Beautiful You!

Greetings dear readers. I hope this blog finds you well and wearing something pretty. In this blog, I’d like to explore a little deeper into the wonderful world of facial makeup. If you haven’t read my blog, “Less is More” you might want to read that first as a primer for this one. Today, I’d like to explore different applications of makeup according to the situation. I’d also like to tip my hat to XDress for the excellent array of makeup they have available on their website. You can view those products here.

As far as different situations, basically we’ll be considering the difference between daytime and nighttime makeup. Whether you are going to be in public or not will likely determine how far you want to go. The majority of us have to walk among the gender binary on a daily basis. Perhaps not so much at night, but that varies with individual lifestyles. My wife and I are not really night people, so I have a lot more latitude in the evenings.

Whether day or night makeup, begin with a facial cleanser in order to remove all that facial oil and dirt. Either ask your gg for a recommendation or just check out your local store and find one that appeals to your skin type. There are name brands you can’t go wrong with. As a side note, at the end of the day or evening, be sure to remove your makeup. It tends to clog the pores. XDress has a good cream makeup remover that isn't drying and leaves your skin feeling soft.

Okay, first let’s consider daytime makeup. The type of complexion you have will determine the first step. Some of us have facial blemishes that tend to stand out. For this, you should start with a concealer. Face Fix is a good product for this. First, you will need a facial sponge. You simply moisten the sponge and then apply the concealer making sure to blend it outwards. Your goal is to have a very even color all over your face. If you don’t have blemishes to speak of, you can skip this step and go on to the next.

The next step is to apply a facial foundation. There are two types of foundation: powder and cream. I’ve tried both and prefer cream. With cream, you can put a dollop of facial moisturizer along with a pump of the foundation in the palm of your hand to mix them together for a truer match to the color of your face. I also recommend blending down the foundation to your neck so it doesn't seem your head is floating above your body. I also find that cream stays with me through the day better than powder. However, having a powder foundation is good for touchups throughout the day. This is the first step, whether we are talking daytime or nighttime makeup. 

Now, we get to the difference between daytime and nighttime makeup. The basic difference is that daytime makeup is lighter than nighttime. The big difference is all about the eyes. You can apply a bolder look at night, but we will get to that later. Either daytime or nighttime, start with a blush. You will need a brush for this one. You can find a very nice brush set at XDress with the right array of brushes for different applications on different areas of your face. Use the large brush for blush. The blush should be applied mostly below the cheekbones in order to create an accent for the cheekbones. If you have a darker blush and apply it directly to the line of the cheekbone, you run the risk of looking like a circus clown. Blush during the day is a tricky one if you are in a gender binary environment. The same for eye makeup. 

Speaking of eye makeup. This is probably the most challenging, in terms of being in a gender binary environment. The rule of “Less is More” definitely applies here. If you are in a safe environment in the evening, you can let more of your inner femme come out and play. Let’s start with eyeliner. If you are in a gender binary environment during the day, you may want to skip this and save it for the evening. You run the risk of looking like Jack Sparrow. In applying eyeliner, apply it right at the base of the eyelashes. For an evening look, apply it heavier below the bottom lashes. 

In the evening, we are looking for a smoky look. This is achieved by the use of eyeliner and eye shadow. For eye shadow, I would recommend that you get an eye shadow pallet. You can see one at the XDress makeup site. The nice thing about having a pallet is you have the choice of several colors and can mix them as you choose. You will need a smaller fluffy brush for this application. Try to gradually intensify the color for a smoky look. It's easier to add more than start out with a large amount of pigment on your brush. YouTube is a great place to start if you have no idea how to apply eyeshadows, but trial and error works too to see what will work for your eye shape. 

Next, mascara for the eyelashes. Some folks have eyelashes that stick straight out. If this is you, consider purchasing an eyelash curler. It looks a bit like a pair of tongs and you can find it in the health and beauty aids section of the store. Curl your eyelashes first, then apply mascara. Here again, you can apply more at night. If your eyelashes are a bit sparse, some fake eyelashes can do the trick to get the volume you're wanting and seal off that evening look. As I said, the glam look may be left best for evenings since fake eyelashes can appear as not your natural eyelashes. 

Next, let’s get those eyebrows. Use an eyebrow pencil and be sure to match it to your natural color as close as possible. Personally, I’m not much into the heavy brow look, so I don’t use it. It really depends on the color and thickness of your eyebrows. If I applied a dark look, I’d come out looking like Groucho Marx because of the heaviness of my brows, which I have waxed regularly.

Next, let’s go to your lovely lips. Daytime lipstick is safe if you stay close to your natural skin color. With nighttime lipstick, you can go darker. Just use common sense so you don’t end up looking like the proverbial lady of the night.

One way you can get some excellent tips on the finer points of daytime and nighttime makeup and the application is to get a makeover from a pro. Makeover artists mostly could care less about what your gender is, and men do get makeovers.

So, that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Warm-up those keyboards and share your thoughts with me and others. I always love hearing from you!

Fond regards,

Angie