Ultimate Makeup Guide
Makeup routines range from a quick mascara and lipstick all the way to a full face with all the bells and whistles. Whether you have a go-to look you wear every day or you like to change it up based on your mood or what’s on your plate for that day, Let’s take a look at all the steps you might like to add in your makeup routine and the products and tips that can help you get the perfect look and routine for you.
Table of contents
Prep
Before applying any makeup to the skin it’s super important to establish a healthy skin routine. Begin your makeup routine by cleansing, treating and moisturizing your skin, and don’t forget the eye area. This will help all products, from skin to eyes to lips, apply more smoothly to create a more flawless finish.
Prime
Priming for your skin type is key to a long lasting makeup look. There are many types of primers (for face, and for eyes).
Primers ~ How to Choose What to Use
Choose your primer for face based on your skin type and your desired finish.
- If you have oily skin or develop shine as the day goes on, you’ll want a good mattifying primer.
- Want a luminous, radiant finish? Then a illuminating primer is the way to go.
- Color correcting primers used alone or with other primers can help to lighten dark areas, reduce the look of redness, or brighten dullness.
- Dry rough skin can benefit from moisturizing and smoothing primers.
Primer for eyes not only extends the wear of your eyeshadow, giving you an all-day creaseless, smudge-proof vivid look, it can also boost the undertone of your eyeshadow and compliment the finish.
- A basic eye primer will even skin tone, provide a smooth surface for shadow application and makes colors more vivid.
- A shimmer primer boosts the look of shimmer, glitter and metallic shades.
- A matte primer gives matte shadows a smooth look.
Primer Demos
The Power of a Primer: Air Brush Retouch for a Radiant Canvas
Benefit of Primer Under Your Foundation
Sixty(ish) Second Spotlight ~ Magix Face Perfector
Prime and Conceal with Cashmere
Color Correct and Conceal
The most common discolorations that you may want to cover are dark circles, redness and age spots. There are some great skin care options to help improve discolorations so I always recommend starting with those but there will still be times you need a little on the spot color correction or concealer.
Avon Concealers, How to Choose What to Use
Tips:
- Choose a concealer 1-2 shades lighter than foundation
- Apply around nose to hide redness
- Dot on in an upside down triangle under eye and blend with brush
In addition to traditional flesh tone concealers that cover and blend out discolorations you can also take advantage of color theory and use colors opposite the color you want to cover on the color wheel to “cancel out” a discoloration. The most common color correctors are yellows and oranges to cancel out blues and purples and green correctors to blend out redness.
Prime and Conceal with Cashmere
Complexion
Foundation is probably the most stress inducing part of putting together your perfect makeup look. Your choice of foundation formula, shade and application technique can be the difference between a flawless face and a look that ages you or looks fake. Of course your skin care routine, and primer will be equally as important as your choice of foundation for achieving a natural look.
Things to consider when choosing a foundation formula will be how full of coverage do you want, your skin type and desired finish such as matte, demi-matte, natural or dewy.
- Liquid foundations are typically good for all skin types and come in all finishes and coverage levels.
- Cream / cream to powder foundations can come in compacts or sticks and are often a good choice for dry skin, although most are good for all skin types
- Powder foundations often give the option of being applied wet or dry and are a good option for oily skin. Powder foundations can leave dry skin looking drier with out good moisturizer and/or primer as a base.
How to choose what to use ~ Avon Foundations
The New and Expanded Magix Tint Collection
Choosing the Correct Shade
Choosing the right shade can be tricky. Start by determining your undertone. Check the back of your hand or inner wrist for your vein color. If they appear purple or blue your undertone is cool, if they look blue or green the undertone is neutral and green or olive indicates a warm or warm olive undertone. If you’re unsure of your undertone, choose a neutral shade.
Your next step is to narrow down your skin tone range. Most shades are grouped into Light, Medium, Tan or Deep tones. Choose 2-3 shades within that skin tone range with your undertone. I find the best place to test colors for a match is along the jawline. Sometimes our face and neck can be different shades and matching to the face if the neck is significantly lighter or darker can cause your foundation to look like a mask and make it hard to blend.
When looking at Avon Foundations you can use our Virtual Shade Selector tool or Virtual Try on Tool to see how a shade will look on you before you buy. You can access both tools on the Digital Brochure page. The Shade Selector Tool is also conveniently located on the Foundation page and you can use the Virtual Try on Tool on any product page to experiment with the shades for that specific foundation along with eye and lip colors.
Complexion product Demos
How to apply Match Filter Serum Tint Foundation ~ Let’s take a look at the different ways to apply the new cream to powder foundation formula from Avon, Match Filter.
Ways to apply Cashmere Compact Powder Foundation ~ With multiple ways to apply it, Cashmere Complexion Powder Foundation is the ultimate multipurpose foundation.
3 Ways to Apply Liquid Foundation ~ Sometimes HOW you apply your foundation can be just as important as WHAT foundation you’re using. Here are 3 common ways of applying foundation and the benefits of each.
Blush, Highlight and Contour
Highligher and bronzer give your face sculpted definition. For a believable, sun-kissed bronze look, dust on cheekbones, nose and forehead. Tips:
- Use a darker shade to add a natural allover glow
- Use a lighter shade to highlight cheekbones
Give cheeks a sweep of color for natural-looking radiance. Try a powder blush for a more matte look or a cream stick for a dewy finish. Tips:
- Smile and apply to the apples of your cheeks
- Blend toward hairline and down to jawline
Complexion product Demos
How to Apply Blushing Beads Powder Blush ~ Let’s take a look at our Colors of LOVE Blushing Beads Powder Blush and how easy it is to apply
Eyes
Eyeshadow
They say the eyes are the window to the soul, and for many it’s their favorite feature so they tend to be where we put a lot of emphasis. Eye shadow is also the area that we have the most variety in how we might employ it. From a super subtle nude makeup natural look that to bold, vivid artistic looks, eyeshadow plays a big part in how we express ourselves with our makeup
Types of Eyeshadow
- Powder eyeshadows come in various size palettes that can offer coordinated shades or a variety of shades and finishes to let your creativity flow.
- Liquid eyeshadows are a quick and easy option for look using a single shade or they can be mixed and blended for more complex looks
- Gel eyeshadows offer the boldest look and longest staying power.
Eyeliner
There are just as many types of eyeliner as there are eyeshadow and it’s another way you can have some fun with your look. If you want a subtle way to add a little pop of color or you can go really bold. You can also use your eyeshadows to line and define eyes if you want just the right color or even want to use fewer multitasking products instead of a product for every step.
How to Create the Right Eyeliner Look for Your Eye Shape
Mascara
The two most commonly used cosmetics are mascara and lip color. For many, a quick sweep of mascara and a kiss of lip gloss is all they need to feel put together for the day. Lengthening and Volumizing are common mascara benefits and those are often combined with a nourishing or waterproof formula, or both.
Avon Mascaras ~ How to Choose What to Use
Easy Mascara Hacks for Amazing Lashes
Brows
Sculpting and defining the brow helps frame the face.
Avon Brows ~ How to Choose What to Use
Eye Makeup Demos
Creating Custom Shades with Glimmershadow Liquid Eyeshadow
Try Something New with Your Eyeliner
5 Ways to Wear Muse Eyeshadow Quad
Lips
Lip Liner
An often overlooked or underrated step, lip liner can not only extend the wear of your lip color it can also help you to customize the shade of your lip color or even change the shape of your lip.
Lip Color
Along with the eyes, our lips tend to be the place we emphasize the most. Our lip color can be anything from a neutral, natural shade to a bold statement color. Our lip color routine can be as simple as lip balm for a bare lip look to a multi-step process meant to stay put for hours.
Lip product Demos
The Best Long-Lasting Lipsticks
3 Steps to a Lovely Lip Look that Lasts
Trying on Cashmere Lip Cream with the Virtual Try On Tool
How to Make a Bold Lip More Subtle
Set
One step that is often skipped is setting your look. Using a setting powder or setting spray helps to keep your entire look 7am fresh all day long. Of course there may be many days where you don’t need your makeup to last all the way to bedtime, but it can be an important step for those times you have a very long day with no time for touch-ups and for special occasions where a flawless look from start to finish is a must.
Tips:
- Translucent powder mattifies shine for all skin tones, without adding extra texture or tint.
- Apply to T-zone first, then a light dusting, blending with powder brush
- Setting sprays dry quickly to an invisible finish and help set your foundation, blush, and eye makeup in place without drying out skin.
Tools
The tools you use to apply your makeup can make as much of a difference as the makeup you use. I encourage experimenting with different application techniques to find out what works best for you and gives you the best results. I love using brushes for applying most of my cosmetics, in fact I have a quite a collection of brushes. I put together a demo of how I use the newest brushes Avon has to offer.
Makeup Application With Brushes
How to Wash Your Makeup Brushes
Clean Your Brushes. No Excuses!
Nails
The finishing touch that sets your style for a weeks rather than a day is a set of great nails. Skip the salon while still getting a professional manicure at home. Our nail lacquers and tools help you to create everything from a simple classic look to fun nail art.
Full Face Makeup Demos
Five Minute Face ~ Natural Look featuring Cashmere Complexion Powder Foundation
How To Create the Latte Makeup Look
General Makeup Tips
Tips for a Natural Beauty Look
Summer Makeup Tips for Your Beauty Routine
Waterproof Makeup You Can’t Live Without
Try Before You Buy
There is nothing quite as disappointing as getting new makeup and finding out it doesn’t look like you expected it to. While shopping in store can present an opportunity to try product testers, they can be unsanitary and while you might try them out on the back of your hand you would rarely want to apply them to your face.
That is where the Virtual Try On Tool come in. You can try on every shade of individual products or do a full face look to see how different shades will look together. There’s even a shade selector function that will suggest the best foundation shades for you.
Visit any color product’s page on my online store and tap or click “Try It On” to take a lipstick, eye shadow, brow definer, blush or foundation for a test drive.
You can also access the try on tool from the Digital Brochure. Look for the pink camera icon next to the product you’d like to try.
Tips for using the Virtual Try On Tool and Shade Selector Tool
- Be sure you have good lighting, natural light is best for the Try on Tool and the Shade Selector is calibrated to work best in your bathroom light.
- When using the Shade Selector, be sure you can see your full face and neck for the best match.
- Have fun! The try on tool is a fun way to test out shades you’ve always wanted to try but were hesitant to buy.
See a demo of the Virtual Try On Tool
Makeup Removers
Of course when you put Makeup on you also have to take it off. From wipes, to lotions and oils to makeup dissolving cleansers it’s easy to find a remover that’s perfect for you.
- Makeup remover wipes and facial cleansing wipes are a quick and easy way to “wipe” away your make up at the end of the day and they’re travel friendly.
- Eye makeup remover lotions and oils gently remove eye makeup without tugging the delicate skin around the eye area or irritating eyes.
- While all cleansers effectively remove makeup some are especially good at just melting the makeup and lifting it from the skin. Two New Cleansers That Melt Your Makeup Away
- Micellar Water gently wipes away makeup along with dirt, oil and sweat and is a great option for when you don’t have a sink handy or want to use minimal water. Why Cleansing Micellar Water is a Skin Care Must Have
How to Know When to Throw Away Makeup
Join the Thoughts on Beauty group on Facebook to get sneak peeks at upcoming products, insider info and a bit of fun. Plus special VIP “private sale” offers.
Enter for a chance to win our latest sweepstakes or giveaway from Avon and your Avon Representative
First time visiting Thoughts on Beauty? Learn more about what we have to offer on our Welcome Page.
If you enjoyed this article, be sure to follow me on your favorite social channel.
Last Updated on September 15, 2024 by avonladychris
