7 Seriously Good Makeup Tips (from Nina Westbury)

Nina Westbury Makeup Master Class

U.K. celebrity makeup artist Nina Westbury and Lisa Eldridge are the only two makeup artists on Twitter that I know of who answer almost every makeup question from followers. They both may makeup some of the most famous faces in Hollywood and the U.K., but they are never too busy to share tips and tricks with someone at home struggling to apply liquid eyeliner or hide dark under eye circles. I have such admiration for them both.

I recently flew Nina to Toronto for a Dior makeup event at Hudson’s Bay’s flagship store. And I asked her to share her best pro makeup tips. Few know that she actually taught makeup artistry in London at Kingston College where she designed and implemented an accredited training course for students in fashion, tv media makeup and special effects. She learned firsthand how to best teach beauty enthusiasts how to properly apply makeup. Here are some quick and simple beauty tips that really work.

Make your eye cream work better: “One of the biggest skincare mistakes I see is woman applying their eye creams in a rubbing motion. They take a little eye cream on their finger and then rub back and forth under the eye area. What they are doing is effecting rubbing away the product. The best method is to take a small amount of product, the size of one grain of rice, and tap gently under your eye using your ring finger. This is a very gentle motion as the skin under the eye is incredibly thin and fragile. “ Nina says to use the lightest pressure you can. This deposits the product exactly where you need it.

Hide blemishes with a brush: “It is so important to apply concealer over a blemish using a synthetic brush that you clean regularly. The reason for this is your fingers have bacteria on them and you can actually cause more problems by using your fingers. Dab a little concealer on the blemish and use a feathery motion to erase any lines. Always set with powder to finish. Nina actually worked as the makeup artist at Sky News in London for four years where she would have to hide any breakouts on the on-air presenters.

Camouflage dark under eye circles: Of all the beauty concerns I am asked about, dark under eye circles is arguably number one. New moms, stressed students and women with a genetic disposition to dark circles Tweet me regularly for advice. I always refer them to Nina on how to best hide them. “I always recommend using an orange-based concealer to hide the bluish hue under the eyes. It’s based on the colour wheel. Orange is directly opposite blue on the wheel and they cancel each out.” She says to apply three small dots of concealer under the eye and blend with a brush. “I like to use a very gentle taping motion when hiding dark circles. Remember, concealer should never go up to the lash line. And you don’t want to powder under eye concealer as it will dry out the eye area enhancing any fine lines.”

Cityline’s Tracy Moore with Nina Westbury

Choose the perfect concealer shade: Picking the right shade of concealer can be a bit of a challenge. “Always go slightly lighter than your current skin tone shade. I go a tiny bit lighter than that under the eye area.” You may want to consider having a concealer wardrobe to use throughout the year. In late summer, you skin tone may be much deeper and in the depth of winter, you may be fairer. You’ll need to adapt the colour of your concealer to work with your skin tone. Nina says makeup with peach and gold will knock out excess redness on cheeks and eyelids.

Perfect powdering: Women with extremely oily skin can find it a challenge to powder their faces. “I like to show them how film makeup artists tackle this. I take a powder puff and fold it half. I then dab in clear setting powder and I use a press and roll motion. It really is an old-fashioned way of applying powder. You are gently pushing the powder into the skin. It works beautifully.”

Natural brows: “The secret to beautiful brows is to use a little “ticking” motion when using a brow pencil. You do these little strokes that create a very natural-looking brow by filling in any gaps.”

Test lipstick shades on your fingers: “This one makeup tip will change your life,” she laughs. “It is seriously incredible. To test lipstick colours, apply a little on the pad of your finger. You can go from counter to counter applying a little of any shade that appeals to you. When you are finished, find a mirror and hold your hand up beside your face. You’ll instantly see which shade will look best on your skin tone. That is because the colouring on the pads of your fingers most closely resembles the skin tone on your face and lips. You can even use this technique to test out lip gloss as well.

Nina tests out lipstick shades on the set of Cityline.

Follow Nina on Twitter at @ninawmakeup and visit her site ninawestbury.com for more makeup tips and tricks.