Since shimmer is an attention-grabber, we have to make sure that the areas we are drawing attention to are in check! Particularly, on a high-migration area like the eyelids, shimmer can go from fab to drab once the eye make-up starts to crease. Try these proactive steps to make your shimmer stay put:

1. Use a base. Distribute it evenly on the eyelid using a light touch with your ring finger (I know I'm using my pinky to blend out above I swear by MAC Paints and Paint Pots. For a neutral base, opt for either Bare Study or Sublime Nature depending on your skin tone.

TIP: Using a base will neutralize your skin tone and bring out the true colour of the shimmer you're applying. Applying a base will also help to absorb any excess oils on the eyelids helping your shimmer application to glide on more evenly and prevent creasing throughout the day.

2. Use a sponge-tip eyeshadow applicator (see pic above) to build up the colour of the shimmer. If you use a brush, use a patting motion to build the colour up. Brushing on the colour using a back and forth stroking motion will blend and undo what you've already done.

TIP: No need to spend lots of money on sponge-tip applicators. If you like the professional look of a long wand, Wal-mart has a great version that comes with replaceable tips all for under $2! Otherwise, buy the small eyeshadow applicators in bulk from a beauty supply distributor and save the real money for great quality brushes! ;)

3. Optional: Wet the sponge-tip applicator before dipping it in the shimmer for more of a high-power shimmer.

Shine on!

We've been talking shimmer all week so I figured it fitting to review one of my fave products for getting my glow on! MAC's Mineralize Skinfinish (see picture at left) is a simple way to give your skin an instant wake-up. Mineralize Skinfinish has a high power shine that works perfectly to add dimension to the face. Use it sparingly atop the cheeks, browbone, inner corner of the eye and the cupid's bow of the lip. Blend thoroughly so that the achieved effect isn't screaming shimmer, but rather catches the light as you move your head at different angles. Highlighting is a wonderful make-up artist trick, but keep in mind to make it work for real life, its effect should be subtle.

Mineralize Skinfinish comes with options. You can either get it as a full compact (see top left pic) or as a duo with Mineralize Skinfinish Natural on the other half (see top right pic). Mineralize Skinfinish Natural provides more of a matte finish, but the baked-in minerals of this powder give more of a dimensional effect rather than regular and non-mineral setting powder.

Personally, I find powder highlighters a lot easier to work with than liquid highlighters. Liquid highlighters tend to dry fast and if not blended out properly can look like a bold bright streak. You'll know you've done it right as people will be complimenting your glowing skin and not your perfected make-up technique!

TIP: Make sure you take care of your skin with a regular cleansing and moisturizing routine. The shimmer of a highlight product can draw attention to bumps and uneven surfaces in the skin. If your skin tends to be more problematic, skip the highlighter on the cheeks but still use it on the eye area and by the lips.

Shimmer is a gorgeous way to add dimension to your everyday look, but how much is too much shimmer? Some questions that I've heard are:

• Can I wear shimmery make-up all over the eyelid and up to the browbone?
• If I have shimmer on my eyes, can I wear it on my cheeks and lips too?

I find shimmer flatters the features best when it's not applied all over one area and all over the face at the same time. Wearing too much shimmer can definitely border overkill and leave you looking like a disco queen (which is fine if that's the look you're aiming for!).

To avoid shimmer overkill, combine and play up the use of different make-up textures. On the eyes, use both matte and shimmer eyeshadow formulas. Use shimmery make-up on the eyes, but then use gloss or a stain on the lips. You can still highlight the cheeks and the inner corner - just try to use a subtle highlighter with tiny light reflecting particles rather than a bold frosty highlighter. When shimmer has been applied everywhere, the viewing eye doesn't know where to set focus on. Just a hint of shimmer strategically applied is enough to make sure the attention is properly drawn in!

To get Mel's balanced shimmer look:
1. Use a shimmery eyeshadow on the eyelid and blend harsh edges into the crease. Choose a neutral shade that is at least 2 shades darker than the skin to add contrast. I used bronze on Mel below. Play around and try different colours on the lid.
2. Use a pale matte highlighting eyeshadow atop the browbone. I used a light peach matte eyeshadow on Mel, as white would have been too much contrast against her skin tone.
3. Apply eyeliner. I applied a turqoise pencil and then a black liquid liner tight to the lashes for something different, but use any colour your heart desires.
4. Apply a creme lipstick lightly on the lips.
5. Lightly dab a gloss starting from the middle of the lips and working your way outwards.

To see more of Melanie's different make-up look, click here.

The technique of adding a highlighting product to the inner corner of the eyelid is a make-up artist favourite. Blending a bit of light shimmer in this area helps to catch the light and draw more attention into your eyes. If you examine photos of professional make-up closer, you'll likely see this popular technique in action.

For the application, I like to use a small, natural-bristled eyeshadow brush, as the smaller surface area of the brush helps give you better control over where the eyeshadow goes. For the highlighting eyeshadow, I either opt for MAC's StarFlash Eyeshadow in Grand Entrance or Inglot's Eyeshadow in #541, which both appear as soft peaches in their containers. Once applied and blended to the inner corner, they add a neutral and subtle shimmer. I prefer using these peach shades for all my applications, as it's tends to be more flattering on all skin tones than a shimmery white highlighter. The highlighting eyeshadow should be blended well enough so you don't see any harsh lines of where it starts and where it begins. Rather, when you move your head at different angles, you should see the highlighting eyeshadow catch the light.


TIPS:

• Applied too much?
  Don't fret. Just grab a clean blender brush and use it to blend and buff off excess product.
  

• Keep the look professional.
  Remember the importance of concealer, as drawing attention to uncovered dark circles would defeat the purpose of this look! Make sure the brows are well-groomed and use eyeliner/eyeshadow to add further dimension to complete your eye make-up look.

See Marites go from before to after here.

Here are more artist tips for building your kit. If you're a make-up addict like me, it's so easy to accumulate beauty products as time goes by. In the beginning as you're building your name and your kit, you'll want to give clients the impression that you're well-stocked with all the quality products that suit their needs. But as time goes by, and you lug your stuffed make-up case from job to job, you'll begin to wish there was a better and more efficient way to bring your product around.

I'm a huge fan of bringing only what you need - it's way easier on your arms and helps to lessen the chance of one of your beloved items going missing! Consider these tips for maximizing the most out of your kit space (and your valuable energy!):

Buy palettes.

a). Lipsticks
Use a thoroughly cleaned and disinfected make-up spatula to dig your lipsticks out of the tube. You can purchase an empty palette from a beauty supply company such as Japonesque (pictured at right). With the Japonesque palette, you have the option of adding your own lipstick colours (also great for use with cream concealers). Other cosmetic lines, such as Make-up Forever, offer their own refillable lip palettes that are customized to fit insert versions of their popular lipsticks.

I picked up my lip palette for $12 from a local Toronto company called Jordane Cosmetics . The palette pictured at right is from the Jordane website (I can't say that I have a blue lipstick in my kit!); the one that I bought came without any product, just the refillable container. The palette itself is made of a hard plastic that is durable, but doesn't crack when dropped.

What I love about this: You can easily mix back and forth between lipsticks to make up any colour your heart desires. Just make sure to do the mixing in a secondary container (or on the back of your hand) to keep the colours in the palette fresh and separated.

b). Eyeshadows
Many cosmetic companies offer easily customizable palettes. I stocked up on five eyeshadow palettes (addict much?) from my time working at Inglot (see picture at right), and now I'll have to go to Montreal (or Dubai, Australia or Poland!) whenever I need to restock on these.
At the lower end, Mary Kay and Avon offer refillable palettes while at the higher end, MAC, Make-up Forever and Bobbi Brown each do their version of a customizable palette.

What I love about this: Not only is this space saving within the kit, it's also environmentally friendly! No need for the excess product packaging that usually gets thrown away once the product is all used. Just drop in the refillable eyeshadow insert into the palette and go!

c). Blushes
Similar to the eyeshadow palettes, many cosmetic companies also offer blush palettes. My blush palette is from Inglot as well, but blush palettes are also available through MAC and Make-up Forever. Sometimes the palettes come mixed with a selection of eyeshadows, blushes and lip products, like NARS Bridal Palette featured at right. The mixed palette is a great kit addition for make-up artists who specialize in neutral and bridal looks.

What I love about this: Usually I use a combination of two blushes - one darker shade for contouring just slightly below the cheekbone, and one slightly lighter shade for highlighting atop the cheekbone (and blending out any harsh edges of the deeper blush tone). Having the blushes all under one roof means less fumbling around in the make-up kit looking for product and more time to spend on the fun stuff - actual application!

d). Concealers
Concealers come in all different colours and sizes: aside from the regular skin tone matching concealers, there are also colour correcting concealers. Rather than lug every colour of the colour correcting rainbow around, opt for an artist palette. I love the Lise Watier palette discussed in a previous post, and I also love the Make-up Forever colour corrector palettes that come in a range of tones to cover every ethnicity.

What I love about this: Just like lipsticks, when concealers are all in one container, you have the freedom of mixing. The Japonesque empty palette described above is also great for managing cream concealers in one place. Now you can mix with ease...like a true artiste!

Bring only what you need.
If you've already had a trial with a client and have gone through the items that you'll need, just bring those items. Be warned that sometimes your client may want to make adjustments to the look, so bring extra eyeshadows, blushes and lipsticks to have accessibility to different options. The foundation, concealer and powder will likely stay the same colour so you can ditch the ones you don't need and travel lighter!