lights and shadows

Imagine you are alone on a serene deserted island. You close your eyes and lift your chin upwards- to the sky. Do you feel the kiss of the sun's rays hitting your face in some areas more strongly than in others?

The places that the sun might hit are parts of your facial structure that protrude, or stand out. These places include your forehead, the apples of your cheeks, the nose, and the chin.

The places where the sun may NOT hit as strongly are: the temples, the hollows of the cheeks, and the jawline. These places are defined as recessed due to the fact that they are areas that do not protrude, or stand out.

The need for lights and shadow arise after the base or foundation is applied. When you apply base or foundation you wipe out the natural highlights/lowlights as well as any oily sheen, acne, and imperfections. Basically you try for a clean slate. What we do when we apply highlights/shadows is try to put the natural highlights BACK into the face.

How to do this? From the methods I've toyed with over the years... the easiest method would have to be makeup sticks. Buy two makeup sticks, they can be any brand suited to your needs (oily, matte, acne-prone, etc..) and they look like this...



You certainly don't need to buy top shelf (aka.. expensive) products but you might want to splurge because a little goes a looooong way and you are putting it on your face after all... but revlon or cover girl make an equally good makeup stick. You need TWO sticks: one 2-3 shades lighter than your natural skintone and one 2-3 shades darker.


Begin with a sponge and the lighter makeup stick. After applying the base/foundation application, using the Light stick, rub in a bit in the middle of the forehead. Apply some in the highest point of the cheekbone. Apply a bit more (in a straight line) down the length of the bridge of your nose. Lastly, a bit on your chin. Using your sponge, gently press the color into the skin- Don't Rub! There... we have finished putting some natural highlights into your face, glowingly pretty!

Now using the Dark stick, apply some to both sides of the temple, a teeny bit along the outer edges of the bridge of your nose, the underneath of your cheek (hollow part that is sunken in a bit) a bit on both sides of your jawline, and blend together with the sponge. Remember to use a different side of the sponge so you don't mix light and dark and ruin your beautiful work!

Once you've finished, look carefully into the mirror and see if there are any smudges or hard edges that need to be blended away... when you've finished lightly dust with translucent powder and you are good to go.

This look is great if you have some glam function where pictures will be taken and you want to look show-stoppingly amazing! This isn't typically your day to day look unless, of course, you want to look show-stoppingly amazing every day! ;)