9 Makeup Artist Tips and Tricks to Steal

As a makeup artist, I am constantly helping clients to look their best and make the most of the products they own. The more you know how to utilise your beauty tools, the more fun you can have (not to mention, the more money you’ll save). Here are some of my favourite simple tips and tricks that anyone can do, that’ll make you feel like you’ve had your makeup done by a professional Makeup Artist.

1. Make your favourite lipstick Matte or Metallic

If like me, you cant stand the feel of matte lipstick, here’s a little trick you can use to turn any lipstick matte: Add a small amount of powder blush or eyeshadow on top of your lipstick to remove the shine.

Application: Apply lipstick, blot with a tissue, and pat the powder on top with your finger until it’s fully matte. This is a perfect way to have a matte version of your favourite lipstick while utilising products you already have.

extra tip: This trick can also be lovely for nights out and holidays by adding a touch of gold/shimmer eyeshadow to the centre of your lips for that metallic glow.

2. 3 Types of Foundation in One

Diluting your Foundation is a trick which I use often to give different coverage without carrying the weight of different types of foundation in my makeup kit.

Sometimes your favourite foundation provides too much coverage, yet your tinted moisturiser doesn’t offer enough. On holiday and summer evenings out with my husband I want a medium coverage but don’t want to 2-3 foundations in my makeup bag.  To use my favourite foundation (MAC Studio Fix Fluid) in my perfect shade but with different levels of coverage, I add a bit of facial moisturiser, drop by drop, to my foundation. I do this on a palette (if I am working on a client) or on the back of my hand if I am using the foundation on myself. By diluting the foundation gradually, you can custom create the perfect amount of coverage for your preference (with the added bonus of hydration). Lighter for daytime and holidays and heavier for evenings, whilst still wearing your prefect shade.

3. Double Duty Mascara 

There are many occasions when I don’t want to carry lots of makeup products with me; on set for touch ups, when I’m going out or when I’m travelling.  Due to being a ‘lazy girl’ I like my products to have double duty such as above, using an eyeshadow to change the texture of my lipstick and using a mascara as an eyeliner.

Application: I like to apply eyeliner with an angled brush whether it be on a client or on myself and so, I pick up some of the mascara from the wand onto my eyeliner brush and apply to the lash line as normal. I then finish with a couple of coats of the same mascara on the lashes. This is a great tip for travelling and to save you having to carry many products around with you.

Extra Tip: This works will all shades from black, brown and blue to more vibrant colours. Have a go and save save in your makeup bag/kit.

4. Instant Brow Lift 

If like me you want lovely brows without looking like they’ve been drawn on with a sharpie marker, then I have a little trick that not only defines but lifts your brows, creating a perfect frame for your face.

After filling my brows with either a pencil, powder or gel, depending on the look that I am trying to achieve, I then highlight the brows with concealer and blend with a small flat foundation brush. By placing concealer around the brows and blending, you add shape and lift.

I also highlight under your arch with a soft cream coloured eyeshadow (not too shimmery) and apply the same colour to the inner corners of my client’s/my eyes to give the effect of looking more awake.

5. Cheeky Fix!

As you are well aware by now, I love products which have multiple uses and save me space in both my makeup kit and my personal makeup bag.

This next tip is one that I use often, especially on holiday as I dropped my eye and cheek palette onto the tiled floor on holiday and smashed all of the powders. If I was at home, this wouldn’t have been a problem (see Tip 6) but as I was abroad this meant that I had lost all of my lovely eye shadows and blushes in my beautiful palette. As a small tear fell onto my cheek, I looked into my makeup bag and realised that I had a solution, Lipstick!!!!!

Lipstick can double as a cream blush and cream eye shadow when you’re in a fix. This is especially handy on holiday as we tend to use more soft peach or pink lipsticks rather than deep reds and so the colours can compliment not only your lips but also tie in your eyes and cheeks into your colour theme.

Application: This is easy, blend the lippy onto your eye lids or cheeks with your fingers instead and voila: instant cream blush or eye shadow!

Additional Tip: This tip works well in winter with metallic lipstick used on your lips and also matching on your eyes! Try silver, gold or metallic lipsticks for a pulled together modern look.

6. A death in the family!

When you make the fatal mistake of knocking your favourite pressed powder makeup product onto the floor and it turns into dust, don’t despair. It happens all the time to makeup artists and here’s how we bring our highlighters, eyeshadows, blush and stetting powders back to life!  The miracle product here is IPA (isopropyl alcohol). IPA can be purchased at larger chemists or online.

You’ll Need: Your broken powder, a tissue, a cotton bud and IPA in a small spray bottle.

1. Break up your powder compact (even more) into tiny pieces using a cotton bud. Spread them out across the compact so they’re evenly distributed.

2. Place a tissue over the broken pieces of powder, and press down with your fingers to flatten your product and shape it back into the compact. Lift up the tissue to see where you need to apply more pressure to flatten down all the pieces.

3. Now spray your powder with the IPA until it is the consistency of wet sand. Leave to dry in a safe place with the lid open and the IPA will evaporate.

4. Clean up the edges of your makeup container with your tissue, and you’re good to go. Your powder obviously won’t have the pretty design that was imprinted in it before you dropped it, but your makeup will certainly be brought back from the dead.

7. Say ‘No’ to HD Powder

I never use HD powders or products containing a lot of silica to finish or set my client’s foundations or other makeup unless they are on a TV/film set. These products were created specifically for film and the ingredients in these products can reflect light (specifically a bright flash in a dark room or at night) and create the illusion of a white powder on your skin.

It’s the “amateur” move that even a lot of professionals have mistakenly made. You can see it below on Kristen Stewart’s makeup where the HD powder stands out with the flash of a camera. This could happen you you even with the flash of a mobile phone camera.

To ensure that you don’t look like the ‘powdery ghost’ in your group photos or selfies, why not try a product such as Charlotte Tilbury’s Airbrush Flawless Finish powder or MAC’s Mineralize Skinfinish Natural Powder (my two current favourites).

8. Spritz Away

If you’ve finished your face and you find yourself looking a bit too made up (or cakey), try spraying a finishing spray like MAC Prep + Prime Fix+ lightly over your face. The spray penetrates the foundation and helps to create a skin mimicking look. Basically, your skin will look more like skin and less like makeup plus, your face may stay in place a bit longer, as an added bonus.

9. Stack your lashes

Last but not least, if you love a big, voluminous, Bardot-esque lash look, you might be tempted to look for a full, thick false lash, most of which have tick unnatural bands and look truely false (not to say hideous)

I prefer to stack better quality lighter pairs of lashes onto of each other. Just make sure their bands are thin or invisible to keep things looking natural. I also prefer to trim the upper set slightly shorter than the lower set so that I can offset them slightly giving a more natural look. At the moment I’m loving EyeEnvy 303 False Eyelashes.

I hope this encourages you to look at using your products differently and hopefully getting more uses out of one product as well as some interesting tips which you can use in the future.

If you have any other useful tips that I can add to this post, please post a comment or comment on this post on my Facebook page. All additions will be credited.

Follow this blog for more tips on makeup, hair and beauty, info and tutorials. If you have any ideas on what you want me to write about or give step by step tutorials on, please email me at claire@makeup-byclaire.co.uk

Don’t forget to check out my website – http://www.makeup-byclaire.co.uk.

Claire xx