9 Celeb MUA Makeup Tips You Never Knew You Needed
There’s no telling when or where you’ll find the juiciest hacks to simplify your makeup routine – they could pop up when your bestie spills the tea or during your TikTok hours. Either way, there’s always room for more, right? If you’re like us and you’re on the hunt for tried-and-tested tips, we’d like to introduce you to the gods themselves: celeb MUAs. Since there’s a TON of material out there, we’ve rounded up the latest goss from the MUAs we (religiously) watch, so take notes for your next beat.
1. Let Your Ears Guide Your Contour Brush
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Ash K Holm redefined the term ‘artiste,’ working with icons like the Kardashians and Queen Ari. She’s become known for her graphic liners and sculpted cheekbones. Her contour secret for beauty addicts is to “use the tip of your ear as a guide, and point the handle of your brush, smile, and bring the contour to the apples of your face, press the product in, and start building for high payoff.” She also recommends dotting on your contour instead of lining it as “applying your products in lines can indent your foundation.”
2. Lift Your Lip With Liner
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There’s a reason why Mario Dedivanovic is the face behind Kim Kardashian’s sculpted pout. Credited as the king of contour and most recently, as the mastermind behind the viral ‘lip flip’ hack, he’s always delivering the most amazing insider tips. To master the ‘lip flip,’ all you need is a nude-for-you liner and lipstick, plus, a dab of concealer and a dusting of powder.
Start by over-lining *just* the center of the bottom lip and the Cupid’s bow, then stay within your lip line around the outer corners. This will create the illusion of a lifted and fuller lip. Next, apply your matte lipstick and finish by applying a dab of foundation or concealer to a dense brush. Next, clean up the edges of the lower lip so the liner is hella crisp. Finally, set the concealer with translucent powder for long-lasting wear – no lipstick bleeding here.
3. Criss-Cross Concealer Application
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Isamaya Ffrench‘s clientele includes the likes of Rihanna and Kendall Jenner, who are notoriously busy. So it’s no surprise that she’s perfected the art of concealing the not-so-awake areas, like under-eyes. Using a flat brush with cream concealer, she creates a series of hashtag-like strokes to disguise blemishes and uneven skin tone. “This allows a hint of the natural skin to come through but also helps to hide any kind of discoloration,” she says – genius!
4. Use A Body Makeup Sponge Instead Of A Regular Beauty Blender
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King of the monochromatic glam, Hung Vanngo, has an impressive roster of celeb clients like Selena Gomez, Jennifer Lawrence, Deepika Padukone, to name a few. If you’ve watched his YT, you’ll notice that he almost always uses a body makeup sponge instead of a palm-sized beauty blender. “These tend to give light coverage and a skin-like finish,” he says, “plus the large size of the sponge helps blend out the product faster.” Another major bonus? They’re seriously budget-friendly! Check out him using one below:
5. If You Are Over-Lining Your Lips, Go Matte
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MUA to the Khaleesi herself (that’s Emilia Clarke, BTW), Kate Lee has transformed pouts for the most reputable magazines out there. Her top pick for fuller pouts? Matte formulas. She recommends steering clear of overly creamy liners and high-shine lipsticks when overlining, as these “may indicate a visibly drawn pout.” To plump and mattify your lips, pair our Huda Beauty Lip Contour 2.0, $19, with the new and improved matte formula in our Huda Beauty Liquid Matte Lipstick, $20.
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6. Always Use Cream Eyeshadow To Prime Your Lid
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Serving fresh AF looks on Gigi Hadid and Winnie Harlow, Vincent Oquendo perfected the art of prepping eyelids. He uses a long-wear cream shadow like our Huda Beauty Matte & Metal Melted Double Ended Liquid Eyeshadows, $25, instead of a primer for hues that stay popping from AM to PM. We actually like to use a white cream eyeshadow, especially when playing with neons as it guarantees the color stays vibrant AF.
7. Use Your Lipstick as Blush
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Porsche Cooper, whose celebrity clientele includes Mary J. Blige and Elaine Welteroth, likes to repurpose her cream lipsticks as blushers. According to Porsche, “Deep pink and coral lipsticks double as gorgeous cream blush when in a pinch.” Porsche recommends to “warm the product on the back of your hand and apply with your middle fingertips to the high planes of your cheekbones for an instant lift of color.” You could even apply it onto your eyelids as a cream shadow for the monochromatic look that’s all the rage RN.
To take this hack to the next level, play with ombre blush; the technique of blending together a more natural blush hue on the apples of your cheeks and a slightly deeper blush shade at the high points of your cheekbones. BTW, this hack works beautifully with our new and improved Liquid Matte Lipstick, $20.
8. Use an Eyeliner as Lip Liner
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LA-based MUA, Alana Wright, gave us the biggest hack out there – use eyeliners instead of traditional lip liners to add definition to your pout. “Some brown eyeliners are great to use as lip liner on deep skin tones. Especially brown shades that don’t have a red base like the M.A.C Cosmetics Eye Pencil, $21, in Coffee.”
9. Don’t Limit Yourself To One Shade
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Although her A-list clientele, including Angelina Jolie and Miley Cyrus, speaks for itself, Pati Dubroff is known for her shade-matching skills. She suggests blending a lighter and darker foundation shade to match your neck and the sides of your cheek, respectively, for more tailored coverage. She does the same with her lips, applying two shades of lip color – slightly darker around the edges with a lighter shade on top – for the illusion of full lips. If you’re missing a lighter shade, you can always fake it with a dab of concealer on the center of your lips.
For more info from the pros, check out these 9 celeb MUA hacks for flawless makeup.
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