The first time I tried to give myself a smokey eye makeup look, I cried. I was 16 years old, had just finished watching a YouTube tutorial of the look, and thought that it would be “easy” which was my first mistake.
What the YouTube video was missing was personalization. The video told me everything I had to do to achieve this look, but what it didn’t tell me was everything that I had to not do as well. To start with - based on my eye shape and the distance between my particular eyes, a smokey eye look just doesn’t look good on me! My eyes personally look better with very light eyeshadow and no eyeliner.
I knew I had to do actions like start with a base color. But I didn’t learn about the don’ts of a smokey eye. Which led to my final look being messy, creased, and with eyeshadow on parts of my face that weren’t my eyelid.
When it comes to applying makeup, learning about the dos of makeup is just as important as learning about the don’ts.
I know Newton was a physicist and not a makeup guru, but when he said “for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction,” I’m half convinced he was talking about makeup.
For every makeup trick you do, it’s important to know what the opposite rule is as well. This way, you not only know how to make yourself look good, but you also learn how to avoid looking bad!
Here are the top highlights of dos and don’ts that you should keep in mind when you’re applying your makeup.
Let’s start with some makeup tips broken down into product categories.
Foundation
Do: Check to make sure your face foundation shade matches the shade on your neck and jawline. It’s hard to see your side profile, but other people around you will notice if this is mismatched.
Tip! Use the camera on your phone or two mirrors angled against each other to see if your foundation contrasts against different parts of your skin. If it does, use a brush to blend out the line.
Don’t: Apply too much foundation! The rule “less is more” usually applies here. When in doubt, start small and add more if you desire more coverage. This will leave you with a flawless, natural look!
Concealer
Do: Use a concealer shade that is just one or two shades lighter than your foundation.
Don’t: Use an under-eye concealer that’s less than one or two shades lighter than your skin color. If you choose a shade that’s too dark, it won’t do the proper job of concealing.
Blush
Do: Apply blush on the apples of your cheeks, and according to your face shape. Check out our article on face shape for more information on this - for example, for long faces, it’s best to use blush in the center of your face rather than on the sides.
Don’t: Let the blush overpower your makeup. The goal of this product is to make it look like the sun has naturally rouged your cheeks, so when in doubt, veer on the side of a subtle look.
Lipstick
Do: Use a lip pencil and line your lips to achieve the perfect lip shape. It might seem like an intimidating product to use, but it makes a huge difference in how you look and keeps your makeup look lasting for hours longer!
Don’t: Use beige lipstick (unless you’re going for a very specific look). If you want the perfect nude lipstick, it’s best to use a shade that is one shade lighter or darker than your natural lip color.
Now let’s go over some dos and don’ts for makeup application.
Contouring
Do: Pick a contour product two shades darker than your skin color. Something that helps make this easy is having your contour and foundation from the same makeup line - that way you can make sure you’re staying close to the same shades.
Don’t: Forget to blend! Just like our tip about blending your foundation from your face to your neck, it’s important to make sure that contour is fully blended out so you can achieve that natural look.
Highlighting
Do: Use a highlighter on the areas of your face that you want to shine - the highest point of your cheek, the bow of your lips, the bridge of your nose, your brow bone, and the temple of your chin.
Don’t: Highlight excess areas of your face. This can be tempting because highlighter is so gorgeous, but the effect of highlighter is best when it’s used on specific areas to draw attention to them!
Eyebrows
Do: Fill in your eyebrows using a gradient method - where it’s darker on the outside and lighter on the inside. Also when filling in your eyebrows, make sure that you focus on blending so you avoid a patchy look.
Don’t: Draw your eyebrows in as too dark and boxy on the insides. This will make your eyebrows look unnatural and fake and take away your overall makeup look.
Lastly, here are some more general dos and don’ts about the rules of makeup:
Do: Take your time experimenting! Everyone’s face and personal preferences are different, and it takes a long time (for me, years) before you realize what makeup style you like best on your face.
Don’t: Fall asleep while wearing makeup! It can be tempting to hit the pillow with your makeup on, those extra eight hours can clog your pores and leave you with acne. Cleanse, tone, and moisturize so you can give your skin the oil that it needs.
Do: Use guided tutorials. An AI-powered app offers guided tutorials on all parts of the makeup process and can detect mistakes that you might have made along the way. Forever Beauty has a mirror function that you can use while doing your makeup. In the future, this mirror will be capable of detecting and preventing any makeup mistakes made.
Don’t: Follow a makeup trend just because it’s trendy. Makeup is related to your face, and just because something is popular doesn’t mean it looks good on everyone. Trust your gut and always go with the makeup process that makes you feel most confident.
Do: Take advantage of Gua Sha for facial relaxation. The Forever Beauty app offers expert consultation on the new and trending Gua Sha technique, as well as offering expert feedback on your makeup and face yoga routine. You can ask these experts about any problems to get free advice within 24 hours.
Do: Remember how important personalization is! Each shade and makeup technique is so personal to the person who uses it. You can use the Forever Beauty app to personalize tutorials for every skin tone, face shape, and facial feature. The app also suggests personalized makeup products for you that match your skin tone perfectly.
Don’t: There’s no need to spend a lot of money on luxury brands. Instead focus on leveraging technology, and using natural resources such as Gua Sha and Face Yoga for long-term beauty.
Dos: Make good use of technology! Current beauty Apps can save you a lot of time, money and give you optimal beauty results. Some Apps not only automate the detection of skin issues but also suggest personalized tutorials/products and give real-time expert feedback. Modern day makeup apps can serve as your own virtual makeup artist.
And lastly, the most important rule of makeup is that you can make your own rules. These are all general guidelines that make people feel most confident when they use makeup, but each person has their own guidelines they like to follow when it comes to creatively using makeup.
So, let us know in the comments or on social media if there are any rules of makeup you use that aren’t on this list! We would love to hear about them.
