How to: Mature Makeup

I've always been curious about the right way to do the makeup of more mature people like people in their late 40's onwards. Their skin is different so I was unsure on how to do it but thankfully I learned this during my makeup classes in Basement Academy.

So here are some tips on how to do mature makeup:

• Make sure that the whole face as well as the eye area is very well moisturized before applying any makeup.
• You may want to use a purple base to brighten up their skin tone.
  
• Mature skin tends to be dry so skip the oil control products and look for products that are moisturizing instead.
• Don't be afraid of shimmer! It still works even with more mature people.
• Mature people may have a preference for lipstick colors such as raisin red, brown, etc. so it's better to ask them what color of lipstick they would like.
  

Specific concerns for mature makeup:

• Expression lines: Use concealer only as needed as they might settle into the expression lines.
• Thinning eyebrows: You might want to draw outside the brows to make them look thicker. Thicker brows will give a more youthful appearance.
• Thinning eyelashes: You might want to ask if they are open to the idea of wearing falsies.
  
• Thin lips: A lip liner is handy for this.
• Drooping skin: Apply makeup in an upwards motion to make a lifting effect.
  

So here's an example of mature makeup. In the before picture, she actually had makeup which she place herself. I just forgot to take a picture of her without any makeup on. HTH!

How to: Men's Makeup

Before I went to Basement Academy, I had absolutely no experience doing men's makeup. I'm glad it was tackled in class because now, I can do makeup for them already. This is very handy because at some point in our lives, we'll be doing makeup for men when we do weddings, photo shoots, etc.

So here's my how-to when it comes to men's makeup:

• Make sure to cleanse and tone very well because men normally have oilier and have more dirt on their faces compared to females.
• Powder foundation is your best choice for males because they hate that sticky feeling on their faces; plus, men tend to be oilier. A two-way foundation is handy because you can apply it dry for men who have good skin already and then use it wet for men who need more coverage.
• Generally, men hate looking white because they think that it doesn't look manly. Since they're not the type who are color and sun-conscious, their arms are probably darker than their face. Use the color of their arms as a guide to what foundation shade to use on their faces. However, some men do not want to look darker, so I think it's best to inform them first of what you're going to do. If they agree, then go, but if not, then use a shade that matches with their faces.
• Don't forget to put powder in the ears and the sides of the neck to make sure that the color is even throughout the face.
• Use concealer as needed.
• When contouring, use downward strokes to make a chiseled appearance.
• NEVER use anything with shimmer. It has to matte all the way.
• Eyeliner, curling lashes and brow trimming are optional. Unless his brows are majorly thick, putting on clear mascara will do.
• A neutral blush can be used especially for men who are pale. Blush through the forehead, chin, cheeks, etc.
• For the lips, a cherry chapstick comes in handy, since a clear lip balm can make them look pale and most men don't want gloss on their lips.

I hope that these tips are handy if ever you decide to do makeup for males.

To finish off, I'd like to share with you an example of doing men's makeup. I made this during my makeup makeup classes in Basement Academy. HTH!

Basement Academy Makeup Classes: Bridal

Yes, I'm talking about makeup makeup classes. I spent some time on Basement Academy to take some makeup classes on the classes I missed before. One of the classes I missed was smokey eyes. During the day I went back, we did a bridal look and then changed it to smokey eyes after. Anyway, I didn't have a good picture of the smokey eyes I did (it was too dark) so I'll just show you the bridal picture.

Here's her before and after shot:



That's all for now. 'Til next time!

Basement Academy Graduation

Hello my dearies! Sorry I took this long to post this but I'd like to show you some pics during our graduation from Basement Academy. I was absent from class the day before so I was very unprepared for our last day. We had to do two looks: a bridal look and a high fashion look.

So here's my bridal look:

I need some more blush, tee hee!

Here's my high fashion look:


Model: Miki Kierulf
Photo: Andy Jutba

Here's my picture with our teachers, Ms. Nina and Gina:


And of course, our class pic!

I learned a lot from makeup school and it was fun. Yes, it was tiring, but I love it! This isn't the end of my makeup photos. I still missed two classes so I'll be posting some more pictures soon!

Basement Academy 6

Hello dearies! Sorry I'm not blogging that much lately. Anyway, if you notice my title, it says Basement Academy Day 6. Yes, I'm missing day 5 because I didn't go to class that day because I had to work. I'll be making it up with the next batch so watch out for that. Anyway, the class I missed was the smokey eye look and I missed it :( It's too bad because we had to do a smokey look for this day too. Since I didn't do it the day before, I just had to rely on what I knew about smokey eye.

So for this day, we were asked to do a 5-in-1 look. This is important for catalog work where there is one model and you have to do different looks on her. So here's my take on it:

Here's my model without makeup:

Look 1: No Makeup Makeup

Look 2: Dark Liner and Red Lips


Look 3: Cutesy


Look 4: Summer


Look 5: Evening Smokey

I really wished that I was there for the smokey look. Oh well, there's always next time.

Basement Academy Day 4

Hello my dearies! It's time to show you my pictures from Basement Academy Day 4. That day was very interesting because each of us were going to do different looks. Our teacher for that day, Nina, said that brides today want different looks already apart from the classic bridal look. Our teacher made us draw pegs of different bridal looks. There was a no-makeup look, hollywood glamour, bohemian, mediterranean, etc. The peg that I got was mediterranean. I wasn't able to take a picture of that peg, but it was very smokey; black, bronze, and all that.

So here's my take on it. Here is the picture of my model before:

And here she is after:

Since the peg called for strong, thin eyebrows, I actually used a black eyeliner pencil to line them. I think my contour in this photo is better than my previous post. This look took me a long time to finish, but at last I was able to!

Basement Academy Day 3

Hello dear readers! Let me show you my picture from Basement Academy Day 3. For this look, we were supposed to do a classic bridal look.

Here's my model's picture before:

And here she is after:

I gave her pink lipgloss but to my surprise, it still turned to be very nude in the picture because of the yellow lights. It goes to show how much I still have to learn. I still need to work on my contouring skills here. My contour was too light to show up in the picture. I'm learning, though. BTW, I've discovered the wonders of cream foundation for troubled skin. It really works very well in hiding blemishes. For this look, I used Kryolan Ultrafoundation, which I love. I'm also a sponge convert. Before makeup school, I've always been a brush person, but now, I'm loving using sponges for liquids and creams.

Basement Academy Day 2

Hello dear readers! I'm sorry for the lack of updates. I've just been really busy because I finally decided to go to makeup school. This was a hard decision since i sometimes have work at night. So yes, I skipped work a few times for this :P

We have two teachers for this class, Nina Dumpa and Georgina Desuadido. They alternate sometimes but sometimes they're together. It's because the regular teacher is on maternity leave.

For the 1st day, we did straight makeup on each other. I wasn't able to take pictures of my 1st day in Basement Academy but I took pictures of the 2nd day. On our 2nd day, we learned how to do eyebrows and countouring. I admit, I have a lot to learn about makeup and doing eyebrows is something I've never done since I just do makeup on myself most of the time. I'm also too lazy to contour but now I really have to do it now.

Here's a picture of my model before:


And here's a picture of her after:

We were asked to do a natural look and we used cream for contouring. She asked if she could just use clear gloss on her lips. Since she was only 15, I agreed to keep her looking young. I still have much to learn. I wish I had more time to practice. That's all :P