Mark_Balahadia

Thanks for the post! A lot of belly dancers in America don't realize that you should wear THAT much makeup when you perform. A Lebanese girl does not even step out of her house to buy tomatoes without full make-up and completely dressed with a nice chic top and designer jeans.

Standard from "Arabian" make-up is the heavy black around the eyes. Other colors for accents is optional.

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Sara

Aye, my mates what are persian were loads of eye make-up and it just looks really good and sort of not over done, even though it is. I wish I could pull it off, lol.

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adiemus

I reckon you've got to have dark hair, eyes and brows to do it well - although my daughter has managed to adopt kohl-rimmed eyes (but she's a wannabe emo....)

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Suheir

I still see 'professional' performers in the UK who evidently believe that stage make-up consists of a smear of pale blue, sparkly cream eye-shadow all over the eyelid, socket and under-brow area and some very bright lipstick in a colour that clashes with their costume. So many women have no idea how to apply make-up for any occasion, let alone the stage - professional make-up should be part of the package of a professional perfomer!

If you don't know how, you find out...

Salome

mmmmm yeah there are some folks applying that method in the states as well.

Aniseteph

Mmmmm, sparkly pale blue cream eyeshadow - seventies flashback!

This YouTube - Gwen's Look on Me :P Part 1 has an idea for doing the liquid liner - pencil first then go over. No idea if the pencil stops it staying put so well, but a good way to practise.

Salome

MAC has got this GREAT liner out that's kind of like a, well... kind of like the consistency of chap stick. Comes in a little jar and you use a brush to apply. It's got the effect of liquid liner but is a dream to work with like using shadow... set's really nice to and doesn't smear or run.

Elektra

I so love that video clip, lots of nice ideas to play with.

I'm very good with makeup but this inspires me to be a little more creative

Farasha Hanem

Don't fret, Sedonia; there is an excellent book out by Carole Jackson entitled, "Color Me Beautiful Makeup Book," published by Ballantine. Ms. Jackson is a professional color consultant, and not only does she tell you what makeup colors look best for the four types of complexions, she also has charts of the most common eye shapes, and gives instructions on shadow and liner placement for each shape. But that's only the beginning; she gives excellent advice on cosmetics in general, and has several helpful charts to make choosing cosmetics less daunting.

The eyebrows are also important; they frame our eyes, so shaping your brows can either enhance or ruin the overall appearance. If one is new to brow grooming, the best thing to do in the beginning is to go easy; pluck only the strays. Or go to a professional to have them done. A good guideline to shaping the brows is to hold a pencil up to your face. Align the pencil vertically along each side of the nose; your brow should begin at the inner corner of the eye. Pluck the strays outside of the inner corner, outside of where the pencil rests. Next, keeping the pencil base at the nostril, move the pencil diagonally until it intersects with the eye's pupil; this is where the peak of the arch should be. Lastly, again, keeping the end of the pencil at the nostril, move the pencil again, until it rests diagonally along the outer corner of the eye; this is where the brow should end. Using baby Orajel before plucking or waxing cuts down on some of the "ouch" factor. And remember, your own natural brows look so much better than brows that are shaved and "drawn" on. Also, if you do need to fill in your brows some, use a powder brow definer in your brow color, rather than a pencil; it looks more natural. If you do use pencil, use short, fine strokes to mimick brow hairs. On an interesting note, a few years back, there was a short news clip in my area about an Arabic cosmetician who uses [i]string[i] to shape women's brows, rather than tweezers. I thought it was pretty cool.

On the subject of false eyelashes, I prefer to use the individual eyelashes; again, they look more natural, and I like them better than the "strip" eyelashes. It takes a bit of practice to get them on right, but as in bellydancing, "practice makes perfect." One thing I learned that was a little shocking to me, is that the longest lashes don't grow in the outer corners like I once thought---the longest lashes grow in the middle! So carefully place the individual lash clumps in the middle of your lashes for a more natural effect. Again, less is more. If doing your own false lashes still proves to be annoying, once again, many professional cosmeticians offer this service. One tip I give to women seeking a makeup artist is to look at how she does her makeup; if you like what she does to herself, then she should do a good job on you, as well. Just make sure she uses makeup tones on you that flatters your skin type, not hers. Carole Jackson has her own makeup line, and she hires "Color Me Beautiful" consultants who are trained to color analyze each client.

Yeesh, sorry, I guess the "beauty consultant" in me has been going OCD on the forum lately; I hope my unsolicited advice isn't annoying!

taheya

Fab link, thanks so much! Im not very good with makeup but have been more experimantal lately and there is loads of ideas there!