Makeup, at times, can feel like an enigma. Do you apply concealer before or after eye shadow? Does mascara come after bronzer or before? These are the hard-hitting questions I ask myself on a daily basis. So when celebrity makeup artist Therese Williams, who lists Beyoncé, Céline Dion and Alessandra Ambrosia as clients, came over to teach me her ways, I was more than eager to snag some tricks. So, what did I learn? Well, I’ve been doing my makeup wrong for, like, ever.
The key, according to Williams, is working top down. That means starting with your brows first, progressing on to your eye makeup, then lips, then face makeup and contouring. As someone who started with face makeup first until about two years ago, this was rather enlightening.
Williams explained to PureWow, “To me, you get the eyes as perfect as you feel like you can, and you just enhance everywhere else with skin and contouring. I work the top of the face down and so always I do foundation last. That’s how I learned, and it makes sense to me—top to bottom.”
She reasons that starting from the top helps you properly utilize your grooming and beauty time as well as avoid any lingering eyeshadow flakes or errant marks.
