Now personally, I LOVE makeup, to me, it's a form or artistry and a way for one to express themselves and their creativity, however for the longest time I was terrible at applying it. More recently, even though I’m still working on perfecting my makeup skills, I’ve gotten much better at applying makeup seamlessly. This wasn't by chance a thoughtless or completely easy process but thanks to practice, and a number or YouTube tutorials I have gotten the hang of the application process, and I’m going to share with you some of the tips, tricks, and information that helped me progress at the trade.

1. Skincare matters

Without a good foundation, a house is bound to fall apart and be unsteady. The same with your makeup, without a good skincare method, and good skin preparation your makeup will not appear as flawless as you would like, and it won't last as long as you'd like either. Finding a good skincare routine for your personal skin problems is important.

Whether you have dry, oily, sensitive, or acne-prone skin, being aware and using products tailored to fit those specific skin needs is crucial for creating a smooth base for your foundation. Remember skincare, and makeup goes hand in hand, especially in regards to skin type. Foundations have all different types of formulas that make them better for the use of people with certain skin types, compared to others, not only does skin care and knowing your skin type help set up a good base for your foundation, but it also plays a role in whether the foundation itself will work well on you or not.

2. A bad color match will result in bad makeup

Now if you've watched as many YouTube tutorials as me, you hear all this makeup jargon that's thrown around that can make your head spin if you let it all. Foundation matching to a makeup novice is one of the hardest things to do, it has to do with undertones, which have to do with your skin color, compared to your eye color, compared to the color of your veins...it's all just really confusing.

Sometimes there are not always people available to help us get color matched correctly, and sometimes their original match for us isn’t correct. Different makeup artists and gurus around the world all have different ways they swatch foundations to find their correct shade, it can be a unique and different process for everybody, but a way that has personally worked for me was a method introduced by YouTuber and former MUA, Jackie Aina. In order to find her perfect foundation match she swatches the colors against her chest and blends them all in, and whatever color blends most perfectly into her chest (basically to the point where it unnoticeable to most people) is her foundation color.

However, this method doesn’t work for everyone, so there are a couple other methods that can be used when needing to find the perfect match, YouTuber, and Influencer Patricia Bright uses the same swatch method on her hand to find her perfect shade match, all while other common places used to shade match are the neck, the jawline, and the inside of one's wrist. The key to getting the perfect shade match is not being too quick or allowing yourself to be pressured into buying something, and of course, trial an error, when in doubt just ask for a sample to take home and try on your own with your regular routine to see if you like it or not.

3. It's all by preference

The application of foundation is hard as it is, but when one also accounts for concealer, color corrector, blush, bronzer, contour, eyeshadow, highlighter, and only God knows what else it's easy to look like a colorful, patchy clown. Do not fret, however, because since makeup application is different for everyone, everyone is going to have a different routine from the next person and that's ok!

Maybe you like looking glowy instead of sculpted, or maybe you love your features chiseled but you don't really like dewey-ness or many extra colors on your face, or maybe you love the more natural look of some light dew and rosy cheeks, the great news about makeup is it's your preference. If you don't want to use every single product you don't have to. If you want to use every single product in your makeup arsenal that's fine too, it's about whatever makes you happy, and feel beautiful in your own right.

I hope my few pointers, and words of wisdom helped you progress a little bit further on your makeup journey, now pick up your brushes (or sponges) and blend away my darlings, blend away.