Easy make up tips please!

[bobstersmum]

I do wear make up daily but I'm not very good at applying it, and don't know what half of the stuff out there is for!
Can you give me some simple tips? I have quite olive skin, brown eyes, some patchy dark pigmentation on forehead which I hate, and very spare eyebrows so have to fill those in or I look bare!
I bought a cream highlighter but have zero clue what to do with it, is it instead of blusher/bronzer? What are some things I should definitely invest in?

Sparse eyebrows! I have no spare eyebrows!

Garnier BB cream works wonders at evening out my skin tone without making me look like I'm wearing foundation/have me worrying about looking patchy.

A little bit of eyeliner on the upper lashline at the corners takes 2 seconds to do per eye and makes your eyelashes look a lot plumper whilst giving a natural look.

I use eyeshadow on my eyebrows to fill in the patches. I feel it looks a lot more natural than eyebrow pencils or gel. Also it's easy to build up if you need extra, and there's so many shades of brown to choose from!

For long-lasting lip colour, I put some lip balm on and then fill in my lips with lip liner. Then I don't have to worry about reapplying it throughout the day.

With cream highlighter I tend to just put it on my cheekbones and the tip of my nose. I start with a teensy quantity and build up as needed. Sometimes I put it under my foundation for a glowy but natural look.

When it comes to eyeliner - I use either pencil or liquid. Pencil is great for a natural look, and you can smudge it out a little to make it look smoky and pretty. Liquid eyeliner requires more precision, but can look very chic when done well. For my day-to-day look I just use pencil eyeliner on the upper outer corners of my eyes :)

Lol at spare eyebrows :)

I know it's recommended a lot on here, but I would definitely recommend you spend time browsing Lisa Eldrige's You Tube channel. She has loads of tutorials for all sorts of looks, but her mainstay is fairly natural. She is dark haired with brown eyes so you'd be able to transfer a lot of the products to yourself.

Some of her earlier videos had very useful close ups as she was applying the makeup so those are especially useful for learning the techniques. I really wish she would bring those back.

Be warned though, I inevitably end up spending far more than I should on products and tools after watching!

As a pp has said YouTube is great for make up tutorials. I like pampered wolf www.youtube.com/channel/UC8Nq-SrQLyc0DYuPrj0Y9uw she gives great tips for age 30+ skin. Also pixi woo are so good at breaking down looks and describing techniques.

For me I like to use IT cosmetics cc cream as a base. it's expensive but gives amazing coverage and smells lovely.

A good concealer under the eye to get rid of dark circles always picks up my look. Healthy mix by Bourjois is my fave.

I contour with a palette, although this is to much for most people as an every day look. Maybe a nice bronzer or blusher on the high cheeks.

I have recently started having my lashes lifted to avoid the need for mascara. It's basically perming but it's amazing for keeping your routine low maintenance.

Anastasia dip brow pomade is amazing. It's a little pot of a brow cream and you use an eye liner brush to apply it to the brows. They're great to fill in missing bits of brow. You can use as little or as much as you like. If you're hair is brown you go down a shade or if you're hair is fair go a shade darker than the hair.

Highlighter is great for giving a little glow. It's not a bronzer it's something you use very little of and it kind of shines when the light hits it. It goes on your high cheeks up to the corner of your eyes. Some people do the ridge or tip of their nose and the cupids bow (middle of top lip)

I always set my make up with a setting spray too. You can get ones with a glow so you don't need highlighter.

sorry that was so long I get a bit excited about make up

These are really helpful thank you! I will look up those tutorials. When you say eyeliner on upper lash line, is that like your eyelid? I can never get it smooth there!

You can use a pencil, felt tip type, liquid or gel liner. You just have to try all types to see which goes on nicely for you. I found I preferred the felt tip style ones for control but many prefer liquid or gel as they don't drag the lid.

Whatever you choose you basically run it above your lash line (as close to the lashes as possible). Take it from the inner corner all the way to the edge of your eye. Then you can either do a cat eye flick or just finish it there. It will take lots of practice but looks lovely

With eyeliner I don't always bother taking it from the inner corner, especially if using a pencil eyeliner. I start as close as i can to my eyelashes (on my eyelid) on the outer third of my eyelid. It's much easier than doing the whole lid and it just makes my eyelashes look thicker without it being obvious that I'm wearing makeup . I flick it up slightly at the end so it isn't a straight line.

I have semi-hooded eyes so I like to conserve as much space on my eyelid as possible!