Five secrets learned at make-up school

If there's one thing we always pester our make-up artist friends about, it's their ultiamate secrets of the trade.

We all know our way around a dab of foundation, a slick of mascara and a smudge of concealer, but we want to know the tricks of the beauty industry so we can get that full-on Angelina Jolie at the Oscars glam down to a tee.

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Be spoke with make-up artist Sonia Allen who gave us the inside scoop on everything she learned at make-up school.

Wipe your eyelids before applying make-up
Wipe the eyelids down with a sponge or cotton pad before applying eye makeup. Eyelids are the oiliest part of the face and oil destroys the longevity of eye makeup. If you don't have time for an eyeshadow base, apply concealer, blend and set with translucent powder before commencing with eyeshadow. It works every time!

Know how to use concealer
When concealing a blemish, avoid the temptation of ‘blending out’ too much or you'll end up making the area look worse. Instead, opt for a colour correcting shade that will knock out the redness. Dab only onto the top of the blemish and set with powder. It's a much more effective way to conceal a blemish.

Find the perfect colour foundation
Your wrist is a great place to test foundation and ascertain whether you have red, yellow (or green) undertones. Once you establish your undertone, you can then colour match the shade of foundation by applying a strip of colour starting at your cheek and extending down to your jaw. This will give you a great indication of how the colour is working against the colouring on your face (often darker than neck but lighter than chest), neck (lightest part of the body) and chest (often darker than neck and face).

Master the smokey eye
For a more "lived in" smokey eye, use a kohl pencil (Marc Jacobs Beauty Highliner Gel Eye Crayon in "Blaquer") applied on the upper and lower inner rim as well as along the lashline. Smudge out with a dome shaped brush (Zoeva 226 Smudger Brush). Set with black eyeshadow (or even a navy blue) and voila, rock chick cool.

Make the most out of your lipliner
You can apply lipliner after lipstick to tidy and smooth your lip contour. It works just as effectively, just be sure to use a sharpened lipliner in a shade equal to or slightly darker than your lipstick shade (MAC Lipliners offer a great range of shades and are easy to sharpen to a fine point).

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