The Art of Beauty Make-Up
Outlines: In order to be beautiful, a woman must have the will to be beautiful Make-up can prove the determined woman’s greatest ally, provided she uses it subtly and skillfully; misused it can have disastrous effects.
Make-Up falls into two simples categories: (a) simple make-up. (b) Illusion make-up.
Remember that the perfect face is oval. Any facial cut deviating from this must be made to look oval. In order to decide what shape your face is, mentally divide it into three equal parts—first the forehead from the hairline to the eyebrows; second from eyebrows to the base of the nose; and third from the base of the nose to the tip of the chin. These proportions, within a perfect oval constitute the measurements of a classically beautiful face.
But most faces are not oval. This is where the art of illusion make-up comes in. Make-up can be applied so skillfully that it gives an oval look to a face of any shape. Once you have determined your facial shape go ahead with the problem systematically, play up your best features and play down your weaker ones.
Study carefully, by wrapping a scarf around your head, the Shape of your individual feature, one by one. Then consider your Face as a whole.
Applied skillfully, illusion make-up can give the impression of symmetry, and it can play down facial faults. If the shape of your face is not to your liking, it is a good idea to learn how to use two shades of foundation in order to create the illusion you desire.
Keeping in mind the fact that dark colour recedes and light colour projects, darker foundation should be applied along the cheek, at the fullest part, to slim down a moon face. A brighter shape will emphasise features that are too small.
A square or rectangular face will require dark foundation to shade the lower jaw line in a diagonal line from the ear to the tip of the chin. Likewise, shading on the upper corners of the forehead should be used to correct a heart-shapped face.
The size and shape of the mouth can also be improved .by. lipstic, lipbrush and little skill. Whenever you use a lipstic, first clean the lips thoroughly and then cover them with the same fowl have a dation that you have used on the rest of the face. If you pencil, outline the shape of the lips you would like to have—smaller, fuller or prettier than the one you already have. Fill the lip colour in carefully, the way an artist paints in colours.
For a protruding lip, whether it is the upper or lower one, use a, slightly darker lipstick on that lip to make it look smaller. Use a lighter shade of lipstick on the finger lip. Very full lips should be outlined just inside the natural line. Very fine lips can be made to look fuller by drawing the lip line in a lighter shade of lipstick outside the natural one.
To make that special pleasant expression, bring corners of the lips a little finger than the corners of the mouth, and as you fill in the lipstick, make the colour meet this point at the corners. If you wish to make the finer lips look the same size as the protruding one, use on it a lipstick one shade lighter.
Since lips are an important part of the makeup routine, we can deal with illusion make-up for lips in greater detail.
The eye liner should start from the centre of the upper lid for normal eyes.
For eyes that are set too wide apart, the eye liner should start from the inner-most corner of the eye, working gently outwards.
For an Oriental look, draw the line slightly extended at the outer corners, giving an almond shaped effect.
To bring out pale, sunken eyes, use a light shade of foundation over the sunken area. Very light shades of colour should be used close to the lashes. Eye liner and mascara should be used on the upper lashes only.
For eyes that are too big, a very fine line can be drawn along the upper lid. This sounds easy, but it is not. The line must be so fine that even with a hand mirror, nowhere on the skin should the actual line be visible.
In order to achieve this effect, a fine eye liner brush should be used over the upper lid, at the point where the eye lashes meet the skin (the actual line is more on the hairline than on the skin). Large eyes are normally considered signs of beauty in India, and their effect should be emphasized subtly for glamour. Eye shadow should be used on the upper lid only. A diamond shaped face needs highlighting at the forehead with the lighter tone, and slight shading at the chin with darker foundation.
To play down a rectangular face, both the upper and lower corners, jaws and outer forehead are shaded with the darker to foundation.
Individual features can also be helped by the art of illusion make up. Almost everyone of us has some features or the other which we would like to change or minimize—a nose that is too big, a very small mouth, plump cheeks; a big, broad mouth etc It must be made clear that make-up does not change the face physically. It merely gives the impression of having done so.
With a little bit of knowledge and know-how, you can look like what you would like to look like, without any problem.
For a short, wide nose, foundation that is two shades darker than the skin tone should be applied at the sides of the nose, from the eyebrows to the nostrils. If this is not possible, use a foundation a couple of shades lighter than your skin tone. Streak down the centre of your nose, from the bridge to the tip. Be careful to apply under the tip also.
In Order to make a long, thin nose look broader, use a foundation one or two shades darker than the skin tone, under the tip of the nose. A pug nose can be made to look softer by using a foundation one shade darker, down the top of the nose and on the edge of the nostrils at the lower end. Be careful that there is no line of demarcation between the lighter and darker shades; other-wise the illusion is lost.
If your nose is very large, you can make it look less conspicuous by using powder a couple of shades darker than the one on the rest of the face.
A dark shade of powder is useful for reducing puffiness under the eyes. On the other hand, if there are dark circles and dark rings, lighter coloured foundation and powder effectively conceal the haggard look.
Very round eyes can be elongated by drawing a faint line from the outer edge of the eye, and fading it away gently so that there are no perceptible endings.
Eyebrows are very important in the art of illusion make up. You are to make sure that they are well groomed. They form an exotic frame for the eyes, and must be kept in perfect balance with the shape of the face.
If the facial cut is round, it would be a good idea to have a sharp arch. On a heart shaped face, the brows should be plucked and made a little thinner and longer. In order to balance a square jawed face, the eyebrows should be a bit heavier—beginning slightly outward from the outer corner of the eye.
Sparse eyebrows should be filled in with an eyebrow pencil of the same shade. On the other hand, light eyebrows can be darkened by using a darker shade of eye pencil.
Rouge is one of the most useful and effective agents in the art of illusion make-up. If used brightly, with knowledge and care, it can work miracles. Misused, it can spell disaster. A great writer once said, ‘too much rouge is a sign of despair.’
To make a square face appear more round, place the rouge high on the cheekbones, and blend it smoothly and softly downwards.
To disguise a double chin, apply the rouge very sparingly under the chin line or make a soft shadow, and so minimize the fullness. Another method would be to cover the under chin with a darker foundation.
To make a round face appear longer, blend the rouge from the cheekbones downwards, fading gently outwards.
For a long face, rouge should be kept to the top half of the face, high on the cheek-bones, and blended softly inwards and out-wards.
The oval face needs no disguises and tricks. Apply the rouge to the cheekbones and blend It upwards and outwards towards the temples.
Besides providing an attractive glow, rouge can join foundation shading to remould the facial outline. These are some of the tricks of the trade—pick the ones that suit you, highlight your good features and disguise your weaker ones.
