Don’t be intimidated!
The trick to successful make-up application is to take good care of your skin. Keep it clean, keep it exfoliated (with something gentle; no harsh scrubs), keep it moisturized. I have never used a primer but sit at my vanity table with clean skin — and if I haven’t recently washed, I spritz a little rose water or swipe a bit of micellar water across my T-zone and under my eyes to eliminate any oil.
Use foundation not to obliterate your features but to even out skin tone. Blend, blend, blend. I love my fancy foundation buffer brush — I’m well over 50 now and it makes a huge difference — but a moistened sponge also does a great job. If you use your fingers, make sure that they and your nails are CLEAN, and buff, buff, buff. It’s very hard to get an even application of foundation with your fingers but it can be done. Please pay special attention to the nose, the eyebrow area and the edges of the face to make sure things are blended. BLEND TO THE GODS.
You also want to have in your arsenal a blush and powder brush. Guess what you use those for? BLUSH and POWDER.
You want something soft and rounded with compact bristles so you can really target the apples of your cheeks. Remember to tap off excess product before applying as it’s far better to build than to apply a big blob of blush or powder all at once and try to blend it out.
You also want to have a few eyeshadow brushes on hand. A small “finger brush” (named for its shape) for pressing shadow into your lid — don’t flick it on or you’ll make a mess–, a brush for applying lighter blending and browbone colors, and one small fluffy blending shadow brush. The finger brush is on the far right.
If you glow up with highlighter you can tap and blend that in with your fingers if it’s a liquid formula or use a small blush brush to apply. I can’t live without highlighter anymore and I either blend a few drops in with my foundation or brush it on with this little angled brush (from Nyx) that I love.
The fan gizmo is a wiz at whisking away powder from under the eyes (I use powder both to set my concealer and to catch any eyeshadow that falls during application). The fan is also great for applying powder formula highlighter.
Look, I feel like I’ve aged 30 years since Bozo took office. My skin is shot to hell, the bags and shadows under my eyes are de profundis. I call from the depths, O Lord.
But my church is doing beautiful and faithful things and I want to keep showing up as fresh and with-it as I can, even though I struggle mightily with comfort snacking and moving my bod as much as I want to, staying hydrated and remaining grounded in prayer rather than in Twitter conflagrations.
Please take care of you.
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