You can spot a girl with the wrong shade of lipstick from a mile away, so how do you always end up with the wrong blush or bronzer? Maybe you just need a few tips for choosing makeup for yourself. Go ahead and critique that silly-looking waitress with the bright blue eyeliner, while I share 7 must-know tips for choosing makeup.
1. Know Your Palette
Certain colors looks best with certain skin tones and eye colors, so it’s important to know which colors form your own personal “palette.” For example, girls with green eyes should wear plum eye makeup, while brown eye makeup makes blue eyes pop.
2. Try before You Buy
Most makeup counters have a special area set up for testing their products, so take advantage of this! Try and test again and again until you find a color of lipstick or a hue of shadow that you really love… then…
3. See It in Sunlight
… walk outside and see how it looks in natural sunlight! The lighting in department stores (and even in Sephora) is completely different than the lighting outside, so unless you plan to only wear your makeup indoors, go outside and see how it looks, too! This is one tip for choosing makeup I can’t stress enough!
4. Open Carefully!
Most makeup counters and even drugstores will allow you to test makeup at home, and return it if you don’t like it. It’s important to open the packaging carefully, and to save the box or wrapper the makeup came in, to make returns easy.
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5. Keep the Receipt
Again, even if you’re not planning to return your makeup, be sure to keep your receipt! It will help at the end of the year when you’re making your budget for next year (how much did you spend on MAC eyeliner in 2012?) or if you have to make a return. Hey, budgeting is an important part of choosing the right makeup!
6. If You Don’t Love It…
Sweetie, if you don’t love it in the store, you’re not going to love it at home, and you’re surely not going to ever wear it, so don’t buy it! Don’t settle for a shade of red lippie that doesn’t make your heart race… there are so many to choose from, so be patient, and keep shopping!
7. Ask for Help!
I have come to rely on the expert opinion of Robert at the MAC counter at Macy’s. He’s brilliant, with an excellent eye for color, and he’s the only person I know who can tactfully tell me that bright pink lip gloss isn’t for me. There’s a reason these gorgeous people work at makeup counters. Take advantage of their expertise if you’re at all unsure of a color. They have almost as many tips for choosing makeup as I do!
Now that you’ve read these tips for choosing makeup, do you feel more prepared to replenish your stock of eyeshadows or beachy-keen bronzers? I hope so! Which of these tips is your favorite, and why? And do you have any other tips to share? Please do!
Top Image Source: weheartit.com
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