Make-up Questions and Answers

Become A Fan of Make-Up USA

I have just discovered your website and have ordered some samples. In the mean time, I am 38 years old and my skin care regime consists of a creamy skin cleanser, alpha-hydroxy cream and moisturizer every night. I use an anti-aging foundation that has an SPF of 18, a little blush, eye liner and mascara. My makeup fades or evaporates about half way through my day. Eyeliner, blush and foundation - poof - it is gone - or fades so it looks as though I have not applied any! My skin is just a bit oily so maybe that is the culprit. Or maybe I need to set it with loose powder - help! Thanks!

You answered your own question. Because your skin is slightly oily, you need to set your make-up with a loose powder. Apply the loose powder after your foundation. This will set the stage for the rest of your make-up. Another tip would be to apply another translucent layer of loose powder over your blush and eyeliner. Make sure you don't use too much powder since this will ruin or mute the color you just applied. (Try to tap your loose powder brush into the sink to remove the excess powder, you barely want to see it on the brush before you apply this last layer.) Colosé Loose Powder | Bren Loose Powder In A Brush

I did a stupid thing! Help I trimmed a tad bit of my eye lashes off and now when I put on my mascara those lashes don't curl up(even when i use the curling thing) like they used to. Also, my lashes are extremely blonde. How can I cover the roots and make them brown w/out dying them? Help please!

The good news is that your lashes will eventually grow back. We lose our eyelashes just like we do the hair on our heads. The old lashes will slowly be replaced by new lashes. I can't say how long this will take, but most likely a few months to be back to your old self.

I do not think anything will work to make your lashes curl up again. By using a blunt instrument like a pair of scissors, you have probably managed to cut them at an angle that won't allow them to curl, no matter what you try. Just be patient, they will grow back.

For extremely blonde lashes, I still recommend using a mascara to help darken them up. I would not recommend you dye them, they have had too much trauma already. Some people do too much to their lashes and they eventually all fall out. Lashes are more delicate than regular hair similar to your eyebrows. It is possible that too much trauma could cause the hair follicle to never replace leaving gaps in your lash line.

A great mascara to try for blonde women with blonde lashes is White Mascara. This will make your lashes look wet. If you want to add a little more color, apply the White first then add Brown Mascara. Colosé Cosmetics and Skincare from Switzerland makes a great White Mascara and they also have Brown, Black and Blue.

Questions March 2005

I`m after a lip treatment that makes the lips plumper (there`s a reaction which brings the blood to the surface). Do any high street brands offer this type of product?

You may want to try our new voliptuous lips, made especially to plump out your pout! It does have A revolutionary special formulation designed to restore collagen and hydate lips. Our plumper increases moisture, creating the illusion of volume by filling in the creases around the mouth and improving the contour and fullness of the lips. Contains ingredients that penetrate lips to smooth out those little lines and wrinkles! The resut - plumper, smoother and conditioned lips. The active ingredients in our lip plumper are silicone oils: Cyclomethicone and Dimethicone.

I'm going to a formal event in three weeks (egad -- so soon?!), and plan on wearing smoky eye make-up in silver and gray shades. The only problem is that I'm unsure of what sort of lipstick color to wear, and if it should be matte, cream, or glossy texture, et cetera. I have a red dress, so anything close to it is right out. I'd be grateful for your advice.

I think you should be wearing a red lipstick! Lipstick color choices should go more with your skintone though rather than your dress color, however, with all the red colors available it will be easy to pick a red color that not only goes with your skin tone, but also coordinates well with your dress. We have 40 lipstick shades on our web site for you to choose from. First look at the article: Red Is My Love and then view Colose Lipstick colors and Bren Lipstick colors.

A Perfect Red Lipstick For A Perfect Red Dress!

The newest way to wear red lipstick is dabbed on as a tint with a slick of gloss over it - More natural, and more real looking.

Hi!! Um I have been reading all of your advice i'ts so kool THANKS!! But one question... How do you do Smokey eyes like Hilary Duff?

Hilary Duff does do Smokey eyes well! She is also combining Smokey with a slight cat eye. She takes the darker shade and extends it past her outer eye in an upward "cat" eye motion. It's not as severe as normal "cat" eyes because she softens the look with a medium shade along the middle and a light shade along the upper eyelid just below the eyebrow. She also has a matching shade of eyeliner along the upper eye and also along the lower eye. She blends this color by using her medium eye shadow over her lower eyeliner. The only way she can do this is to use the proper brushes for application. You won't get a good Smokey or even a good "cat" eye with the applicator that comes in your eye shadow compact. You will need to invest in two brushes for this look.

You will need: Chisel Angle Fluff Brush - For all over color and under eye brow Chisel Double Shader Brush - For contouring and blending - A trio eye shadow or three shades of color: light, medium, dark preferably in a Smokey hue like:

Shadow Trio

Eclipse

Grapevine

Amoré

Eye liner color

Charcoal

Charcoal

Prune

Mascara color

Black

Black

Black

Eye lash curler AND AN INDEX CARD!

I will walk you through Amoré.

1) Using your Angle Fluff Brush apply the cream color all over your eyelid

2) Apply the Prune eye liner along the upper eye closest to your eye lash in about 1/16th inch line, start at the inner eye and go all the way across your eye to outer most portion of your eye angling up and out at the end.

3) Use the Index card and place it at a 45-degree angle against the outer portion of your eye.

4) Using the double shader brush, apply the burnt red color over the Prune eye shadow and lower lid.

5) Keep the index card in place and using the double shader, apply the dark brown color in a diagonal from the center eye to the outer eye stopping just above the middle crease of your eye.

6) Remove index card.

7) Using your Angle Fluff Brush (it should still have a bit of the cream shadow in the brush) in a one directional brush stroke going to the outer portion of your eye, brush once or twice outward to blend the colors and to soften the line left by the index card. Clean brush and dip in cream color for the opposite eye.

8) Curl your eye lashes using a curler and 30 seconds of pressure on your upper eye lashes

9) Apply the black mascara in two layers.

And most of all practice, practice, practice as this will take a few times to get the look just right.

HELP! I know how to find the correct foundation (I was told to put it on the underneath of my forearm where my lightest skin is) my problem is every time I wear makeup (foundation and powder especially) my face ends up looking like a ghost. I do have a fair complexion. I also wear eye shadow that is a medium brown on my lower eyelid and a lighter brown (taupe) on the upper eyelid is this helping my ghostly appearance?

The best way to find the best foundation is to apply the foundation to the top of your hand. Your hand receives as much sun exposure as your face, the underneath of your forearm probably doesn't receive much sun at all!

If you are looking like a ghost, your foundation and powder are definitely too light. Try a shade darker and you should be fine. In the summer, it may be necessary to go two shades darker. Make sure you also blend your foundation on your neck and upper chest to avoid any noticeable lines.

Loose powder is important, so pick the next shade up and use it to set your foundation and give you a natural glow. You may also want to pick a foundation/loose powder with a pink undertone as this will help add color to your face. Try our new powder in a brush for a convenient and quick application.

How to do the best wedding make up? I`m 26 years old. I will be with white gown with red elements on it. I`ve got brown eyes and red hair; my face is square shaped. I want to look gorgeous. 10x in advance.

Wedding make-up should be applied heavier than you normally would apply make-up because (1) it will show up better in pictures and (2) you want it to last all day/night long. White is actually a very difficult color to work with, but your red hair and brown eyes will add color. You will want to focus in on colors that you naturally wear, just applied heavier. Don't make the mistake of picking colors you have never worn before because you will not end up looking like yourself!

Ivy from Bren Cosmetics is a trio of eye shadow color that should work with both your eye color and hair color (depending on the red tones).

I recommend you try out several heavier applications before the big day and see what you like best. One great application that is tried and true is the following:

If using a trio of color (highly recommended) then use the light base color over the entire eyelid followed by your darkest shade in the middle or crease of the eye. The medium shade will go on your lower lid. Use darker eyeliner in the same family of color as your medium shade (or slightly darker). Apply Mascara either a black or a brown. Curl your lashes using an eyelash curler to really make your eyes pop!

If I have sallow skin, what is it and which foundation should you use?

Sallowness is a dull yellowish skin color. The best way to correct this is to apply a Lavender base to your skin, which will give a yellowish complexion a healthy glow and cover sallowness. I recommend a Lavender corrector. Cover and blend this base with your current foundation or use the same brand of foundation as the brand of Lavender corrector/foundation because this will blend the best!

How long can you keep lipsticks for? Do they have an expiry "date" and how do you store them? How about mascaras?

Any open make-up can last up to one year with the exception of Mascara, which should only be used for 6 months. Unopened make-up usually has a shelf life of two years with the exception of products that are all natural and do not have preservatives, those only last one month if stored correctly. The best way to keep your make-up in good condition is to avoid extreme cold and extreme hot. Storing in a cool, dry place is ideal.

How do you know which colors to choose? How do you find out whether you are to use blue or yellow-based make-up?

To correct discolorations or uneven tones use the following color correctors: Alabaster covers dark circles on warm skin tones; Lavender gives a yellowish complexion a healthy glow and covers sallowness; Mint neutralizes redness; Pink highlights all skin tones. Follow suite with a foundation. Warm skin tones need to follow the beige or yellow-based make-up and cool tones need to follow the pink-based make-up.

I wear too much makeup and then when I don't wear a lot of it I don't look all that great. How can I fix that? Thanks

What you need is a simple look without using a lot of make-up that will have you looking fresh and pretty. I first have to recommend a good cleansing routine, because this is the key to looking great without make-up. You will need to chose a routine based on your skin type: normal, dry, oily or combination. Visit our website to check out the different packages for each skin type.

Now for the make-up routine. I think you can wear more make-up in the evening than you can in the daytime, it's just easier to be more dramatic at night. So keep your current routine for evenings out. For the daytime, you will want to stay with natural colors that highlight your best features. I recommend you start with a foundation that absorbs quickly and is not heavy (your foundation is probably what makes you feel like you wear too much make-up. It is probably too heavy and doesn't absorb well.)

I recommend you try either the foundation from Colosé Cosmetics or the Pure Performance foundation by Bren Cosmetics. If you are under 30, use Colosé. If you are over 30 us the Pure Performance. Both absorb quickly and will not feel heavy.

The second step is to find a concealer that again isn't too heavy. I recommend Compact Crème Powder Concealer by Colosé (its absolutely the best). Its translucent but will cover blemishes, discolorations and dark circles.

Over all of this use a light translucent powder to set your make-up in place and give you a natural glow.

Finalize this with your favorite lipstick, blush and eye colors.

Hi! I'm 17, Asian girl. The only make up I put are eye shadow and mascara that is about it.....and I have no idea about the makeup. Can you please tell me so I can understand more.

Asian women look really nice in Smokey color eye shadows. With your complexion, you can chose to go with Eclipse, Grapevine or Mystic trios from Bren Cosmetics. These colors are purples, lavenders, pinks and for Smokey eyes, gray and charcoal. Use a charcoal (Raven) or an Onyx (gray) eyeliner on your upper eyelid only. Use Black or Charcoal mascara. For your checks you want to stay with a natural look such as Bordeaux blush glow (natural pink) and also go with natural color for your lips. I recommend you try Persuade or Timeless Lip Twins from Bren Cosmetics too.

When applying blush where do you start and stop? How high and low on your cheek do you go? Tressie

This depends on the shape of your face. If you have a round face, you will want to apply blush in an upward motion starting in a straight line down from your eye and right about at your nose and back to your hairline. This will help a round face look thinner and add angles to your face. If you have an angular or oval shape to your face, you will want to apply blush to the apple of your cheek in a circular motion to achieve a look of fullness.

My question is why is 1 of my eyebrows higher than the other and how can I get the 2 look the same?

We naturally have asymmetrical faces. In fact if you were to take half of your face and replicate it to the other side, you would look completely different!

The best way to correct your asymmetry is to slightly pluck the hairs at the top of the higher brow and slightly pluck the hair under the lower brow. Use a brow brush and brush on brow color to finish the correction. The brow brush will help you create the best look. Choose a color that most naturally fits with the current color of your hair.

I'm 13 and I have blue eyes and light brown/blondish colored hair and I don't know what eye shadow and eye liner matches with my eyes?

Blue eyes are best with light brown, brown, orange, bronze, gold, cream, pink and taupe. These colors are contrasting to blue, which will help the blue in your eye stand out. I recommend you try Nature, Amoré, Dream or Sunset from Bren Cosmetics or Marron and Savane from Colosé Cosmetics.

What can I do for small brown eyes since my eyes tend to sink in during the day? And if I put a pink it turns to red at the end of the day!

Most brown eyes look great in grays, plums and pink tones as well as gold and burnt oranges. If pink is turning to red at the end of the day then just get rid of that color.

You can make small eyes look bigger by doing just a few easy steps. First, you want to find a base color, lighter than your natural skin tone. This color goes all over your eyelids.

Second, place eyeliner along your eye lashes toward the outer edge of your eye, stopping the liner at either the middle or outer 1/4th of your eyelid. Do the same with eyeliner on the bottom of your eyes, but in a much softer application making sure you blend it into your eyelashes (you want to avoid dark smudges under your eyes at the end of the day, so if you tend to smudge with either Mascara or eyeliner, then I would avoid placing the eyeliner under your eye and use waterproof Mascara).

Use a light shade of gold or plum or gray (Onyx from Colosé is a duet with both gray and plum that's gorgeous) at the upper most and lower most portions of your eyelids. In the crease of your eye place a darker shade of the gold, plum or gray. Two shades with the dark shade in the middle will make your eyes appear larger. And if you really want to try something new, use white eyeliner along the inner most portion of your lower eyelid. This will really make your eyes appear bigger. You can do the same just along the lower portion of your eyebrow to make your arch more defined. If you haven't ever waxed your eyebrows and they lack an arch, try plucking your eyebrows (or if your brave, go and have a RECOMMENDED professional wax your eyebrows). You'll love how they make your eyes really stand out.

My hair is coloured beige blonde I like the look of Pam Anderson's brows. Does it look ok to have thin dark brows with such blonde hair?

Yes, but I caution you. This look only works when you're very done up. Pam rarely leaves her house without all her make-up on. The dark brows are an accent to the false eyelashes and heavy mascara Pam wears. Also, she blends her eye shadows to emphasize her eyebrows by putting a very light, almost white color just under her brow.

This makes her brow appear darker and defines the shape of her eyebrow arch. I recommend that you don't dye your eyebrows dark, but use an eyebrow pencil. This way you can always reverse the look if you like.

What is contouring?

Contouring is a make-up technique using blush, concealer or bronzing powder to sculpt the shape of your face in different ways. For example, if you have a very round, plump face, then you want to use contouring to add definition to your cheeks. You would place blush along the cheek in such a way as to make the cheek look to have a defined cheek bone.

How to help minimize large eyelids?

The best way to go about distracting from a feature you don't like is to emphasize a feature you do like. Let's highlight your eyes (and not your eyelids). To do this you want to take an eyebrow pencil that is very similar to the color of your eyebrows and draw a line just below the natural curve of your eyebrows. This will bring your eyebrows down lower to your eyes and make your eyelid look smaller. You may need to pluck or wax the upper portion of your eyebrow so as to not have too bushy a brow. Also, shape in a nice gently contouring arch.

Next, you will want to emphasize your eyelashes. Take dark eyeliner, like black or brown, and go all the way across your upper eyelash and onto your eyelid. This will help extend the look of your eyelashes and again decrease the amount of space for your eyelids.

Use a lighter shade of color on your upper eyelash and a darker shade of color for your crease and lower lid. I recommend you use a color that is subtle and blends well with your skin tone. For most people, brown and taupe colors work the best. These colors will contrast with your eyes and make them appear brighter. If you pick a color that is flashy or obvious, then you will be attracting people to look at your eyelids. A really great color combination for a light taupe/brown and dark brown is Marron by Colosé Cosmetics.

My lips crack really badly. They crack at the corners all the time. It not only hurts but also looks awful! I use blistex and lip gloss all the time. I can't even wear lipstick because it looks bad at the corners. What can I do?

First you must drink lots of water, you are probably dehydrated, not to the extent that you notice, but your lips do. Avoid caffeine products like pop, tea, coffee as they are diuretics and cause you to lose water. Second, find a humidifier and place this into your room at night while you sleep (the air you breath is too dry and your lips are noticing this). Third, at night, use either petroleum jelly on your lips or a product made in Switzerland called Essentials of Colosé, (Alpine Herbal Ointment) which is excellent for chapping on lips. Avoid lip gloss because even though it moisturizes, it also evaporates quickly and will only provide short-term relief. In fact, if your using flavored lip gloss, you probably lick your lips more and this will dry out your lips. Find a creamy lipstick. This will offer the most protection and the best look for throughout the day. Specifically look for a lipstick that says on the label creamy or pearl. Avoid a matte lipstick. You can use Chap Stick under a lipstick, which will provide some additional relief, especially if it's medicated. Blistex should work, but it may be that your lips are too used to this product and somewhat immune, or again you tend to lick your lips with that product on.

What is the chemical difference between lipstick and lip gloss? Is lip gloss healthy for your lips?

Lip gloss is healthy for your lips and so is lipstick, both are great moisturizers. Most recognized brands meet FDA standards, or the standards of the country they are made in. Safety is important to all cosmetic companies. Lip gloss is obviously more liquid and this is because they contain more oils. Lipsticks usually contain wax and petroleum jelly-like ingredients. Colosé has added Vitamin E to all of their lipsticks to help reduce wrinkles and improve skin texture.

I would like to know a name of a few foundations that work well for women in their 40`s. I am needing a moisturizing make-up that helps with the fine lines, without making my skin look like an oil slick. I do have a few sunspots so need something with good coverage and yet don't want to look like I'm wearing a mask. HELP! Thanks, Diane

WOW, it must be foundation week. I am getting a lot of foundation questions. I have to believe that it's due to the change in the weather. Don't look to a foundation to moisturize; the industry has not perfected this yet. They would need to make a foundation for oily skin, dry skin and combination skin. They don't. They make foundations for everyone and they ad a moisturizing and think it solves the world' problems.

There are moisturizers for dry skin, oily skin, normal skin and combination skin. Depending on your skin type, pick a moisturizer. Your moisturizer will be your base and you will want to apply your foundation over it.

I recommend for an oily skin type Milk of Aloe by Colose Cosmetics. For a dry skin type I recommend either Milk of Avocado or Milk of Calendula. For a combination skin type, I recommend Milk of Papaya. For normal skin use Milk of Mandarine. Each of these Milks are moisturizers that contain natural plant extracts specially formulated for your specific skin type. They all absorb quickly into the skin and make a wonderful make-up base.

As for your comment about coverage, you can use a corrector or concealer to hide a few skin spots and blend the concealer with your foundation using a sponge. The following companies make good foundations: Colose Cosmetics, Clinique, Lancôme and Almay.

What is the best way to apply concealer to get a natural look?

Concealers can look unnatural because they can be difficult to blend due to the different consistency of concealers verses foundations. The best way to get a natural look is to apply the concealer before your foundation and blend with a sponge. A sponge will lift off any excess foundation or concealer. Adding a loose powder to your face and neck can enhance the natural look. Loose powder will set your make-up, make it last longer and is a great base for blush and eye shadow.

Some concealers are too thick making them difficult to blend. Colosé Cosmetics makes a great concealer that easily blends with foundation. It is creamy and covers shadows and blemishes well.

Hi, I've been recently recruited as a news reporter for a local TV channel. For now, we haven't hired a professional make up artist yet, so I do my own make up. My problem is that my make-up seems to "disappear" when I'm on cam already. How do I apply make up for TV? By the way, I have Asian features, as in almond eyes and yellow skin tone. Thank you very much for your time and hope to hear from you soon.

Congratulations on the new position. Being on TV without the right make-up can make you "disappear" because you are competing with very intense lighting. Lighting will add a white wash to your skin tone. For television, I would recommend you try a foundation that is slightly darker than your normal tone, like if you had a tan, and you need to apply a lot of make-up. To avoid shine, apply loose powder that is translucent or matches your skin tone exactly. If you pick a color that is too light, this will also drown you out. TV requires make-up similar to stage make-up, so think bold. Use black eye liner and black mascara and you will see your eyes "pop". Use two different but complimentary shades of eye shadow, one that is light to apply along your eye brow/upper lid and along the lowest portion of your lid. Then take the darker shade and place that in the crease of your eyelid and blend with the upper and lower colors. Your eyeliner should go all the way across your upper lid, but you can skip under the eye for your features. With Asian features you will be able to wear a lot of different shades. Onyx from Colosé will give you a nice Smokey look.

Blush can be natural, but applied heavier than you are used to. Same with lipstick, apply a fresh coat just before you go on camera and use a lip liner. Use an eyebrow pencil that matches your eyebrow color too. This will help define and sharpen your look.

The best tip I can give you is to do your make-up in front of a mirror that has lighting very similar to the lighting in front of the cameras. This will show you that you look washed out and naturally make you add more make-up/color to your face and neck (please don't forget your neck, definitely add foundation, and blush to this area, too).

I have dark shades under my eye how can I get rid of them?

Dark shadows are the plague us all. There a few products on the market called correctors that will make the shadows disappear. You need to find the right corrector for your problem. Make-up USA sells color correctors in their "Platinum Collection". Mint will neutralize redness, Alabaster covers dark circles on warm skin tones (this is probably most people), and Lavender gives a yellowish complexion a healthy glow and covers shadows/sallowness. Apply correctors after moisturizing and before foundation.

How do I apply loose powder? With a wet or dry sponge?

Yikes! Your answer is neither! Always, always, always apply loose powder with a powder brush, one of those really big ones. The purpose of using a brush is that you will be able to brush off any excess powder. If you use a dry sponge, it's easy to have areas with more powder, especially around your hairline and nose. And a wet sponge would make an uneven mess out of your foundation. Brushes range in price from a few dollars to up to $30.00. The more expensive brushes are longer lasting, maintain their shape and bristle count much better.

Hi! I am 17 and would like to ask a few questions. What type of foundation, ect. for my dry skin? What should I apply before putting on foundation? Why is my make up not sticking on my skin after some time? Thanks!

You can search long and hard for a foundation that has the right moisturizer in it for your skin, but that's unreliable and you will probably spend a lot of money to find your skin type. I recommend that you purchase a separate moisturizer that will absorb quickly into the skin and use it as a make-up base or you can use a sport cream that contains a mixture of elastin, collagen and protein. Colosé sport cream cares for the skin and makes it look healthy because of its light shade. It is also ideal as a make-up base as it contains Vitamins C and E. Apply your foundation right over the moisturizer. This will be longer lasting and better for your skin. There are a lot more good moisturizers on the market than good foundations with moisturizer added (maybe someday the industry will perfect a one step process, but until then you need to do two steps). Most foundations are for all skin types, so if you are oily, dry, or have combination skin, then you need find a moisturizer for your skin type, for under your foundation. I would recommend for dry skin a great product that absorbs nicely from Colosé Cosmetics. They have two choices for dry skin: Milk of Calendula with calendula plant extract and Milk of Avocado that contains avocado oil, Vitamin A, D and E. These are both specially formulated for dry and also sensitive skin.

How do I apply my eye shadow to look like cat eyes?

Here's a trick of the trade for cat eyes: find an index card and place it at a 45 degree angle to your eye (and right up to your eye, touching your skin). Take a light shade of eye shadow and place it along the uppermost and lowermost portion of your eyes. (Keep the card in place because this is your angle for the cat eyes). Next take a darker shade and place that into the crease of your eye and blend with the lower lighter color and only slightly blend with the upper lighter shade. Add a dark eyeliner along the entire length of your upper eyelash and black mascara for your lashes. This will make your eyes "pop". Now remove the index card and you will have cat eyes! Smokey tones with purples work great for cat eyes. Try Onyx Eye Shadow by Colosé Cosmetics for the cat eye look.

My question is about foundation. I have freckles and make up frequently makes my skin look powdery. What brands of foundation will give me a more dewy look and which ones have the best moisture content. My skin is fairly dry. I've heard Bobbi Brown and Laura Mercier, but can you recommend any. Currently I am using Prescriptives Virtual skin, but find there is not enough moisture to it.

Wonderful question, and I can help! First, you shouldn't look to a foundation for moisture. I have only found one that I like, and now I work for their company! If you have dry skin, then that is your main problem. To treat your lack of moisture, you will need to change your cleansing routine and add a moisturizer and possibly a cream to your routine.

Dry skin types should cleanse with a Cleansing Milk or Cleansing Cream. Colosé has a specially formulated their cleansing products with Vitamins C and E as well as rejuvenating oils. They remove dirt, dead skin cells and make-up. Your next step is to use a toner, without alcohol to help freshen the skin and close pores.

If you want to use a moisturizer, which is really great under make-up, then I would recommend Milk of Calendula. The Calendula plant extracts are highly beneficial for dry and sensitive skin. You can apply your foundation over the Milk of Calendula.

There are foundations out there that will dry your skin (they tend to be the less expensive brands, under $6.00). You don't have to pay a lot for a good foundation, just find one that has the word moisturizing in the description. I may be biased, but I found that Colosé's foundation absorbs well without drying and without making your face feel greasy.

To continue the maintenance of your skin you will want to begin applying a face cream at night. Depending on your age, you may want an anti-aging cream. A great cream for all ages and one that specializes in the treatment of dry skin is Colosé's Basic Night Cream (Crème de Nuit Basic). This cream penetrates quickly into the skin and regulates moisture, natural oils and will improve elasticity of your skin.

One more final recommendation: Its going to be winter soon and winter air lacks the moisture that summer has, so its especially important to moisturize morning and night to combat the harshness of the upcoming season.

Which should you apply first, eye shadow or mascara? When I do mascara first it smudges onto the eye shadow, so I have 2 wipe it off and start again. But if I do it the other way round, powder falls onto and then sticks to the mascara.

Great question! Traditionally you apply the eye shadow first and then your mascara. You want to apply your mascara in thin layers (usually two thin layers). This will help to avoid the smudges. It is also possible that you need to try a different brand of mascara. Waterproof brands don't smudge as much as non-waterproof brands do. Also, try a straight wand, as this will give you more control than a wand that is already contoured, especially if the contoured wand doesn't match with the contour of your eyelash.

I don't have straight hair. But I like how it looks straight so (obviously) I straighten it. In gym class I always work up a sweat and my bangs go everywhere. Do you have any tips for what I could do quickly after gym class? Oh and I can't pull my bangs back. My forehead isn't the smallest and it kind of embarrassing.

I've heard great things about a product called L'anza - Smoother Straightening Balm. It may be a little more expensive than what you are currently using (and if you aren't using a straightening product currently, that's probably why you have frizz after gym). The cost is average for that type of product, but a little goes a long way. If the problem continues after gym, I recommend bringing a second bottle of the product to gym and leave it in your bag or in your locker and get a portable hair dryer. If you are just fixing your bangs, this shouldn't take too long and will last the rest of the day.

How can I apply goth make-up when I have glasses. It never seems to work! I'm desperate! please help!

Apply your goth eye make-up so that it stands out! Hopefully you can get yourself a pair of dark framed eye glasses or today's more fashionable larger-sized eyeglasses are also an option as are more unusual colors such as blue, green and purple and combinations such as the currently popular multi-colored laminations. Many Goths wear eye glasses so it really should not be a problem. It is designs around the eyes and on the face that make the look not right. Do not draw curly designs / lines etc. around your eyes as that really does not work. Try to focus your attention on your lips and eyeshadow. Depending on your coloring, which we need more information, use Myrtille Lipstick, Nail Polish and Onyx eyeshadow. Choose a foundation which is two shades lighter than your natural coloring. Do not use white makeup. Read more about the goth look...

********************************************************