The Basics of Bridal Make Up

The day a woman gets married is one of the most anticipated days of her life, and most brides want everything to be just perfect. To that precise end, there is a long product line of bridal make up, all promising to turn a normal woman into a radiant princess bride for their special day.

Although bridal make up changes like any cosmetics do to reflect fashion trends, by and large the overall ‘look’ remains the same. Most brides want to look young, fresh and naturally pretty on their wedding day, which the makers of bridal make up design their products to reflect.

This means any range of bridal make up will have a large contingent of natural shades, such as subtle but rosy pinks and gentle pastels for eye make up. Lipstick is usually kept muted, sometimes with just a gloss or perhaps a classic red colour for a splash of something vibrant.

That is not to say you must buy bridal specific make up for your wedding day. If you have brands and products that you know, love and trust, there is little point deviating from what you know works just because there is a bridal product line.

The perfect bridal make up look tends to be as follows: healthily glowing cheeks with just a hint of blusher, subtle but enhancing eye make up including shadow, eyeliner and mascara, and a nude or glossy shade of lipstick. False eyelashes can create a starlet look with little hassle, and a berry red stain on the lips can finish off the look of youthful vibrancy perfectly.

Where To Find Discontinued Cosmetics

Every girl has a product in their make up bag that they simply couldn’t live without. Maybe it’s the mascara that curls your eyelashes better than any lash curlers have ever managed, or the shade of lipstick that is the perfect match for your complexion; whatever it is, we all have our favourite, essential products. But what would you do if that product was suddenly discontinued?

The misfortune of discontinued cosmetics is something that hits thousands of women and girls each year, and it’s no exagerration to say it can be somewhat distressing. Make up and cosmetic brands have a high turnover of products, and unless something is consistently wildly successful, they could discontinue the product at any time. It’s a nightmare, especially if your favourite product is expensive and stocking up isn’t an option.

If your favourite product is discontinued and no longer available, don’t panic just yet – you do have options. First and foremost, call the manufacturer or distributor; they may have excess stock available for you to purchase. This won’t last forever of course, but it should give you the chance to stock up.

Your second stop for discontinued cosmetics should be an online auction site, such as eBay. Smaller sellers often have a lot of stock left to sell, and there are also specialists in discontinued cosmetics who have their own methods of obtaining the product.

Thirdly, contact any stores (online or physical) that you know sold the product when it was available. If they have unsold stock, they may sell it to you for cost price.

How To Make Cheap Make Up Work For You

Sometimes, a personal budget just won’t stretch far enough to buy premium brands of make up. In these circumstances, unless you’re willing to go make up free – and who is ever willing to go make up free?! – you’re going to have to look in to cheap make up.

First and foremost, the phrase ‘cheap make up’ does not exactly inspire confidence, does it? Such wording brings to mind the kind of make up that comes free with magazines; sticky lipsticks, bright pink blushers and mascara that glues eyelashes together rather than neatly separating them. However, despite the connotations, cheap make up can actually look good if used in the right way.

Applying make up is all about technique and learning what works for you. You may need to mix and match different palettes of cheap make up to find a shade of lipstick or eyeshadow that suits your colouring, but that’s part of the fun, and the creativity helps you put together something you really love.

To allow cheap make up to work for you, you need to have a good surface for the make up to work on. It’s essential that you prepare your face; that is, ensuring it’s clean and kept well moisturised, and if possible zit and pimple free. Use Vaseline at night to extend, separate and soften your eyelashes, as well as on your lips for maximum softness that lipstick will smooth on to.

When you’re sure your base is right, experiment with your cheap make up selections; blend, smooth and mix until you’ve got exactly what you want, and you’ll look fabulous without the price tag!

Beware The Make Up Review

It is only natural to seek the opinions of others before spending money on a product you have never tried before, and an entire wealth of websites and magazines have been set up to allow users to consult others and garner opinions. In few industries does this apply as strongly as it does in the beauty industry, with literally thousands of magazine inches and hundreds of blogs covering the very subject of make up reviews.

While it may only be natural, and usually beneficial, to seek user and professional reviews before buying a make up product, there is a word of warning. Where make up differs from other reviewed products (such as appliances, books or movies) is in the subjective nature of each product.

Sound complicated? It isn’t, really, it’s just something you need to be aware of. For example, a piece of make up may not work for a reviewer or blogger, but that doesn’t mean it won’t work for you. As make up is applied to skin, and everyone’s skin is different, that means that every single person who uses a particular product is going to get different results with it. Most conscientious bloggers and reviewers will state this discrepancy in their reviews.

Does this mean that reviews are a totally meaningless waste of time? Of course not. If, for example, numerous reviews done by many different people all say that a product is useless, you can probably trust in the wisdom of crowds and dismiss it as poor. You can also looks at comments about consistency, price, packaging – basically, anything to do with the product prior to and after it is used on skin.

How To Avoid Make Up Disasters

Most of us have probably seen our fair share of make up disasters, and it’s never pretty. The usual suspects tend to be involved in creating such an unpleasant look: tide marks of foundation, over-applied blusher that makes the wear look uncomfortably hot no matter what the weather outside is doing, lipstick that misses the edge of the lips and, of course, the dreaded ‘panda eyes’ of mascara and eyeliner.

When it comes to wearing and using make up, there is an eternal truism of the beauty and fashion industry: less is more. The more make up you layer on, the more likely you are to look like a clown. Make up is about enhancing your natural assets, not repainting an entirely new face over your existing features. If you try and do the latter, there’s no way it can look decent.

The trick to getting make up right is a good mirror and good lighting in the room you apply it in. Many women make the mistake of applying make up in dimly lit rooms, where they can’t get a full look at their handiwork. You need to be able to see all the angles of your face (there are specialist mirrors that show different angles at the same time, if you feel like splashing out) clearly, so you can judge exactly what is going where and how it looks.

Many of us fall in to bad habits with make up and products, so keep things fresh by emptying out your make up bag and studying the products within carefully. If something hasn’t been used in six months, throw it away. By keeping things up-to-date and making the occasional new purchase, you can avoid wearing the same ‘look’ for years on end.

Three Essential Make Up Tips: Eyeliner

Whether you’re looking to create an enhanced, theatrical Cleopatra-style look, or just something more simple for daytime wear, eyeliner is one of the beauty staples. Here’s a quick guide to getting the most out of this essential product.

Tip One: Liquid or Pencil

Most make up brands manufacturer eyeliner in two different genres; liquid or pencil. It’s worth having one of each, in a trusty black colour, in your make up kit. The type of look you are going for influences which of the two types of eyeliner you should select; for something dramatic, use liquid, while for a more conservative look, pencil is your friend. Alternatively, you can use both: use pencil on the inner edge of the eye for more definition, and liquid on the outside of the eyelid to give a sweeping curve.

Tip Two: Practice, Practice, Practice

Eyeliner is extremely tricky to apply. It requires a steady hand, a good mirror in a well-lit room so you can see exactly what you’re doing, and lots and lots of practice. Over time, you’ll be able to draw beautiful lines over and under your eyelids in seconds, but put the ground work in first. Practice until you can create an unbroken and even line in both pencil and liquid.;

Tip Three: Let Eyeliner Dry

This is such a basic principle but it’s also a common mistake. Whether or not the eyeliner you are using is pencil or liquid, it’s important to let it dry before applying mascara. This takes around two minutes; a very short space of time that will help you avoid the dreaded smudging and ‘panda eyes’ effect.