Makeup for Beginners: Face

  Hello, friends! Makeup has always been a hobby of mine. When I was little, I was obsessed with watching "Extreme Makeover", and I always played with the makeup my mom gave me. Now, I avidly watch makeup tutorials and have learned quite a lot about beauty over the years. With this knowledge, today I am going to give you a few tips on makeup application and the right products for your age and skin. Know that makeup should not be used as a supplement. It is a compliment to the beauty that you already have. Don't feel like you need makeup to look beautiful. Beauty comes from the confidence and light that you have inside you. These tips should just help you be more knowledgable of what to do when you want to feel extra special.

  This post is more centered towards a younger audience, but can be applied to older people as well. Not calling you old, by the way. 



Things to Know

• How to pick your color: Your skin is unique and it can sometimes be difficult to pick a shade when buying face makeup. When picking a shade in the store, pick up the product and dab a little bit on your jaw and see  how it matches up. If the product is wrapped in plastic and is hard to access, a lot of times the product will list warm, cool, or neutral. Check the undertones of the product. If the makeup is pinker and you have more peachy skin, try that end of the spectrum. If you have olive toned skin or have bluer undertones,you're cool toned. If your skin is neither and more yellow, you're neutral.
• Everyone has different skin types. Some people have dry skin, some has sensitive, some have oily or acne prone skin. Try to pick products that will benefit your specific skin type. I will help you with that along the way.

  Age Group: 12-13

  Honestly, at this age your skin should be virally perfect still. You may see a little bit of acne popping up, but other than that, you shouldn't need more than the bare minimum. Stick to lightweight makeup that won't clog your pores and will give a natural appearance. 
 For face makeup, I suggest just a tad of concealer. This should be placed on any blemishes or discoloration on the face. This includes redness around the nose of dark circles under the eyes. Just dab it around these areas and blend with your ring finger (for under your gentle eye area) or your index finger. Here are some suggestions for concealers.

Maybelline Fit Me Concealer: This concealer is about $5 at Target, has great coverage, and comes in a wide range of colors. It's a really great, basic concealer.

 

Loreal Super Blendable Concealer: This concealer also has good coverage and won't cake up. I love that it comes with a brush applicator, so you get more product payoff and can blend it easier with other products. Loreal has an amazing color classification system in which you pick concealer colors based on your skin undertone: warm, cool, or neutral. It's about $7 at the drugstore.

NYX Concealer in a Jar: This product is as it says, in a jar. It comes in a wide range of colors, including green for canceling out redness, purple for greenish skin, orange for dark circles, and yellow for brightening. It blends well and applies smoothly. As for pricing, it's about $5 and is similar to the famous Benefit Boing Concealer.

Em Cosmetics Great Coverup Concealer: This is the priciest of concealers in this post, it's $17 on the Em Cosmetics website. One of my favorite makeup gurus on YouTube, Michelle Phan started this line. I absolutely love this product. It's a little bit thicker, but has amazing coverage and lasts throughout the day. It also has the warm, cool, neutral classification on the website and it's very easy to find the right color for you. 

**If concealing imperfections isn't a concern of yours, but a shiny face is, I suggest buying oil absorbing sheets. You can find these at any drugstore and they're good to keep in your bag to blot your face with. You can also buy face powder to absorb excess oil on your face. You can get a translucent powder that has no color payoff or a powder with pigment so that you are getting a bit of coverage, as well. Here are some powders I suggest:

Rimmel Stay Matte: This powder is extremely inexpensive, ranging from about $3-5. It blends very well and keeps your face shine-free for a good amount of time. The only thing I don't like about it is the packaging. It's pretty flimsy. Be careful, because it's easy to drop it. 

NYX HD Powder: This is a loose powder, so it's a little bit messier, but the results are amazing. 

Age Group: 14-16: At this age, you might find a bit more acne and a whole lot of oil on your face. Wearing a light foundation or BB cream is appropriate. If you don't know what a BB cream is, it's basically a product that has all in one qualities. Most of them provide light coverage and sun protection, along with other skin benefitting qualities. You shouldn't need anything too heavy, but everyone's skin is different so just use what will enhance your natural beauty. Here are some products I recommend: 

Garnier Fructis BB Cream for Oily/Combination Skin:

This is about $12 and has medium coverage. It's really good for oily-combination skin, because it's long lasting and your face will have coverage all day. My only problem with this product is that it's a bit runny out of the packaging. It doesn't take away from the actual product, though.

Loreal BB Cream: 

This retails for $7 dollars and is great for oily skin. The actual product has a white/gray formula with gritty beads in it. When blended, the BB cream adjusts to match your skin tone. If you can get past the grit of the product, you'll love it. It's long lasting, has medium coverage, and is mattifies the skin. 

Maybelline Fit Me: If you are someone with dryer skin, Maybelline Fit Me Foundation is the one for you! It's got medium coverage without being too heavy and leaves your skin with a dewy finish. The color selection is pretty good and it retails for about $6. 

Revlon Nearly Naked: I tried this foundation last year and I found that it had light coverage and felt very lightweight on my face. It's definitely for people with normal to dry skin types, unfortunately, it was no match against my crazy oily skin. I did ,however, like the product before it slipped off of my face. It retails for nearly $8. 

**For this age group, you can still apply powder to mattify the skin. If you find that no foundations or face products are to your liking, try applying a primer underneath your makeup. The primer will act as a barrier between your skin and the makeup, creating a smoother surface and helping your makeup last longer. 

***If you find that you need more coverage on your face, try applying another layer of face makeup to problem areas. It will double as a concealer. 

Alright guys! So there's the foundations of what you need to know about face makeup. The pun was totally intended. If you have any further questions or need more explanation, feel free to email or comment. I hope that this helped give you a basis on what to do with face makeup.

-Love Ling