The Art Of Makeup

A series by Jim Bridges

Part 3

Now that you have created those spectacular eyes (from the last issue) we'll
go on to the next step, to ensure that you have a nice clean surface under the
eyes. Make sure that you have used your baby wipes to take away any remaining
eye shadow that might have drifted down off your applicator and onto the cheek
area. It is very important to make sure this is very clean before you put your
foundation on so that you don't get shadows.

Those annoying dark shadows, circles, and bags under the eyes are a problem
for a lot of people. One of the best ways to get rid of this to camouflage or
to hide it. You will want to use a good product that is fairly soft, not
something that is hard, because you will have to apply it under the eye. If
you drag something heavy under the eye, you are stretching the skin, and it is
going to cause wrinkles. We always want to be very delicate while working
under the eye because this is a delicate area.

I recommend something we have at the Jim Bridges Boutique that is called
Under-eye Concealer. It has a wonderful texture, not too soft and not too
hard. If you use a pan stick, which is what a lot of people use, it ends up
being a very greasy effect and isn't attractive at all. The product ends up
getting caught in the fine creases near the eye. We want to eliminate that
effect, so don't use something that is greasy.

Use enough of the concealer that will give you the effect that it's created to
do. So many people, when they come in for a make-over, are amazed at how much
of the under-eye concealer I use. I tell them to apply it to their finger, pat
it on softly, and, most of all, make sure you use enough so that you won't
look like a raccoon in reverse.

Once you have the concealer under both eyes, take a sponge and, very gently,
dab at the product. This is called stippling and will blend the product
without actually removing it or causing the skin to be stretched. Again, just
dab at the product gently, but remember it doesn't have to be blended out of
visibility. You just want to soften the edges.

Now you will put on your beard cover. Use this product very generously. Some
of the gals use a minimal amount of this and there is always a shadow coming
through. We have a product call Beard Camouflage that was created to hide scar
tissue and birthmarks. I incorporated this product into my product line to
make it the best we possibly could. It will cover a beard or tattoo like
nothing else I have ever found. I work with some plastic surgeons and I use
this product to teach burn victims how to cover their scars.

You will want to use your finger to dab this on. You warm it up with your
finger a little bit by rubbing in a circular motion over the top. It softens a
bit and makes it easier to apply. You dot this on over the upper lip area and
the chin area. Again, be very generous with this. Just come to the chin. You
don't need to come all the way up the sides of the face. A lot of people do
that and then when they have photographs taken, this white look comes over the
face because of the beard cover they are using. So don't bring it up that
high. Unless you have an extremely heavy beard and a very, very dark one then
I might bring it up to the outside of the face just below the sideburn area.

It is not necessary to bring this product under the chin, just to the chin
line. Because whatever is left on your sponge when you blend, you can then use
under the chin and on the neck area. This gives you a tiny bit of the beard
cover in this area. It will cover up the redness and any irritation left there
from shaving. One reason you don't want to use this product in the neck area
is it can create tremendous cleaning bills. It makes a ring around whatever
you're wearing and looks very dirty.

You cannot use too much of this product because this is such an important
step. You want to make sure that you block out all of that beard and any
shadow. When you're using a sponge to blend, whether its a foundation or beard
cover or eye concealer, your sponge will absorb any of the product that you
don't really need. So don't worry about putting on too much of the product.

When this is completed then you go on to the next step which is foundation. I
make things easy when I do a make-over. I use a light and a dark foundation.
When you go to buy your cosmetics, most often the sales people just confuse
you beyond belief by asking are you a blue base, or a green or a yellow base.
The fact of the matter is, most people don't know what their base tone is. The
sales people are trained to sell cosmetics, not to select colors. So, in order
to eliminate that problem and not end up with a drawer full of cosmetics that
you'll never use because you found they are the wrong color, I keep things
simple with a light and a dark foundation. I recommend using a water based
foundation. This gives excellent coverage and it isn't greasy. Oil doesn't
come to the surface so you won't look greasy.

What I do with the light and the dark foundation is a little bit of camouflage
work, actually, because the ideal female face is a perfect oval. So what you
do is stand in front of your mirror and hold your hands in front of your face
and create an oval. The oval that you want to create is primarily under the
lips, nose and eyes. This is the area we want to project, so this is where we
want to create this oval. We'll use a lighter foundation on anything inside
this oval because light gives the illusion of coming forward. We use the dark
foundation on anything outside of the oval because it will camouflage and
recede. So you'll be taking off a square masculine jaw line on a square face.
If you have a long face you can put a little dark foundation on the chin area
and on the forehead and this will help to create an illusion of a smaller
face.

Its best to start with your light foundation first, dotting on one side of the
face under the eye, the nose area, under the top lip and the chin and just to
the side of the mouth. Dot lightly with a finger, then take your sponge and
very lightly blend by patting in that stippling motion.Once you have that
blended, you can go onto the other side of the face and do the same thing. The
reason I do one side, then the other is when you're using a water based
foundation, it will dry faster than an oil based. If you put foundation on the
whole face, then once you've blended one side and go to the other, it doesn't
blend as nicely. Sometimes it looks streaky and that is because it has already
started to dry. So you're better off to do one side of your face at a time.

Once you have your oval completed with the lighter foundation, go back and
take your dark foundation using that same dot method. Start on the outside of
the oval, just at the bottom side of the ear and come down to the chin. You
make it wider at the top near the ear, approximately 1 1/2 - 2 inches wide. It
will narrow down to maybe 1/2 inch near the chin depending on the width of the
face and how much you want to take off.

Take your sponge, using the opposite side you used for the lighter foundation,
start blending the dark foundation. When you have that completed go over to
the other side of the face and repeat it. Once you have blended that nice and
smoothly, you can go on to your next step which is translucent powder. But
before that I would like to mention that if you are going to do this in the
day time, be a little more sparing with the dark foundation and remember that
the sunlight shows all.

Next Time: Powder and Blush


The Jim Bridges Boutique is located at 11480 Cumpston St., N. Hollywood,
Calif., Phone: 818-761-6650. Call for an appointment, or catch Jim at one
of the many tg events around the country.


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