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How To Decide What Makeup You Actually Want?

by Lexi Smith |

With Beauty influencers’s recommendations piling up, there are so many different options and steps to choose from, it is easy to feel overwhelmed in the world of makeup. Today we’re going to breakdown each step in our makeup routine, for you to determine which step you want to add and which step you want to leave behind.


Primer

Beauty experts and beginners alike pose the question if a primer is really a must in their beauty routine. Famous Youtuber, James Charles, even claims that he doesn’t believe in primers. With all the surrounding confusion, the question comes up, what does a primer actually do? Well, there are many primers that do many different things, anymore, there is a primer for about any desire. Pore filling primer? Yep! Hydrating primer? You betcha! Even primers that extend your makeup’s wear time. Technically speaking, primer is supposed to get the skin ready for the makeup that is coming next, which they do and now do so much more!


All of these things sound great, but are they a necessity? No, nothing in this blog is technically a necessity. If you’re doing your makeup in the morning, right after your skincare, your skin is already prepped and ready for makeup. if you have other concerns, however, such as filling pores or wear time, maybe try out some primers that do what you’re trying to accomplish. 


*Pretty Pro Tip:  If you’re doing your makeup later in the day, instead of buying a separate hydrating primer, just use some moisturizer to give your skin a little drink of hydration. 


For a pore filling primer, we recommend the Tarte Timeless Smoothing Primer and for a primer to make your makeup last longer, we recommend Milk Makeup’s Hydro Grip Primer.


Foundation and Concealer

Foundation and concealer alike, are to give you a beautiful blank canvas to create your makeup look over top! Depending on skin concerns, people might choose to use one or the other, or both if they want a full glam look. It all depends on how much makeup you want to be wearing and how much coverage you want.


Short on beauty sleep, but want to quickly look awake? Try out our double-conceal method.  Grab a concealer 1-2 shades darker than your skin color to neutralize the blue, yellow or green hue underneath your eye. Then follow-up it up with a brightening color 1-shades lighter than your skin tone to brighten your eye are.  Avoid going straight for the brightening shade, a common mistake, because it often highlights the darkening undertones rather covering without a neutralizing conceal.


Powder

Do I need to set my makeup? The age-old question, and in response to that question, we ask, do you want to be dewy or matte? Dewy skin has a very natural appearance, that allows the skin’s own oils to be seen and reflect off light creating a radiance. Whereas, matte skin has powder to trap the skin’s oils, making the skin look velvety.


Our favorite way to use powder is to strategically place it where you don't want your makeup to crease or where you want to stay matte. We especially like setting our under eyes with powder and then our t-zone. The t-zone is the forehead area, down the nose, the sides of the nose, and the chin. 


When setting your under eyes use a loose powder, the one we recommend is Huda Beauty's Easy Bake Powder. For all of the face, we recommend using a pressed powder like Dollup Beauty’s HD Wonder Powder.


Bronzer

Bronzer is used to add dimension to the face while giving you a beautiful sun-kissed glow. For all your bronzer question needs, refer to our blog, Bronzer, and contour, what's the difference?


Blush

Blush is used to add the natural flush back into the cheeks after we took it away with the foundation and concealer. It’s absolutely okay to skip your blush, and opt to bronze only instead, if you’re foundation did not cover up all your natural flush or if you’re happy with a warm bronzey finish.  Blush is always a good idea if you’re need to add a freshness or healthy glow to your skin.


 For all your blush question needs, refer to our blog, Where to put blush: Tips and tricks form the Pretty Pros.


Highlight

Highlighter is often called the frosting of makeup.  Is it absolutely necessary? Not at all. But does it add that special something to your makeup look? Every time.


Can everyone use highlighter? For sure, but keep in mind that highlighter does have possibility to accentuate texture, which is something that makes most of us run for the hills, but you can use highlight even if you don’t have Instagram perfect skin. And hey, you might actually like the youthful glow that it gives you! Pop some highlighters on the top of your cheekbones and nose to give some life to your face.


We recommend Dollup Beauty’s Lumie Highlighters!


Brows

If you already have dark and thick brows, you might not see the point of filling them in, but for those of us whose brows are basically see-through, it is pivotal for giving the face some shape.  Brow filling and shaping is one of our absolute favorite makeup tenchiniques because it can make such a huge difference in your entire look. Brows add contrast to your face, a technique that has actually been studied and proven to perceiving increased health, youthfulness and femininity.  Read more on the study HERE


For all your eyebrow question needs, refer to our blog, All About Brows.


Eyeshadow

Eyeshadow is the perfect way to elevate any look and take it to the next glam level! Popping a shimmery shape on the lid can also instantly make your eyes look brighter and more awake. 


For all your eyeshadow question needs, refer to our blog, 5 Easy Steps to Head Turning Eyes.


Mascara 

Personally, we think if you wear one product, it should be mascara! Any look without mascara isn’t complete, it draws attention to the eye, aka the window to the soul, but on a real note, it is the finishing touch to every makeup look.


We recommend the L'Oréal Voluminous Lash Paradise Mascara, but for a vegan option, we love the Ere Perez Avocado Waterproof Mascara!


Lips

Of course, there is the age-old lip gloss and lipstic, but what about lip liner, do you need that too? Lip liner is great for carving out your lips so that applying lipstick or lip gloss will be easier. Lip liner also helps your lip product of choice stay in place and for longer!


We recommend any of the Dollup Beauty lip liners!



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