No matter how many video tutorials you watch on repeat or how-to blogs you read, you may still have some burning questions about perfecting your lip application or ensuring a pristine liner wing.

We sat down with none other than Nina Karola — our resident STAGE makeup artist, to give us all of her top secret makeup application tips. Sorry Nina, they aren’t so secret anymore! Check out Nina’s top five tips that will be sure to improve your performance makeup look, this season. 

Lets start with a super crucial step in your makeup routine: Your base makeup! Primer is not only the key to having long lasting flawless makeup, but it also acts as a barrier to protect your skin from breaking out or reacting from wearing heavy makeup.

The key to an effective primer application, is knowing how much to use. If you use too much, the primer will not set on your skin. This will lead to your foundation slipping and compromise the longevity of your entire makeup look. The most effective and simple solution to knowing if you’ve applied enough primer, is by using clean fingers, instead of a brush, to gently massage small amounts onto your skin. That way you will be able to feel if you have over applied or under applied and can fix accordingly!

Extra tip: The above tip works with eyeshadow primer as well! You should be able to feel the primer beginning to dry as you gently pat it onto your eye lid. If you feel that you have over applied, use a setting powder or a neutral eyeshadow colour to set the primer so that it will prevent creasing your entire eye look.

Applying eyeliner can be a daunting task for everyone, whether you are well practiced or a beginner. Instead of dragging the tip of the liner across the lid, use a pressing motion instead. This method allows for more of a controlled application with better pigment payoff. Once you’ve pressed the liner along the lash line, gradually getting wider towards the outer edge of the eyes.

Clean up any mistakes easily with a little makeup remover and a small makeup brush. The key here is to not use too much makeup remover, or else it can smudge the nice clean line you worked so hard to create. Using a makeup brush instead of a q-tip will help with precise removal so that you don’t accidentally take off more than you need too! You can also touch up a mistake using a little concealer, AGAIN just be cautious of how much you use.

Adding a wing to your liner is easier when you have a straight edged small piece of thick paper to use as a guide. Lay the edge of the paper exactly where you want the bottom edge of your wing to be. Following that edge, mark a line with your liner to the length you want. Generally speaking, the wing of your liner should follow the upward curve of your bottom lash line. Once you have a thin line as a guideline, attach your wing to the upper lash line to create a thin triangular shape. Fill in the triangle and you have a wing liner that suits your individual eye shape!

Check out our Eyeliner Tutorial here!

Dark smokey eyes will never go out of style, but sometimes working with darker eyeshadows can create a mess that is difficult to clean up! If you already use your eye primer religiously but still find that your eye shadow falls down onto your flawlessly applied foundation, here are a few tips to solve this frustrating problem.
One simple way to avoid the messy fall out, is to apply your eye shadow first before you do your base. That way you can wipe away any stray eyeshadow pigments with makeup remover before applying your foundation and cheek products. If you aren’t interested in mixing up the order of your makeup application, you can also try tapping extra translucent powder along the cheek bone to catch the fall out before it sticks to your foundation. Just dust away the powder once you have completed your eye look, and your foundation will remain flawless!

Extra tip: Make sure to always tap off the excess eyeshadow powder from your brush before applying! This also makes the eyeshadow easier to blend and work with!

A favourite technique of mine when applying eyeshadow, is to keep the eyes open while applying the darker crease eyeshadow colour. It may sound odd, but its beneficial for more precise application and it eliminates the guessing game of whether you’ve accurately defined the crease or missed it altogether. This technique works great for anyone with a monolid eye shape or hooded eyes, however everyone can benefit from being able to see what they are doing every step of the way! Gently press the eyeshadows into the crease with the eyes open, to properly map out the shape. Using small movements to blend, instead of the wide windshield wiper motion, can also help control the eyeshadow application.

Extra tip: Choosing what brush to use for what step can be a struggle, so just remember that the more blended and soft you want the end result to be, the fluffier and bigger the brush you should use. If you want something detailed and sharp, using a small thin brush can help you achieve that look!

GET MORE: Instantly Enhance Your Performance Look

Big, Bold, and Beautiful lips. Always make sure to use a lip scrub and some lip balm before applying any lip colours, so your lipstick lasts longer and your lips stay looking fresh no matter the colour or formula of lipstick you use. If you have smaller lips and are looking to make them appear fuller, a great technique is to apply lipstick working from the outer corners of your lips, into the centre. This will subtly over line your lips, while following the natural curve. If you already have naturally fuller lips and you find that lipstick can make your lips appear even larger, work from the centre of your lips to the outer corners. This will do the opposite; underline your lips while still keeping the natural curve. If you make a mistake, just like with liquid liner, use a small makeup brush with a little makeup remover to clean up the lines! This helps with keeping sharper edges and can remove even the most stubborn liquid matte lipstick mistake! When finished applying your lipstick, setting with translucent powder will increase longevity so that you don’t have to touch up as often!

If you want to hear more from Nina — let us know by commenting below! In the meantime, keep an eye out for her work on our instagram and might as well give her a follow too – @nina.karola

Be sure to let us know if you test out any of her tips and how it went for you! xo