Beauty Noobz Guide to Beauty (part three- Foundation)

Foundation is usually the one thing people find the hardest to figure out. There are to many factors that go into picking the right foundation. Everyone has their own needs, and not everyone will love the same one. This one product is the one that you really need to be picky about buying. You don't want one the wrong shade, one that will do the wrong thing for you, or one that has the wrong coverage. Considering the fact that this will most likely be the most expensive thing on your face you want something that'll work. This is why I'm here to help you with things you should take into consideration when choosing your foundation.

1. What's your undertone?

The way my teacher explained this to us was this. Everyone has an undertone. There are the people with a pink undertone (a.k.a. Cool Tone) there are the people with a yellow undertone (a.k.a. Warm Tone) and there are people who have an equal amount of both and these people have a Neutral Tone. 

Look at your arm, is there more yellow to your skin? Is there more pink? Usually the under part of your arm will show you what undertone you are, and knowing this will help you choose the right undertone of foundation. Ever hear a MAC girl talking about NC NW? Cool and Warm tones.

2. What is your skin type?

Your skin type should have a lot to do with your foundation choice. 

Is your skin oily? Do you see a lot of shine through out the day? Does your face usually feel a little greasy? If so you have Oily skin.

Is your skin more dry feeling? Do you get dry patches? Does your skin start to feel tight? Then you have Dry skin.

Do you have normal feeling skin, no real problem with shine other than your T-zone? (Your T-zone is your forehead, down your nose and ending at your chin.) During winter do you start to develop dry patches on certain parts of your skin? Welcome to Normal, Combination skin.

3. What type of coverage do you want?

Each foundation comes with a certain amount of coverage on the first application. Some foundations can be built up with a second application for more coverage. There are three different types of coverage Light, Medium, and Full. Keep in mind though that the more coverage you want the less like skin your face will actually look. Full coverage make up is meant to cover your flaws, which goes hand in hand with covering your skin, leaving you looking like you are wearing a layer of make up. If you don't mind then go for it, but usually during summer lighter coverage is more flattering, and medium coverage is usually everyone's default.

If you have cooler skin, stay away from the really orange foundations. If you have warm skin, try to find something with less pink in it's hues. For neutral skin it's a lot easier to find your match, usually more warm in the summer, cooler during winter.

Oily skin should usually stay away from heavy liquid foundations, however, more brands are beginning to accommodate to oily skin by having liquid foundation lines designed for every skin type. To be on the safe side though, always set with some sort of powder. Dry skin should usually stay away from powders, powders will set into your dry skin and make it look more pronounced. This can sometimes also happen with the liquid to powder foundations so just be careful. Normal, combination skin just be sure to keep blotting papers with you because that pesky T-zone doesn't look cute all oily in pictures. (FYI toilet seat covers work well to blot excessive oil when in a pinch) You can try the Palladio natural loose rice powder tissues, these can eliminate the need for pressed powder in your purse.

Light coverage can usually be gained from BB, CC, and tinted moisturizers. They have SPF and look really natural which is something good to use if you are heading to the beach or just going somewhere casual, they are really no muss, no fuss products. Medium coverage is good for just evening out your skin tone. If you don't have anything major going on with your skin use a medium coverage foundation and touch up anywhere that you need to with a good concealer. Full coverage as I said before will look like a layer of make up on your face. I wouldn't recommend it unless you are doing a photo shoot to be honest. That much make up (unless otherwise specified) will usually clog up your pores and make whatever problem you have worse.

Foundation won't change the consistency of your skin. If you have acne, the acne won't look red but the bump will still be there.

Once you come up with your answers finding the right foundation should be easier. There are higher end stores that have professionals that can match you (sephora has machines to match you now) or in the case of drugstores most have a pretty flexible return policy that if you don't like the color, or feeling you can return it with your receipt.

Hope it was helpful
xoxo

The beauty noobz guide to make up (part one brushes)

Recently I was online and talking to a friend of mine who was asking me about make up. She started off by asking me if I subscribe to birchbox or ipsy. For those of you who don't already know both of these are companies where you subscribe to a monthly fee and they send you beauty products every month. Birchbox from what I know has a lot of hits and misses, everything is sample sized but it does have a shop to buy the full sized products. Ipsy also does the same thing but they ask you what kinds of things you like to use and dislike using and depending on that send you an array of items to try every month.

After we talked about them (I do currently subscribe to Ipsy) she started picking my brain about make up, different types, and what works best, but she also confessed to me that she did have brushes but didn't know what to with all of them. So I got the idea to break it down right here. I'm going to be using the make up brushes I got while I went to make up school. They are 15 brushes and all have a unique use, however, go with what you feel. If you want to use a fluffy brush for a light contour down the sides of your nose go right ahead. This is just to give you a general idea and get you started.

1. Foundation Brush

The foundation brush is usually used for even application of moist products this includes your primes, moisturizers, and liquid foundations. Now most people enjoy using make up sponges, or face brushes for this task. The key to the even application is that if you start to develop a patch of skin that looks as though it has too much product, take your fluffy face brush and buff it out. By buffing it out in a circular motion you spread the product and no longer have a big blotch.

2. Powder Brush or Face Brush

This brush is usually used for powders. Anything that you want all over your face or applied in a concentrated amount. For example, powder foundations, setting powders, translucent powders, or something like a skin finish that is more sun kissed and bronze. However, if you want a more concentrated application of blush I found that these brushes work well for that. 

3. Angle Brush

The angled brush is usually used for powders, you can use them for blush, contouring the cheeks, forehead and chin. I've also found that they can work well with more liquid products like when you contour the face with a darker foundation or a liquid bronzer. They can also be used to apply highlight.

4. Concealer Brush

The concealer brush is usually used for patting on your concealer. However this is sometimes flawed since it may be harder to blend out with the brush as opposed to your finger, but most likely more sanitary. This brush can also be used to lay down primer, and to this day if my brushes aren't clean and all I have is this brush I'll pat down eye shadow with it. (That's a bad habit)

5. Firm Shadow

Brushes like this one are really kind of tough. You wanna get in pat down your product and really move along because that thing will start to hurt if you start to windshield wiper motion with it. It can be used for a really concentrated amount of color, or to apply glitter. Also works really well for applying a cream base to eyes.

6, 7 & 8. Eye Shadow Brushes

These pick up lots of color, and they also pat on like a dream. If you want an allover color these brushes are the way to go and they range in size usually for whatever comfort level you have. I have big eyes that are too small to comfortably use the large eye shadow brush on myself. However, the smaller one does the same thing and fits comfortably to my eyelid. You use 'em for eye shadow, any shimmer or sparkle you'd want to add on top of anything really.

9 & 10. Fluffy Brushes.

Fluffy brushes also come in all shapes and sizes. Some people prefer them bigger, rounded, coming to a point or thinner, they make them in all different shapes and sizes for you guys. The point of a fluffy brush is to blend. Usually you use the blending color in your crease to help make your eye shadow not look like it have very harsh lines. You don't want people to be able to clearly tell where your eye shadow ends and your under brow highlight begins. You want it all to blend. You can also use these without a product. By swiping a clean brush upon an area you can soften the amount of product applied. 

11. Pencil Brush

These brushes are usually used to apply color under the eye. Lets say you want to smoke out some black eye liner under your eye, you pick up shadow on this brush and sweep it back and forth. (Be careful though, if the brush is too big for your eye it can get into your eye.) it can also be used to smoke out pencil (or still wet gel lines) on your upper lash line. You don't want a harsh black line on your upper lash line, pick up a matte brown shadow and smoke out the top line.

12, 13 & 14. Liner Brushes

Now with these they also come in all shapes and sizes. These brushes can be used to apply powder to the eyebrows, apply eye shadow as an eyeliner or apply gel liners. Some people prefer the angled liner, especially when you are trying to wing out your eyeliner. The flat liner also works extremely well for winging out liner. (I'll teach you how to do that with the different liner brushes soon) Or some, myself included prefer the old long liner brush, which is usually harder to use for people new to make up.

Last but not least...

15.  Lip Brush

These little guys are used for lip products. Lipsticks, lip glosses, lip stains, you name it and you can use a lip brush with it. Now you don't need to use a lip brush (unless you are doing make up on other people) but the lip brush helps with the colors that are harder to keep in the lines. There are lipsticks shaped differently, or just too dark that stain so it's sometimes best to just fill in your lips with the brush.

Well for now that's all. Hope you liked it. Feel free to comment or ask any questions you still have.

Also don't let price fool you. You don't need high end Sigma or MAC or Crown Brushes to make something beautiful happen. There are plenty of brands that are great and way more affordable. Try EcoTools, ELF brushes, (Crown Brush usually has a sale once every two months on Hautelook.com) BH cosmetics has great brushes, Real Techniques works well also. So look around and find what works for you.