I’ve been breaking rules all my life. It started in my teens when I announced to my family that I wanted to do makeup for a living (gasp!), rather than being a teacher, a doctor or a lawyer. In the eighties and early nineties, I did neutral, bronzy makeup looks while everyone else was working with DayGlo-bright shades of makeup. Rather than being constrained by rules, I believe in doing what makes sense and having options. Here are five beauty rules you can and should break.
Beauty Rule #1: Apply foundation all over the face.
How to Break It: Forget the notion that you’ve got to wear foundation all over your face in order to create a seamless look. You can achieve perfect looking skin just by spot-applying foundation on areas where skin is uneven or red. Dot foundation on the center of the face (around the nose and mouth, on the chin) and blend outwards towards the jaw and hairline.
Beauty Rule #2: To find your perfect everyday shade of lipstick, match it to the rest of your makeup.
How to Break It: To identify your best basic lip color, you should take off all your makeup. Apply lip colors in a neutral range—pinky brown, nude, beige pink, rosy brown, pink, chocolate, raspberry. The color that looks the best on your naked face is the right neutral, everyday, mistake-proof lip color. To select additional, more dramatic shades, refer back to your basic shade and choose shades that fall in the same family.
Beauty Rule #3: Always match your eye shadow to the color of your eyes.
How to Break It: Most women I know have at one point in their lives been told that they should coordinate their shadow color with their eye color. Doing this actually does nothing to enhance your eyes. Instead, choose shadow shades that contrast with your eye color. Shades of plum, like heather and lilac, look amazing on blue eyes. If you have green eyes, choose sandy, camel and golden brown shades. Brown eyes are the one exception to the rule. Rather than contrasting shades, stick to shades that are in the same color family as your eyes, e.g., beige, taupe and sable.
Beauty Rule #4: Shimmer is only for evening.
How to Break It: Shimmery makeup is appropriate 24/7 and it’s not just for teens. Shimmer reflects light from your face and makes you look like you’re glowing from within, which is always a plus for anyone their 30s, 40s or 50s! To make it work for you, choose colors that complement your skin tone rather than contrasting it. On eyes, try neutrals like bone, beige and taupe. On cheeks, go for shades of pink and rose. On lips, choose brown-based nudes, pinks and pinky browns. Moderation is key, so wear shimmer on no more than two places at a time, i.e. if you go for a shimmery eye and lip, keep your cheek matte.
Beauty Rule #5: Lipstick should always be worn with lip liner.
How to Break It: This the makeup equivalent of always pairing hose with heels—it’s dated and too fussy for everyday. Skip lip liner if you naturally have well defined lips or if you want a casual, less “done” look. To achieve a clean line, apply lipstick with a lip brush, then use that same brush to lightly trace your mouth.
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