Miyo Sia

Knowing fundamentals of color and the color wheel is very important with makeup. Same with painting or any form of art, color plays a major role in makeup application. So how does the color theory comes in with makeup?

First, this is important to know what colors go well together - what accentuates another and what neutralizes it. Second, this is important in knowing what eye makeup would go best with your eye color. With different colors to choose from, you can either accentuate the color of your eyes or make it less obvious. Third, this is important to be able to correct flaws in the skin by knowing what colors mix together to cover up blemishes. Lastly, this is important for photography to know how different light colors affect the color you used for makeup.

The Color Wheel
The color wheel shows how colors relate to each other. Primary colors are the most basic of all colors. These are colors that cannot be made by combining any color. These are red, yellow and blue. When two primary colors mix, they form the Secondary colors - green, orange and violet. Lastly, tertiary colors are created by mixing a Primary and its adjacent Secondary color.

Notice that as you go in the circle, the color turns lighter until it gets white and as you get out of the circle the color darkens. These are what you call tint and shade of the color. The tint is a result of mixing one color with white while a shade is a result of mixing one color with black.

Also in the color wheel, the colors are grouped by tone - warm and cool. Yellow and violet are considered neutral tones since these two colors fall between the warm and cool tones. These colors are what we call a balance between the warm and cool tones.

Another concept that we need to remember about the color wheel is complimentary colors. These are the colors that are opposite each other in the color wheel. Using complimentary colors have different effects depending on how you use them. When you layer two complimentary colors, meaning you put one color on top of the other, these two neutralizes each other forming the color brown. This means, when you put two complimentary colors on top of each other, they neutralize each other. On the other hand, placing two complimentary colors beside each other intensifies each other's color. So to accentuate one color, we use its complimentary color by putting these colors beside each other.

Practical applications of color concepts to makeup:

1. Correcting blemishes. By knowing that complimentary colors neutralize each other when layered, we can easily choose what concealer color to use over blemishes depending on its color. For example, pimples or pimple scars are usually red. So in order to neutralize the redness, we use a green corrector concealer to neutralize the color before we apply foundation or a regular concealer over it. To know more details on how to use corrector concealers to remove blemishes, refer to my entry using MAKE UP FOR EVER 5 camouflage cream palette no 5

2. Accentuating your eye color. Most of us tend to neglect how the colors of our eyes add to the overall look when applying makeup. If you want to accentuate your blue eyes, choosing a shadow with an orange touch, like coral or peach, to your eyes could make your eyes bluer. Green eyes would look best in pink, red, burgundy colors. Brown eyes are tricky though. They usually fall under yellow category, so best colors could be shades of blue and violet like plum or baby blue. Also the good thing about brown eyes is they are somewhat neutral (remember yellow and violet falls under neutral line) so different colors go well with them.

So when choosing an eyeshadow, depending on how you want the color of your eyes to look or even the shadow would look on you, you need to consider what color to use. Like if you have blue eyes and you want to wear a blue or green eyeshadow, you can just either mix some orange shadow with it or line your under eyes with copper liner to accentuate your eyes as well as the eyeshadow more.

3. Makeup and photography. Lighting plays an important role in photography and knowing the color of lights being used when applying makeup for photography is very important. As a rule of thumb, the lighting color will fade out the same makeup color.
   a. Red or Yellow Light - darkens green, turns blue and violet to almost black and lightens red, orange and yellow to almost white.
   b. Green Light - darkens red, orange and yellow, turns blue and violet to dark green or black.
   c. Blue Light - darkens red and orange, lightens green and blue and turns yellow and violet to pale violet.
   d. Violet Light - darkens blue, lightens red, orange, green and violet and turns yellow to pink.

This concept does not mean you cannot experiment and you should restrict yourself from using other colors. Knowing this only provides you reference and help you understand why there are times some color make a very drastic or minimal change in your looks. This also help you experiment with colors and not limit possibilities that you can wear.

I submitted this entry to a summer look contest and did something that I don't usually do with my lips. Usually we concentrate more on the eye makeup and contouring lips is usually taken for granted.

Plump and juicy looking lips can do wonders in your looks as much as how eye makeup does. The lips can make your overall look very sexy.

Here are some tips that you can use to make your lips naturally juicy looking without getting a surgery. You may use all techniques or just specific ones depending on how you want your lips to look.

1. Over lining your lips. Usually, when we line the lips, we follow the natural shape of it. To make your lips look bigger, you would need to over line the lips with a shade slightly darker than your natural lip color. Over lining is not just lining outside your natural lip line as it would make it look drawn.

There is a technique to make the shape of your lips it look natural and not drawn. Starting at the corner of your lips, follow the natural line and as you reach the center of your lips, you gradually move the line outside your lips. Make sure you keep the line as close as possible to your lip's natural line. When lining the upper lip, make sure you also start with the corners and move all the way up to the cupid's bow. When you start with the cupid's bow and go down the corners, gravity will tend to drag the shape down instead of making it look plump.

Then draw vertical lines, about half a centimeter away from each corner of your lower lip, creating a triangle and fill in both corners with liner. After lining your lips, take a lip brush and blend the color towards the center of your lips. Make sure that the line fades in naturally until you don't see harsh lines. Put on your lipstick.

2. Adding contours to your lower lip. Adding a shadow under your lower lip gives an illusion of thicker lower lip. Choose a concealer darker to your skin and draw a line, about an inch, under the center of your lower lip. Blend down the color to your chin so it gradually fades with your natural skin tone.

3. Adding highlights to your upper lip. Same with the contour on your lower lip, a highlight on the upper lip adds more volume to it. Take a lighter shade concealer and add highlights just above the cupid's bow. Then take a lighter shade lipstick and apply it on the cupid's bow.

4. Apply gloss. To make lips look fuller, apply gloss only to the center of your lips and blend it out towards the corners. Make sure you concentrate more on the center. The gloss serves as a highlight which makes your lips look juicy and plump.

eyeliners are usually avoided by some people because they smudge and give you a what most people call "raccoon eye" which is definitely not pretty. proper way to apply an eyeliner is a key to prevent, if not, minimize smudging. here are some tips that may help you achieve a smudge free look:

There is an eyelid glue kit, Koji Eye Talk, that is out in the market to help you get double eyelids without surgery. I've seen this being sold in Amazon for $10.50 but I found a cheaper alternative. I experimented on using false eyelashes glue (or if you want cheaper Elmer's glue) and a piece of bobby pin to do the trick.

most asians have monolid eyes and the usual way of applying eye makeup don't work for this type of eyes. monolids don't have a defined crease and sometimes the upper eyelids either look puffy or flat. knowing the right technique of putting eyeshadow and eyeliner on monolids will help enhance the look, define the eyes and make it look bigger and rounder.

the hardest part of doing makeup for monolids is that it is very hard to bring out colors once the eyes are open. so it is better to apply eye makeup in such a way that you maximize the visible space above the folds of the eyelids to make the color more obvious.

the different eyeshadow techniques that work well with monolids are faking the crease or some people call cut the crease technique, graduating color from the lash line towards the browbone, and the cat-eye effect. each technique require proper selection of tools and color to make eyes stand out and not look too made up. lining the eyes also play a very important role in defining the shape of the eyes. adding the flick, tightlining and controlling the thickness of the eyeliner around every section of the eyes can either make your eyes bigger or appear smaller.

faking the crease/cut the crease
*photo from www.style.com
this technique is the hardest among the three since you need precision when it comes to drawing the crease as well as choosing the color to be used. the objective of this technique is to make the crease look as natural as possible. overdoing it would make it look drag and unnatural. unless you intend to make it look that way, then playing around with colors is ok.

i recommend using a good blending brush and angled brush to do this. it has to have the right density to blend in the colors well.

first you need to prime the eyes to make the colors pop and blend well. then apply an eyeshadow on the lids using a color that is a little bit lighter than the skintone. this will help the eyes look fresh and bigger. then using a 266 angled brush draw the crease using a darker shade starting from the outer corner of the eyes moving towards the inner corner close to the bridge of the nose. don't draw the crease too far from the lash line so it doesn't look unnatural nor draw it too close as it will not make any difference. at first the lines will be harsh and too obvious, this is ok since you will need to blend it out.

using a 219 pencil brush blend the drawn crease line up towards the brow bone. blend it in such a way that you maintain the definition of the line above the lash line and it gradually fades away up towards the brow bone. do not blend out too much that the color is way too high. make sure you leave a space below your brows for highlight.

then using a lighter color than the color u used for the crease, use a 217 blending brush to enhance the shape and make it more dramatic. starting from the outer corner of the eyes, lightly apply the color and blend it moving towards the center. you can either make it look round on the corner or combine it with cat-eye effect to make it very dramatic and sexy by also making the outer v more defined.

use the 224 blending brush to add highlight below the brows and remove any harsh lines. then apply eyeliner and mascara. i will discuss later the eye lining techniques later in this entry.

gradient
*photo from www.nymag.com
this technique is the easiest, safest and fastest way to enhance monolids. you simply apply the eyeshadow in such a way that the darkest shade starts from the lash line and gradually fading towards the brow bone.

you can play with different colors with this technique without making it overly done. this look is also good as everyday look and can either be worn subtle during the day or dramatic during the night.

with a 252 flat brush, pack in the color just above the lash line. make sure that you don't apply all over the lids and don't apply too much right away. it is easier to add color than reduce it when you have applied too much. make sure that you apply enough to cover up to the folds of your lids. using either a 219 pencil brush or 217 blending brush (use pencil brush if you have very small eyes) blend out the colors to create a gradient going up the brow bone. follow the curvature of your eyes with the mid section having the highest point of the curve. add more as you like.

tip: i usually use a dark brown shade and layer another color (say pink or purple) to make it look more fun. dark brown gives emphasis and make eyes look more dramatic than just adding color straight to your eyes. black would sometimes work with some people but this can be worn during the night. when you use black, you pack in the color first before adding the black on top of the color.

some add highlight in the mid section of the lid by layering a lighter shade to make the eyes look rounder (same as the picture above) you can experiment using different colors and have fun with it. :) also do not forget to add highlight below your brows for a fresh look. then apply eyeliner and mascara as usual.

cat-eye effect
*photo from www.style.com
the cat-eye is one of my favorite eye shading techinique since it perfectly work for my eyes :D this technique is almost the same as gradient just that we don't pack in the dark shade on all sections of the eye. instead we concentrate on putting the darkest shade on the outer corner creating a dramatic outer v shape.

using a 252 flat brush, pack in the color over your eyelids. make sure that this is the color that is not too dark or too light. then using a 217 blending brush, light apply a darker shade to the outer corner of your eyes and slowly blend it in using circular motion towards the center of the eyes. define the outer v shape by blending it outward and up forming a v shape using a 219 pencil brush. you can either just blend out or make it very dramatic by adding a black shade to your outer v. use the 217 again to blend the colors and remove harsh lines. add highlight below your browbones and in the inner corners of the eyes to make it pop out. put eyeliner on and apply mascara. adding a flick when you put an eyeliner will look really nice and sexy.

eyelining techniques
there are several techniques available to make monolid eyes bigger and dramatic. tightlining is the most effective way since it doesn't make your eyes look smaller and it looks natural. it enhances your eyes in such a way that it makes your lashes look thicker. also it gives definition to your lash line without making your eyes look smaller. you can check my other entry on how to do tightlining.

also using a waterproof liquid liner is effective for monolids, when dried up, this do not smudge out and it is easy to apply and help you define the thickness or thinness of the line that you want to put above your lash line. make sure that you line as close to your lashes as possible. depending on the shape of your eyes, the thickness of the line in each section varies. if you don't do this, this will not make any difference at all. if your eye shape look flat in the mid section (just above the pupil), apply the liner thicker than the inner and outer corners. this will make your eyes rounder. if the mid section is round but eyes look small on the outer corner then the liner should be applied thin from the inner corner and gets thicker as it goes out. when doing this, i usually start from the outer corner by drawing a diagonal line towards the center of the eyes and line the eyes from inner corner connecting it to the other half. make sure that you use a good angle brush or a felt tip liner. also make the angle as small as possible and just increase the thickness as you like. this is better than starting with a very thick line and later on realize that you made it too thick. same with the under eyes, depending on your eye shape, you could either make the mid section or the outer section thicker. avoid putting liner on the inner corner of your eyes if you have close set eyes. but for wider set eyes, adding liner on the inner corner would enhance the look.

there are other techniques out there that may also do great for monolids so don't stop experimenting and trying out new ways. always remember that adding makeup should help enhance your looks and not the other way around :)

make-up as any other product expire. contamination could usually shorten the product's shelf life so it is important to handle your makeup properly so you can maximize the shelf life of your product. hygene is very important to prevent it from contamination as well as keep you from having separate sets of makeup that you use for yourself and other people. here are some points that you need to remember.

1. always sanitize your hands. use a hand sanitizer or alcohol prior to handling your or someone else's face.
2. always start with a clean, toned and moisturized face.
3. when using cream or liquid products, do not touch the product directly with your finger, brush or any other applicator that you use to apply the product on the skin. when you do this, you are directly exposing your product to germs and bacteria. what you should do is take a spatula, scoop a portion of the product and transfer it to your mixing plate or palette. make sure not to take too much product to avoid wastage. this also should apply to cream liners, lipsticks and gloss.
4. when using loose powder or pigmented shadows, you may also use a spatula and transfer it to a container before applying the product using your brush. pressed powders do not absorb much bacteria since its surface is dry and bacteria like damp or wet areas.
5. when using an eyeliner pencil or lip liner, ALWAYS sharpen the pencil before and after using it. sharpening it removes any germs or bacteria dwelling on the surface of the product. if your liner is strictly for personal use, then you may opt to sharpen it once a week.
6. don't pump the mascara wand and send in air in the tube that could contaminate the product. instead, as you draw the brush out, turn it slowly to scrape the product from the inside of the tube. throw away mascara after 3 months.
7. throw away liquid liners after 3 months. i recommend using gel liners as it has longer shelf life than liquid liners when using spatula.
8. store your makeup in the refrigerator. this also help you preserve its quality.
9. use disposable sponges instead of using the sponge included in your makeup package. if you are not comfortable using disposable ones, clean your sponge weekly and discard it after a month. DO NOT reuse sponge to more than 1 person.
10. always clean your brushes. make sure you clean your brushes after you use it. daily spot cleaning is recommended using a brush cleaner and weekly deep cleansing must be done using a mild baby shampoo.

here is a comparison of how long you can keep your makeup products when doing the tips above and when you use your make-up the usual way.

Product	Usual Shelf Life	Prolonged Shelf Life
mascara	3 months	4-6 months
liquid liner	3 months	3 months
lipstick/lip gloss	6 months to 1 year	1-2 years
liquid/cream foundation	6 months	1-2 years
pencil liners	1 year	2-3 years
cream/gel liners	6 months	1-2 years
powder based products	5 years	5 years