Stay safe in the sun this summer

Enhance your gorgeousness with Diamond's top makeup tips

The man behind Nars makeup, François Nars, once said: "Treat your makeup like jewellery for the face. Play with colours, shapes, structure - it can transform you."

It's very easy to find an eye shadow or lip colour that suits you and then stick with it, but you wouldn't wear your summer clothes in winter would you? So just like you change your wardrobe with the seasons, you should update your makeup look too.

If you're stuck in a makeup rut, fear not - we've got some great tips to dig you out and some makeup disasters that you'll want to avoid whatever the weather.

Yes!

Makeup flick

Chic cat-flick eyeliner is a staple trick every girl should know, and it's not as daunting as you may think. For starters, you need the right eyeliner - choose gel, liquid or a felt-tip liner, but not kohl. Use your lower lash as your guide and draw a line at an angle back towards your eye to create the flick or wing. Then line the upper lid to just before the tear duct, and then angle your liner to finish the line down to the corner of your eye. From the inner corner of your eye out to the flick, the line should be graduated, thin to thick.

Still stuck? Here's a great video from Wayne Goss - gossmakeupartist - on how to get that perfect feline flick:

No!

Makeup blush

We all made the same mistake with blusher when we first started wearing makeup - big smile and rouge the apples of your cheeks. However, applying your blusher this way is very aging; instead, gently swipe a tapered blusher brush along the natural line of your cheekbone, up towards your temple. If you really want to highlight your bone structure, or fake model-like bone structure, run a darker colour (light brown is good) under your blusher and blend (just under the cheekbone when you suck your cheeks in), this will contour your cheeks.

Yes!

Makeup duogood

Experiment with different colours and, seeing as it's summer, try something bright. It's OK to wear two different colours on your eyes - try a blue/green colour under the eye and a shimmery bronze or gold on top to create a perfect beachy look. Don't be afraid to experiment with colour, but remember the golden rule - heavy eye/ nude lip or bright lips/natural eyes. Otherwise, you could end up looking like you've had a fight with your makeup palette:

Makeup duobad

No!

Yes!

Makeup orange

If a Hollywood red lip is too much for you, give orange a go. There are some beautiful orange hues around at the moment, and it's the perfect colour for a juicy summer pout. We like a coral colour, which suits most skin types, and if you really want to up the ante - dab a shimmery eye shadow onto the plumpest part of your lower lip, in the middle, for an instantly fuller pout.

No!

Makeup brow

There is nothing worse than a badly drawn on eyebrow, nothing. In an age where every girl covets an au naturel thick power-brow, we are seeing some doodled screamers. The key is to enhance what you already have, and if you don't have that bold natural arch, don't just get rid of your eyebrows and draw them on - it never looks good.

Instead, use an eyebrow powder/wax kit or an eyebrow pencil, and using light strokes simply fill out any sparse bits and slightly extend the brows so they are equal. To make sure your brows are the right length, hold a pencil vertically against your nose - the eyebrow should start there, and for the outer edge, angle the pencil from the bottom of your nose up to the outer edge of your eye, that's where the eyebrow should end. If you are trying to thicken, always go under the eyebrow, not above as you'll change the shape too much.

On the fence

Makeup white

Bobbi Brown once said white eyeliner on your waterline looks like just that, but many beauty bloggers advise a swipe of white eyeliner on the lower lash waterline to make the eyes look bigger.

We can't decide if we like the look or agree with Brown... What do you think? Let us know your thoughts, or send us your gorgeous makeup pics, on Twitter: @DiamondforGirls

Share with your friends