Tutorial Tuesday : Flawless Face Makeup!

So lately I have been getting back into makeup. Having kids will take you away from things you once loved for awhile...

Anyway, I used to want to be a makeup artist... In fact that's why I went to beauty school, but I ended up loving hair and the rest, as they say, is History! (In case you didn't know, I am a hairstylist.) But I used to loooooove makeup... I would spend most of my paycheck at Sephora and MAC, and life was a very different time back then.

I still love makeup, but I love not having to spend an hour to look good, and I love being able to use drug store products as dupes for the more expensive products... if you didn't know, most of the expensive brands are owned by the same people who make the cheaper stuff.. and although there are a few things that I LOVE and haven't been able to find cheaper dupes for, most things I have.
Often (when I get the chance to actually do it) I get complemented on my makeup and hair. I get asked how to do it so "flawlessly" and while a lot of it is just good genes and skin care, you can fake a flawless face pretty easily! Here's how I do it...

 Start with a clean face! I use an exfoliating wipe in the morning, and then a toner. You are more than welcome to wash your face with your favorite stuff... no judgement here. I like the wipes for the convenience and portability.

Ahh! Naked face! Don't judge me! :)

Below is a picture of everything I use to create a "flawless" face. Most of it is... drumroll please... drugstore!! There are even a couple high end dupes in there... I'll get to those in a second.

The Makeup, starting at top left, clockwise, Almay Smart Shade Concealer in Light/Medium, Mary Kay Triple Action Eye Cream, e.l.f. HD powder, Boots No. 7 Moisture Quench Day Fluid, Monistat Chafing Relief Powder-Gel, L'Oreal Magic Lumi Under Eye Concealer in Light, Revlon Photo Ready Makeup in 003 Shell. The Brushes are, L-R Sonia Kashuk Small Foundation Brush, Avon Concealer Brush, e.l.f Large Powder Brush.

I start with a slurry of products to create my own foundation. 1 pump of foundation.. I really like the Revlon Photo Ready foundation... alone it's a bit heavy, but added to my concoction it works really well (My pale booty uses "Shell"). 1 pump of your daily moisturizer... I use the Moisture Quench Day Fluid from Boots Number 7... it's light but moves really well and leaves my skin feeling moisturized but not oily (I have combination skin, so use what works for your type of skin). 1 "pump" of primer... here's the shocker... I used Monistat Chafing Powder-Gel. It's the EXACT same thing as Smashbox Photo Primer, which I used to shell out $36 dollars for... but this tube, at almost twice the size, is $7! You can find it in the lady aisle with the other Monistat products. At Target it was on the top shelf, and I have yet to find it at my local grocery store yet.

 

Mix everything together on the back of your hand, it will have a "whipped" consistancy to it.

Slather that stuff on your face, and blend it in. You might think it's way too much product... but trust me, it's not. The moisturizer and primer are going to absorb into your skin, so as long as you didn't put too much foundation into your mix, you'll be fine.

I don't use a brush for this, I just use my hands and the warmth from them helps blend everything really well.

So you could stop here... and have a totally fine flawless face, add your powder, do up your eyes, lips... whatever... and you'd look fine, but if you truly want a face that will last ALL DAY.. I mean really ALL DAY... I can work 10 hours and come home looking pretty much like I just did my makeup.. then read on.

Next I add concealer, TWO different types, to my eye area. The first is a mixture of a eye primer and a heavier, darker (one shade) concealer to my lid and brow area...

Mix this together using a small concealer brush and apply to your lid and brow area...

Blend by dabbing and moving the concealer with your fingers...

Moving to the under eye, I use Loreal Magic Lumi concealer... apply it in a V shape, down the side of your nose and up across your cheek bone, and then fill it in.

Once blended in, it will give you contouring and highlighting under your eyes, which is really pretty and popular right now. Using a large concealer, or a small foundation brush, pat the concealer, and blend upwards toward your under eye and outward onto the cheekbones.

Use the remaining concealer left on the smaller brush to then dab on any other blemishes or redness, and blend with your fingers.

Next I set my face with HD powder, which is basically a transleucent micro silica powder. I love it! I used to use Make Up For Ever and shell out $30 for less than an ounce, but I found a perfect dupe in e.l.f. HD powder for... gasp! $6! 

Using a large powder brush, dust it on your face to set your all day stay put makeup. The combination of my bathrooms crumby lights and my flash made my face look super washed out, so I took a picture without the flash to show you my "flawless" face.

It takes me about 30 minutes to do my whole face... without stopping to take a bunch of pictures and set everything out neatly. After my face, I added some contouring, blush, eyes, brows and lips...  but that's another day...

Then we had a photoshoot in better lighting to show you what it REALLY looks like!

xoxo!