8 Makeup Tips I learnt from Make Up Artist Robin Flanagan

I recently had the opportunity to talk to Robin Flanagan, top makeup artist and International trainer and Make up Artist for Smashbox Cosmetics Asia Pacific. She was in town from LA to promote the Heartbreaker collection for Spring 2010 and even worked her magic on me – you know how rare it is that I get a top make up artist to show me how to wear hot pink on my eyes and make it look natural?! Well I’ll share with you 8 makeup tips I learnt from Robin Flanagan – I like sharing 🙂

1. Always fill in your brows

According to Robin, as we age, we lose eyebrow hairs from the ends of our brows and our brows start looking more sparse. Filling them in or drawing in your brows helps you look younger – up to 5 years! So, don’t forget to fill in your brows the next time you do makeup. Even if you don’t put anything on, a properly filled in or drawn brow can make all the difference to your outlook.

2. Always use a makeup primer

You don’t have to use a primer all over your face. You can just concentrate on your T-zone – forehead, nose and chin – and cheeks. Using a primer helps your foundation and makeup stay on longer especially in our Malaysian heat and humidity. Robin recommends the Smashbox Photo Finish primer (RM149) which is a bestseller everywhere.

3. Define eyes with an eyeliner

Robin’s favourite item from the Heartbreaker collection is the liquid eyeliner pen (RM90). Its easy to use and stays put on your lids. Don’t attempt to draw the whole line at one go. Draw a line using short dashes close to your eyelashes – it makes it easier to handle. Having eyeliner on defines your eyes and makes it look bigger.

4. When applying blush do not apply too near your nose

Robin uses the 2-3 finger rule (rather like the 2 finger whiskey rule LOL). Place 2-3 fingers on your cheek right next to your nose. No blush should be applied in this area. Instead, start from the highest part of you your cheekbones and blend your way inwards and downwards (but not too far). Robin loves the O Glow Intuitive gel blush – a gel blush that starts out clear and changes colour to suit your skintone.

5. If you are afraid of bright colours, mix your colors

Not many of us can work with bright colours like that found in the new Kiss ‘n Tell eyeshadow palette (RM130) in the Heartbreaker collection. Robin explained that its really a matter of mixing colours and shades to make it more wearable. I thought a hot pink would be straight “Fail!” on me, but to my surprise, Robin made it work – and look natural to boot. Here’s a short little “tutorial” on how to use Kiss n Tell eyeshadow palette – hot pink and purple!

• Start by using a light shade as base (light pink)
• Mix the hot pink and peach and apply on outer lid. Blend inwards.
• Apply the icy white on the inner lid and brow bone or across whole lid. Blend.
• Line with charcoal black and follow up with a liner.
• Line lower lashline with a mix of purple and charcoal black.

You could do this with any palette you own. I’m going to try this out for myself soon – I own a hot pink eyeshadow I’ve only worn a couple of times!

6. Use a fan brush for lighter application of blush or highlighter

The new blush highlighter is Starlight Baked Fusions SoftLights which can be both a blush or a highlighter. To use it for a soft touch of colour, use a soft fan brush to apply. The powder goes on softer than if you were to use a dense blush brush. Fortunately for me, I do own a fan brush but I never know how to use it until now! Huzzah!

7. Always tap off powder makeup from your brush before applying

If you use brushes to apply your eyeshadow, always tap off your eyeshadow before you apply to your lids. Tapping off the excess will ensure less fallout on your cheeks and gives you less to clean up so its less messy. The same applies to blush. Tapping off excess colour will help the colour go on lighter.

8. Use a lip liner when using a bright lip colour

I chose Berry Hot lip shine (RM69) to finish off my look and Robin explained that using a lip liner to line your lips is useful when you use dark colours. I suppose its to stop it from bleeding or going out of line and also because the lip color is so strong, you’d want a defined lip to make it look better. Use a nude colour for something more universal – that way you can match it with all your lipsticks or glosses.

Incidentally, Yani has shared some more tips from Robin and shows you how the green-brown Hot Date eyeshadow palette looks. Check it out here 🙂

Now, which of the 8 makeup tips shared were new to you or that you might want to put into practice?

I liked the one about mixing your eyeshadow colours – bright with light – to make bright colours more wearable – its something I’m going to put into practice from now on 😀

Paris B