Makeup's FMM

FMM stands for 'frequently made mistakes'. I don't think the term exists, but it's here for temporary use. =P I don't usually stare into people's faces when I'm out of the house, but if it's right in your face you just can't ignore it.

1. Have you noticed how some dark-skinned people's face look really caked with powder? Okay, so you want to look fair, very understandable in Asian terms, but seriously, you can't just shortcut and look like you just played with flour. Powder is to set liquid and cream makeup and to help with oil control. For lighter looking skin, use FOUNDATION or CONCEALER or BOTH. Powder foundation would be better for people with sensitive and oily skin as it helps absorb excess oil. For better coverage use liquid foundation then SET WITH LOOSE POWDER. In my opinion, you should love yourself and be proud of your skin colour (unless it's unintentionally tanned to that tone), and makeup is supposed to just enhance your looks.

2. I know that some people have naturally 'imperfect' eyebrows, so they either pluck it till it's too thin, shade it into a really weird shape and colour, or else shave off their brows and redraw them by hand. Eyebrows are the frame of your eyes, so generally people see your brows before they see your actual eyes. Unless you're constantly doing cosplay, shaving off your brows or plucking too thin is a huge NO-NO. The eyebrow makeup you use for filling in your brows (brow powder, brow pencil or eyeshadow) should be just slightly lighter than your natural hair colour. Align a pencil or similar to the side of your nose and tilt it until it passes right in front of your iris while looking straight ahead. The point of the pencil which intercepts with your eyebrow is where the highest point of the arch should be. The end of the brow should be contoured according to your eye shape (I'm not sure what this means =P). Here are a couple of tutorials by MissChievous on brow grooming, shaping and filling in - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLTAKxv07B8 (watch this one first) & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59HC-CzSGJQ.

Taken from Xiaxue.blogspot.com, go check it out. =)

3. Blush is just to add colour to your face, it's not supposed to be overly obvious. I sometimes see girls at the mall (working and shopping) with bright pink cheeks, seriously like neon pink. And some look like they're suffering from some kind of food allergy. The blush colour should be just slightly pinker or browner or peacher than your skin tone, ever so slightly, and should be applied to only the apples of your cheeks and slightly trailed on your cheekbone. Use a blush brush (fluffy and made of partly or completely of real hair) or a fan brush, get your colour, and TAP OFF THE EXCESS GENTLY before applying it to your cheek apples. Smile, then tilt your brush toward your ear before starting to apply. Blush should never appear around the nose. Always remember, less is more. Or you could just use a tinted moisturizer or lip and cheek stain like Benefit's BeneTint (red) or PosieTint (pink).

4. Eyeliner was made for defining the eyes, drawing attention to them. Unless you're doing cosplay, never ever EVER go above the natural crease. I see many many many many MANY girls doing this, and it looks weird. You want to make a statement, then go all cosplay, don't do thick eyeliner and slippers, if not make it proportionate (though I doubt that would be possible) using dark, neutral coloured shadows like brown and black. =P You want to do cat eye? Make sure some eyeliner is visible on you upper lashline and looks proportionate to the wing. For more precise lining, get a sharpened kohl pencil, line your eyes, then only overlay with liquid. I, personally, prefer gel liner, but I like to experiment. I went on a rant one day and got all the prices for eyeliner and kohl pencils from almost all the shops in MV except Shu Uemura, Bobbi Brown, and MAC.

• L'Oreal Contour Kohl - RM24.90 @ Guardian
• Cyber Color Eye Definer Pencil @ RM13.90 @ SASA
• Stay On Eyeliner - RM19.00 @ Elianto
• Automatic Eyeliner - RM13 @ Elianto
• Eyeliner Pencil - RM45 @ stage

5. If you ever apply eye makeup, especially eyeliner, I'll strangle you if you leave your lashes bare. Usually your eyeliner would be much darker than your natural lash colour, and it looks absolutely weird to have some light hairs poking out from your dark lashline. All you have to do is get the suitable mascara for your needs. For one in all volumizing and lengthening + curling for different occasions, I recommend the Opera Volume Control mascara. I prefer more natural looking lashes, so I find that curling your lashes before you apply mascara with make the lashes stick up really awkwardly.

I think I should change the FMM to more like suggestions. =P