From teaching herself how to put on makeup to becoming a professional makeup artist, in just five years, Lemii Tamang has come a long way and she is now one of the most sought after makeup artist in Nepal.

The Week caught up with her to get her to share some tips on the best way to apply the most basic makeup by yourself and look flawless.

Foundation and Concealer

The most difficult part to get flawless looking skin while applying makeup is getting the right shade of foundation for your skin. There is a lot more to it than just walking into a store and walking out with a bottle of foundation. Always ask for a tester and apply the foundation over any blemishes you may have in your skin. If the foundation covers it, then that is a perfect match for your skin tone. If not, just keep trying until you get the right shade. “I have found that most people want to become fairer and use foundations up to five times lighter than their skin, you should never do that. It doesn’t matter how dusky your skin is, you should use a foundation that matches your skin tone, and these foundations will make your skin glow too,” says Lemii. If you want to, you can scrub and exfoliate your skin four to five times a week to get rid of the dirt and dead skin that accumulate on your face to reveal the lighter skin tone underneath. 

You may sometimes not get a foundation that matches your skin perfectly or sometimes you find that you have become tanned and your shade of foundation doesn’t match your skin at all. These are times when you should mix two shades of foundations to get the desired complexion. Lemii herself always buy two shades of foundation for herself in case the need arises.  

For your concealer, always choose a shade or two lighter than your skin tone as that will help you conceal any blemishes you may have more effectively. Never forget to set your make up after you have applied both the foundation and concealer as makeup does have the tendency to melt at times. You can set your makeup with a translucent powder or your compact powder. Just swirl your brush through the powder and gently brush your face with it to make it set. 

Putting on foundation that doesn’t match your skin and not blending them in properly are some of Lemii’s pet peeves. 

Eyeliner

There are many kinds of eyeliners you can choose from: pencils, liquids, gel and even felt tip ones. Experiment and find the one you are most comfortable with applying and feel like it looks good on you and stick to it. Don’t always think that copying the eye makeup of your favorite celebrity or some Instagram model is a good idea, their eye shape might be completely different than yours. Before copying any makeup find out if their eyes are the same shape as yours.     

People who have Mongolian eyes should try not to wing their liners too much and keep it as simple as they can. It doesn’t make the eyes look bigger and instead emphasizes how small it is. People with almond shaped eyes generally look good with all kinds of eyeliner shape but having said that, you should still keep it simple. The trend that is going around where people have eyeliners only on half of their eyelids baffle Lemii and she cringes every time she sees someone with it.   

Eye makeup

You should always keep in mind that the makeup you do during the day will be vastly different to the makeup you put on for a night out. Daylight isn’t as forgiving as the night light so you need to be careful and not be too heavy handed with your makeup during the day. Stick to neutral colors like brown, orange or shimmer colors. 

During the night, if you want to have smoky eyes, make sure you know how to blend well and keep blending until you can’t blend anymore. If you don’t, you will end up looking like a panda or a raccoon with black eyelids. To be on the safer side during your night outs or if you do not have enough time to blend properly, just stick to the neutral colors of your day makeup and add a little bit of glitter on your eyelids. 

Lipsticks 

If you want your lipstick to last all day long, always opt for a matt lipstick. If you don’t own a matt lipstick, apply your regular lipstick and blot it with a tissue paper then apply a thin layer of translucent or compact powder over your lips. These make your regular lipsticks matt and help them stay on longer. Always remember that glossy lips will never last long and only apply them if you need lipstick on for a really short time. 

We are all aware that bigger, fuller lips are in trend but don’t over line too much to make your lips bigger for they do not look good. Always match the color of your lip liner with your lipstick. A black lip liner with a lighter shade of lipstick is only okay for Halloween. 

Blusher and Bronzer

Blushes are used in makeup only to give you a rosy tint and a healthy flush on your face. You should never wear a blush and leave an obvious looking non blended red spot as it looks very comic. Be light handed and apply them on the apples of your cheek and make blending your makeup mantra. When in doubt, you blend. 

Do not contour your face too much unless you are going out or doing a photo shoot. A highly contoured face does not look good in your normal day to day life. You can use bronzers that are two to three shades darker than your skin tone to define your cheekbones a little bit.  

 
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