thePULSEBy Leslie Marin
One of the best ways to give yourself a little summer pick-me-up is with cosmetics ~ a “make up wake up” of sorts. Luckily, the new make-up trends are nice and versatile, so no matter your skin tone, hair color, or general sense of style, there’s something perfect for you.
Two words best describe the mineral make-ups this season: nurturing and smooth. They come in powder form, all ready to be buffed onto the skin with a puff or brush (always choose the softest brush possible, and with a nice wide head ~ narrower brushes can cause streaking). Their function is threefold: they cover flaws, even out skin tone, and give a healthy glow. Another fun multitasker is pigment powder; it can be used on its own as eyeshadow or combined with a little moisturizer before being smoothed onto lips, cheeks, even your nails. Dahling, you’ll be beautiful!
On the flip side, the powder form of blush is becoming less popular and is being replaced by mousses, creams and gels. If you’ve got oily skin, go for the gel; dry skin loves the cream blush, and mouse is great for any skin type or combination. Whichever form of blush you choose, use it underneath your foundation to give your skin a natural looking glow. If you want to bump up the color a little, add a touch more product on top of your foundation, too. Just remember, subtlety is key ~ If you ever doubt that less is more, conjure up the vision of your grandmother with those scary red rouge slashes on her cheeks…that’ll steer you in the right direction for sure!
The smoky look for eyes is still going strong, but so is the longstanding rule of focusing attention on only one facial feature at a time: if you’re playing up your eyes, downplay your lips and cheeks, opting for neutral instead of real color. The updated version of smoky has expanded to include not just black or dark charcoal, but also eggplant (also called aubergine by some high-end brands), bronze, and navy. Try a couple of different hues and even color combinations to see what makes your eyes pop best. Still a little unsure of how to create the smoky look? First you’ll want to apply a medium shadow (keep it in the same family as the primary color you’ve chosen) from your eyelid up to your browbone. Then blend a darker shade into the crease. Next, use matching gel liner (only use a pencil if absolutely necessary ~ pencils tend to drag the tender skin of the eyelid, resulting in an uneven line) on both the top and bottom of the eye. The final touch should be curling your lashes and then applying two coats of black thickening or lengthening mascara.
Let’s not allow all this talk about eyes to overshadow (sorry, couldn’t resist the pun!) our lips. If you decide that they’re the one feature you want people to notice most, you might want to try going red ~ but carefully! There’s almost nothing worse than a red that is all wrong for your skin and hair tones ~ slap on an orangey shade and you run the risk of looking like a lady of the night…and NOT one with particularly good taste! So take some time to choose your reds. Once you’ve got the right shade, choose a lipliner, too ~ and do NOT choose one that’s ten shades darker and might as well be a black Sharpie marker. Apply the liner, blot, and then apply the lipstick with a brush, not right from the tube. Blot again.
Lip gloss is still hot for 2007 ~ a bit of shimmer works for all skin tones ~ so if you prefer to go the more understated route, treat your bare lips to some gloss (preferably the palest of pinks, the barest of browns, the coyest of coppers) after first lining them with a neutral liner. I’m sure all your male friends will agree that there’s just something irresistible about a pair of glossy, shimmery lips…
Alright, so now you look good, time to smell good. Fragrance is the perfect finishing touch for any look, from cash to hot date. Food-inspired scents (I guess that’s where “You smell good enough to eat” comes from) are the rage ~ think notes of fruit, cinnamon, honey, vanilla, cardamom, and chocolate. As with shades of make-up, be sure to choose a scent based on how it smells on YOU, not just on how it smells in the bottle (or, even worse, how pretty that bottle is!) ~ or on a friend. A fragrance that is sweet and flowery on your best friend can interact with your chemistry and make you smell like vinegar…and you know what they say, you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar!
