For a valentine beauty

COY MAKE-OVER

Young skins look fresh and natural with less make-up. Actually, today’s trends favour the “natural” look – sheer and translucent, with subtle use of foundations and bases.

The skin should not be covered with foundation. In fact, leave-out the foundation, especially during the day. Tinted moisturizers would be good, both for the day and night. Or use translucent baby powder. It gives the face a sheen.

Pay more attention to the oily areas of the face, like nose, forehead and chin. Press the powder all over the face and neck, with a slightly damp sponge. This helps it to set and last longer. Avoid using too much powder around the eyes. Brush off excess powder with cotton wool.

If you want to use foundation at night, choose a water-based one. Add a drop of water for a lighter coverage. Before applying foundation, apply astringent lotion if your skin is oily, or moisturizing lotion for dry skin. Wait for a few minutes to allow the skin to absorb it. Next, use a concealer to cover up pimples and scars, if any.

Or, you should have two shades of foundation. One shade should be as close to your skin colour as possible. The other should be a shade lighter if the blemishes are dark.
 Take a little light coloured foundation and apply it directly on the pimple or pimple scar. Avoid rubbing or smearing. Pat it into the skin.

Then apply your normal foundation on the face and using a moist sponge, spread it evenly, going outwards. Remember the neck too. Blending is important to achieve a smooth finish.

Then apply tinted loose powder on top to set the foundation. Or, use compact powder.
Once blushed, twice shy Blusher comes next, or you can apply it at the end. Use powder blusher. Pink or peach blusher would suit most skin tones. Use your finger tips to dot the area with blusher.

Then, blend with the brush, outwards and slightly upwards.  But, if you want to create cheek hollows, apply the blusher in the hollow of your cheekbones, going outwards and slightly upwards.

Then, apply highlighter on the cheekbones. Highlighters should not be white. Choose from ivory or pale pink. Blend well, so that there are no lines or demarcation, or blotches.

Let your eyes do the talking

For the eyes, use a brown eye shadow on the eyelids. Use the same brown shadow under the lower lashes, instead of eyeliner or kaajal. Take a darker brown eye shadow and apply it on the upper lid, close to the upper lashes. The entire effect will be natural. If you want to line the eyes, use an eye pencil. Give your eyes a light touch of mascara.
Make sure the lashes do not stick together. Brush them with an eyelash comb. For the night and for a more dramatic effect, use a dark brown, or dark grey eye shadow on the eyelids close to the lashes and stroke it upwards and outwards. For the smoky eyed look, line the eyes with eyeliner close to the lashes and then smudge the eyeliner slightly with a sponge tipped applicator. It should not be a harsh line.

The magic behind that smile

For the lips, plain gloss can be enough for the day, or add a touch of gloss over light pink or mauve lipstick. Coloured gloss is also available. Avoid using lip liners and just brush the lips with lipstick, going for shades of pink, from pale pink, to rose or tawny pink. At night, go for rose, coral or bronze, or just stick to pink.

Tresses that caress

If your hair is long, leave it loose, or wear it in a pony tail. Use a satin ribbon, co-ordinating it with your clothes. For short hair, the slightly tousled look will be good. For long hair, have curls and waves at the ends. Varied lengths of fringing are also in. The soft, layered style ending with waves and curls is the trend.

Behold the flashy nails

For a gala evening, go for gold or silver nail varnish, or try one of those colours with glittering stars. These come in many different colours, with gold or silver stars. Or. apply white or pale frosted colour on the underside of long nails and bright colour on nails.

Tip: Wear a light flowery or lemony fragrance, nothing too overpowering.

This done, and you are all set to steal the limelight this Valentine’s Day!