By Shahnaz Husain
First, cleanse the skin and apply a liquid moisturizer. For oily skin, apply an astringent lotion. Then apply foundation. For a very fair skin, go for a beige colour with a slight pinkish tone. If the complexion is pale, avoid pink tones and go for beige. Darker complexions look better with brownish beige. Dot the face with it and blend with a moist sponge. Lightly dust powder to set the foundation.
Highlight the cheeks with a blusher. Apply on the cheekbones, going slightly upwards and outwards. Then, apply light coloured highlighter on the cheekbones. Blend well.
For eyes, apply lighter brown shadow on the upper eyelid and dark brown eye shadow in the crease, to add depth. Outline the eyes with dark eye pencil or eyeliner. For a smudged effect, a dark eye shadow also works well on the upper lid, close to the lashes. Extend it a little beyond the outer corner of the eyes, slightly upwards. Smudging can be done with a sponge tipped applicator. Eye liner or dark eye shadow may be applied on the lower lid and then smudged. Highlight under the brows with gold, ivory or a light coloured eye shadow.
Then apply mascara. Roll-on mascara is easy to apply. While applying mascara on the upper lashes, look downwards. Apply it both above and below the upper lashes, for a thicker look. Apply on lower lashes too. Wait for a while and apply a second coat. Then brush out the lashes, with a small eyelash brush. For thicker lashes, powder them between two coats of mascara.
Gloss is popular for the lips. Use a lip liner the same colour as your lipstick. Apply lip gloss in the centre, after applying lipstick.
For normal complexion, go for warm earthy colours, like coral, wine, red and shades of red in lipstick. A dark pink would look good too. So would orange and shades of orange. You can find orange shades that suit most skin colours. Use orange to coral for darker skin, while orange and peachy shades suit fair skin. Red and shades of red are very much the trend nowadays. Go for red or dark pink. Use lilac, mauve and light pink colours during the day. Frosted colours may look good.
About Shahnaz Husain
Shahnaz Husain, pioneer of the Ayurvedic beauty movement, heads the Shahnaz Husain Group, with a global network of franchise ventures and 375 Ayurvedic formulations. A Case Study at Harvard for Brand Creation, she is now a Harvard Subject for “Emerging Markets” She was honored with the Padma Shri Award and is the first woman in 105 years to receive the World’s Greatest Woman Entrepreneur Award from Success, the U.S. business magazine. Indeed, Shahnaz Husain is a leading international beauty icon.