Monday, August 24, 2009

Troy Jesen's Blog: Undercover: Tips




The skin under the eyes is very delicate and gets thinner as we age, making thick cover-up look like concrete. Keep it light, and apply it with a brush or Q-Tip. This helps distribute the color more evenly, as well as keeping a light and precise application around the eyes.. Put it only on dark areas, not under the entire eye. The trick is to create the appearance of an even skin pigment, not necessarily whitening it out. The first step to brighter looking eyes starts with your skin, darkness can be an issue of vitamin deficiencies, allergies, smoking, lack of sleep, or heredity. Consult a dermatologist to asses your personal skin needs. It's my job as a make-up artist to make sure that my clients like Kim Kardashian look beautiful and refreshed, even if they've just come off a red-eye flight or worked a long day on set with no sleep. Choosing the right concealer to camouflage imperfections is essential to looking younger and creating a more perfect 'canvas' for all of my best make-up looks.

Choose a velvety-smooth concealer to disguise blemishes and conceal under-eye circles. Most cosmetic lines carry concealers in light and medium shades, or professional palette of color correctors. They should contain silk proteins that allow for long-lasting wear without creasing. Formulated with Vitamin E; provides protection against skin-damaging free radicals; soothing and calming the delicate eye area.

If you're trying to hide dark circles, apply concealer like a surgeon. Tap a very small brush into a non-greasy stick or liquid concealer and then pat it under your eyes, localizing the pigment to the inner and outer corners, where the discoloration is usually worst to create a clean plateau. Don't over-apply the concealer all around the eyes — you'll look like a raccoon. Whether you're using a cream or a liquid concealer with a wand, apply just by dotting the product under the eye as opposed to swiping the product under the entire eye. A little dab will do you. Blend on under or over foundation to camouflage dark, blemished, red or pigmented areas. When you're done, set it with loose powder. But if you're trying to get rid of dark circles and smooth your wrinkles, you need to mix your concealer with a moisturizer that has hyaluronic acid and peptides. For hard to conceal dark circles, when the under-eyes look almost blue-ish or purple-ish, a color corrector may be needed. Usually by blending a touch of the color corrector needed for your appropriate skin-tone under the eyes before applying concealer will help correct the discoloration.

Here's a rundown on choosing the right color corrector for you.

Green is a popular color for use in correcting redness. Women with rosacea often go for the green.

Yellow is excellent for under eye dark circles. Yellow will counteract purplish blemishes or bruises.

Lilac or lavender normalizes a sallow face by minimizing yellow undertones.

Peach works to hide dark spots, veins, and some under eye circles.

White is strictly for highlighting. Blend it into your makeup on the top of your cheekbone to make it stand out.

I've been mixing Concealer and foundations together with products that have light reflectors in it for as long as I can remember. Why do those particles help the complexion? When mixed together with foundation or strategically placed at the top of the cheek bones, down the center of the nose, at the bow of the lips and the inner corners of the eyes near the tear duct it will give a fresh glow to the skin, while full coverage foundations/concealers can cause the face to look dull and lifeless. The highlighter, when applied correctly, gives an amazing glow and life to the face.

For some time now, I've been creating what would become prevalent in many of today's make-up lines. Natural looking shimmers. Years ago I used a shimmering hair pomade, Sweet Georgia Brown, mixed with foundation and I would apply it to the arms and legs of my clients. It was very sticky, but looked amazing on camera. The most natural looking liquid shimmers come in white pearl for fair complexions, shimmery golden beige for medium complexions and golden bronze for dark complexions. They should blend into the skin and look glowy, not glittery. On set I re-freshened the makeup with a mixture of foundation, Liquid highlighter, creamy moisturizer, and liquid toner. I apply with a Q-tip or tiny flat brush which really helps keep the face looking fresh, especially around the eyes and mouth where make up can settle into fine lines. Kim Kardashian absolutely loves it when I give her skin a glow on the red carpet. You have to remember that most of the time, most artists use powder for touch-ups, which makes a girl's face look too matte, crackly and cakey. My mixture makes my clients look radiant — it's like instant Photoshop! To control shine, use blotting sheets and a light translucent powder just on the T-zone. Concealer isn't just about covering it up. The important thing to remember is to create a natural, flawless, glowing complexion. Covering and concealing is just one part of it...If you try my tips, everyone will just see beautiful glowing skin - it will look fresh day or night.

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