushes, she is also a good teacher.
On the afternoon of 24 November, together with Revlon, she is holding the “For Your Eyes Only” makeup workshop, which will teach participants everything they need to know about eye makeup for the upcoming Christmas season. The four-hour beauty workshop comes with relevant makeup products and tools, and a goody bag from Revlon, which is launching a new mascara line for the holiday season.
Ms Quek also has a growing client base of ladies and gentlemen who need professional help in choosing the right office wardrobe. But that’s another story.
Mistake 1: Foundation that’s either too light or too dark
Many wear the wrong makeup foundation colour, either a shade darker because they want to achieve a sun-kissed look or a shade lighter in order to look fairer.
This may be due to testing on the wrong areas, as foundation has to be tested on your jaw line, not hands. Place your hand next to your face and compare the two. Are they of the same colour? That’s the reason it’s time to stop testing on your hands!
How to do it right:
When selecting a foundation, use the tester and, with a clean cotton pad, swab to apply a strip of it along your jaw line. Be sure to blend upward toward your cheek, and downward toward your neck. This will allow you to see how the colour blends with both your face and neck, as these two usually have different skin tones. Next step, walk outside, mirror in hand and look at your face in the daylight.
Mistake 2: Concealers that don’t hide anything
Some use the concealer to cover dark circles or blemishes with the wrong application!
How to do it right: Use only your ring finger (instead of your index finger) since the pressure is lesser. Also, dab lightly (do not rub in!) all around under the eye-circle; otherwise the concealer will not effectively conceal dark circles.
Ensure that you can see the concealer (usually yellow/orange) below the eye area before applying your foundation, as when you apply your foundation, it will blend better. After you apply your foundation, if you still have "trouble" spots, apply and blend more concealer before sealing the whole job with powder.
Mistake 3: Wearing the wrong eyebrow colour
Do not wear an eyebrow makeup colour that is different from your hair colour. Imagine black eyebrow pencil with light brown hair, you will look extremely stern and piercing to others.
How to do it right: Always choose colours that complement your hair colour (e.g. dark brown eye pencil to match dark brown hair.) Remember to use feather-light strokes to fill in the sparse areas.
Mistake 4: Matching eye shadow colour with your clothes
Matching eye shadow colour with your clothes. Imagine red eye shadow just because you are wearing a red dress…that’s overkill!
How to do it right: If you must match your makeup to your outfit, then you use colours that are either variations of or a complement to the primary colours in your outfit. Just remember to harmonise your skin tone with makeup colours (e.g. a cool skin tone would look great with purple-lilac eye shadow, while a warm skin tone would look great with brown or gold tones of eye shadow).
Mistake 5: Wearing glitter in noontime
Too much glitter in the afternoon while shopping or enjoying high tea does not make heads turn for the right reason. Glitters are meant for night events or disco dancing where you want to attract others’ attention.
How to do it right: If you need to, then use glitters either near your brow bone or cheekbone to highlight these areas. Dust shimmer powder all over face to create a pulled-together look!
Mistake 6: Eye mascara that’s smudged
Smudged eye mascara makes one look like a racoon, or she just got punched in the eye!
How to do it right: Prepare a half-folded tissue. Upon applying your mascara, blink your eyes continuously with the prepared tissue under your eyes to collect any excess mascara. Follow that by pressing loose powder under your eye.
Mistake 7: Wearing red lipstick when your outfit is pink
Wearing lipstick colour that does not match with your outfit is a major faux pas. Don’t use a red lipstick when wearing a pink outfit as it does not harmonise and calls too much attention.
How to do it right: Try to play down your lip colour if are already wearing heavy eye makeup, and vice-versa.
Mistake 8: Lipstick that’s never reapplied
Many ladies fail to reapply lipstick during the times they need to, such as after a meal. Thus they end up having half-done lips, peeling lips from worn-out lipstick or with the lip liner left behind. No matter how well the rest of your makeup looks, your half-done lips will put people off!
How to do it right: Coco Chanel once said, “A face without lipstick is a face without energy!” There is no such thing as a “24-hour lock” lipstick so learn how to reapply it. Remove all traces of your original lipstick with a wet wipe, then reapply evenly by using a lipstick brush.
To register for Audrey Quek’s “For Your Eyes Only” makeup workshop, a how-to seminar on eye makeup for the festive season to be held on 24 November, click here
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