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How To Apply Makeup Like a Pro: 5 Fundamentals

It doesn’t matter if you’re a makeup master or a total amateur — when it comes to nailing your makeup look every single time, it all comes down to the fundamentals.

We’ve crafted a step-by-step walkthrough of our most important makeup application tips (and several product recommendations).

1. Prepping Your Canvas

Properly preparing your skin for the products you’re about to apply is just as essential as the products themselves. Before you can cover up any blemishes and dark spots or snatch those cheekbones, make sure your skin is clean and moisturized, and apply a few pumps of your primer of choice.

Primers sort of act like glue, grabbing hold of your everyday makeup and keeping it from slipping throughout the day. That said, which primer is best for you depends on your skin type.

For example, if you tend to get dry skin, something like our Good Grip Hydrating Primer might be good for you, since the moisturizing formula can keep your skin dewy even beneath other potentially drying products.

On the other hand, if you tend to develop dark spots or an uneven tone, our Triple Threat Correcting Primer might be more helpful.

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2. Paying Attention to Your Natural Features

The secret to makeup looks that slay every time is emphasizing your natural features, rather than copying makeup styles from someone who looks totally different than you.

Using makeup techniques simply because they’re trending might be fun, but in the long run, looks that show off your own unique features are going to be more flattering and make a bigger impression.

As an example, consider the soap brows trend, which has gone mega-viral on TikTok over the past couple of years for thick, fluffy brows. On the other hand, if your brows are on the thinner side, the ‘90s eyebrows trend or fox-eye trend might work well for you!

Spend some time looking at your features in the mirror and cataloging what makes you unique. Do you have prominent, model-worthy cheekbones or stunning eyes? Consider how you can work with and emphasize what makes you you, rather than how to look like everyone else.

3. Using the Right Tools

At SHEGLAM, we believe everyone deserves to have access to high-quality products and tools to let their natural beauty shine.

We also believe that makeup doesn’t need to break the bank in order to be good quality. That’s why we price our products to be as accessible as possible — so you can get the tools you need to apply makeup like a pro without spending a fortune.

Using the right tools is critical for nailing your makeup, whatever look you decide to go with. Using a densely-packed contour brush to apply setting powder, for instance, wouldn’t be very effective, and would probably result in a super patchy powder job. Using a foundation brush to apply eyeshadow wouldn’t allow you the desired accuracy and precision.

If you’re a beginner and aren’t sure which tools to use, your best option is to follow the instructions or description on the product. For example, our Skin Magnet Foundation Brush is super useful for applying and blending foundation, and wouldn’t be very useful for any other type of product.

Our Color Bloom Liquid Blush Brush is best for applying blush. Brushes, sponges, and other tools almost always come labeled, so you know which step to use them for, and know what tools you need for each step of your makeup routine.

4. Technique

Many techniques are important to knock your makeup look out of the park, but there are a few that are particularly important.

Shade Matching

If you don’t choose the right shade of foundation to match your natural skin tone, or the right eyeshadow color combination to complement your skin and eyes, your makeup won’t look quite as perfect as it could.

To shade match, pay attention to the undertones of your skin. Look at your veins. Are they more greenish than blue? You likely have warm undertones, so you should choose warm-toned makeup products as well. Are they blue instead? You have cool undertones, so you may want to reach for a cool toned foundation.

Blending

Learning how to blend properly is also important for transitioning between products like concealer and foundation or lipstick and lip liner. Using a wet vs. dry makeup sponge, for example, will give you different results.

Generally, a damp makeup sponge is a great way to blend liquid or cream products for a seamless look, while a dry makeup sponge is often ideal for applying setting powder or finishing powders.

It’s also often easier to blend if you apply powders over liquid products rather than trying to apply liquid products on top of powder products. Blend your liquid products out first, then top them off with your powders.

For beginners, there’s one additional tip we recommend above all else: Practice! The best makeup artists are the ones that have practiced the most.

Using the proper makeup brushes can also go a long way towards ensuring a seamless transition between products and ensuring that your beat stays all night long.

Precision

Finally, applying things like mascara and eyeliner require a steady hand and high precision to prevent smudging or streaking. As with blending, a lot of this skill simply comes from practice. No one is great at eyeliner the first time they apply it, no matter how beginner-friendly and smudge-proof the eyeliner is.

Focusing on your breath can also help with precision. Breathe in slowly, then exhale as you apply the eyeliner, mascara, or falsies. Exhaling can steady your hand and make it easier to draw straight lines.

5. Balance

One of the most nuanced foundational skills to becoming a makeup master is balance. Apply makeup with a heavy hand, and you’ll wind up looking cakey. Apply too little product, and you may look washed out.

While it certainly takes a lot of practice to figure out how to naturally balance your makeup routine, one good rule of thumb to start with is to work in thin layers.

With foundation, for instance, start off with a dot the size of a pea on the back of your hand, and use a foundation brush to apply and blend out that product until it’s completely gone. Then repeat.

A good-quality, high-coverage foundation like our Complexion Pro Long Lasting Breathable Matte Foundation is formulated to apply a ton of coverage with just a little bit of product. Liquid blushes also tend to apply a lot heavier than you’d expect, so it’s smart to start off with a minimal amount of product.

On the other hand, products like powder eyeshadow tend to apply lighter than expected, so to achieve balance here requires packing in a lot of product. We recommend using a dense-bristle makeup brush to apply eyeshadow, and building up coverage until it looks fully pigmented.

Once you’ve gotten a feel for how much product is necessary to create a balanced makeup look, it makes it easier to achieve a head-turning final effect.

Bonus Tip: Find Your Voice

Finally, makeup is meant to be a fun artform — so if you ask us, the most important part is finding your own unique voice and style. It takes a bit of practice and trial and error, but once you find your personal style, you open the door to a new level of creativity.

SHEGLAM: Products for the Pros

Although makeup is a skill that can be learned, we also believe it’s also an art form that should be accessible to everyone.

At SHEGLAM, our goal is to put professional-grade products in everyone’s hands, whether you’re a makeup pro or a total newbie. With the right tools and these fundamentals in mind, you’ll be turning heads everywhere you go.


Sources:

Soap Brows | TikTok

How To Identify Your Skin's Undertones | Healthline

The Beauty of Makeup: Is Makeup Art? Similarities and Differences | LJIC

‘Model cheekbones’ is a contouring trend taking off on TikTok, and it actually works | Glamour