I've Been Doing It Wrong!

For years - decades even. On the advice of 'experts' - MAs and SAs. No wonder I never got the results I was looking for! Not that I can blame them; they were following their training, but still - how much happier would my relationship with cosmetics be now had I known this years ago?!

Let's start with concealer.

Dark under-eye circles. At different times, I have looked like I have twin shiners; since childhood. I've had maybe half-a-dozen black eyes in my life, and never 2 at the same time. Well, ok, once; when my sister smashed me in the face as hard as she could with a wooden hearth brush & broke my nose. But that's the only time. And a story for another blog. (NB: That is the ONLY time I've had twin black eyes; and only once of the twice they were caused by people. The rest? Blood pressure, meet floor...)

Concealer should be the same colour as your skin toner. So I was told. No. A shade or two lighter is ok. *le sigh* That would have made life easier; matching foundation to my skin tone is hard enough, without trying to match concealer.

The colour of the concealer is another thing I am (still) confused about; yellow to combat purple circles. I think. Orange or preach if they are brown. I think. Green for redness (not an under-eye issue I have, except in allergy season, or after watching The Notebook or Once Were Warriors).

Confused? You betcha! But wait, there's more!

When to apply concealer - I always understood it was before foundation. The experts disagree. Or agree. Or a bit of both. Aaaarrrgggghhhh!!!

How to apply it. Just on the circles? No. An inverted triangle onto your cheekbones. Right - that would explain a lot. It wasn't me. Or rather, it was, but it wasn't just me...

And then there's powder.

This is easy; match to your foundation shade. Or family (light, medium, dark).

No.

Translucent. Looks white but isn't. Blends in for a polished finish. And you can apply and reapply through the day to control oil and smooth your look because there is no colour! Again, something it would have been useful to know years ago.

And you 'bake it' -  pack it on over your concealered bits, leave for 5 - 10 minutes, brush (fluff) off the excess with a brush loaded with a powder foundation/finishing powder.

Feh! Anyone else exhausted by all this?