Bored by your go-to day makeup look? Step up your game with these 7 easy tips.

Day makeup usually equals a barely there look, which is totally understandable: I mean, you don’t want to go to work looking like you just finished a night shift on the corner. But as far as I’m concerned, if you’re going for barely there, then why bother wearing makeup at all?

Makeup’s supposed to be fun. It’s supposed to be exciting to put on, like when we were little girls scooping our mom’s makeup and smearing it all over our faces. If you’ve lost your spark in the makeup department, here are 7 simple ways to breathe life into your day makeup look:

1. Balance is key

What makes a look bold isn’t just color choice, but how you play with it. If you want to rock an orange pout or a thick cat eye then go for it – just not at the same time. Make one feature your focal point, then keep the rest of your makeup simple and chic.

2. Take baby steps

Just because your new lipstick is neon pink doesn’t mean you have to apply it full throttle. Start by gently dabbing it on and topping it with a gloss. Go darker and darker day by day until you’ve fully embraced the shade. The best part about this option is that everyone will adjust to your new look right along with you. No gasps!

3. Think outside the (crayon) box

When we buy makeup, we always go for a favorite color or one that closely matches our eye color. The next time you head to the makeup counter, ban yourself from buying makeup you’d normally buy. In fact, go for the exact opposite. For example, if you have blue eyes, try rust or orange colors. Green, take the plunge with purple. Brown, think pink! Whatever you decide on, go for it without hesitating.

4. Go with your gut

The easiest thing to forget about makeup – especially with new beauty advice articles popping up every two seconds – is that there are no rules. Trends change faster than we have time to read about them, never mind execute them. Deep down, you know the looks you’ve always wanted to try, and soon you’ll be so comfortable with your new look you’ll wonder what all the fuss was about.

5. Practice at home

If you’re uncomfortable with your day makeup look, then everyone else will be too. It can be a shock to your system to go from a clear gloss to a scarlet red lip overnight, so wear it at home first to adjust. Once you fall in love with your new look (and trust me, you will), you’ll be strutting out the door in no time.

6. Start with your nails

If the thought of bright day makeup overwhelms you, then start by adding a splash of color to your nails. (And by color, I mean color, as in not nude or pastel.)

7. Simplify your fashion

By keeping your outfit casual and breezy, your bold day makeup will pop without looking like you’re trying too hard.

How do you switch up your day makeup?

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Image: Makeup photo via Shutterstock

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You might be full of energy and ready to get things done, but those droopy, poorly arched brows are telling the world you’re exhausted. Small as they are, our eyebrow shapes play a crucial function in emotional expression, and the wrong shape can not only throw off the balance of your face, but send an inaccurate message about how you’re feeling. Overly-arched brows can make you look harsh and angry, while rounded ones can lend a sad, bewildered look.

How you shape your eyebrows depends on what you’re working with. If you’ve got naturally lush, full brows, you’re in luck – a bit of trimming and tweezing is all you need to make the most of them. If your brows are sparse and shapeless, mastery of eyebrow-enhancing products can make all the difference in your appearance.

Tweezing Tips: Pluck a Perfect Shape

When it comes to plucking, less is more. It’s so easy to tweeze away what seems like just a few hairs and realize that you’ve fundamentally altered your eyebrow shapes. Plus – bold brows are in. The best course of action is to have a pro shape your brows the first time, and then keep them up at home, but if you’d rather tackle it yourself, here are some tips.

It’s best to pluck right after showering, after the warm water gets a chance to open the hair follicles, using a pair of tweezers with sharp, slanted tips. Before you take away any hairs, use a brow or mascara wand to brush the hairs up. If they’re overly long, carefully trim off the tips just past the natural line of your brow.

Start by assessing the overall shape of your brows. Do they have a noticeable arch? Use a pencil to find the most arched part of your brow and line it up with your eye. The most flattering location for the arch is at the outer edge of your iris, not over the tear duct or the middle. Arches over the front part of the brow create a shape that’s too round. Once you’ve located the arch, pluck just a few hairs along the bottom edge of the brow at this point to create a little bit of definition. The video above illustrates this process.

Note where your eyebrows start and end, as well. Plucking too far in from the bridge of the nose can make your eyes look too far apart, and if the ends of your brows are too long, they can drag down the shape of your eye, aging you and making you look tired.

Faking It: Enhance Eyebrows with Powder, Pencil or Wax

The most foolproof way to find a shape that’s right for your face without doing any permanent damage to your brows is to play around with some eyebrow stencils. Most likely, there will only be one or two that really work for your face shape, so you might use the pack just one or two times before you figure out what you like and how to do it on your own, but it can be a helpful tool to get started.

The biggest mistake women make with brow products is choosing a powder or pencil that’s too dark. Even if your hair is black, you likely don’t need anything darker than medium brown to achieve a soft, natural look. Your brow product doesn’t have to match your hair color exactly; the trick is finding a product that’s not either too ashy or too red for your skin tone and hair.

When filling in brows with a pencil, make sure it’s sharp and use a light hand to apply short, hair-like strokes in the direction that the hair grows naturally. The same technique is helpful when applying powders and waxes with a brush. If your brows tend to be unruly, hold them in place with a clear brow wax or mascara.

One kit that’ll give you lots of control is the vegan and cruelty-free Jane Iredale Bitty Brow Kit, which is available in blond and brunette shades and comes with pigmented brow powder, three brushes and botanical brow wax. Tarte’s Amazonian Clay Waterproof Brow Mousse is another great product to help achieve a natural look, and it lasts longer than most pencils.

Still feeling lost? Take a few minutes to browse some eyebrow tutorials on YouTube, so you can see how the products are applied.

Top photo: Nadia Martinez

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Here at EcoSalon, we’d never tell you there are any rules when it comes to looking you’re best. The confidence that comes from choosing to embrace your unique self is what true beauty is. Glamour, on the other hand, is a totally different animal. As Dita Von Teese remarked, “glamour is the process of turning yourself into something.” Admittedly, most of us aren’t heading off to jobs as vintage burlesque performers every morning, but women throughout history have put their “face on” to deal with the challenges in front of them.

Making friends with make-up is key. Wrapping our heads around the fun and creativity of exaggerating the feminine form as an empowering ritual, rather than an oppressive one, is the beginning of our journeys towards authentic glamour.

The other essential part comes down to recognizing there really is an art to it. The difference between lipstick that is quickly smudged on and one applied with a sense of artful delight is always evident. Thankfully, there’s a wealth of knowledge from the cosmetic industry’s top innovators available on every Internet-connected device in your home.  Now that every one has access to the latest insider beauty secrets, it’s up to you to define and create your best face forward.

Here are our picks for the best tutorials on the top seasonal make up trends to enhance and inspire your personal make up technique.

1. Sisters Sam and Nic Chapman, known to over 650K subscribers as Pixiwoo, have made their focus recreating the kind of make up seen on film and on the red carpet. Their popular Bond Girl series are fun looks to recreate, this ’70s shimmer Solitaire Make-up from 1973’s Live & Let Die exemplifies what spring 2013 runways were all about – smoldering eyes with loads of highlights and pointy bow lips.

2. Helping you to finally master liquid eyeliner is Michelle Phan’s goal in this instructive Easy Ways to Use Liquid Liner tutorial. With more than 2.25 million subscribers, she’s the Internet’s most popular make up blogger. Take a look at her tips for achieving the perfect cat eye, an enduring and flattering vintage look.

3. Lisa Eldridge is the talented industry insider providing insight into the world of the editorial make up artist. Her stunning make up applications reveal the art and technical prowess behind the process. In this tutorial, Eldridge shows how two items – bronzer and highlighter – can totally transform by creating the ultimate in ‘no make up’ looks.

Image: Brendan W. Brown

The post Spring Glamour Guide: The 3 Best Video Makeup Tutorials appeared first on EcoSalon.