Makeup Tips/How To

Written by Sam

Freelance makeup artist and blogger Sam comes at us with even MORE makeup math in today’s guest post.

Ever wonder what people mean when they say you’ve got a round, oval, heart, or even triangular-shaped face? Well, we’re here to decode all that geometry-based mumbo jumbo with some simple “tests” (no calculator required).

The main types of face shape are: oblong, oval, round, rectangular, square, triangular, diamond, and heart.

Have you read Sam’s first post on makeup math, aka the gorgeousness of geometry?

• Makeup Math: Your Face Is a Grid

To begin with, mentally measure these areas horizontally (put away your ruler; we only need an estimate to compare them to the other features): your forehead, your temples, across the tip of your nose, across your mouth, and across your chin. Do all of this with a neutral face (i.e. without smiling), and looking straight into a mirror.

Oblong: The length from temple to temple and across your nose are nearly exactly the same, as well as across your chin and your forehead. Your chin rounds out nicely, and is relatively pronounced. You have a rather high hairline that sweeps more backwards than towards your ears, and your forehead may seem to dominate much of your face. Your jaw is more prominent than many other face shapes. Your goal should be to round out your forehead around the edges, and make your jawline more fluid rather than sloping.

Oval: The traditionally ideal face shape. The widest part of your face should be the line across your nose, but just barely. The distance across your temples and across your mouth are relatively the same. The distance across your chin is just barely shorter than that of your forehead. Your bone structure is often pronounced, especially your cheekbones. Your hairline sweeps towards the tops of your ears. Feel free to experiment with contouring and highlighting; there’s not much to try and “correct” here. Play up your cheekbones, chisel out your jawline, slim your nose… Completely up to you, you lucky thing.

Round: Now, don’t you just wanna pinch those cheeks? No. Step away. Anywho… Think of an oval face, as described above. Now, shorten it. All the length-comparisons are about the same, but this type of face is much shorter. The forehead is rather more rounded at the edges (complemented by a hairline that curves rather than sweeps), and the chin is less pronounced. Although the distance across the nose is still the widest, it is now by more than simply a tiny bit. From here, your face curves up to your forehead and down to your chin, rather than sloping. Focus on lengthening your face by shading around the ears and the temples.

Rectangular: Every distance is relatively equal, except across your chin, which is slightly shorter than the rest. Your face is relatively long, with a pronounced forehead and a squared off jaw. Your cheekbones are often stunning. You may be described as looking statuesque. Your hairline cuts straight across your forehead and then straight down towards your ears. Focus on rounding out your forehead by shading near and above the temples.

Square: You probably look best with a short hairstyle. Your jaw is the most pronounced area of your face, and may be described as severe (this is a good thing). Otherwise, the square face is to the rectangular as the round is to the oval. It is mostly just a “shortened” version. Your forehead is a bit smaller, and your chin is blunt rather than rounded, enhancing that amazing jawline you’ve got. Focus on rounding out your forehead, but leave that jaw alone. No need to mess with what you’ve got going there.
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Written by Sam

Freelance makeup artist and blogger Sam offers some concealing and contouring tips in today’s guest post.

Think of your face as a grid.

Draw an imaginary line vertically down through the center of your nose, and a horizontal line going across the tip of said nose. The more something interacts with these lines, the more noticeable it is. Following this logic, a small pimple on the very center of the nose is going to attract more attention than a larger one near the jawline, and the same concept applies to makeup.

A grid can help us figure out where to focus our efforts. Should we spend more product and effort covering up that blemish near our cheekbone (bingo!), or that one near our hairline? Or should we aim that concealer brush at that red mark on the center of our chin, or the port-wine stain near our earlobe?

But maybe concealing isn’t your problem. Maybe you want to enhance your bone structure instead.

If you have a rounder face (ain’t you a cutie?), apply a darker contour shade from the horizontal gridline halfway up to the vertical line, and about a third of the way from the lower end of the vertical line to a third of the way to the horizontal, keeping along the border of your face.

If your face could be described as triangular (a description I hate, but, alas, the makeup world has yet to come up with a better term for it), do the same as you would for a rounder face, except swap in a highlight shade for the area below the horizontal gridline, or forego this step altogether.

For those with a square or rectangular face (which just means your forehead may be a bit wider and your jaw is a bit more pronounced than someone with an oval face), buff a contour shade midway between the endpoints of the two lines (or the four corners of your face), rounding the edges.

And if you have an oval face…well, lay down those brushes. An oval shape is generally considered the easiest to apply makeup to, which is why the steps above aim to shape the other types more towards this goal.

Cheek color should never fall below your imaginary horizontal line, no matter what (this was an old film and theatre technique used to age actors or make them appear ill).

Now, draw an imaginary vertical line through the center of your pupil; blush should never be applied further in than this line.

How about the eyes?

The space between your eyebrows should be approximately the width of one of your eyes. To help us find where our brows should end, take any straight object (pencil, brush, etc.; really, any old thing will do), and draw an imaginary line from the corner of the nostril on the same side through the outside corner of that eye. End your brow just inside this spot.
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Written by Sam

Freelance makeup artist and blogger Sam shares five tips to adjust your beauty routine to winter’s chilly weather.

As the weather gets colder and that rosy glow pops into your cheeks every time you step outdoors, your beauty routine needs to follow suit. This winter has its own set of trends, as well as some general guidelines to help you switch from your fall face to a chillier complexion.

1. Layering

And not just your sweaters. In winter, it really helps to layer your skincare and makeup products to protect your skin and your hard work. In cold locales, where the weather leeches moisture from your skin, try layering a serum under a heavier lotion to really lock in that moisture.

Don’t forget the shower — Apply these when your skin is still slightly damp from your shower. Along with your epidermis being more porous and absorbent thanks to heat opening your pores, the products will capture and mix with the water still on your skin and dispense this essential moisture as they sink in, ensuring all-day plumpness.

To make sure the bitter winds don’t cause your makeup to flake and flatten, layer your foundation and eyeshadow over a good primer. Then, throw some gloss on top of your lips to keep your lipstick from sucking the moisture out of those luscious lips.

2. Purple

One of the hottest color families this season, you really can’t go wrong with any purple in my opinion. Try a rich, royal purple in the outer-V, taking it about a sixth of the way under the eye; or, opt for a plum-tone satin lip with a hint of clear gloss paired with a neutral eye.

3. Icy Composure

Fittingly, icy shades of blue, white, and silver are de rigeur for Winter 2010. Aim for simplicity with just one or two of these shades dusted lightly over your lids, and finish with a nude lip. Wanna go all the way? Cover your lips with a neutral concealer or a product like MAC Lip Erase, and put a bit of a nude gloss over it for some added dimension. Or, add a bit of drama with a sheer, shimmery berry shadow in the crease. Keep blush sheer and bare, and tap on a silvery highlighter to finish the look.
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Written by Sam

Freelance makeup artist and blogger Sam has a tip to help you find your foundation match in today’s guest post.

Ah, the age-old question: “Do I match my foundation to my neck, my jawline, my inner wrist, my…” Ok, stop right there.

There are many reasons why all of the above are less than ideal, so let’s go through some of them before we explore an even better way to match.

If you match to your…

Neck — Because of the shadow your face casts down upon your neck, it only makes sense that your neck is going to be one of the palest parts of your skin. It receives the least amount of sun, and contains much lower levels of pigment than many other parts of your skin. Match your foundation to your neck, and you run the risk of a washed-out, sickly looking face.

Jawline — Depending on your bone structure, your jawline may appear, which can cause unintentional highlights or shadows that are lighter or darker than the rest of your face. Although the difference may not be major, you might not be getting a true gauge of your actual skintone. If your face is ruddy or sallow and doesn’t have the same undertones as the rest of your body, you’re also looking at choosing the incorrect shade. For example, my face has a lot of red in it, but the rest of my skin doesn’t. I actually have yellow undertones, but if I matched to my jawline, I’d be apt to pick a foundation with pink or beige undertones.

Inner wrist — This one, I simply don’t get. Your inner wrist contains a lot of large veins (arteries? I was never good at biology…), and again, gets very little direct sun exposure. And since when is the inner wrist at all comparable to a face? This can lead you astray in the worst of ways; while the rest of my skin has yellowish undertones, if I were to match to my inner wrist, I’d definitely choose a foundation with more pinky undertones, which could lead me to look unnatural, ruddy, and older.

So, what’s the best place to match to your foundation?

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