Cosmetic Faq: A sampling of tips and trick for using my cosmetics and accessories. See my CD Makeover Guidebook and or my Makeover Video for lots more information.

Beard Cover Application

Pink Goo: With your fingertip, pat small dabs of Pink Goo onto your beard and mustache area in several spots (about 14 spots) Pat smooth all over the beard and mustache area with a cosmetic sponge, leaving a light pink tinge. Then apply a good cream foundation. The color pink counteracts with the dark beard creating great coverage with only a little volume.

Tattoo and Beard Cover: Same application as above.

Nail Application and Removal
Clean and file your own natural nails, be sure to file the entire surface of your nails to create a smooth surface.

APPLICATION OF ARTIFICIAL NAILS
Pre-select the nails that you will be using by checking sizes. Apply a very small bead of nail glue across the far end of your natural nails about 1/8 inch from the end. Only a very small amount of glue is need. Using to much glue will be messy and make nail removal difficult.
If your natural nail is wider than the false nail, apply the glue right at the far end of your natural nails. Then you affix the false nail press the sides of your finger toward the nail so as to fold the cuticle onto the sides of the false nail.
Our Artificial nails can be filed or cut to shorter lengths, and can be repaired using nail glue and a file to fill in cracks. Our Artificial nails can be re-used numerous times.

APPLYING POLISH
Apply a single coat of clear base coat polish.
Apply 2 coats of colored polish, allowing time to fully dry between coats.
Finish with a final coat of clear polish
** These steps can be done before applying nails to the fingers if desired.

WEARING THE NAILS
The Manufacturer does not recommend leaving the nails on for more than 48 hours at a time. Your natural nails require time to "breathe" to remain healthy.

REMOVING ARTIFICIAL NAILS
Place the beveled or pointed end of a nail file under the lower corner of the false nail and apply pressure upward. A small amount of nail polish remover placed under the nail will allow the glue to loosen. If this is done properly the artificial nails can be re-used many times.

Foundation and Powder Application
Beards, gods curse to crossdressers. Many of us can not afford or can't have electrolysis or laser treatments to remove our beards. Don't fret, cosmetics can help us a great deal. The first step is to obtain the closest shave possible. Start with a freshly washed face, then shave using the best quality razor and shaving cream you can get your hands on. Shave using downward strokes, then shave using upward strokes. Repeat this process two to three times to get the closest shave possible. Pay special attention to your chin and the area just above you lip and under your nose. Having a styptic pencil handy is good idea until you get used to shaving this closely. I can not stress enough the importance of shaving very, very closely.

Next, with a pair of cuticle scissors, carefully trim all nose and ear hairs. Many crossdressers forget this, and even after you makeup is removed, having no visible nose or ear hair is just a good practice to get into for anyone. Remington shavers even make electric shavers designed just for this purpose.
Now look at your face very carefully in a well lit mirror. You are looking for stray hairs on your nose and between your eyebrows. A tweezer will remove them quite easily. More about eyebrows later.
Now we are ready to begin applying beard cover and foundation. Start by generously applying a moisturizer all over your face and neck. Use our Pink Goo Beard Cover, or our Tattoo and Beard Cover for the heaviest darkest beards. Apply with a cosmetic sponge to the beard and mustache areas using a "patting" motion.Next we apply the foundation, I use a crème foundation, it comes in many shades, is inexpensive, and covers very well without having that "shiny" look that many others have. Here at the fantasygirl salon we use Celebre brand cream based foundations. They go on lightly, and are easy to uses and look great. Using a cosmetic sponge, begin smoothing and blotting the foundation over your face and neck. Use a patting method, to ensure even coverage. Make sure you evenly blend all over, including the eyelid eyebrow and ears areas. What you are doing here is creating an even skin tone all over you face and neck. A key tip here is the word light, do not apply the foundation to heavily. Repeat this application in lighter layers until the effect is a clear smooth complexion.

Next, we apply a loose powder, which will set and smooth out the foundation. Our loose powder is the perfect tone for setting our foundation crème. I use a powder puff to apply the powder. Once again, use sparingly, too much powder looks terrible, and will make any lines on your face more pronounced. Take the powder puff and place in jar of powder, remove and tap lightly to shake of excess powder. Then pat the powder puff all over your face, starting at the top and moving downward. make sure to use a "patting" motion, do not rub your face with the puff as this will cause streaking of the foundation. Leave the loose powder on your face for 3-5 minutes to allow it to "set". With a large powder brush, using a downward motion starting at your forehead and finishing at the base of your neck, brush any excess powder from your face.
If you are wearing a low cut dress or blouse, just continue the coverage down to where the dress or top ends on your chest to have a continuous even skin tone in all visible areas.
There you have it, with practice and experimenting, You can achieve the look we all desire. No beard shadow, and an even skin tone, which is so important in looking good.

A FEW TIPS
Use a professional beard cover nothing else will work like a good beard cover..
Don't use "liquid" foundations. They will not cover your beard.
Use a loose setting powder, not a compact pressed powder. Our setting powder is perfectly matched to our foundations.
Don't worry about getting any powder or foundation on your lips or eyelashes. This will actually help later when you apply lipsticks and mascara.

Eye shadow and eyeliner application
Your eyes are where we can have the most fun, and use the most colors with cosmetics. Also
doing a good job with your eye makeup is the most important and noticeable part of your "look".
ALL eyes look their best in neutral shades. I suggest starting with neutral shades before experimenting with brighter colors. The goal in applying eye shadow is to accentuate your eyes, not your eye shadow.
Here is a guide for colors that match different eye colors.
Blue Eyes.......pinks, lavenders, charcoal
Brown Eyes....ivory, ginger, rose
Green Eyes....peach, gray, rose brown
To get your eye shadow just right, you must practice practice, practice. This is the area where you can make the most difference in your appearance, and the area of your face that most people look at when speaking to you. You will need an eye shadow brush, I prefer to use pressed powder shadows as they go on easier and stay on longer than loose powders, or creams, and much easier to correct mistakes than when using creme eyes shadows. First make sure you have shaped your eyebrows and removed any stray eyebrow hairs. The key word when applying eye shadows is BLEND BLEND BLEND. You can use 3, even 4 shades and colors to make your eyes look wonderful and alluring. There are 3 parts to your eyelid, the lower lid which goes from your eyelashes to the line where the eye socket is indented (the crease). The indentation or crease itself the line that separates your lower from the upper lid, and the upper lid, the ridge that is above the crease to the brow.

Here are my suggestions for applying shadow to different eye shapes and settings.

Large Eyes
If you have large wide open eyes, use a deep shade on the lower lid, with a lighter tone of the same color on the crease and upper lid. Remember to follow the natural contour of your eye.
Next add a darker tone of the same color to the outside corner of the lower lids, and remember
to blend all the tones to have a subtle look. Next put a dab of a light colored shadow on the center of your upper lid.
Small Eyes
Use a light shade on the lower lids, a smokey color along the crease. Use a lighter, slightly frosted color on the upper lid, with a thin line on the inside edge and growing wider as you get to the outer edge. An eyeliner in the same color as the lower lid applied directly on the crease should be used as well. A white eyeliner applied inside the rim of your lower eyelashes should be used as well. Now you have larger alluring eyes!
Closed Set (close together) Eyes
Make sure you tweeze ALL the hairs between your eyebrows. Use a pale color from the inner corner of your eyes diagonally upward to the outside corner, covering the top third and bottom third of your lower lid and upper lid. Now using a deep colored shadow, cover the remaining two thirds of both lids, extending the shadow just beyond the outer edge of your eyes.
Narrow eyes (little space between lashes and brows)
Using the same shadow color on all areas, sweep a diagonal from the inner eye area across both lids to the outer edge. Use the same shadow and run a line under your lower eyelashes from the outer edge of your iris to the outer corner of your eye. Use a blue eyeliner on your lower lashes. Also do not curl your lashes. This will give your narrow eyes a wider, fuller look.
Those are the basic eye shapes, and how I apply cosmetics to bring out the best in them. Through practice and experimenting, you can come up with an endless variety of looks, colors and have a lot of fun doing it. Remember for day looks that less is more. Look at the women you work with, see in stores and magazines, after all, they do this every day. For night looks, you can go with more shadow and more color to allow for lighting and more dramatic effect. Purchase an inexpensive set of shadows, they come in sets of up to 30 colors, set aside an afternoon and have fun.

EYELINER
The most difficult thing to obtain perfection with all of the cosmetics you will use. There are two types to chose from, liquid or pencil. Liquid eyeliner is more difficult to use, but the results can be much better with practice and patience. Make sure you purchase a liquid eyeliner with a very fine tip. They are like felt tip pens, and the smaller the tip, the finer a line you can achieve. You can even cut the tip with a razor blade to obtain a very fine point. Pencils come in two types, the old fashioned #2 wooden pencil version, and the newer self sharpening version. Placing the pencil version in your freezer for 15 minutes will allow you to sharpen them properly without waste, and allow you to obtain a fine point. Practice drawing fine lines on your hand until you feel confidant that you are ready to start on your eyes. What you are trying to avoid is creating "raccoon" eyes. heavy liner all around your eyes.
EYES that are close together
Start at a point from just ahead of your eyeball, and run the pencil outward to the edge of the eye, keeping the line very fine at the beginning and widening it a bit at the end. Do this on the top and bottom lids.
EYES that are equal distance (normal set)
If your measure the same length as the distance from inner eye to inner eye ( at the bridge of the nose) then you have normal set eyes. Start your line at a point just slightly to the nose side of the iris, once again, use a fine line at the start, and widen it as you reach the outside edge of the eye. Extend the line just a teensy bit past the outside edge of the eye. Do this for both top and bottom lids.
EYES that are far apart
Start your line about one third from the corner of the inner eye and work outward to the outer edge, keeping a fine line all the way.

EYELINER COLORS
Most people look good in darker colors, stick with browns and charcoals at first until you gain experience in applying the eyeliners, and until you begin to get adventurous. For eyes that are red from being tired, ill, or strained, try using a blue eyeliner on your lower lid. Make your line above the lashes. The blue color will make the whites of your eyes look whiter.

A FEW TIPS
If you are having a difficult time making a fine straight line with your eyeliner. Try making a series of small dots instead of the full line. Then take a Q-Tip and connect the dots.
A white eyeliner pencil applied on the lower lid, above the lashes will make any eyes appear larger.
Never Never Never have skin showing between the eyeliner and the lashes.

FACE SCULPTING AND HIGHLIGHTING
Highlighting means bringing out a facial feature, by using lighter tones. This will make the area stand out, hence the word highlighted. When you chose a highlighter product, chose a tone that is two or three shades lighter than the foundation that you have used. Creating a subtle blending between highlighted areas and your foundation, create a dimension, and depth to your face.Sculpting/Contouring helps to reduce areas of your face that you wish to tone down and make less noticeable. As with highlighting, use a tone two or three shades darker than your foundation.

Using a contour brush (angled brush works best) and our Fantasygirl Contouring Powder draw a straight line from just outside and above the corner of your mouth to your
temples. Next, using a blush brush and your desired blush color (stay away from the bright ones!) blend into the contour line pressing harder then lighter as you move up the cheeks to the temple. This creates a higher cheekbone effect. Make sure not to have the blush color go any higher then the top of the apple of your cheeks or lower than the bottom of your lower lip.

TO CONTOUR THE JAWLINE
Using a small contour brush and our Fantasygirl Contouring Powder, draw a line directly under your jawbone from the ears to the chin. Be careful not to go up onto the face or very low onto the neck. Next, blend and soften the contour line using a blush brush. This will reduce most male jaw lines. If you have a double chin do the same just below your chine to reduce the effect of the double chin.

TO CONTOUR THE NOSE
To reduce a large/wide nose, use a compact powder that is 2 shade lighter than your foundation. Apply onto the top of your nose from the eyes to the top of the nostrils. Next apply our Fantasygirl Contouring Powder to the sides of the nose from the eyes to the nostrils, using a small round eyeshadow brush. Make sure the tones blend into you foundation at the edges for a natural look.

HIGHLIGHTING THE CHEEKBONES
Using a compact powder (or highlighter). Apply just over your blush line and blend into foundation and blush. This lighter tone will "bring out" the area giving the illusion of higher cheekbones.

Lipstick, Lipliner Application
Big Luscious, kissable lips, isn't that what we all want? Look at the hollywood actress and models, they are all getting collagen implants to get those perfect lips.
Well, maybe we can't afford or can't go for collagen implants, but we can definitely make our lips bigger and more attractive with practice, and the right tools and products.
Things you will need to get those "perfect" lips.
Lipliner Pencils Lip Applicator Brush
Lipsticks ( oh the colors to chose from!) Lip Gloss

Patience Practice
Start with clean dry lips. Then, using a lip liner pencil which is the same color, or slightly darker then the lipstick you plan on using and beginning in the center of the top lip draw a line just outside of the outer edge of your lip down to the corner. The do the same with the other half of your top lip. To make sure that your upper lips are "even", make an X right at the highest points at the center of your top lip. Although you are trying to make your lips bigger, be careful not to extend the lip liner to far past your actual lip line. This will look unnatural and unattractive. For the bottom lip, draw your line just under the actual lip line, in one even stroke from corner to corner.
Easier said than done, this will take a lot of practice before you can extend your lips and make nice even lines that give your lips a full and even look. The lipstick liner will help to keep your lipstick from "running" beyond the surface of your lips.
Next, do one of the following. With a cosmetic sponge, apply some of your foundation over your lips, or use a product called Under Lipstick filler/stabilizer (available at cosmetic counters). I have found the former to work very well in my case, and one less thing to buy is always a good idea. Brush on the foundation or filler using a lip applicator brush, keeping within the lip liner at all times. Next, once again using a lip liner brush apply the lipstick filling in the top lip one side at a time, from the center to the corners. For the bottom lip, apply from the corners to the center.
You can experiment with different shades on each lip, a lighter shade of the same color on top will give your lips a softer, more appealing look. Putting the lipstick on with the applicator brush will help to keep your lipstick on longer than if you just used the lipstick tube. And remember, blend the line between the lip liner and the lipstick a little.

LIP TIPS AND TRICKS
Sexy Lips A small dab of a lighter colored, frosted lipstick in the center of your bottom lip, or a dab of vaseline, or gold powder will work wonders. Using a lip liner of a darker shade on the inner center of your lower lip than the one used on the rest of your lips will give you sexy lips as well.
Use a liquid foundation instead of a cream foundation under you lipstick, it will "hold" the lipstick on better.
Powder your lips over the foundation before applying lipstick...let "set" a few minutes before applying lipstick, this will also "hold" the lipstick in place.
In the center of your bottom lip, apply a lighter shade of lipstick over your first coat of lipstick, this will give the appearance of a "fuller" bottom lip.
Use your lip liner in the corners of your lips instead of lipstick, it makes the application easier, and tends to lessen "mistakes".
Use Lip protector in cold weather. Keep those lines and wrinkles away.

Facial Taping (transformation tape)
You will need a wig cap and Our Fantasygirl Transformation Tape. The key is that the tape is strong, see thru and has an elastic quality.
Clean your forehead thoroughly using a toner or astringent cleaner. The tape must be applied to clean dry skin. This means no makeup or moisturizer either.
Put on the wig cap, making sure all your hair is tucked inside the wig cap. The front edge of the cap should rest on your forehead 2-3 inches above your eyebrows.
Cut two 8 inch pieces of tape. Attach each piece above the eyebrows at the highest point of where the arch is desired. Usually in the center is best. Press down on the tape firmly to secure it to the skin. Hold the tape straight up from the forehead, then angle it slightly to the opposite side of the head.
You should now see a good arch developed by your pulling on the tape and angling it to the other side of the head. Don't worry about the tape feeling to tight, it will relax a little after a few moments and be more comfortable. Now firmly pull the tape back across your head to the other side, securing the tape to the wig cap. Do the same procedure with the other piece of tape on the other eyebrow. The two strips of tape should create an X across the top of the head.
Practice Practice. Don't expect to get it perfect on your first attempt.
You can then apply foundation and powder over the tape to conceal it. And/or utilize bangs of a wig to cover.
* I suggest trimming or plucking your brows slightly to remove long or unruly hairs whether you use tape or not.

"FACE LIFT" TAPING
To help reduce lines on the face caused by age, frowns, smiles, smoking, there is a method of taping that works quite well. It also helps for those of us with weight issues.
Measure from just under on ear, around the rear of your head to the same spot on the other ear.
Cut 2 strips of Transformation Tape in the length measurement taken earlier.
Place strips to the side. Clean the skin area with rubbing alcohol.
Place your 2 index fingers in front of your ears and push the skin backward and upward. Looking in a mirror you will see where the proper "lift" should be, this is where you will attach the tape.
Now push and lift the skin on one side as explained above, secure the tape to this spot. Pull the tape up and over your wig capand firmly press on it to secure it to the wig cap.Do the same for the other side of the face.. Your wig and maybe a little foundation on the ends of the tape will hide any evidence.
** This procedure takes a lot of practice to get right….keep trying, it works!! I have been using it for years on many of my clients.