2DopeBoyz 
kMakeup for Beginners (teens)
Published February 1, 2012 by dizzynickyA friend of mine asked me for advice on how to help her teenage daughter learn how to apply makeup and what products she should buy her. Below are a few suggestions that I gave her and I thought I’d share them.
1) I told her and simple and natural. When your young you shouldn’t need a “full face” of makeup every day. Concealers, blush, bronzers aren’t really necessary (unless you have a blemish to cover, then reach for the concealer). For special occasions or evenings more makeup might be appropriate, but keep it natural in the day time. Wearing too much makeup in the bright sun and/or under the fluorescent lighting of a classroom can produce a “Clown Face” effect. Not pretty.
Here’s what I suggest for every day:
Eyes – Eyeliner, Mascara, Eyeshadow
Lips – Lipgloss or sheer lipstick
Face – Powder and/or a tinted moisturizer with SPF
What to avoid – “Clown Face”
To much or any bronzer (i.e. Snookie)
Raccoon eyes – Not cute, learn how to do a smokey eye
To much highlighter – yeesh
Bright eye makeup with bright lips
1) Tell her to watch makeup tutorials on YouTube – There are incredible makeup tutorials and advice available. Provide a link to my channel which is basically just a Makeup Tutorial playlist and refer her to my blog and the “YouTube Makeup Tutorials” page.
2) Buy her a book - A good one for beginners is: Makeup Makeovers in 5, 10, 15, Minutes by Robert Jones. This starts with makeup 101 and goes through all the tools types of products and how to use them. There are dozens of tutorials/make overs that follow the introduction. Its $15 on Amazon.com.
3) Get her a few eye shadow brushes – This will ensure shadow is blended and there are no harsh lines. Explain to her that if she watches makeup tutorials on YouTube most of the makeup guru’s use a gazillion brushes for one look. Don’t get hung up on that, it isn’t a necessity. I suggest you start her off with 3 basic eye shadow brushes; a classic shadow brush, a blending brush, a pencil brush. Below are a few reasonably priced suggestions. Make sure she washes her brushes at least once a month (how to videos on YouTube).
- Real Techniques Starter Kit $17.99 at Ulta
- Elf “C” brush($3) & Elf Eye Shadow Brush ($1) at Target or Elf’s website
- Coastal Scents Brushes - Pro Blending Fluff, Classic Shadow Medium Natural
- Essence of Beauty Crease brush duo – $5.49 at CVS
- $2.99-$499 – If you don’t want to spend a lot of money I suggest picking up a few Wet n Wild Color Icon palettes. They are dirt cheap the pigmentation is high quality (some are comparable to MAC). You can find them on-line or at local drug store. “Vanity” is a nice neutral palette or “Comfort Zone”
- $11 – $25 – The Warm 88 Palette is perfect for the beginner that really wants to experiment and create different looks. The reason this is such a great palette for beginners is because there’s TONS of makeup tutorials on YouTube featuring this palette. So if someone is looking to follow along and learn different techniques this is a great option. There are a few companies that sell this palette, I found mine on Ebay for $11, you can find it on Coastalscents.com, BH Cosmetics, Amazon sells them as well.
- $19 – NYX Nude on Nude Palette. This palette $19 at CherryCulture.com
- $36-$50 – A few higher end palettes are the Urban Decay Naked Palette ($48), Naked Eye Soft & Sexy Eye Shadow Collection ($36)
5) Foundation or powder- Most teens don’t need a full coverage liquid foundation and can get away with a tinted moisturizer or mineral makeup. I recommend using something with SPF to protect her skin from sun damage. Below are few suggestions:
- Elf Tinted Moisturizer ($3)
- BareMinerals powder foundation ($26) – This will be the most natural looking product
- Sheer Liquid Foundation (dewy finish) - Neutrogena Healthy Skin Liquid Makeup SPF 20 ($12)
- For those on a budget – NYC Smooth Skin Foundation ($3) + Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunblock
6) Lips – I suggest something sheer like Revlon Lip Butters (Watch review here) or lip gloss there are tons to choose from at the drug store. One of my favorite drugstore lipsticks is NYC Ultra last lipstick (1.99)
7) Eyes – For mascara and eye liner there are tons to choose from in the drug store, see the “Favorite Things” page for some suggestions. Everyone has different needs when it comes to mascara but one that that seems to work for everyone is CoverGirl Lash Blast Volume Mascara – $7 (orange tube)
Because we’re talking about makeup for teens I tried to provide reasonably priced makeup suggestions. If cost isn’t an issued take a look at my “Favorite Things” page for more suggestions and another great resource for learning about new products (in addition to YouTube) is MakeupAlley.com, it is a dedicated site to makeup reviews. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve pulled this site up on my phone when I’ve been in a store considering purchasing something I’ve never tried before. A great resource!