Before Applying Makeup to our Clients

So, before we start applying make up to our clients we need to do two or three things:


1) Prep the Skin

Like I said in my previous post (SkinCare Matters) the skin needs to be clean and ready to work with (moisturise). Ideally, our client will come to us with a clean face. if that's the case then our job will be to use a cotton pad with some toner to remove any dirt that may be still on the skin and the moisturise the face and the lips with a lip balm.

Many Makeup Artists (at least in Argentina where I'm from) just use the toner and leave it at that. Others, like famous Charlotte Tilbury will even go farther and apply her "Goddess Skin Clay Mask" and lets not forget her famous "Magic Cream" in order to prep the skin.
Of course, Step No 1 will depend on how much time we have with our clients and our budget. However, lets be mindful that moisturising the skin will work in our advantage.

2) Determine which type of Skin your client has

It goes without saying that we should 1st ask our client which type of skin she/he thinks has. If the client is no sure, we do need to determine the type of skin we are going to be working with. Knowing this it vital, since using the right products can mean the difference between a face that holds up the makeup all day long and one where the concealer slides off by noon.
For instance, Dry skin need moisturise like the desert needs water ;) so powders won't work that well for this type of skin. Creamy formulas in blushes, concealers and tinted moisturises react well to dry skin, on the contrary oily or very oily skin do prefer  powders, no shimmering blushers, free oil foundations, etc
Check out my "MakeUp for the right type of Skin Type" Article

3) Determine your Client's Undertone

Searching the website I came across with this article that I think explains really well the importance of knowing the undertone. I will write in depth about this too! But in the  meantime, I leave you what Victoria Moorhouse wrote in her article "Is knowing you Skin's Undertone really important?":

"The most obvious reason (for knowing your undertone) is that it will help you find the perfect shade of foundation and concealer—the one that truly looks identical to your skin. It can also help you experiment with makeup. Perkins says that if you want something natural and fresh, keep the makeup tones within your tone family. This means, for example, cooler tones of pink blush for a cool-toned complexion.
However, if you want it to pop in a dramatic way, choose products for the opposing color family. For example, a woman with warm undertones would pick a blue-red lipstick for an extremely bold look. It’s the perfect way to maintain harmony in your beauty routine!"

Read more: http://stylecaster.com/beauty/skin-undertone/#ixzz4IAxyuHr8

SkinCare Matters

The easiest and fastest way to achieve that flawless look is by taking care our skin. If we do it properly it will contribute to:

1) Have a younger look and prevent wrinkles or fine lines in our face.

2) Help to have that natural glow.

3) Make our faces the perfect canvas to work with. 

As a Makeup artist I do believe it is our duty to raise awareness about the importance of skincare. Of course, we are not dermatologist and/or specialists on the subject but we do know what a difference it makes to work a a good skin and how it will help women to look more confident.

So, How do we take care of our skin on daily basis?

There are a different number of ways to take care of your skin. It varies from person to person, so your daily skincare routines can have as many steps as you consider necessary. Ultimately, you should do what it works for you. However, generally speaking people have a tendency to break down this routine into three simple steps, twice a day (morning and night):

1) Cleanse   2) Tone  3) Moisturise 

Before we develop each of this steps, it is important to clarify that we need to use the right product for the right skin type  (natural, oily, combination, etc). They all need to cleanse tone and moisturise but accordingly to their type of skin. (See article SkinTypes)

1. Cleansing Routine

We can not treat our skin without firstly clean it throughly and remove all of our makeup, traces of dirt and impurities. A cleaned skin can absorb better the active ingredients in care products. For this reason, we believe that is not good to expend much money on our cleansing products, as long as they do their job. We are only trying to prepare the skin for the products that do contain special formulas to tackle different issues (anti-age, moisturise, etc). It is on these products that we should invest our money on!

To remove any trace of makeup completely: EYES: We should start by applying with a pad or wet cotton, make-up remover on our eyes (lids). Usually, most women would use an oil-base cleaner for the eyes. We never apply the makeup remover by rubbing the eyes, but rather my placing in on top of our lids (eyes) and giving small pads.

FACE: There are different types of cleansers and it is here that we can be more specific and take into consideration what type of skin we have.  We can choose from: creams, foams, gels and oils. 

As a general rule dry skin need to avoid alcohol, soda or ammonia laurel sulphate. Cream cleansers are a good option.

Oily Skin, gel formulas will help to eliminate that extra production of oil.

Sensitive skin: avoid fragrances and preservatives.

Lately I have been using Vichy Purete Thermale 3 in 1: it's a lightly milky texture like cleanser that also works as a toner and eye makeup remover. I use it all over my face, but for my eyes I do use an oil based cleanser. I love it, because it is a very gentle cleanser. 

2) Tone 

We user toners in order to complete our cleansing routine and make sure we get rid of any dirt  that can be lingering after we have applied our cleanser. They also work as refreshers and help to prep the skin with a little bit of hydration to better absorb the next products in our skincare routine. After cleansing, our skin is rather fragile, so this step will hydrate our skin.

Types of Tones: There are hydrating, calming and smoothing toners.

3) Moisturise

It shouldn't be a day we go without moisturising, being diligent in this step will pay off in the long run. Paper hydration makes the skin look healthy, radiant and glowing throughout the day.
For us, Makeup Artists we need to remember that makeup sticks to dry areas of our skin so for instance if we don't hydrate properly those fine lines under the eye when we apply concealer or foundation it will crease. Moreover, without this essential step the skin will look dull and lifeless which will reflect regardless of the amount of makeup we put on or specially, when we don't want to use a lot of products to cover these imperfections.

There's more to say about the importance of our SkinCare Routines.  There are as well other essential steps, like exfoliating, applying SPF, facial treatments, etc...but we will talk about that in the future!!

Until them....make sure you are helping your skin to remain young, healthy and glowing.

Besos

Sil