Super Guide for Makeup Beginners: Everything you need to know about your Makeup!

You are here because you are interested in learning makeup for yourself. Enough of that lipstick and BB cream! You want to go beyond this and do what makes you feel more confident and attractive.

Fair enough, you have tried going into Makeup stores and you have come back with a headache because there are so many options, shades, and products that you have no idea where to start.

Let me be very clear by reading this article you will not learn how to do makeup but you will get a starting point and would definitely understand what makeup is all about. To become a makeup expert you will have to join professional makeup artists or personal grooming classes.

Just like singing, playing guitar, or painting, Makeup is a skill that is considered an art and trusts me makeup is older than many religions that exist in this world today.

What essential makeup products should a makeup beginner have?

To answer this question let us understand clearly and simply what categories of makeup products exists today as you can literally use anything depending on your face and occasion. Here are the categories

Complexion Products

As the name suggests these are the products which works on your complexion. Alright I am not talking about fairness here but I am talking about your overall complexion. Your face doesn’t have even tone everywhere, few may have darker under eyes and others may have pigmentation or spots. Below products attend and arrest this concern. Let’s take a look at them.

Primer:

Yes it does the same thing what are you thinking! Primers which comes in gel, cream and even spray variants and prime job is to fill the fine lines pores on your face exactly what is done on the walls before painting. Primer prepares your face for makeup. With primer on! Your makeup will last longer and would never look cakey.

Foundation:

This is the most common makeup product which most of us know about, however you will be surprised to know that most of you may be using incorrect formula. This is where you get your overall improvised skin tone. To understand foundation you must know the terms “Coverage”.

What is foundation coverage?

Coverage refers to the opacity of the makeup, or how much it will conceal on the skin.

There are four types of foundation coverage –

Sheer – Is the most transparent and contains the least amount of pigment. It will not hide the discolorations of the skin but can minimize the contrast between discolorations of the skin to the rest of skin. Wear it if you have almost perfect skin, It has pigment percentage ranging from 8-13%

Light – can cover unevenness and slight blotchiness but it’s not opaque enough to cover freckles. It contains 13-18% pigments.

Medium – Coverage when set with tinted powder can hide freckles, discolorations, blotchiness, discoloration and red marks left by pimples. It contains 18-23% pigments. I will recommend this if you are going to attend an important function and you have moderate pigmentations and discoloration of skin.

Full – Coverage is very opaque and used to cover birthmarks, hyperpigmentation and scars. It will ensure it camouflage everything that it has been put on to. Professional makeup artist will use full coverage generally on Brides. Unless necessary, I will not recommend full coverage for personal or everyday use.

Foundations comes with different formula –

Liquid Foundation It’s versatile and works with most of the skin types.

Powder Foundation It comes with two finishes – illuminating or matte. If you have an oily skin it will work the best and if you have the dry skin then it will be worse to pick a powder foundation.

Cream Foundation is a good choice for those with dry or mature skin. Your skin will look softer and smoother.

Concealer:

Concealer or color corrector is meant to add additional coverage over select areas, like dark circles, breakouts, acne scars, and more. Depending on the look you want to achieve, you can opt for a concealer with either a matte or dewy finish. Just like foundation, concealers offer varying levels of coverage. They come in liquid, cream and stick variants.

Highlighter and Contour:

This is where your face gets chiseled like a celebrity. You often see this kind of makeup on celebs and influencer and man it looks great on photos and videos as well.

Contour creates shadows and highlighter creates highlights and with that you literally shape the face you want. It’s exactly like shading in your art class. You really don’t need to buy a separate product for contouring as it’s a makeup technique and not a product. Contouring can be done by darker shades of foundation or even eye shadow.

Blush and Bronzer:

While contour is used to create shadows, bronzer creates a natural, sun-kissed glow that accentuates and lifts your cheekbones and other features. Bronzers come in liquids, creams, and powders. Blush is a slight hint of color usually on your cheeks and sometimes a little on your nose tip. If done wrong you will look like a child in a school play.

Setting Products:

This is where you lock or set your makeup. You get finishing powder which will smoothen fine lines and blurs pores while a setting spray locks everything in with a dewy glow. Never skip setting your makeup else it will literally melt away. If you are lazy I recommend you to use setting spray and get over with it.

Eye Makeup Products

Eye Makeup is one area which you should absolutely not miss on, you have so much of variety in colors and so many makeup techniques which can drastically change your look. Let’s take a look at the products –

Eyeshadow Primer:

You learned about the primer in the complexion category for the face, Eye shadow primer does the exact same work. It allows a grip for eye makeup so that it’s held in place. It ensures your eye makeup last longer.

Eyeshadow:

It is a powder with pigments applied on your eyelids to pop your eyes. There are 1000s of color combinations and techniques used by professional makeup artists from smoky to gradient eyeshadows. Eyeshadows also come in different formulas ranging from matte, shimmering, duo-chrome, and satin.

Eyeliner:

Eyeliner is used to define the eyes, enhance their shape and create variations. They come in variety – Gel-based, Liquid-based, or pencils. I personally carry pencil eyeliners for touch up and quick makeup. While gel and liquid-based eyeliner need some time and makeup technique to apply.

Mascara:

Okay you know about this already, this is to enhance your eye lashes and trust me if done right it will add such a nice beat to your overall look.

Eyebrow Gel:

This is applied to keep your eye brows in shape and make it unidirectional. This adds to the sharpness to your look.

Eyebrow Pencil:

It is used to draw hairs to fill in the gaps in your brows. Eyebrow Pencil completes your brows and the fine tip of the pencil makes your eyebrow look super natural. We also have eyebrow powder in the market but usually I will not recommend that to my clients.

Lip Makeup Products

If you thought just apply lipstick is called Lip makeup then you have to continue reading. Your lips sets your mood of the day and there is a lot that goes around to create that fuller look.

Lip Primer:

Lip primer is used to keep your lip products in place.

Lip Pencil:

Lip pencils enhance the shape of your lips and are used as an outline to set parameters. Lip liners are also used to contour your lips and make it look poutier. There is a whole technique behind this.

Lipstick:

Lipstick adds color to the lips further enhancing your mouth. It’s available in a variety of forms.

Lip Gloss:

It creates a glossy finish and comes in a variety of shades, from completely translucent to highly pigmented.

What are some of the most common mistakes beginners make in regards to makeup?

There can be endless mistakes that beginners can make without proper makeup skills or practice. Remember this is an art which needs to be learnt from someone who knows about it and then it needs to be practiced else you would never be able to perfect it. So let’s look at the common mistakes which most of you might commit.

Not using the primer

I have personally seen many who forget or don’t know about primers and directly apply foundation on the face. Makeup without a primer is like painting on a cement. Primer prepares your skin by minimizing pores and fine lines. It also makes the surface even and holds your makeup. Without primer your makeup will look absolutely cakey and would definitely wear-off soon.

Avoiding Skin Prep routine

Just washing the face with water and putting on makeup may not be the right way. There is a well-known process in professional makeup artistry world or otherwise – It’s called as CTM which simply means Cleansing, Toning and Moisturizing. Always begin with CTM so that skin is prepped and hydrated for a flawless finish.

Incorrect Foundation

Every heard people saying too much makeup, Well one of the reason is not using the correct Foundation. You might be using an incorrect formula or coverage which end up making you look odd. Always select the right foundation as per your age, skin tone, type and occasion.

Wrong Eye Makeup

Makeup is a technique which correct the looks however many a times we do the opposite because we do not know which technique to use when. You eye has a distinct shape and you just cannot any type of eye makeup, you would need to wear what suits you the best. For example if you have small eyes then you should not use Kajal it will make your eyes look even smaller, got the point

Now you must be wondering how to remember so many things and how to understand these techniques. YouTube is filled with videos and everyone is talking something else.

We hear you! It is difficult and needs practice. You need to find someone who knows about makeup or join makeup workshops on personal grooming classes where you will be taught about all this. They will also suggest you what will look good on your and kind of makeup products and brands you must use.

Remember you are wearing makeup to look confident and get that extra motivation. It really works!

Go out there and win your world !