First Ever! Neutral Makeup!

                                              That's right. This post is my first ever makeup tutorial!
                                                                                  Enjoy!

This look is totally neutral and perfect for every day. It's very simple and only takes about 10 minutes (if that). It's also a look that can go from a day look to a night look by simply adding a little more of the darker crease color.

Start off with a clean, moisturized face. I use Clinique 3 Step Skin care for dry/combination skin (my skin is actually very oily but this works wonders)! Make sure when you apply your moisturizer that you don't put it on your eyelids. It can make the eye shadow crease even if you use a primer. I save moisturizing my eyelids until bedtime.

I then move to foundation. I like to use makeup sponges to apply liquid foundation. It's more sanitary than using your hands and you don't have to worry about cleaning up. If  you're using a "mousse" foundation (my preference) then I just use my ring finger and "pat" the foundation on my face. Since I'm not sure where my makeup sponges are I just pumped out some foundation on my hand.

Then I took my foundation brush and dabbed it in the foundation and applied it all over my face. I like to "splotch" it all over my face because I feel it helps evenly distribute the product.

Now you are ready to blend! Take your foundation brush and run it from your forehead down your cheeks. You want to make sure you only go in a downward direction or the fine hairs on your face will stand up. This same tip goes for powder as well.

After you apply your foundation, if there are any dark areas on your face you'd like to conceal, now would be the time to do it. I didn't do it in this tutorial because it wasn't one of the original products used when I did this look for Amanda's wedding.

The next step would be powder. Loose or pressed. It does not matter. I used pressed when I did this look. I think I actually prefer loose though. It can be messy but I feel like it leaves my skin with a nicer finish.

Blush is next. For this look I used a berry colored blush. It gives the cheeks a nice, soft, pink look. Make sure when using blush you keep to your cheek bones and the apples of your cheeks. Not sure where those are? Smile! The apples of your cheeks are the part of your face that get "chubby" when you smile. Your cheek bones are going to be directly behind your apples. When applying blush I use small circular motions. If you feel like you have too much product on your brush, just tap it off. (The same goes for eye shadows and powders).

Keep in mind, you don't have to do these steps the same as I do them. I just prefer to do them this way because it makes sense to me.

Next I move to eyes. For eyes I definitely prefer using a brush to any other application. I don't like the sponge tip applicators that come with the eye shadows. If that's all you have, use the wider, flatter end to apply your shadow to the lid and use the smaller, thinner, pointy end to apply shadow to your crease. It gives you better control over where your applying your makeup.

For the initial lid color, I use a brush with a flatter head. Again, it's what gives you better control of where your color is going. Keep in mind there are many MANY different sized brushes for all different purposes. 

The colors of this eye shadow trio is supposed to bring out green eyes. I personally think it would look great with any eye color. This first color (bottom) is the lid color. Take your brush and pat the eye shadow all over your lid. Patting eye shadow on helps prevent fall out. (Fall out is when you the excess shadow all over your face).

The second (middle) color will go in the crease. For this you want to use a blending brush. I use one that's a little fluffy. I also hold my blending brush toward the end because it's better controlled for a circular motion. When blending you can move your brush in a windshield wiper motion or a circular motion, moving over the crease as you go. Not sure where your crease is? Feel right above your eyeball and below your eyebrow. Your crease is in between your eyeball and your brow bone. You want to use a darker color for a more defined eye. The darker color in the crease helps your eyes to appear bigger and fuller.

The third (top) color in the trio will be your highlight color. Highlight colors aren't really necessary, but I like to use them because I feel the look looks a little more completed. A nice neutral/white shimmery color applied right under the eyebrow gives a nice finish. To apply the highlight color you can really use any kind of brush. I actually like to use an angled fluffy blending brush. It's nice to use right under the brow because it kind of curves with the curve in your eyebrow. Today I didn't use the angled brush. (I probably should have). Instead I used a flat fluffy brush. To be perfectly honest, I have no idea what this brush would be used for.

Once your shadow has been applied, wipe away any fallout with a powder brush. Use light strokes because you do not want to get the color on your cheeks. If you do end up with color on your cheeks, take your foundation brush or sponge and lightly blot the area.

Now you are ready for eyeliner and mascara. Some people are afraid of eyeliner. I mean, who wants to be putting something pointy right by their eye? No worries, as long as your not applying makeup in your car you should be okay. When applying eyeliner, try your hardest not to pull the delicate skin around your eyes (this can lead to premature wrinkles). If you do feel the need to tug on your skin, be sure to do so gently.

The "easier" way to apply eyeliner is to rest your pinky finger on your cheek and let your hand to all the work.

Ready for mascara? To prevent getting mascara all over your eye shadow tilt your head back and look down. This isn't a fool proof way to keep mascara off your shadow but it does help.

What happens if you do get mascara all over your shadow? Don't touch it! Let it go for a few minutes while you're finishing your look. Once it's had enough time to dry it comes off very easily with a q-tip! Lightly touch the mascara'd areas with the q-tip. If you find that the mascara is being difficult and does not want to come off, hold the q-tip in that area and move your skin up and down or side to side. The movement of this skin should hopefully help the mascara to lose it's grip. If all else fails and that doesn't work, use a small amount of makeup remover. In doing so, there's a good chance you'll have to re-apply shadow but at least that's easy!

The last step is lips. I tried to keep this look very neutral, using the same products I did for Amanda's wedding. I was really trying to re-create the same look I gave her for her special day. I used all the same products today (except the mascara) that I did for her.

Here is your completed look:

It's so hard to find good lighting in this house....

Products Used:

Revlon Photoready Foundation in 002 (vanilla)

Revlon Photoready translucent finishing powder in 001 (translucent)

Revlon Matte powder blush in 002 (blushing berry)

Almay intense i-color in trio for greens 024

Almay intense i-color eyeliner 04 (raisin quartz)

Maybelline Colossal Volume mascara in Glam Black

E.L.F Moisture-care lip color in Baby Lips