Make-up For Men

Make-up For Men

 

  Photography: Hannah Edwards (http://www.ModelMayhem.com/266063),
Hair: Styled myself,
Clothes: Styled by Dirish B (http://www.MySpace.com/Rough_Edged_Circle), 

Model: Vincenzo Cortese (http://www.ModelMayhem.com/295305) at BMA (http://www.BMAModels.com).

Photography: Giulio Marcello (http://www.MarcelloPhotography.com),
Hair: Styled myself,
Clothes: Styled by Reemé Idris,
Model: Daniel Stepin.

 Photography: Rajesh Maddula (http://www.facebook.com/RajeshMaddulaPhotography),
Clothes: Designed by Danish Wakeel (http://www.facebook.com/DanishWakeelFashionDesigner),
Model: Danish Wakeel (http://www.facebook.com/Danish.Wakeel).

Photography: Stefan Sieler (http://www.MySpace.com/StefanSieler),
Hair: Styled myself,
Clothes: Designed & styled by Chris Birch (label: Joystick Junkies) (http://www.JoystickJunkies.com),
Model: Karim Theilgaard (http://www.KarimTheilgaard.com).

Photography: Serguei Cherkassov (http://www.sergximage.wix.com/photographer-imagex & http://www.facebook.com/Serguei.Cherkassov),
Hair: Styled by Anoosh Naghibi,
Clothes & Wings: Designed by Anoosh Naghibi (http://www.Anoosh.co.uk & http://www.facebook.com/Anoosh.co.uk),
Model: Anoosh Naghibi (http://www.facebook.com/Anoosh.Naghibi).

Make-up for men is usually much simpler than make-up for women.

It is optional about whether to shave off the facial hair first.  However the base make-up is easier to apply to a freshly shaved face than to a stubbly or hairy face.  Also examine the eyebrows, and decide whether any stray eyebrow hairs should be plucked out using tweezers - this next step is also optional.

After shaving the face or leaving the facial hair/stubble, cleanse and moisturise the face.

If the man's complexion is uneven you can apply foundation to even it out.  Make sure the foundation is the same colour as the skin on the face so that it is not too obvious if going for a natural look.  When going for a gothic look (as in the last photo above) you can use foundation a bit paler than the skin for a more dramatic look, but don't use foundation more than one shade paler than the skin.  If he has a beard, moustache, sideburns, facial stubble, or thick bushy eyebrows, the make-up can tend to show up in the facial hairs.  To rectify this, use a very slightly dampened in water clean eyebrow brush to brush the foundation out of the facial hairs after it has been applied, and avoid putting foundation on the densely hairy parts of the face such as thick beards.

Sometimes if a more rugged look is desired or if the man has an even complexion then you can skip the foundation step.

Next cover any blemishes and/or under-eye dark circles with concealer, using a concealer brush for precision.  For covering blemishes use concealer in a colour matched to the foundation, but for covering under-eye dark circles use a concealer one shade paler than the skin.  Make sure the concealer is blended well, in order to not show up.

Now apply loose powder to fix the foundation and/or concealer in place and mattify the complexion, using a powder puff.  Use powder the same colour as the skin, or if going for a gothic look go no more than one shade paler than the skin.  Be sure to blend the under-eye concealer out of any lines or wrinkles using your ring finger directly before applying loose powder to the under-eye area.  Powder can collect in the facial hair/stubble and eyebrows and show up, particularly if the facial hair/stubble and eyebrow hair is very thick/dense, so avoid these areas if the facial hair/stubble and eyebrows and very thick/dense, or brush the powder out of the facial hair/stubble and/or eyebrows after applying it using a very slightly dampened in water clean eyebrow brush.

If you want the man to have a slightly sun-kissed look or if he looks too pale, you can brush bronzing powder over his face just on the places where the sun would naturally hit (i.e. the forehead, nose and the tops of the cheeks).  Only use light coloured bronzing powder on fair skin and deep bronzing powder on olive skin.  Dark black skin should go without bronzing powder and just use a dark powder matched to the colour of the skin.  Porcelain skin should also go without bronzing powder and just use a powder matched to the colour of the skin.  

Now gently dust the excess powder off of the face using a powder brush, (after you've applied it using a powder puff).

If the eyebrows are fair and/or sparse, or if you just want them to look more dramatic, you can apply eyebrow pencil to them using lots of light feathery strokes.  To achieve a natural looking effect on fair eyebrows use a taupe coloured eyebrow pencil.  On brown eyebrows use a brown eyebrow pencil, and on black eyebrows use a black eyebrow pencil.

Next brush the eyebrows upwards and outwards using an eyebrow brush, (and fix them in place if necessary by spraying a bit of hairspray onto the eyebrow brush directly before using it).

Most of the time with male models I don't apply any eye make-up (as in the first three photos above), but sometimes if going for a gothic look, a rock star look or a more dramatic look, where I want the eyes to stand out more, I will apply black eyeshadow around the eyes (as in the last two photos above).  To apply black eyeshadow around the eyes firstly apply loose face powder below the eyes (to catch any flecks of eyeshadow that may fall from the eyelids when it is being applied, so that the fallen flecks of eyeshadow don't mark the skin below the eyes).  Next using a thin tipped eyeshadow brush for precision apply black eyeshadow to the top eyelids from the upper lash lines only up as far as the socket lines, and then apply the black eyeshadow under the lower lash lines.  Make the line of black under the lower lash lines about two millimetres thick.  You can use cotton buds for blending it a bit around the edges or wiping away tiny bits of black eyeshadow that have gone astray.  Once you're happy with the eyeshadow, brush the loose face powder away from below the eyes using a powder brush using gentle outward brushing flicks to eliminate any black eyeshadow fall out below the eyes.

Apply mascara if desired.  However don't apply it as heavily as you would on a woman.  Just one coat of mascara is adequate to darken the eyelashes without looking obvious.  Remember to start right from the roots of the eyelashes, particularly if the eyelashes are fair.  Then comb through the eyelashes using an eyelash comb to eliminate any clumps of mascara and get an even natural looking result.

You can use brown blusher/bronzing powder/shader to add definition to the cheekbones.  Use light brown/light gold on fair/porcelain skin, mid brown on olive/Asian skin, dark brown on light black skin, and very dark brown on dark black skin.  Apply it using a thin tipped blusher brush for precision, and apply it along the undersides of the cheekbones, and blend it well so that it doesn't look like there are stripes on the sides of the face, but simply shadows created by the cheekbones.

You can keep the lips looking natural by either applying nothing to them if they're not dry, or applying a light application of colourless lip balm or Vaseline to them if they're dry (as in the first four photos above).  Otherwise if you want a darker look or a gothic look you can apply dark lipstick in colours such as black, dark purple, dark brown, dark wine red, or dark burgundy (as in the last photo above).  Apply the lipstick precisely over the lips using a lip brush, and then blot the lips with tissue.

If going for a rock star look or a gothic look I like to paint the nails with dark nail polish in colours such as black or darkest midnight purple.  However more often with male models I keep the nails nude without any nail polish on them, and just make sure the nails are short, clean and filed neatly.

That's all for creating a groomed make-up look on men!