IT'S ALL AN illusion, you know, all done with smoke and mirrors, light and shade, writes PHYL CLARKE.
The art of make-up is an ancient one, perfected over the centuries to give truly astonishing results in the hands of the experts. Well, they're not called make-up artists for nothing. They use brushes, colour and different textures to achieve the desired effect. The only difference is that their canvas is your face. Each time a professional does my make-up, I learn something new, and this week, I thought I'd pass on some pearls of wisdom picked up over the years.
Find a spot in natural daylight for applying make-up - if it looks right in the brightest daylight, it will look right in any light. Organise your make-up. Too much time is spent rummaging through drawers for that perfect eye shade to match what you are wearing. Have duplicates of lip colour and powder in your make-up bag.
Every make-up bag should include a multi-use product such as the iconic Eight Hour cream from Elizabeth Arden. You can slick it on brows to groom, lips to gloss, cheekbones to highlight and nails to nourish - all from one tube. Also always carry an emery board to smooth jagged nails.
Concealer is your best friend, so spend most of your making-up time correcting your face. Don't forget the dark hollow at the inside corner of the eye, in fact if you start here, you may find you don't need as much as you thought on the under-eye area. Apply foundation with a brush - the difference is incredible. Go lightly when applying powder - pick up a little powder on brush and then tap to remove excess, and always apply in a downward direction towards your neck to avoid lifting fine facial hair.
For an instant brow lift, brush brows down towards eyes, then pencil or brush colour at the highest part, adding a little height with the colour. Brush brows upwards again and voila - instant arched eyebrows.
A good tip for choosing eye colour is to look in the mirror while holding colour up beside your eye, that way, you can see instantly if it's "you". Apply some translucent powder under the eyes before putting on shadow, and then you can brush off any colour that falls off lids during application. Liner can be tricky and here's a great tip make-up artist Alan Pan learnt from his mother. Place a mirror flat on the table and lean over to apply liner between eyelashes. Just keep dotting colour between each lash until the dots 'join up'.
Apply blush before eye colour to contour your face. You may find you use less colour on eyes as blush is a great highlighter and can brighten eyes. Choosing a cheek colour can be tricky - a shade that matches your cheeks when flushed, say after exercise, will always look natural.
Your perfect lip shade will be your natural lip colour taken up a notch - or two - as desired. You can check this by looking at the colour inside your bottom lip. A dot of gloss in the centre of your bottom lip - press lips together - gives a subtle shine instead of a gloopy mouth.
Get an instant face-lift by tightly clipping up hair above your ears - a method reportedly favoured by Madonna. Run your hands through your hair after applying hand cream for instant grooming. Finally - smile! A relaxed and happy face is your best beauty secret.
BEAUTY SPOT
He's a pocket-size Picasso who I wanted to put in my pocket and bring home with me. I could perch him on my dressing table and we could shoot the beauty breeze, with a brush stroke here, a dab of illuminator there, while he expertly tended to my maquillage each day. Alan Pan of Estée Lauder will be at the Brown Thomas Summer Beauty Event, until May 25th, along with a host of international make-up artists, so go along and get some expert advice.