Make-up is a Godsend when it comes to hiding our biggest sins. It can give a woman renewed confidence and turn her from being ordinary looking to ravishing. Here are three scenarios illustrating how best to use makeup for camouflage:
Acne
While getting medical attention and keeping your skin properly cleansed twice daily, you can use make-up to conceal your acne. A full-coverage foundation is ideal for this.
However, if you apply it uniformly all over your face, it will look caked and fake, like a mask. Instead, use a blending brush or foundation brush to apply it with lighter coverage (you can even dilute it with a little oil-free lotion) on the areas without blemishes.
- To cover the blemishes, you can use a heavier hand. However, to prevent the make-up from shining and looking heavy, use a good quality primer or milk of magnesia as a base before applying the foundation. Finally, blot the T-zone areas and set with a translucent powder. Using a heavy coloured powder on top of full-coverage foundation tends to be overkill and gives your face an unnatural, doll-like appearance.
- With powder, less is more. Apply it with a flat round powder applicator. To avoid re-infecting your face with old bacteria, make sure this applicator is clean. Then dust off the excess with a large powder brush.
- On days when you are in hot and humid conditions, stick light coverage by using concealer alone and powder foundation. Use a disinfecting cleanser on all your makeup tools to safeguard acne-prone skin and prevent worse outbreaks.
Wrinkles and lines
First, use a serum to moisturise your face. This is vital because applying foundation on dry skin will exacerbate the appearance of fine lines.
Next, use a moisturising primer for a dewy look. It also fills in some of the smaller lines or crevices. Use a small brush to apply concealer onto problem areas. Finally, use a liquid foundation or crème to powder foundation.
Skip the heavy powder if you have severely dry skin. Instead, apply a minimal amount of powder to set your concealer on areas like your undereye and T-zone. Instead of a powder blusher, use bronzer to contour, and then apply cream blusher on your apples of your cheeks for a dewy finish.
In a pinch, you can also use a creamy lipstick as blusher. Just be sure to blend it well and stick to natural shades that are not screaming.
Scars
If you have a scar, follow a similar process as above. Start on freshly washed and moisturised skin. Use primer to create a smooth canvas.
Then apply your liquid foundation all over your face. Next, carefully apply concealer on the scar using a concealer brush or clean, warm fingers. The key is to lightly dab the concealer and build up slowly to your desired coverage. Do not rub it in or use sweeping strokes.
If your scar is raised, like a keloid, do not use a lighter concealer. These work well for brightening the undereye area but will exaggerate raised scars. Instead, use one that is exactly the same colour as your skin.
Depending on the severity of your scars, you may need to use two or three shades of concealer. For this reason, it is best to invest in a concealer palette.
Finally, use a powder puff to press powder gently but firmly into the area. This ensures a good set for a long-lasting coverage.
