Before Makeup
- Brush your teeth. Hopefully this doesn't really need to be pointed out, but I thought I'd say it anyway. You can't look spooky with yellow teeth. Well, you can, but I doubt it's the type of elegantly creepy you're going for.
- Wash your face. Trust me, this ends up improving your appearance by tenfold. A flannel is a necessary tool in this task, in my opinion. I get the water running nice and hot, soak the flannel and firstly wash my face with that, before turning the water to freezing cold, soaking the flannel in that then washing my face with the now freezing cold flannel, to wake myself up.
- If you have spots: spot cream. Every day, after washing your face, before anything else.
- Moisturize.
- Foundation: I normally use a powder foundation, but use whatever works for you.
Makeup
Depending on what you're doing, you'll be using different types of makeup. I'm just going to cover all the places you would normally put makeup on, and you can add/remove steps as appropriate
- Lips: Apply any lipstick smoothly and evenly, and please, please, wipe off any bits not on your lips. Yes, I know it's obvious, but I once passed someone on the street who hadn't bothered, and her bright pink lips had grown about an inch in all directions. Needless to say, it was hideous.
- Cheeks: When applying blush, used a shade similer in shade to your skin tone (as in, light skin, light pink ect.) lightly first to outline your cheekbones. You don't want to be able to see the blush, but, after you've but other blush on, it'll make it look nicer if you've done it right.
- Eyes: I will be providing a post on eye makeup soon :)
Removing it
If, like me, you're sensitive to most makeup removers, and even the gentle ones result in redness where you used them, a warm flannel is your best option. Rub gently at where the makeup is until it has gone. However, for lips, sometimes your finger is best ;-). I'd recommend staying away from waterproof mascara/eyeliner until you get really good at applying the eyeliner, and never get the tiniest spot of mascara on your nose, because it's hell to remove :-)
Budget Goth Tip: Substitute colored lipsticks you're saving up for for eye shadow: If you wet a cotton bud/your finger so it's slightly damp, put some eye shadow on it and apply to your lips, before some dabbed on lip sealant, it works quite well, or at least it does for me. However, if you have bad allergies, maybe you should stay away from this :)
