Who doesn’t love date night? Well with the right guy at least and even better when watching someone else’s love (or lack of) unfold on the tele, especially from the look of the new cast on Channel 10’s, The Bachelor!
We will laugh, maybe cry and most probably cringe a little, but I’ll probably just critique the beauty looks on show, after all, beauty lies within right?
But in all seriousness, it’s nice to feel good and dress up your makeup look, without looking like you’ve tried to hard. This is where a few tips could help you look glowing all night long and not give the impression you are going to a nightclub!
image via news.com.au
COMPLEXION
Now this is the key area of makeup you want to get right.
I find men don’t mind so much a lip, or even a little shading around the eyes, but most don’t like their woman to look overly made up, especially with foundation. When foundation is right, it works. But when it’s not working for you, he can tell!
The two most important things to get right is shade and texture!
Foundation should even your skin, brighten and lift your look. Not make you look older, fake or mask like and definitely not muddy.
Shade Matching
Always match your foundation from jaw line to neck. This is where the incorrect shade is the most obvious as our neck is often lighter than our face.
Know (or gauge) your skin tone. Are you light/fair skin with pink undertones or more olive skin with yellow undertones?
This can be easily identified by seeing your skin behaviour. Do you flush easily and your skin looks pink? Or do you feel more on the dull side with a lack of brightness?
Pink base/fair skin tones normally need a neutral base foundation shade to balance the skin tone. Going pink would be adding more pink to your skin (I think not) and yellow is opposite that it becomes noticeable.
Yellow base/olive skin tones often have no colour or ‘flush’ in their skin. But because the depth of skin is usually darker, they still need a yellow base foundation to even out the tone. Anything pink or even some neutral shades, depending on the depth, can make an olive skin tone appear grey!
The tone should blend invisibly, but still create an even skin look.
Foundation Texture
This all comes down to skin type and how your skin looks by the end of the day!
If it’s very shiny, you need an oil free/mattifying texture.
If it is only slightly shiny, you are doing well and a general semi-matte finish will be perfect.
If you are looking dull and flat, go a liquid and illuminating texture.
Remember, just because it looks great on application, doesn’t mean it will stay that way. In the hours to come, skin texture and environment can alter the look, so sometimes going too dewy can look too shiny later on in the day or night.
My pick is a creamy semi-matte. It tends to give comfort and a smoothing effect and a slight radiant glow, without moving too much in long wear.
Highlighting
I love a good highlight like the rest of you, but some can look very artificially placed on top of the cheekbone, great for a photo shoot, but not for real life.
He wants to see your skin, the inner glow, not a swipe of makeup on your face.
So, I use a cream/liquid style highlight on the frontal bones of the face, especially on the cheekbones, before foundation. This creates lift and light, giving a natural look when applied under foundation – it’s the inner glow we want to see!
Blush/Contour
My advice on this subject is if you usually apply a lot, scale back a notch and if you don’t usually apply any, give a little dash a go!
A slight shaping of the under cheekbone area can really lift the face and give striking features, always applying from outer cheekbone to inner.
Then that dash of blush, so slightly above the contour and on the apple of the cheek, can give a fresher look and lift to the face.
EYES
This area really depends on your own style with makeup and the setting of your date night.
There is no point going full glam if that is not your usual style, as eventually he will see the real you, so don’t hide behind a mask of full makeup if it isn’t you.
Date night means lots of staring into each other’s eyes … we hope!
So most men don’t really care if you have 3 shadows blended to perfection, with an outer wing and a shimmer liner.
Keep your look true to you and focus on lashes and brows rather than dark and shimmery eye shadow.
Sometimes it’s the simple looks that attract men.
A simple wash of bronzer over the eyelid to create warmth, depth in the socket and contrast against your eye shade can be simple, yet effective.
Spend time on your mascara.
Your flirty lashes should be fluttery, not over the top. So really comb through them so they are long and separated, rather than thick and clumpy.
To enhance your lashes, applying a thin liner to the baseline of your lashes works a treat, but try a darker shadow rather than a liquid which can be harder to apply and appear too ‘done’, as it will blend better and look effortless.
If you aren’t a big brow makeup girl, a simple comb through and upwards in direction can give lift to the face and open the eyes.
Brow powder can be great to apply with an angled brush, in small hair like flick strokes to fill any gaps and especially at the brow peak and tail.
LIPS
This once again depends on the setting, my advice is to always go a lip shade that enhances your own, like a ‘bitten lip’ shade. Gently bite your bottom lip and that is the tone you should go with for an everyday natural colour.
Men will look at your lips during the date and most get a little put off if they see 3 layers of gloss and big bold colours. They would rather product staying on your lips than their own.
But if natural isn’t for you, at least make sure they are moisturised and plump. A red shade that is stained into the lip, rather than sitting on top works a treat.
Red is sexy, and fire-y, plus oozes confidence!
But if you stain it in (by pressing it into your lip with your ring finger with a dabbing application) the colour will transfer less, winning!
And lastly, if you want your teeth to look their whitest, choose a cool tone red, something with a blue base rather than a warm. They will pop in contrast and make the mouth area very attractive. Hint, hint!
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