Following on from my last post Beauty tips to pass down to your daughter I thought I would also share some essential make-up tips which have been useful for me over the years.

These tips are really easy to follow and can make the world of difference to your look.

Here are my top 7 tips:

1) Get to know your skin tone

You can be either warm, cool or some people are a combination of both. This acts as a guide as to what colours suit you the best. The easiest way to tell is by standing in natural light and looking at your veins. If they are blue you have a cool skin tone, if they are green you have a warm skin tone.

Cool skin tones suit jewel colours like blue, white, black, purple and true pink.

Warm skin tones suit more earthy colours like orange, brown, yellow, green and ivory.

2) Matching eyeshadow to the colour of your eyes can detract from your eyes

There is a common misconception that matching your eyeshadow to your eyes makes them pop i.e. wearing blue eye shadow when you have blue eyes.

This can actually detract from the colour of your eyes, making them less striking.

It’s best to choose a colour which suits your skin tone and works with your eyes for instance, if a client has blue eyes and a cool skin tone, I will very often use charcoal type colours for their eyes.

3) White eyeliner is your friend

Using a white highlighter (this can be an eyeliner or eye shadow) in the corner and on the bottom eyelid, opens them up – making them appear bigger. It can also help to brighten tired eyes, so whether you are partying too hard or changing nappies 24/7 a white eyeliner is your friend.

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4) When to wear shimmer and when to wear matte

If you have quite wrinkly skin around your eyes it’s best to stick with matte eye shadows. This is because shimmer eye shadows can accentuate the creases, making them look a lot worse then they are.

5) Purple is not a good colour eyeshadow if you suffer from dark circles

If you are like me and suffer with dark circles (made a lot worse now that I am a mum) then purple is not the right colour for you around your eyes.

It can make them appear darker and you even more tired than you actually are.

A great tip if you do have dark circles (like me) is to find a great concealer and use white eyeliner in the inside corner and bottom eyelid. This will help to brighten your eyes.

6) Testing whether a foundation is the right colour

I don’t know about you but when I was growing up my mum always taught me to test the colour of my foundation on the inside of the wrist.

Now that I am grown up I know that this is totally the wrong place to do it. Think about it, the inside of your wrist is a lot whiter that your face because it gets exposed to the elements a lot less.

The best place to test a foundation is actually on your jaw line, then you can see whether or not the shade is a perfect match to your face.

7) Choosing the right under-eye concealer

When shopping for under-eye concealers in the past I have been told to go for a shade lighter than my foundation.

Instead of achieving the look of “I am perfectly refreshed and well rested” I achieved the “I have been wearing my goggles in the sun for too long” look.

It is better to match you under-eye concealer with your foundation so that it blends in.

Another useful tip for concealers is to use purple concealer to conceal dark circles and green to conceal redness. You then place a natural coloured concealer over the top to achieve a smooth look.

Do you have any tips to add to this list? Please share in the comments below.

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