Quick, Fix Your Makeup!

Is your foundation too light for your tan or your favourite eyeshadow too shimmery for work? Here's how to mix and fix your makeup.

Yikes! Eyeshadow's too shimmery.
Yay! Sweep loose powder over eyelids and then follow with matte eyeshadow in the same colour family as your shimmer eyeshadow. Apply the shimmer colour last.

Yikes! Cream blusher isn't the colour you want.
Yay! Mix lipstick in a different tone, a little at a time, with your cream blusher on the back of your hand. Once you get the colour you want, apply on cheeks as usual with fingers.

Yikes! Foundation's too dark.
Yay! Lighten liquid foundation slightly by mixing your daily moisturiser with the foundation on the back of your hand. Add moisturiser till you get the right shade and apply as usual. What you get is really a tinted moisturiser!

Yikes! Foundation's too light.
Yay! In your palm, mix liquid foundation with loose bronzing powder till you get a skin-tone match. Remember to add in a little bronzing powder at a time or you'll get too dark a shade.

Yikes! Foundation is a tinge too oily.
Yay! Using a fluffy powder brush, dust on a very thin layer of shifted cornstarch over foundation to absorb oil. The result is a foundation with a satiny matte finish. And don't worry, cornstarch is translucent and lightweight.

Yikes! Lippy's too bright!
Yay! Tone it down by applying a pale shimmer gloss over it. Simple!

more easy fix-it recipes

• Make your own sheer, tinted eye gleam by mixing some light pink lipliner with nude no-shimmer gloss like Make Up Store's Gloss Lips in Exit ($27) on the back of your hand. The result: Clean bright eyes with no frost or sparkles.



• To add lumionsity to your face, apply highlighter powder like Laneige Make-Up Brighter ($24) before liquid foundation and set it again with another light layer of highligter.


• Hair looking a little too greasy? Sprinkle just a little baby powder on the roots to absorb the extra oil and use fingertips to rub it in. The powder will add volume to your tresses too.


• Sprayed on too much perfume? A little rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball can help erase the too-pungent fragrance.


• A key to create smoky eyes is petroleum jelly. Line the top and bottom lash lines with a dark pencil, put a thin layer of petroleum jelly over the lid and squint really hard and you'll have the desired smudged look.

Extracted from Simply Her / May 2006