How to Do Casual Makeup on Indian Skin

Working with Indian Skin Tones

Consider a moisturizing makeup prep & primer. This leads to healthy skin and helps your makeup stay on your face all day. At the very least, wash your face, pat it dry, and apply a light, oil-free moisturizing lotion.

Begin by concealing dark circles around the eyes and any scars, spots or marks on the face. A well concealed, prepped face serves as a great canvas for whatever makeup you're planning to do! A simple liquid concealer should be used to clean up the dark spots under your eyes and hide any imperfections. To apply a concealer: Don't take too much product on your finger. More product doesn't necessarily mean better application. Take a little bit of concealer on your finger tip, rub it between the thumb and the finger (to warm it up so that it applies smoother) - and apply in gentle tapping motions.

Choose a light foundation or compact powder matching your skin tone, if wearing one. Many people don't really wear foundation during the day, as it can dry your skin up and look cakey over time. If you have dry skin, use a moisturizing foundation, if you have oily skin, you may go for something that has a matter texture. Also make sure that you choose your foundation according to: The climate of the place where you stay (in colder regions, you'll need more hydrating foundations while in hotter regions you'll need long stay foundations with more SPF). The time of day. Avoid wearing heavy coverage foundations during the day as they can look a bit too overwhelming during this time (they are better for night-outs). Your age. Many foundations have anti-aging ingredients like Olay's. They also have light shimmer in them that reflects well in light and helps in the reduction of appearance of wrinkles. If you are young, you have a wider range of foundations to choose from. The occasion. As a general rule of thumb, you should do all your makeup according to the occasion. If you are going for a day at the beach, heavy makeup would not make any sense as it will not last too long.

Do contouring and highlighting as necessary. Even if you are not an expert in this area, the one thing you can easily do is make your nose look slimmer and smaller. Take a dark brownish lip color or eye shadow and with your finger tip apply a very small amount of the product on the sides of the nose bridge. Smudge it well so that no obvious lines are visible anymore. Try choosing something in a matte finish, if not you can choose something creamy. But at all costs avoid anything with glitter, shimmer, gloss in it as it will give the most unnatural appearance to the nose. Choose a lipstick/eye shadow shade that is at least two shades darker than your own skin tone.

Use a dark colored eyeliner to make your eyes pop dramatically. On dark skin tones, the combination of green and blue eyeliners mixed with black looks really good. Line the inner half of the eyes with green eyeliner and the outer half with blue. Then take black eyeliner and draw a very fine line close to the eyelashes to add definition to the eyes. You can use any two color combinations of eyeliners, not just blue and green. It will depend on your personal style and what you are comfortable with.

Use neutral-colored eye shadow, or none at all, for a casual look. Save the bright colors and dramatic shades for late night events and glamour.

Groom the eyebrows to shape your face and eyes. Your eyebrow grooming routine may include waxing/ tweezing/ trimming or threading. Although some people like to leave their brows alone and keep them natural. If you'd rather not trim, you can still use some clear eyebrow gel to brush through the brows for a neater, more maintained look. Use a good brow pencil that matches your natural brow hair in color and make small strokes with it to fill in any gaps in your brows. Then finish by brushing through with a clear brow gel. Never use pure black, even with dark hair. It almost always looks out of place. Don't use long, harsh strokes to fill the brows. Use small, light-handed (as light as you can manage without dropping the pencil) strokes to achieve the most natural looking strokes that resemble real brow hair.

Apply a good mascara, working up from the base of the lashes for the best results. To give the illusion of heavier lower lashes, you can use an eyeliner to draw tiny dots and dashes along the lower lash line, then smudge these dots and dashes a little bit for a gradual look. Avoid using a waterproof mascara unless you'll be going in the water or humid regions. They are more taxing to take off than regular mascaras, you end up rubbing your eyelashes a bit too hard and breaking them.

Keep the blush light and rosy, only adding a little along your cheek bones for a pinkish glow. Aim for blushes that actually fit your skin tone well, so that the blush is more of an accent and not an attention-drawing brightness. Use your blush brush for a nice, light dusting.

Use a nice, rosy lip gloss or stick to complete the casual, killer look. Gloss goes well with this look, but you may choose another finish if you please. Before application, make sure your lips are well exfoliated and moisturized. Otherwise, you'll see flaky lips that aren't attractive no matter how pretty the lip color. If your eyeliners consist of cooler shades such as blue and green, then make sure that your lip color also has a cooler undertone to it, like a darker red. If you've avoided eye shadows or coloring, find a lip coloring that matches well with your blush for a truly put together look.

Applying Quick, Everyday Makeup

Start with a basic moisturizing cream and some light concealer. Your secret weapon is going to be healthy, hydrated skin, which makes your naturally beautiful skin glow and shine. After moisturizing, apply concealer lightly around your eyes and any spots or dark patches for a nice, even skin tone. A light, liquid concealer that matches your skin tone will usually do the trick. If you're going out at night, a light dusting of foundation may help. It can, however, look cakey in daylight if you over do it.

Keep the eyeliner colors close to your eye-lash line, sticking to blacks, greens, and blues. Whatever color you chose for your eyes, understated is best. Using a finely-pointed eye-liner, draw a nice, clean line right on the eyelash line on top of your eye. Then make a similar line on the bottom eyelid, but only do the outer 1/3 of the lower lash. If you have time, use a pencil smudging brush to smooth out and blend the line, especially towards the outer edge. If you want to use eyeshadow, keep it light. Apply it first, then use a dark eyeliner to add the essential contrast to your eyes and make them pop. Use liquid eyeliner if you find it easier.

Apply a firm mascara, starting at the base of the lashes. Work from root to tip, adding a bit more of that darkness at the root of your eyes. This also offsets any coloring in eye shadow, helping for a more vibrant look. You only need a little mascara on the bottom lashes.

Apply a light, semi-matte blush to the cheeks. Save vibrant or out-there colors for the evening. For now, a lightly pink, darker blush, something a little closer to your skin tone but still with a bit of rosy pop, will give your skin a beautiful glow.

Aim for a similar, but brighter shade, of lipstick so that it matches your blush. You can add a darker colored lip liner as well, if you have time. Otherwise, a nice, bright lipstick will bring the whole look together with an alluring burst of color.