- Cassandra McClure
Young women today have few places to look for elegant role models. Perhaps striving for elegance is not even a thought or reflection. Their choices are even fewer if they do not come from the 1% of families where certain traditions, rules and principles of style are passed down. So where do they look, these young girls from around the world to find ideas on how to do their makeup in the most flattering fashion? The Kardashians, Hollywood starlets, Instagram influencers, pop stars, female rappers? With this being so, we have what we have now -- an absolute travesty. Too many overly made-up faces lacking any discipline or refinement. Some look theatrical, some too matte and brown/neutral -- very 1990s, some too discotheque shiny, and some have chosen the popular early 2000s "no-makeup makeup look" quite celebrated in Paris. There's no balance or moderation, and that is the true beauty of makeup -- to improve one's appearance and enhance le visage, not detract from it.
"Your makeup must become a part of you. If it is so off-key, if it is so startling that it dazzles, or so underdone that it causes spectators to worry over your health, it is not part of you. Freakish eyebrows, gooey eyelids, too-pale cheeks, and completely untouched-by-beauty aids faces are all unnatural. "What! No makeup at all unnatural?" For an urban woman under sixty, yes! For though that woman may be as nature made her, she will look colorless among her brightened-up sisters." - Helen Valentine, Better Than Beauty, A Guide to Charm
The usual makeup offenses are as follows:
1. Contouring gone wrong. I am a big fan of proper contouring. If blended correctly, it can truly enhance one's features. However, if not blended well, you will walk out of your home only to be mistaken for a drag queen. If this is not your line of work, it is best to blend, blend, blend until the lines of your contour are barely visible.
2. The beige face. I see this time and time again -- women whom I believe want to pull off a very natural look -- but instead look almost ill from a lack of color. The foundation, lips, cheeks are a canvas of beige. The entire face is one often ashen monochrome color. This is especially unattractive on a woman forty and over. As we age, our skin loses a lot of vibrancy, elasticity and color. An easy fix for this is to add a little blush and a lipstick in a flattering hue.
3. Visible lip liner. If you are still sporting visible lip liner (think Naomi Campbell and Gwen Stefani in the 1990s) you are several decades behind the times. One's lip liner should never be noticeable, and especially not three to four shades darker than one's lipstick or gloss. This atrocity rears its ugly head every now and again, and my advice is to politely ignore it.
4. Halloween eye shadow. Heavy, dark eye shadow may work well in theater, on runways, artistic fashion shoots, and with your Elvira Halloween costume -- but not in real life. Also, choosing to shadow one's eyes in a rainbow of colors is also quite scary. Neutral, earth toned eyeshadow colors are universally appealing. The heavy, colorful 1980s eye shadow palettes need to remain in that era.
5. The blood red lip. The French may not agree, but in my opinion, if you are over thirty-five or so, of a pale complexion and have thin lips -- red is not for you, especially dark red. This look even aged Coco Chanel. It is terribly unforgiving and gives a woman with pale skin and thin lips a witchy appearance. Add a long thin nose and you will frighten school children. If your lips are large and plump, you will absolutely look clownish. Dark red lips are the domain of young women with a medium lip size.
6. Misguided eyebrows. The most visible sign a woman has no clue how to elegantly put herself together, are her eyebrows. If they are plucked within an inch of their life (think Pamela Anderson), thickly and darkly filled in, oddly and/or sharply angled, or untamed bushes -- it diminishes the beauty of the rest of the face. One's eyebrows should be balanced in width and length, well-groomed, naturally shaped and lightly filled in.
7. Butterfly lashes. The unnatural eyelashes adorning masses of the female population today would have made Lucille Ball jealous. Having freakishly long eyelashes applied is not only unhealthy for one's natural lashes, and toxic (the glue), but also lends to a very "common" appearance. If you are not on stage as a career, a performance artist of some sort, etc. then there is no reason for you to waste your money on faux lashes. Also, men absolutely cannot stand this look, finding your fallen lashes all over the house, and hearing constantly that you have something in your eye.
8. Dark blush. Blush, in the right color, is an amazing way to enhance one's beauty. It creates a more youthful, contoured and vibrant appearance. However, if overdone and too dark for one's complexion, it is a sure way to harden the face. It is also a sure way to be mistaken for a 1970s porn star especially if all of the latter makeup offenses are also included.
There are thousands of makeup tutorials online, yet sadly instead of enhancing a woman's appearance, most teach ways to completely cover it. I couldn't name one makeup artist today that I feel is truly consistent with their approach. Half will also try and convince you that bridal makeup is appropriate for everyday life. Makeup is a matter of common sense, moderation, balance and a cultivated eye.
