Oh, to be a fly on the wall of insider gab sessions breaking down the tricks of any trade–but surely the makeup industry pros could tell us about tricks and especially all the ways they’ve had to come up with instant solutions behind the runway curtains and in the celebs’ dressing rooms or on the set to fix, recover from or prevent a disastrous makeup fail from becoming ruinous to a big budget production. As they say, “Necessity is the mother of invention,” and surely the best makeup artists in the big budget world of Hollywood have seen (and found a way to fix) it all. What follows are some of the cool hacks they’ve shared with the world, and for this, we share a hearty “Thank You!”
Morning Coffee & Shave
What is your typical morning routine? Coffee? Vitamins? Yoga? Shaving? No–not your legs, your face! This hack is working so well for women everywhere that we’re wondering why it took so long to emerge publicly. By first creating smooth skin without any hairs, you have a far better chance of getting a perfect coverage with your makeup, and you won’t be deluged by those errant, pop-up stray hairs that have you desperately wishing you had some tweezers at the most inconvenient time. Not just for men anymore, Baby!
Down With Brows
Contrasting what you’ve probably been doing, in doing your brows, brush them all down for filling in the upper edge that complements your natural growth line and makes called-for improvements, then brush them back up and fill in any remaining areas that need it.
Get Your Glow On
By mixing in a powder or liquid highlighter with your regular foundation, you can impart a gorgeous, dewy glow to your skin. Don’t have any specific highlighter? That’s OK–you can substitute a natural light colored eye shadow that’s shimmery just as easily and effectively!
Customize Your Foundation
Some foundations offer more coverage than you really want or need. If you encounter this problem, it’s easy to fix. Try adding some of your tinted moisturizer to it, a drop at a time, shaking to mix well with each drop. You’ll get the exact coverage you’re after. It’s your makeup–take charge of it–your way! You can even find specific formulations for thinning foundations that you mix to your desired degree–and ultimately, you get more product, with more coverage over a longer period of time. Especially great for today’s “nearly nude” looks.
A Mistified Finish
Sometimes even the most carefully-applied makeup can begin to look “cakey” or start to crack. There are some great finishing sprays you can add to your beauty arsenal that will take care of any problems like this when they occur. They work by forcing your foundation to behave and loosen up. A nice side benefit is these products tend to make your makeup last longer, too.