Real Girl Make Up Hacks!

Even though mine is not a beauty blog, I’m kinda-sorta-normal and do care about how I look…okay well, sometimes. Also, if you remember, I recently confessed how I’m new to the world of makeup and I’m suddenly super excited about it! Given that I am no authority on the subject though, I was excited to collaborate with someone who already knew a thing or two about it. And boy, am I glad that someone turned out to be Minelli from Loca MiCo. Not only did I get the right vibes from her from the word go; but she’s a professional make-up artist who is so passionate and excited about her work it got me all the more pumped! So without much further ado, let me share with you valuable tips, tricks or hacks (call it whatever you want) that she was gracious enough to share with us keeping in mind we are real girls who might love a winged eye but don’t have all the time (and money) in the world to spend on beauty and make-up!

1) Minelli was surprised to know that I never prep my face before applying make-up. This means that no matter how puffy my morning face may be, I straight start applying make-up. Judging by her expression, I realized that this is probably elementary and I just don’t get it because I’m dumb. But she was polite enough to reassure me a lot of people make this mistake.

She recommended gently rubbing my face with ice cubes and applying a mild moisturizer like Emolene that’s easily available at any chemist. (This made me feel better about life as both are easily doable and I intend on following them both).

2) Speaking of easily doable things, I kept talking to her about a Smokey Eye. I have been fascinated by the Smokey Eye look for as long as I can remember and found myself lamenting to her that it never quite comes out perfect. She responded to this saying a smokey eye is not exactly supposed to be perfect, so chill out and have fun with it. But on more badgering she realized, that I’m getting rule Number 1 wrong when it comes to Smokey eye makeup. I was not concealing my under eye area and this was making my smokey eye look bad (like someone punched me, to be precise). She tried it on me and then concealed by under eyes and it made a world of a difference. Maybe this is basic to you, but I had never thought that could be the problem. Hence, I’m including it here for those of you who are like me!

3) A useful tip while attempting the smokey eye look is to first put on your eye makeup and then apply foundation and concealer on your face as there is bound to be a fallout since you’re applying so much shadow/kohl.

4) While using my mascara, she realized it had become thick and clumpy. I looked super embarrassed and told her I’d buy a new one soon but she just heated some water and kept the tube in it…and Voila! It was as good as new. I love, love, LOVE easy hacks like that which save me time and money!

5) At some point we got to talking about my lipstick collection. I was telling her about how I now prefer Matte lipsticks, and need to buy some more. She asked me if I had heard of the hack where you make a glossy lipstick matte. Before, I could answer in the affirmative. She had directly applied compact powder to my glossy pout with a brush (No tissue, transfer paper involved) and it had turned matte. Honestly, this is one of those things I saw online but never quite believed it! Turns out, it totally works! Yipeee!

6) I tend to get ready in such a hurry that I always skip steps like applying a lip liner. Like, how important could it be, right? Turns out, very! So without lipliner your lipstick tends to bleed and this looks very tacky – specially when it’s a bright shade or a dark shade! She applied a lipliner not only on the sides, but all over my lips! I was super confused but she pointed out that it serves the purpose of a base layer. So even if I tend to sip on a drink (let’s be real, most likely scenario) and the lipstick transfers to the glass, the lipliner makes sure it looks like it’s still on. Genius – I tell you!

7) In case your lips don’t look at plump as you want them too, cheat it with applying more gloss right at the centre. Take that Kylie Jenner!

8) I asked her what the one product worth having in my makeup arsenal was. I thought this will be a tough question for a make-up artist. I mean, isn’t it like picking between your babies or something?! But Minelli was surprisingly prompt with the reply. She said, “have you heard of the Bobbi Brown shimmer brick?” I looked at her like, don’t make me spend money with a special expression that I’ve mastered through my years of existence. She went on… ” Yea, Revlon has an awesome dupe for that!”(This girl could be my soulmate, TBH) It looks like almost the same thing apparently (although much cheaper) and has a highlighter and gorgeous bronze shades which can be used on your eyes, or your cheeks, or even your whole face if you like that bronzed look! Now you’re talking LOCA MICO 😀

You check the fabulous Minelli and her work out on her Facebook page and her newly launched Youtube Channel (Yay!). Don’t forget to tell us what you liked (or didn’t like) in this post. Would you like her to share more hacks with you? Would you want to see a tutorial? The more love you show this post, the more chances I can get her to come back! So make it happen, people! 😀

 

[Minelli is a professional makeup artist and hairstylist and she takes bookings by appointment for parties, events, bridal events, photo shoots and television commercials. You can reach her here: makeupandhairbylocamico@gmail.com]