“Love yourself!” That’s what we read and hear every day and everywhere. Although social media may have started as a toxic place for our self-confidence by promoting flawless beauty standards, now it’s becoming more and more encouraging of everyone’s unique characteristics. As it should be!
Nobody’s perfect – and that’s the truth. No matter how perfect we think someone else is, they have their insecurities for sure. And we should learn to love ourselves. We can choose to spend every day stressing over something that’s been given to us and can’t really change (not unless we undergo plastic surgery), or we can choose to live our lives and accept our physical appearance. At the end of the day, there are more important things than the way we look.
Of course, accepting your physical appearances doesn’t mean you don’t want to get dolled up now and then. It’s normal to want to improve or enhance certain features for a better look. And that doesn’t mean that you don’t love yourself. So, here are some suggestions that you could try to enhance your natural beauty and put your best face forward.
Silk Eyelashes for Making Those Lovely Eyes Pop!
Not all of us are blessed with full, long lashes. And why do guys always seem to have better lashes? It’s not fair! Well, luckily for us, we can always get a pair of falsies and make our eyes the centre of attention. There are many materials to choose from but you should definitely consider buying soft silk lashes to get the most natural look possible.
Why Choose Silk?
Silk lashes are made of smooth synthetic fibres that resemble the look of natural lashes. Depending on the thickness, they can be soft and thin, or dramatic. Unlike normal synthetic lashes that can be heavy, shiny, and thick, the silk ones are made to be lighter, comfortable, and easy to curl.
There are silk lash extensions made from silkworms but they are rare, expensive, and we’re not for animal cruelty. So what’s usually referred to as “silk eyelashes” is the manufactured type of polybutylene terephthalate plastic lashes that are finished with a silk-like, satin coating. They’re more durable and flexible than actual silk because natural materials don’t hold their curl or different weather conditions that well, and their fine structure damages quickly.
A Variety of Lash Styles for Every Makeup Look
There are strip eyelashes where many silk fibres are attached to a strip that is glued to the lash line, and there are individual lashes made of clusters of 2 or more fibres and each cluster or individual lash is glued to the eyelash line. These tend to look more natural because you can choose how far apart you want each lash to be glued. If you’re not sure how to put on fake eyelashes, there are many step-by-step guides on how to apply falsies.
When it comes to the size, there are small, medium, and long silk lashes, and which to choose depends on the look you’re going for.
- Cat Eye Eyelashes – These lashes are longer at the end that is glued to the outside corner of your eye, giving the illusion of a longer, cat-like eye;
- Doll Eyelashes – These have longer fibres in the middle and smaller ones at the ends of the strap. This makes your eyes appear wider open, like those of dolls;
- Double-layered Eyelashes – These contain two layers of eyelashes on top of each other for more volume.
There are many other styles such as glamorous, staggered, classical, dramatic, etc. You should pick according to the occasion, personal preference, or eye shape. For example, a “glamorous” style would be more suitable for an event rather than going to work; or if you have naturally round, open eyes, doll eyelashes could make your eyes look a bit exaggerated and give you a “surprised” look.
Eyebrow Tinting for Fuller Brows
Thin brows were trendy in the ‘90s and 2000s but after that fuller, natural brows stepped into the limelight. If your brows aren’t naturally full or they’re not as thick as you would want them to be because of overplucking or other reasons, eyebrow tinting could help you get the desired look.
There are two options: either go get them done at a beauty salon or do them by yourself. If you don’t have the time or money for visiting a professional, tinting your brows at home can be an easy and affordable option. Here are some of the ways you can get a fuller brow look.
- Brow Gels – Can last for 24h or a few days. They are easy to apply with brush strokes or you may need to wait several minutes and wipe or peel the gel;
- Brow Dye – They usually last longer, up to 4 weeks, and they’re like hair dye but for your brows;
- Tattoo Tints – These are normally applied to your brows like dyes but instead of wiping the dye, you need to peel it off.
There are alternative options that you could try like using moustache dye or root retouch dye. They would work the same as the specialised products and are cheaper. But first, for everything that you put on your skin you need to do a test to see that you’re not allergic to some of the ingredients. Do this a day before dying your eyebrows.
For tinting your eyebrows you need to choose the colour which is closest to your brow colour. You don’t want darker brows or lighter which would look kind of yellowish.
Before you start, outline the shape that you’re going for on your brows and apply petroleum jelly around it to stop the tint from running everywhere but be careful not to put it on your brows because the dye won’t work.
Enhance Your Freckles for a Sun Kissed Look
Freckles look sexy and that’s a fact. They’re more prominent in the summertime because of the UV rays. Whether you want to enhance them during the colder months or you don’t have any but wish you did, there’s a solution.
If you want to make your freckles more noticeable, don’t use heavy makeup. Try some lighter formulas for a more natural look. You can use highlighter or blush to make a contrast so your freckles will pop out, or use a little bronzer to complement them.
If you want to fake freckles, use eyebrow or eyeliner pencil but there are specifically designed freckle pencils as well. You want the colour of the pencil to match your existing freckles or a shade lighter from that which you use for your brows. It depends on your skin tone and you’re the best judge when it comes to picking the right colour that won’t be too dark.
For the best results, make sure that your skin is clean with no dead cells. So you might want to cleanse your face, use a natural face scrub according to your skin type, and hydrate at the end.
Take the chosen pencil and draw little dots on the places where you get your freckles. That would usually be on the nose, cheeks, and along the cheekbones. There’s no pattern so put smaller and bigger freckles but be careful not to overdo it, it may lose its natural look. To set them, you could use a setting spray or a little blush or setting powder, but you don’t want anything covering them up.
