Fashion and Beauty 1st October 2015 by Victoria Stokes

5 Secrets Make-Up Artists Won’t Tell You (But We found One Who Will!)

From finding the best foundation to making sure your eyebrows are on point, make-up artist Clare Hogan shares with us the insider tricks of the trade.

Miranda Kerr Makeup Application

1. It all starts with nutrition

Clare explains what we’ve known all along; there’s only so much product can do. “Beautiful makeup starts with the right nutrition and general wellbeing,” she explains. “This will result in beautiful skin which will help your makeup sit well and look beautiful, so limit your exposure to sun, give up the cigarettes, eat lots of good, nutrition foods and drink plenty of water,” she instructs. Upping your intake of healthy fats (found in avocados, olive oil and fish) will help the skin feel plump and supple, too.

2. Less really is more

Reckon you need to pile it on with a trowel? Not so, says Clare. In fact, if it’s flawless you’re after you best apply with a light hand. “It’s about using the correct products only where you need them and using light layers that are set well. Piling on thick makeup to cover problem areas such as spots or dark circles can actually make these issues look worse than they are.” Got it.

3. Samples are essential

The secret to finding the perfect foundation? You gotta try before you buy. “When looking to buy a new foundation try to get some samples and then look at them in natural light before you buy,” instructs Clare. “Shop lighting isn’t a great environment to see the true shade on your skin and one that looks fine in the shop can look quite different when you go outside.”

4. Good brows are all in the colour

You know to apply using soft gentle strokes, but did you know that it’s colour that counts when it comes to having beautiful brows? Claire explains that for a natural defined look you’ll need to “go for a shade that’s lighter than your natural brow colour.” Why? “When you apply powder to hair it darkens so if you go for the same shade you will end up with a much darker brow than you want.” Gotcha.

5. You can make your lipstick last all day

Nope, it’s not an urban make-up legend, you can have lipstick that doesn’t smudge off before you’ve even left the house. “To create a long lasting lip use a lip liner in nude or colour similar to the lipstick and fill in the whole lip rather than just the outline,” instructs Clare. “This gives the lipstick something to cling to and also when the lipstick wears off you won’t be left with that obvious lip line.”

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