In the first Bobbi Brown Master Class in the Philippines, Felix Nguyen, assistant education manager and makeup artist for Bobbi Brown Asia Pacific, clued women in on emerging makeup trends.
“At Fashion Week last month, it was all about illuminated skin, which has a lot to do with moisture, but you can fake it with lots of illumination products. We’re also noticing in the region that red and burgundy lips are just flying off the counters,” said Nguyen.
However, before women could go crazy with the new rouges, he pulled back and warned of everyday mistakes that women make with their makeup and skincare.
1. Moisturizers are not meant to work alone!
“Skin is like a sponge. So if you have your sponge, and you squeeze your [dishwashing liquid] on top, it doesn’t do anything. It just sits there. But if you wet the sponge, it goes in deeper. With skincare, it’s similar: If you use a toner to soften your skin a little bit first, then put your serum and moisturizer on top, the product will penetrate deeper into your skin, so you get way more out of your skincare.”
2. Don’t apply moisturizer all over your face.
“One thing with moisturizer is to use the right amount, and [take into consideration] the placement on your face. If you have really dry skin, feel free to put a really even amount all over, but if you’re quite oily, start on your cheeks, and just apply a sheer amount on your T-zone. If you put it all over, as the oils come out through the day, your foundation isn’t going to last as long. The key is to hydrate where you need to, and then add and balance out the rest of your face.”
3. Your makeup should mimic your skin’s natural oils, not hide them.
“Skin has different textures so, when you wake up and don’t put any makeup on, you’ll notice that certain areas of your face have more moisture and some are drier.
“So it’s the same thing when you’re doing foundation and powder. You still want to imitate that delicate balance of texture in your skin.”
4. Conceal first before applying foundation.
“A lot of women ask me why I do corrector and concealer first, and the reason is, when you wake up in the morning, the first thing you do is grab your foundation and put it on, but you still look so tired. So you put more foundation on. But if you started [covering up] what makes you look tired first, you’ll find that you use less makeup. You’ll look fresh and bright, and you’ll look like you!”
5. Press and roll powder foundation instead of dusting it on.
“The key with powder is also paying attention to where you apply it and using the right amount. The reason I like to press and roll is, skin has lots of little folds, so if you just dust it on top, [you form] little air pockets there, and as the day goes on, it will fade much faster. But if you roll it, it actually rolls into all the little crevices and presses the foundation in, making it last longer.”
6. Load your brush up!
“The reason why [makeup artists] load brushes really well is with a powder brush, if the bristles [aren’t all loaded with product], they actually start removing makeup when you apply it on your face. So you’re kind of undoing the makeup that you’ve already done. By applying powder to the whole brush, all it does is deposit [on your skin]. Same goes with liquid foundation. Even if I just use one little drop, I worked it into the brush first, so it keeps depositing as I work it through the rest of the face.”
7. Blush is not meant to be used as contour.
“How many women have you seen with blush on really random places on their faces? I know that they’re trying to do a contour with pink blush, but that doesn’t really work with pink. Smile, start with the apples of your cheeks, then blend up the temples and into your hairline. What that does is it lifts and brightens up your face.
“Same goes with illuminators. If you already used a moisturizer, just add on to the cheeks.”
8. When in doubt, match your lipstick to your blush.
“Bobbi Brown believes in always matching your lip to your cheeks because, that way, it always looks very fluid. Your look isn’t too detached, so if you’re trying to do your makeup with a natural look, that is the best tip that you can have.”
