Beginner's Makeup Guide Lesson 1: Prepare your skin to get flawless makeup like a professional
In this lesson, you will learn about the important steps of skin preparation before applying makeup. If your skin is fully prepared to absorb the makeup, no one can stop you from getting a smooth flawless foundation that will give you a celebrity-like look.
Everyone talks about foundation and the right technique to apply it to avoid the cakey, sponge-like skin full of lines and pores. However, no one will tell you the actual secret behind it. This is the reason that after following all the tricks told in your favorite youtube video you still get that cakey face.
The secret behind a flawless Instagram like a foundation is all the skin prep that is done before recording the makeup tutorials. To understand the importance of skin prep, let me share a fun fact with you. The famous artist Picasso never used a rough cardboard paper as a canvas. So how you can expect a rough canvas (your skin) to draw a beautiful painting.
The right moisturizers, primers, and exfoliating products and tools can make you a Red Carpet model with a little touch of makeup. Generally, People consider makeup about putting on foundation, eyeshadow, mascara, and colorful lips. However, In this course, we will learn beyond the general concept of makeup.
we will learn step by step skin prep that will ensure filtered skin and smooth foundation.
Step 1: Cleanse your face
Clean skin is the best way to start your makeup. wash your face with your favorite face wash according to your skin type. It is very important to know your skin type but Don't worry we are going to learn about that as well in our next lesson.
If you have an oily skin use gel or foam cleanser to get rid of oil but make sure your cleanser doesn't extract extra oil from your oil glands as it will result in producing more oily skin. You can read my Blog about My favorite drug store cleanser/facewash. Oily skin is more prone to get break out. Salicylic acid, benzoyl peroxide, or tea tree oil-based cleanser would be more suitable to keep those break-out at bay.
Oil-based cleansers mostly used for irritation and sensitive skin and Cream cleansers are designed for dry skin to keep it moisturize and soft for long.
I have combination skin. It means that some parts of the skin are oily and other parts are normal or dry. In this case, look for cleansers that are designed specifically for combination skin as these cleansers work to treat both oily and dry skin. You read my blog post about 10 best drug store cleansers for all skin types.
Step 2: Exfoliation is key to smooth skin
Exfoliation is the best way to remove dead skin cells that actually cause rough cakey foundation therefore I always exfoliate the skin well before starting makeup, as it helps to keep my foundation flawless and stay put. I also exfoliate my lips my own homemade lip scrub.
Now there are two types of exfoliators which are a chemical exfoliator and physical exfoliator Use any of your favorite exfoliators to exfoliate your skin or read my blog post to learn about chemical exfoliator vs physical exfoliator: which one is best to choose.
Step 3: Apply toner
After removing all the dead skin and oil from your face toner is important to remove any leftover dirt and bacteria that your cleanser might have not washed away. Toner is very important to use before applying makeup as it will
Shrink your pores
Balance the Ph level of your skin that might get disturbed with your cleanser
refresh your skin
Bind moisture into your skin
protect your skin by shrinking pores and stops the penetration of impurities like chlorine present in tap water
The best way to use a toner is to pour some toner on a cotton ball and gently wipe it all over your face. Most of the time you can notice leftover dirt on your cotton ball after rolling it all over your face and neck. I am a huge fan of toner and never miss it in my daily routine. You can also make your toner at home.
Step 4: Moisturise your skin
Applying a moisturizer to your face increases the moisture level in the outer layer of your skin. There are two types of moisturizers one for day time that contains SPF and the other one to use at night that provides extra hydration while sleeping.
There is a misconception that people with oily skin usually tend to not moisturize their skin on a regular basis but the truth is they need the same amount of moisture as people with dry skin.
There are gel-based and oil-free moisturizers are available for oily skin and similarly, cream-based thick moisturizers are available for dry skin. Choose carefully your moisturizer according to your skin type. you can find out my 7 favorite drug store moisturizers here.
Step 5: Mist your skin with Spray
As I have worked as a model in masterclasses with different MUAs. I saw many of them spraying different things on my face before starting makeup. Some of them used MAC Prep and PrIME fix+ and Pixi Rose Glow mist but few of them used plain bottles and spray something on my face.
When I inquire about the spray they mentioned it as rose water as they believe that a splash of rose water is key for getting that glowing skin we all want.
If you want to do this, put some rose water in a spray bottle, turn it to mist mode. I also use Rosewater on my face and I always keep my spray bottle in the fridge to keep it cold.
Step 6: Apply Primer
Primer is the main product that fills your open pores and removes fine lines instantly. silicone-based primers are a great option as the silicone acts as a barrier. It sets into the scars and wrinkles and helps makeup go on smoothly. Primer also helps to keep your skin matte by banishing the oil in your skin from mixing with your makeup. there is a wide range of primers is available from high-end brands to pocket friendly. It is astonishing that many women in Pakistan don't use primer in their makeup routine nor even know the purpose of Primer. I never miss Primer in my makeup routine you can find my favorite Primer list here.
Step 7: Use Eye Patches to help those dark circles
No wonder if you haven't seen your local makeup artist using eye pads under your eyes when they do your party makeup. Most probably you haven't seen your favorite MUA on Youtube using eye pads in all their tutorials. Which makes you think eye pads as less important. As I promised earlier that I will give you the secret behind the foundation of A-list stars. It is very important to use eye pads as it will de-puff the under-eye area, fine lines, and dark circles.
The GOT star Sophie Turner shared a hack in the interview that she leaves eye patches under her eyes while doing eye makeup it de-puff her eyes and save her from eyeshadow fallout. You can use famous PIXI Fortifeye Eye Patches or PETER THOMAS ROTH Water Drench Hyaluronic Cloud Hydra-Gel Eye Patches. If you are looking budget-friendly option you can use Heimish, Hydrogel Eye Patch, Bulgarian Rose Water, Skin Republic Collagen Hydrogel Under Eye Patch, or SEPHORA COLLECTION Invisilk Eye Mask.
There is a quick tip for you that if you RAN OUT of eye patches. Take a slice of cucumber or potato cut it into half and place it under your eyes, Shake hand :)
This is your ultimate pre-makeup skin prep routine to get the celebrity like a dewy smooth finish of your makeup. If you complete these 7 steps before applying your makeup, I bet you can achieve the most beautiful perfect makeup look with minimum makeup products.
Our First lesson completes here. I hope it will prove as informative and helpful in your makeup routine.