The Makeup Guide
Beauty Icons
These products reign as the best sellers in luxury makeup, making them time-tested picks for enhancing any routine.
ESTÉE LAUDER Double Wear Stay-in-Place Liquid Foundation
The natural-looking matte base is sweat-, heat-, and humidity-resistant, delivering 24 hours of waterproof coverage.
CLINIQUE Almost Lipstick in Black Honey
The top-selling lip color in the U.S., this richly hued tinted balm flatters all skin tones.
DIOR Dior Backstage Rosy Glow Blush
Featuring a pH-activated formula, the powder reacts with your skin to create a healthy glow that’s fine-tuned to your complexion.
CHANEL Le Volume de CHANEL Mascara
For an extreme eye-opening effect, natural waxes volumize lashes, while quick-drying acacia gum boosts their curl.
YVES SAINT LAURENT BEAUTY Touche Éclat Awakening Concealer Click Pen
The cult favorite instantly brightens under-eyes and highlights cheekbones—like a magic wand for radiance.
M·A·C Colour Excess Gel Liner in Glide or Die
Ultra-pigmented and waterproof, this classic black shade lasts 24+ hours on lids and 12 hours on the waterline.
Foundation
Created to even out skin tone, today’s high-tech formulas use light-reflecting and blurring pigments to minimize the appearance of fine lines and spots, and to boost the overall smoothness of any complexion. Here’s a breakout of foundations by formula and skin type so you can choose one that fits your needs.
Foundation by Formulation
Delivers lightweight coverage using a forgiving, hydrating formula that easily blends into multiple skin tones.
Layers seamlessly to deliver your choice of medium to full coverage with a natural-looking finish.
Absorbs excess oil and tamps down shine throughout the day—an excellent choice for acne-prone skin or during humid weather.
Provides precise application for easy, on-the-go touch-ups and concealer-like coverage in a pinch.
Foundation by Skin Type
Nourishes skin with smoothing, firming ingredients, from peptides and caffeine to caviar extract and silk.
Controls oil with powder pigments or plant extracts while delivering a long-lasting, soft-matte finish.
Delivers a burst of freshness with a rich water or moisturizer content for an ultra-dewy look.
Blends oil-balancing agents like powders and lightweight hydrators. The result? Healthy-looking radiance.
Use Foundation With
Fully covers imperfections in a soft matte finish that diffuses light to subtly blur imperfections.
Delivers lightweight, buildable coverage and sometimes contains light-reflecting pigments, which are especially good at brightening tired-looking eyes.
Applies color theory for flawless concealing, using green pigments to cancel redness and peachy pink pigments to counteract purple under-eye circles.
Allows for targeted spot coverage of stubborn areas in the fullest coverage possible without caking, plus it’s easy to use on the go.
For Face & Cheek Sculpting
For features that truly pop, blushes, bronzers, highlighters, and contours can each be applied on their own or used together to create contrast. A top example? Highlighter above cheekbones and contour below them deliver the ultimate chiseled effect. Here, a breakout of what each product achieves.
Adds a flush to the apples of the cheeks or can be diffused upward for a glam look, both creating a youthful, lifted effect.
Mimics a tan by warming up skin where the sun would naturally hit it—the forehead, cheekbones, temples, and the bridge of the nose.
Illuminates the angles of the face that naturally catch the light, like the brow bones, tops of cheekbones, and cupid’s bow.
Always matte, it deepens the shadows found in the hollows of the cheekbones and the temples and on the jawline for a more sculpted look.
For the Lips
Magnify. Smooth. Define. Plump. There’s a full menu of products for every possible lip look, from barely-there balms to pigment-packed liquid lipsticks. Here, an overview of what each one does best.
Imparts an ultra-reflective sheen that creates the illusion of fuller-looking lips and sometimes includes plumping agents like ginger oil.
Softens lips and alleviates chapping with rich moisturizers like plant oils and hyaluronic acid. Tinted options add a hint of color.
Serves up rich color in an easy-to-glide-on stick that’s comprised of waxes and oils and is available in a range of finishes—see the breakout below.
Enhances and moisturizes lips with plant oils that impart a lightweight shine that’s more subtle than a gloss.
Lipstick Types
Composed of more wax than oil for bold, long-lasting color known for its shine-free, velvety finish.
Features a higher dose of hydrators than matte formulas for vibrant color with a radiant finish.
Packed with a high dose of pigments for rich color that has more staying power than a traditional lipstick.
Designed to be eco-conscious with a replaceable lipstick bullet.
Eye Makeup
Whether you’re aiming for subtle color or a dramatic smokey eye, here are the picks you need and an explanation of how each one delivers.
Applied along the lash line to emphasize eyes, both accentuating their shape and making lashes appear thicker.
Builds up lashes with waxes and polymers that add length, volume, and sometimes curl for a full, lush look.
Amplifies eyes by bringing depth and dimension to eyelids with a wash of soft color or bold shades in both cream and powder formulas.
Fill in sparse patches and set brows to boost their definition and fullness, helping them better frame the eyes.
Get the Look
Easy-to-achieve beauty trends with tips from our Makeup Artist in Residence at Century City, Patrick Foley.
Names to Know
Get to know the niche brands with devoted followings.
FAQ
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Test two or three foundation shades along your jawline in natural light to see which one disappears into your skin and leaves no noticeable lines, a process a beauty stylist at your local Bloomingdale’s can easily help you with to find your perfect color match.
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Start with concealer to diminish any redness and cover blemishes. Then lightly apply foundation or tinted moisturizer, allowing natural characteristics like freckles to show through. Finish the look with mascara, a subtle blush, and a sheer lip color.
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Our natural oils and sweat break down makeup. Create a buffer against them by prepping skin with primer and finishing with a setting spray, and use longwear or waterproof formulas, which feature ingredients like polymers specifically designed to resist humidity and perspiration.
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A neutral eyeshadow all over the lid brightens eyes and creates a smooth canvas. Then build depth by layering a darker shade in the crease and outer corner using a windshield-wiper motion for seamless blending.
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Makeup often contains oils, and you need oil to dissolve oil or waterproof formulas. A biphasic remover like the best-selling Lancôme Bi-Facil gently wipes away eye makeup. Follow with your usual cleanser to wash away any remaining makeup residue.
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Yes, even makeup application begins with healthy, smooth skin. Aim for a consistent daily cleansing and moisturizing routine to improve your skin’s hydration and texture.
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Smile to find the apples of your cheeks and apply blush there in circular motions. Then diffuse it outward and upward to your temples for a natural-looking, lifted effect.
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It’s your choice! Some pros recommend matching liner to your natural lip color so that as your lipstick fades, you aren’t left with a harsh line. But liner can also be used to amplify a bold lipstick and make it last longer: Use a shade that matches your lipstick all over your lips, creating a base layer for lipstick application.
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