A headhunter once spent a good 20 minutes of her time lecturing me on the importance of clear nail polish. Colored nail polish suggested I wasn’t serious about landing a job, but clear was a clean look that meant I was the type of person they’d want to hire. After that day, I never wore clear nail polish again.
All this time, I’ve been thinking this headhunter was a bit too concerned with such minute details until I came across Skincare-News:
Makeup Looks for the Office. Ms. Headhunter was right after all, and obviously in cahoots with
Lahle Wolfe, founder and CEO of IPump.org, Inc., a national nonprofit diabetes assistance organization. She’s also an expert on how a woman should wear her makeup in the office.
Wolfe says “wearing too little makeup – or none at all – might look unprofessional.” And that choosing to wear nighttime makeup shades at the office could make you appear “sultry,” or let’s call a spade a spade and say a “working girl.” Wolfe proceeds to give her advice on how to achieve that work-friendly face. As someone who doesn’t wear makeup, I thought it would be best to learn how to rock the au natural look.
1.
Start with a clean slate. Scrub, then moisturize your mug. These are places where you want to be “picky.” You also want to choose a moisturizer that will adhere to the full-face of foundation you’re about to apply. Apparently, the au natural look requires covering every inch of your face in liquid makeup.
2.
Apply foundation. With a sponge, apply a foundation that matches your skin tone (unless you’re trying to look like you’re from
Jersey Shore, then go several shades darker, er, orange). Pay special attention to the eyes and laugh lines. Wrinkles love to attach themselves to foundation and make you look older than you are – hence, “au natural.”
3.
Eye makeup. Only use enough eyeliner to make your eyes “pop.” Follow the lines of your eyes, staying within them and not wavering. Smokey eyes, we’ve already established, have no place at the office. Also, stick to conservative colors for both your eyeliner and eye shadow. Neutral tones are your friends.
4.
Mascara. When applied with a fan brush so as to prevent clumping, mascara is a great way to add that little something to your eyes. Again, stick to subtle colors – a dark brown or soft black are perfect. No sense in looking like a tramp while you’re in that board meeting – that’s for after work hours.
5.
Blush. Appearing pale is not something you ever want. A bit of blush on your cheeks will give you a healthy glow. You don’t want your coworkers thinking you’re dead, or even worse, into the goth scene.
6.
Tinted lip gloss. Again we’re shooting for a slight “pop” here. Unlike lipstick, a tinted gloss looks more realistic and is easy to apply throughout the day.
Wolfe also notes that some events and presentations may warrant a more “sophisticated” look. In these cases, she suggests you learn how to draw more attention to your eyes. Although she uses the word “learn” she doesn’t seem to be offering up classes anytime soon. However, considering all the names she drops in her how-to article, it can be assumed she has a school already picked out for you.
article by Amanda Chatel
