Makeup has been around for ages. Over the centuries, women darkened their eyes with burnt matches, stained their lips with berries and used different methods to improve their appearance. It has drastically changed over the centuries and the makeup industry has transformed completely. There are many makeup products available today for every skin type and tone. Products have drastically improved – ingredients and formulas have been perfected. Unfortunately, many products contain irritating and harmful ingredients that cause skin issues. The first basic step to choosing makeup is knowing the categories:
- Primer: this is applied underneath foundation for a smooth, even base. It also minimises the appearance of pores and helps control sebum levels of the skin. Primer keeps your makeup in place all day.
- Foundation: this covers imperfections and evens out the skin tone. It creates a smooth base under all other makeup. There are many foundations available for every skin type, from matte, to moisturising formulas. The coverage of foundations can also be either more full coverage or natural.
- Powder: powder sets face products in place. It comes in different forms: loose or pressed form. Powder can also for many different purposes: highlighting, mattifying or brightening. It blurs the skin’s pores and gives a satin effect.
- Concealer: used for concealing dark spots, blemishes, redness, and under eye bags. It can come in a cream or liquid formula. Liquid formulas are mostly for the under eye area, while cream, thick formulas are meant for problematic blemishes.
- Blush: used to give the cheeks some colour and a youthful glow. It gives a youthful, healthy look and usually comes in pink and peach colours.
- Bronzer: warms up the complexion, darkens the face and gives the skin a glow. It can also be used all over the body.
- Highlighter: enhances the high points of the face and gives a glass-like glow. It also softens facial features and is applied to the tops of cheekbones, the nose, sides of the forehead and the cupid’s bow.
- Mascara: used to elongate eyelashes and thicken them. Fibres from the mascara wand are applied onto the lashes. Mascara opens up the eyes and helps them stand out.
- Eyeliner: this product defines and shapes the eyes. It opens them up and can be used to create different eye shapes. It mostly comes in black or dark brown, but can also be found in other colours.
- Eyeshadow: this product comes in hundreds of colours and formulas and is applied onto the eyelids. It brings out the colour and shape of the eyes. You can create any look you desire with eyeshadow.
- Lipstick: usually used a final step to makeup looks to add colour to the lips. Lipstick can come in different formulas and finishes: matte, creamy, sheer or pearl. The iconic red lipstick has been around for decades and is always a classy look.
- Lip gloss: this product makes the lips stand out and gives them a shiny, glossy finish. It also makes lips appear fuller and bigger. It can come in many different colours or just a plain clear gloss.
Why should you use natural makeup?
Skin is a very important organ of the body and should be treated with care. Cosmetics often contain a lot toxic and harmful chemicals, ingredients and preservatives. It’s important to avoid them as much as you can. Here are a few to look out for:
- Parabens: parabens are used to prevent growth of bacteria in makeup. After the skin absorbs them, they’re transmitted into the bloodstream and can potentially cause early puberty or even breast cancer.
- BAK: typically found in eye products such as mascara. It can be very toxic to the epithelial cells of the eyes.
- Triclosan: a wide-spectrum antimicrobial agent that penetrates through the skin and is an endocrine disruptor which affects hormone function. It’s known to decrease thyroid hormone concentrations.
- Carbon black: a powdery substance that can be found in eye products. It’s also linked to cancer and organ system toxicity.
- Ethanolamine compounds: these contain chemicals called nitrosamines that have been also been linked to cancer. Watch out for the letters TEA, DEA and MEA in ingredients.
- Heavy metals: nickel and chrome can be found in darker makeup products, especially green and metallic coloured ones. They are extremely toxic and have been linked to lung cancer and brain damage.
- Synthetic fragrances: these can be commonly found in cosmetic and skincare products. Some side-effects of these substances are skin sensitivity, rashes, coughing, asthma attacks, dermatitis and even migraines.
- Retinyl acetate: a form of vitamin A that has been linked to reproductive toxicity and cancer.
Asian makeup – all natural
Asian makeup and skin care products have become very trendy and popular. They are very high-quality and unique products, especially Korean makeup. Organic beauty products are made with read, non-synthetic ingredients that don’t contain any chemicals or toxins. They are tested well and carefully researched. Organic basically means that the ingredients used in a product were farmed without any use of pesticides or chemicals. “All-natural” means the ingredients were naturally derived and free of any synthetic fragrances, irritants or dyes.
Signature asian makeup look
The asian makeup look often involves a glowy and dewy complexion that appears healthy. There are a number of ways to achieve this depending on which products you’re using.
The standard natural Asian makeup look involves a shimmery eyeshadow shade that’s not too different from your skin tone. It can either be a champagne, beige, copper, or rose color. This should be applied all over the lid for a fresh look. This step can be followed by using some black or brown eyeliner. If not, you can use just mascara.
If you really want to take your lash game to the next level, apply false eyelashes. You can choose between a strip of false lashes that goes over your entire lash line or individual falsies that you can apply anywhere you desire. False eyelashes help make your eyes appear bigger.
If you have more lid space, apply eyeliner using a pencil, gel, or liquid eyeliner as close to the lash line as you can in an even line across your lid. A winged liner will give you the cat-eye look.
A Korean look called aegyo-sal, or eye-smiles accentuates darker areas under the eyes. All you need is a soft, matte brown eyeshadow and a light, shimmery highlight shade. The idea is to contour your under-eye area using shadow and highlight to give the appearance of more defined eye bags. Many say that this gives you a cuter, more youthful appearance and can make your eyes look rounder.
Brows should be well-groomed. Most of the time, the brows in this makeup style are kept very straight. This look isn’t about creating a high, unnatural arch. If your brows are naturally arched, keep them as they are. The important thing is to keep them looking neat and tidy.
The natural Asian makeup look isn’t about bold lipsticks or bright colors. Use a sheer pink lip tint or lip gloss. If you’d like to try a more complicated look, the glossy gradient lip look is very cute and natural.
Achieving this look is simple – take a concealer in your shade and apply it to your entire mouth. Make sure that the concealer around your mouth blends in well with your foundation or bare skin. After that, apply a pink or berry lipstick to the center of your lips as shown. Then, blend your lipstick outwards using a Q-tip, brush, or even your finger and top it off with a clear gloss.
Popular natural asian makeup brands
- Etude House – popular amongst teenage girls and young women. Their packaging is girly, pink and cute looking. It’s very “princess-like”. They offer products like foundation, lipsticks and lip gloss. Some of their most known products are their long-lasting lip tints “Dear Darling Water Gel Tint” and BB cream which gives a natural finish without cakey coverage.
- The Face Shop – this brand offers a wide range of products that are inexpensive and plant-based. All of the products are chemical-free and mostly natural. They are very gentle for your skin and made to rejuvenate the original beauty of your skin. BB cream primes, moisturizes and acts as a foundation, sunscreen and concealer.
- Skinfood – their concept is “You are what you eat. Healthy skin starts with food.” The brand uses fruits and vegetables which are great for your skin and body. Some of these include honey, berries, tomatoes and grapes. Their products are very gentle for the skin and have some skin-brightening effects. They work perfectly for skin sensitive skin especially. Some popular products of theirs include the rice masks, face masks containing black sugar scrubs and black pomegranate skin lotion.
Asian beauty products stand for amazing quality, affordable prices and a natural, youthful look. It’s worth trying out natural asian makeup and seeing the difference in how they look on the skin.
