Makeup culture is HUGE amongst social media platforms right now. I don’t know how many makeup artists I follow; they’re all so incredible! Although makeup-wearers are pretty common in our day and age, there are many girls I know who don’t wear makeup at all. Now, I’m speaking only from my personal experience (and what I’ve learned from countless YouTube videos) but I’m here to simplify the process for those of you who are wanting to give it a try, whether it be for a special occasion or just for fun!
Start with a primer or moisturizer.
Priming your face before makeup application helps it to last longer and helps to prevent your face from breaking out. You can use a primer or just your typical moisturizer, either way it helps a ton.
Pictured: Benefit The POREfessional Face Primer
Apply foundation, or tinted moisturizer, or BB cream, and concealer.
If you don’t have many blemishes and want to keep your makeup routine simple, I highly recommend using a tinted moisturizer or BB cream as your base. You won’t need to use any foundation if you use those instead, and tinted moisturizer and BB cream have properties that moisturize your face so it’s a two-in-one step! If you have more blemishes you’d like to cover, foundation is your best choice. I recommend trying out NYX’s Total Control Drop Foundation — it’s less than $20 and good quality. After foundation, you can conceal any specific areas on your face. Personally, I use concealer under my eyes to hide my dark circles.
Pictured: Fenty Beauty, NYX, Tarte
Set face with setting powder, compact, etc.
After applying foundation and concealer, you’ll want to set everything with some setting powder to take away the shine. Pictured are Palladia’s Translucent Rice powder and Elf’s Translucent Mattifying Powder. These are just two examples that I personally use, but almost every brand of makeup offers a setting powder or compact that you can use for this step.
Eyebrows!
You have a view different options for this step. You can leave your eyebrows as they are, or you can use a brow gel, mascara, powder, or promade. For beginners, I definitely recommend using a brow gel. If you use a tinted brow gel, it helps to add some color to your brows and holds them in place with just a quick swipe to the brow. Eyebrow powder and clear brow gel is another easy way to go. If you have a steady hand and some time to spare, you can use a brow promade with an angled brush. Pictured is Anastasia Beverly Hills’ Dipbrow Promade, but NYX has a great promade for significantly less money that I recommend checking out.
Apply mascara.
After your eyebrows are nice and donte, you can apply mascara! You don’t necessarly have to use a lash primer, but I do suggest it if you have hooded or small eyes. Primer can keep your mascara from smudging. The mascaras pictured are just examples; Maybeline, L’Oreal, and other brands have great mascaras if you want to go with something cheaper. Mascara is something you might have to shop around for to figure out which works best with your lashes.
Apply highlight and blush.
Now, you can totally end your routine with mascara; on my lazy days I don’t bother applying highlight and blush, but this is definitely a fun step! Highlight is applied typically to your cheekbones, if you want to add an extra pop you can also apply it to the inner corners of your eyes, the tip of your nose, and your cupid’s bow (the top of your lip). After this, you can apply blush. Blush goes best on the apples of your cheeks. If you’re having trouble finding your apples, smile big!
Pictured: ELF, NYC, Tarte, Colourpop
Lips!
Last (but not least) is lips! You can simply apply lip balm, or you can apply lipstick, too. Personally, I find liquid lipsticks easier to apply than traditional lipsticks. Colourpop has a great range of lipsticks for just $6!
Pictured: LimeCrime Matte Velvetines
This sums up the basic steps for a makeup routine. You can do more or less as you wish, but if you want to do more I’ve included a few optional steps.
Optional steps:
Apply eyeshadow.
I have yet to master this step, but it’s fun to try. I recommend watching some tutorials on YouTube, and remember: practice makes perfect!
Pictured: Urban Decay Naked Basics, Colourpop Super Shock Shadow
Apply eyeliner.
A steady hand is important for this step. For beginners, I recommend using an eyeliner pen. I’ve found that it’s the easiest way to apply eyeliner. Again, practice is all it takes!
Pictured: Soap & Glory Supercat, NYX Matte Liquid Liner
Set face with setting spray.
Many makeup artists will recommend using a setting spray, but it’s definitely an optional step. Setting spray helps your makeup to last longer and not smudge. If you want to try this step, NYX and ELF have low-cost setting sprays that work fairly well.