Make-Up: Basic Foundation and American Lips

Foundation is a commonly used item of make-up, and is used by most women in their every day look. There are a wide variety of foundations ranging from powder, to cream, to liquid, to mousse. The most vital thing when looking to buy foundation is getting the ride shade for your skin, seems obvious, but you would be surprised at how difficult it is! There's not really an easy way to do it (unless you use the new No7 machine, but that is only for No7 products) you just have to try a few and blend it into your skin and find the closest match. Try to refrain from testing foundations on your hand, as the skin tone on your hand will be completely different from that on your face! You also have to bear in mind that your neck may also be a different tone from your face, so you may wish to buy two different shades, 1 for face and 1 for neck, to give you the most natural look possible.

Extra Tip: Liquid foundations are probably the best for an everyday/daily look, cream foundations are more for photoshoots/film, as they are a bit thicker and need to be that way to show on camera, they can look a bit 'cakey' so they're not ideal for a daily basis!


The Look: 

For this look i have used charles fox products (except lipstick, brand unknown) :

• Foundation - cream based
• Concealer - cream based
• Eyeshadow - powder based
• Translucent Powder
• Blush - powder based
• Lipstick - 3 different colours

To start : I applied the foundation using a sea sponge (alternative is latex sponges) and a foundation brush. I let the sponge soak in water for a while and then rinsed it out before using. I then put the sponge in the foundation and applied it to the face, and then using the brush, blended it out so it created an even look. I applied the foundation right under the eyes, eyelids, ears, neck and lips (to create a base for lipstick) so that the skin was completely covered and looked flawless.

Then i took a dark shade of concealer, and as my model had a round face shape, (analysing a face shape before shading and highlighting is important i.e - oval, square, round, long) i applied it at the sides of the chin area, under the cheekbones, and at the sides of her temples, and then blended using my concealer and foundation brush so that it removed the harsh lines and looked softer and natural.

Next i took a light shade of concealer and applied it under the eyes, around the sides of the mouth and nose, chin, and a V shape on the forehead, and again blended. This is to highlight key areas of the face, and also adds to the shading.

I then took a dark brown shade of eyeshadow, and using an angular brush, i filled in the eyebrows, following their natural shape.

To set the foundation and concealer i then used my translucent powder, and with a blusher brush just dusted all over the face.

To finish off the skin, choose your favourite shade of blusher and apply to the apples of the cheeks (just above cheek bones) using a blusher brush, and apply to the sides of the temples to give more definition. 

Before:

After:

For added fun i created american flag lips!