A Beginner’s Guide to Makeup in 5 Simple Tutorials
By the time you hit a certain age (say, when you can legally buy a shot of vodka or rent a car—ideally not at the same time), there are a few things you’re magically expected to know, and for some reason, makeup is one of them. We’re not sure if the entire world had a secret makeup 101 seminar in between junior high and high school that we weren’t invited to, but somewhere along the way, your best friend, your co-worker, and your bank teller managed to perfect the art of the cat-eye, airbrushed concealer, Cara Delevingne-level brows, and just looking really, really good.
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It’s not that you need to wear makeup. If you feel comfortable with the routine you have right now—whether that’s just a layer of sunscreen, or a coat of mascara and lip balm—then hell yes; more power to you. But if you want to finally learn how to use all of those products sitting in the bottom of your makeup bag, or just get a refresher on the tricks you’ve already tried, then hey, welcome.
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Because we rounded up the most-asked beauty questions of 2016, including how to fill in brows, subtly contour and highlight your face, cover up pimples, apply concealer, and use liquid eyeliner, and broke them down into easy-to-follow, ridiculously simple, gif-filled tutorials. Call it the makeup manual you never received, or your beauty fairy godmother. It’s simple and clear and we promise you can master these techniques. Or, at least, you’ll have a pretty intermediate grasp—which is still enough to rival your bank teller.
Photographer: Tory Rust
Model: Rachel Besser
Makeup: Ashleigh Ciucci
Hair: Akihisa Yamaguchi
A version of this article was originally published in April 2017.
