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Aromaleigh Mineral Makeup "How-to"

Building a Strong Foundation

Flawless makeup application begins with excellent skin care. After all, you’ll never see a professional artist creating a masterpiece on plain white copy paper! Only the best, perfectly prepared canvas will do. Once your canvas is perfectly prepared, you can begin your daily masterpiece. Read on for mineral makeup application tips and techniques!

Whether you have chosen to start with our Voilé ir Glissade Mineral Foundation formulas, these same general application techniques apply.

Apply your chosen powder with a brush and get lighter coverage. Use a makeup sponge or flocked sponge and the coverage will be heavier. You can achieve even heavier coverage by applying your powder over a well-moisturized face, or create a tinted moisturizer by adding some of your foundation mix to your favorite lotion. As long as the final outcome works for you, there is no right or wrong way to apply minerals. Brushes and sponges of varying types all work. It all comes down to personal preference and how much coverage you are seeking.

That said, we do, however, recommend applying your foundation with our Delectable Kabuki Brush. These little handle-less brushes are very dense and do an excellent job of picking up and evenly distributing mineral powders onto the skin. You can also use a fluffy powder brush for a lighter dusting of powder than a kabuki brush provides. With either brush type, the application process is the same:

Sprinkle a small amount of foundation powder into the jar lid or a small dish. (Hint: Mineral makeup goes a long way; you don’t need nearly as much powder as you think you do!)
Pick up the powder with the brush, working the powder into the bristles a little bit.
Knock the base or handle of the brush lightly against the side of the dish to remove excess, or turn the brush bristles-up and tap it lightly on the counter to settle the powder into the brush. (This keeps you from applying too much powder and getting a dry or chalky look.)
Apply the powder to your face. Some like to apply in circles, some glide it on in long strokes. Even if you’re shooting for maximum coverage, remember that several light layers are better than one thick one.

With a flocked sponge or makeup sponge, the process is similar, but you can vary the coverage by changing the way you apply it to your face. Experiment with patting, rolling and stroking your foundation on. For a different look, try applying your foundation with a damp sponge.

You can also use a clean flocked sponge to smooth on that flawless look after applying powder with a brush. Using downward strokes minimizes the look of pores and causes those fine little facial hairs to lie down and disappear!

A taklon foundation brush, designed for applying liquid foundations, works great when applying a mix of foundation powder and serum or moisturizer. You can also apply your homemade liquid foundation with your fingertips or a sponge.

Concealing the Problem

If oily skin is your problem, you simply must try Porcelaine, our oil-control primer powder. This versatile, oil-stopping, pore-hiding gem can be used in various ways:

Apply under foundation as a primer with a brush or sponge.
Apply over foundation as a mattifying finishing powder.
Mix with your moisturizer to create a liquid primer.
Mix with your foundation powder and apply both in one step.
Apply to eyelids with brush or sponge before applying eyeshadow to keep creasing at bay all day long.
Carry in your purse in a refillable or retractable brush for midday touch-ups.

NOTE: Porcelaine is a less-is-more product! A very light layer actually stops oil better than a heavier one. If you have combination skin, with some oily areas and some dry areas, just use Porcelaine on the oily sections, since as an oil-absorber, it can be drying.

To conceal blemishes, Rosacea, brown spots, scars, etc., try straight Pure Cover. Apply this full-coverage concealer and foundation powder dry with a taklon concealer brush or small fluffy brush before or after your foundation. For concealing larger areas, some women use a taklon foundation brush or a flocked sponge to apply Pure Cover.

Try these application tips:

Pick up a little Pure Cover with a concealer brush or sponge and press into skin over the spots to be concealed, smoothing and feathering edges to blend into the rest of your face.
Experiment with concealing before and after foundation application to see what looks most natural on your skin.

You can also mix Pure Cover withyour favorite facial lotion or eye crème to make your own liquid or crème concealer. Some of our customers apply a tiny bit of serum or eye crème directly to the spot to be concealed, such as under the eyes, then brush on the Pure Cover dry over that. Some women also swipe a flocked sponge over concealed areas to smooth them as a finishing touch, especially under the eyes. Experiment to see what works best for you! We recommend using Pure Cover in a half-shade to one shade lighter than your foundation for under-eye circles and a half-shade to one shade darker to conceal blemishes.

We also offer several matte eyeshadows in neutral tones that make excellent concealers. Consider wheat, fawn, cupid, peach, flaxen, goldenrod, seafoam or mint as concealers on their own or as customizing additions to your Pure Cover. You may find that adding a little peach or yellow or green will neutralize those red spots or purple under-eye circles even better than Pure Cover alone!

For an all-over concealing of sorts, check out our Coquille corrective finishing powders. Some women use these for spot concealing, too, to brighten skin under the eyes or to cover redness in the cheeks. For more information on the Coquilles, scroll down this page to the heading "Finishing Touches."

At First Blush

For a sweet, natural flush of color, apply one of our five shades of Pure Blush. The Pure Blushes are buildable, so you can layer on more for deeper color. Rubbing your cheeks with your fingers after application also deepens the color. Our customers most often apply these with a blush brush or our Baby Kabuki Brush

If you seek a more dramatic look, try one of our 40 shades of Pure Rouge. These are denser, deeper colors, so apply lightly! You can use the same brushes as listed for our Pure Blush shades, but if you are fair, you might prefer our fan brush, which can deposit just a few grains of these highly pigmented rouges to your apples!

And if 25 hues of blush and rouge aren’t enough, don’t forget to try our eyeshadows! Some of them, such as Wine, Damask and Tuscany frosts, and Venus, Kiss and Cupid mattes, make beautiful cheek colors. You can also mix any of our blushes, rouges, eyeshadows or pure hues to create custom blush shades — the possibilities are endless!

Ladies with dry skin often prefer a crème blush to provide moisture as well as color to the cheeks. To make one, simply mix a bit of your favorite blush or rouge shade with a moisturizerand apply with your fingertips or a makeup sponge (over foundation and under finishing powder). Another option is to try our moisturizing Color Washes. These 12 beautiful colors look great on both cheeks and lips — and you won’t have to search for a lip color to complement your blush!

The Eyes Have It

Here’s where the fun begins! Not only does Aromaleigh offer over a hundred shades of eyeshadow, but many of our other products can be used as eyeshadows, as well. Most of our 60 Pure Hues are safe for eyes, as are our Pure Blushes and Rouges, our Bronzers and our shimmering body powders! You can also mix and match these for custom colors of your own creation.

You can apply our eyeshadows wet or dry for varying effects, using brushes or sponge applicators. Applied dry with an eyeshadow brush, most of our eyeshadows impart sheer, beautiful color to your lids. Using a sponge applicator will intensify the color. Applied wet across the lid with a taklon brush (scroll down for a description of "foiling") the colors deepen and brighten even more and the shimmer of the frosts increases. Try your favorite shades, especially the darker ones, as eyeliner, applied dry with a liner brush for a softer look, or wet for a sharper line of deeper color. Use a shade close to your own eyebrow color with a small, stiff brushto fill in and define your brows.

A basic formula for eyeshadow application:

Choose three eyeshadow shades that look good together. (Start with three shades of the same color if you’re not comfortable pairing different colors together.)
Apply the medium shade of the three from your lash line up onto your brow bone.
Apply the darkest shade in the crease above your eyeball and along both the top and bottom lash lines at the outer third of your eye.
Apply the lightest shade just under your eyebrow.
Keep in mind that this formula is just a starting point! Let your creativity run wild and experiment!

Eye makeup tips:

For a very natural look, use Voilé Mineral Foundation several shades darker than your skin tone as eyeshadow.
Use colors that are opposite of your eye color on the color wheel to make your eyes pop.
Add a subtle shimmer to your matte shadows by applying a light wash of Pure Opal, Pure Moonlight, or Pure Gilt over them.
Give staying power to your eyeliner — mix a shadow with our eyeliner sealant to make liquid eyeliner that lasts all day long.
Give staying power to your eyeshadow — apply our eyeliner sealant with a clean eyeshadow brush across your entire eyelid, over your eyeshadow.
More ways to keep your eyeshadow on all day: prime your lids first by applying Porcelaine (for oily girls) or your foundation (for dry girls) before eyeshadow. Some also swear by a spritz of spring water or toner (after eyeshadow and before mascara) to set their makeup.
Dip our clear mascara/brow groomer into a little eyeshadow powder to create colored mascara or subtly tinted brow groomer.
It’s all about the right tools, baby! Check out our eyeshadow brushes and read the descriptions to learn how to use each one.

For a fun, shimmery look, try foiling:

Using a taklon (or other synthetic fiber) eyeshadow or concealer brush, apply a frost eyeshadow dry to your eyelids.
Wet your brush and squeeze out the excess water, leaving it damp.
Dip the damp brush into the eyeshadow again and go back over your eyelids.

For a softer look, try foiling with matte eyeshadows, too.

Finishing Touches

So now you’ve got a great look going. Natural, translucent foundation that lets the beauty of your own skin show through, beautiful blush that gives you radiance, gorgeous eyeshadows that highlight your eyes. All you need is the perfect finishing touch to set the look and add that glow of vitality.

Our Illuminator Finishing Powder adds a soft, subtle glow to your complexion. Best applied with our Delectable kabuki brush, this velvety finisher puts your face in soft-focus, magically blending together all the elements of your makeup application to simulate the way you look in candlelight.

The Coquilles, six subtle, color-corrective finishing powders, are similar to our Illuminator, but with the added bonus that each shade adjusts your skin tone to correct a specific flaw. They are also best applied with the Delectable kabuki.

Our Pure Bronze powders can also give you a glow while adding a little kiss of color that looks like you’ve been out in the sun. Apply one of these to your face and neck with our Delectable kabukis, and to your décolleté and body a fluffy powder brush.

Our versatile Voilé foundation powder and Porcelaine primer powder make another appearance in this category. Some of our customers prefer using one or both of these as their finishing powder, either alone or mixed together. Applying with the Delectable kabuki works best in this situation.

Professional makeup artists swear by a fine misting of spring water or toner to set a makeup application.Just be sure to spritz before applying your mascara!

From Your Lips…

Aromaleigh's long-awaited line of lipsticks has arrived. Pure Lips is a moisture rich formula, enriched with authentic Monoi de Tahiti oil, Cloudberry and Cranberry seed oils and more... in 40 luscious shades with a subtle cocoa scent.

For versatile, natural lip color, check out our Color Washes. For a sheer wash of color on your lips, apply with your fingertip. To achieve the look of a lipstick, use a lip brush.

Our Pure Shine lip glosses add high shine and a pop of color. Apply to bare lips for sheer color and shine, or over our Color Washes or any lipstick to add glossy color to any shade.

Body Builders

Now that your face is beautiful, you can’t leave your body out! We have several shimmer powders from which to choose to give all your skin a glow. Grab a fluffy brush and apply Pure Opal, Pure Midnight, Pure Gilt, Pure Bronze or Romance at Dusk anywhere you’d like your skin to look youthful and alive. We especially like it on shoulders, arms and décolleté. For a dewy shimmer, mix some shimmer powder or Perlé powder into your favorite body lotion and prepare to shine! Many of our bronzey toned Perlé powders make fabulous shimmer lotion and look great on the arms and legs to enhance a summertime tan!