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We were raised in the 鈥�90s, when the natural look was king. The closest we got to high-maintenance beauty was remembering to re-dye our Angela Chase-inspired locks once in a while (look it up). So to us, the recent trend for 鈥渕aximal鈥� makeup has been a bit of a shocker. The inch-thick, plasticky looking foundation, Sharpie-scrawled brows and acres of contouring powder just make us want to spit on a tissue and give these Millennials a good old wipe.
Yet when it鈥檚 done well, this kind of makeup is a form of art. The most skilled people can pretty much craft themselves a new face and know more about how light and shadow work than some physicists. Therein lies the problem. Most of us are not skilled makeup artists, and therefore it doesn鈥檛 matter how many posh beauty products we buy if we don鈥檛 know how to use them. Well done high-maintenance makeup looks over the top in real life, but fabulous on camera. Done badly, it just looks stupid. So here are the absolute idiot-proof, klutz-proof easy products to help you get makeup to the max, without looking like Coco the Clown.
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Primed skin
Makeup artists will tell you that you need to wear a primer so that your foundation goes on smoothly and lasts longer. It鈥檚 true that it makes a difference, but for lots of women, it鈥檚 simply a step too many. ($50, at Sephora and Shoppers Drug Mart) is a combo of moisturizer and primer that provides enough all-day hydration for normal skin, and makes foundation look better and last longer.
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Perfect foundation
Influencers are obsessed with Est茅e Lauder Double Wear because it gives a lasting matte, flawless look and photographs really well. To get a perfect finish, it鈥檚 best to use a sponge applicator like a Beauty Blender. What鈥檚 even easier is the of the product ($46, at Est茅e Lauder counters). It has a slightly lighter texture but still offers medium coverage, and the sponge is integrated, so all you need to do is twist the base a couple of times to release the right amount of product, dab it onto your face, then use the cushion to blend.
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Duck lips
We鈥檙e all for the free-and-easy, do-what-makes-you-happy approach to beauty, but honestly, when they鈥檙e overdone, lip fillers look bloody awful, and so does using a lipliner to make your pout look bigger. Rodial听听($45 for eight masks, at听), which you leave on for 15 minutes, won鈥檛 increase volume as much as a trip to the beauty doctor鈥檚 office could, but you do get a little temporary boost and they make your lips feel lovely afterwards.
Dramatic contouring
The principles of contouring are straightforward: You put highlighter where you want things to look prominent 鈥� for example, your cheekbones 鈥� and shader on what you want to recede, like a double chin. Powders can be really tricky to work with, so the best bet for beginners is a cream product that you can blend with your fingertips. 听($14, at Nyx stores and London Drugs, in six shades) is a double-ended crayon with highlighter at one end and shader at the other. Apply it gradually (it鈥檚 easier to add than take away), blend, and watch a tutorial on how to use it. We like StylesbyKK鈥檚 tips on Youtube.
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Bold brows
We love brow mascaras because they鈥檙e so easy to use, but if you have very sparse or non-existent brows, you need something with more heft. Maybelline ($11.99, at mass market retailers and听maybelline.ca, in three shades) comes in a tube with a wand applicator so you don鈥檛 need to faff about with brushes and palettes, and allows you to build dramatically defined brows quickly.
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False lashes
There are two types of people: Ones who can put false lashes on easily; and normal people. Mascara makers will tell you that their product can give a false-lash effect, but that鈥檚 just not true. L鈥橭real Paris ($13.99, at mass market retailers, in one shade) comes pretty close, though. You get a lot of length with one coat and it doesn鈥檛 get lumpy or clumpy if you apply more layers. Come December, L鈥橭real will also be launching Superstar XFiber Mascara, which the brand swears will give a false-lash look.
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Big hair
No high-maintenance woman would leave the house without her big blowout, with masses of volume at the roots and a cascade of tousled curls down her back. The former, you can achieve with John Frieda ($15.99, at selectfood, drug and mass retailers), which you apply in the shower after conditioning and then rinse off. The volume-boost properties last through a few washes, but hair must be blow-dried afterwards to activate the effect. We like the ($499.99, at Sephora and Hudson鈥檚 Bay). It鈥檚 very fast, light, quiet and kind to hair, though also, very expensive. Still, we absolutely recommend it if you have a spare $500 lying around: Your hairdryer is something you use every day, so it鈥檚 worth investing in a decent one, and Dyson鈥檚 is the best.听
