Using your hairdryer, heat your eyelash curler until it's just warm – WARM, NOT HOT – and gently curl your lashes; then top with mascara. You know how you use a hot iron to curl your hair? Same principle.

Use red-orange lipstick to get rid of extra stubborn dark circles. This is basic color theory (a lot of makeup is, actually) that red and yellow cancel out blue. Use a light hand, and blend very well, then apply concealer / foundation as normal. This works particularly well on darker skin tones.

If you're one of those people that gets mascara on your perfect eyeshadow when applying, use a spoon. Hold it under your bottom lashes or behind your top lashes, so your mascara wand hits the spoon, not your artwork. You're welcome.

Lip balm, lip balm, lip balm. Apply it often, even when you aren't wearing makeup and particularly before bed. Why? Because it makes a smoother fuller lip. Other things that keep lips happy and full is being properly hydrated, so drink your water! When you go to apply your makeup, lipstick comes last. So before you start anything, apply a thin coat of lip balm and let it absorb into your lips; by the time you apply lipstick your pout will be soft and pretty. This helps your lipstick go on better and last longer.

To make your eyes appear large and doll like, use a nude liner on your waterline. Black eyeliner is sexy but makes the eyes closed. Nude (or white if you're very fair) makes your eye look larger and more open.

To make bright eyeshadows pop, use white shadow first. Preferably a cream shadow or shadow stick. NYX jumbo shadow pencil in Milk is internet-famous for this, and it runs about $5. If you want to try high-end make-up, Makeup Forever flash color pot in white works well too.

The easiest way to make sure your "wings" are even is to make a dot on either side of your face where you want your wing to end, and check to make sure the dots are even before you start making your wing. It's *much* easier to remove a tiny dot of eyeliner than it is to start your whole eye over again. And practice! No one gets winged eyeliner perfect on the first try. People who say they do are dirty dirty liars.

Wash your makeup brushes regularly! This makes your makeup last longer and keeps your face clearer because there's less bacteria to spread around. Plus, clean brushes work better. If you're reading this, and you haven't washed your brushes in over a month, go wash them now (in warm water and a mild soap or shampoo). We'll wait.

Match your foundation to your neck, not your face. Why? Because a little natural color difference between your face and neck becomes a LOT of color difference between a foundation painted face and your neck. Think about people you've seen wearing makeup lately; you know exactly what we're talking about.

Bronze your neck as well as your face. It warms up your complexion and does some nice, slimming, contouring. Remember that whole match your foundation to your neck thing? This is step two of that.

Apply your undereye concealer in a V shape under your eyes. Known as the Hollywood V, start at the outer corner of your eye, draw a v shape ending at your inner corner. The middle of your V should be under the middle of your eye. Then blend the concealer inwards and upwards. This corrects the whole area, helps you look awake, and minimizes the risk of having obvious white circles under your eyes.

To make your natural eye color pop, use shadow colors opposite your eye color. Opposite colors layered cancel each other out, opposite colors placed side by side make each other pop. So for blue eyes, things with orange undertones like peach, for green eyes things with red undertones like wine, and for brown, since brown is a neutral anything technically works, but for the majority of skin tones (fair or deep) blue and purple will be stand out. Want to make brown eyes pop even more? Use a navy blue liner and mascara. A subtle but amazing difference.

Take off your makeup with coconut oil. This may seem a little crazy, but melt some solid coconut oil on the back of your hand, dip a cotton ball in it, and it will take off even the most stubborn all night liquid eyeliner. Or, nix the cotton ball, and use your fingers to VERY GENTLY rub the oil on your lids, then wash your face as usual. Coconut oil is cheap, good for you, will moisturize the delicate skin around your eyes, and you probably already have it in your house.

Guys can wear makeup too! Straight, cisgenered males can wear makeup, and there's not a darn thing wrong with it. If you're just getting started, try concealing dark circles and evening out skin tone (concealer and or foundation and a setting powder) and some brown mascara to add some oomph to your eyes. Once you've got that down, you can master guyliner, filling in your beard, and contouring for seriously sexy cheekbones.

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