23 Personalized Beauty Tips
Make the most of what you have with these simple makeup tips that play-up and downplay your best and not-so-loved features accordingly. A dab of concealer here or a touch of bronzer there can hide a multitude of sins—no surgery, sunglasses, or brown paper bags required.
By Dawn Spinner Davis
Photo Credit: Don Flood/Don Flood
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LOVE YOUR LOOK!
NOSE SHAPE
• To downplay a prominent nose, Jerrod Blandino, CEO of Too Faced Cosmetics, suggests dabbing an eyeshadow brush into bronzer or taupe shadow: "Draw a straight, soft line down both sides of the nose. Add an upward swipe underneath the tip to make it look shorter."
Try: Victoria's Secret Beauty Rush Shadow in Bronzinger
• You can make a slightly crooked nose appear aligned by blending a dab of creamy highlighter down the bridge in a perfect straight line—it tricks the eye and reflects light away from the bend.
Try: MAC Strobe Cream
FACE SHAPE
• To make a round face appear more defined, dust bronzer down your temples, along your jaw line, and down your neck. Then, pop your cheekbones with bright blush.
Try: Neutrogena Healthy Skin Natural Radiance Bronzer
• If you have a narrow face and you'd like to make it seem more balanced, Tarte's makeup team suggests being generous with blush: "Apply it on the cheekbones and the apples of the cheeks."
Try: Clinique Powder Blush
• To minimize a large forehead, sweep an illuminating bronzer along your hairline, creating a shadow across the top of your face—remember to blend well! Also, try a dramatic lip to draw attention downward.
Try: Estée Lauder Bronzer Goddess Soft Shimmer Bronzer
• If you're looking for cheekbone definition without a stripy, 1980s effect, try sweeping your regular blush on the apples of the cheeks in a circular motion and dabbing a shimmery cream in a horizontal line above it, blending outward.
Try: Bobbi Brown Shimmer Cream
EYES
• Emphasize your eye color with complementary shades. "Blue eyes look brilliant in toasty suede tones, brown look rich when you wear slate or navy, and green eyes really pop with purple," says Blandino.
Try: L'Oréal Made for Me Shadows
• If your eyes are wide-set, play up the inner corners: Use a fine-tip pencil in black or plum and pull the liner all across the lash line, making sure not to go past the last lash. Try a mascara with a mini wand to coat even the smallest lashes.
Try: Tarte EmphasEyes pencil and Bottoms Up mascara
• To transform small eyes into sultry doe-eyes, Tarte's makeup team recommends lining the top, inner rim of the eye. "It brings attention to the eyes and creates the look of fuller lashes," says founder Maureen Kelly. Use a nude pencil along the bottom.
Try: Smashbox Cream Eyeliner, Paula Dorf Baby Eyes
• If you have Asian eyes, don't try to fake a crease—enjoy your natural almond shape! Try a diffused smoky eye that starts along the lashes and gradually fades. Finish it off with a sweep of black liquid liner.
Try: Almay Liquid eyeliner
• Make downturned eyes appear more awake with a quick stroke of liner. Draw from the center of the lashes towards the outside of the eye and sweep up to create a slight cat-eye.
Try: Too Faced Cosmetics Liquid Eyeliner
• You can easily make too-close-together eyes seem more balanced by adding pale shimmer to the inside corners of the eyes, sweeping it towards the center of the eyelid. Focus mascara and liner on the outer half of your eyes.
Try: Maybelline Eyeshadow in Elegant Pearl
NEXT PAGE: MAKEUP TIPS FOR LIPS, BROWS AND COMPLEXION
