Tuesday, June 10, 2014

How To Apply Make Up When You Wear Glasses

I am blind. Blind as a bat. Blind as in a -10 prescription for short sight. Which, if you know anything about short sight, you will know is high.  But that doesn't stop me wearing make up.  However, applying it when you can't really see what you're doing can be tricky.  Here are a few tips.

On days when I'm wearing my glasses I tend to wear less make up than if I've got my contact lenses in.  This is partly because it's probably a work day and I'm short on time, but also because my glasses are already accessorising my face so I feel like I don't need as much make up.

Foundation
I tend to just go in blind and apply my foundation using touch alone, and then put my glasses on and smooth out any patches that are not properly blended when I can see what I'm doing.

Eyebrows
As long as your glasses don't cover your eyebrows there's no reason you can't fill in your brows with your glasses on.

Eye shadow and liner
Sample sizes and miniatures are you friend here - both products and brushes.  I mentioned the Urban Decay 24/7 liner pencils a couple of weeks ago and these are great because they come in a set of 5 shorter pencils as well as the full sized ones.  I can only see things clearly without my glasses if the thing is a few centimetres from my face, so the closer I can get to the mirror the better.  Sometimes my forehead touches the mirror when I'm applying my eye liner!  I also have a set of small brushes from Boots No7 which are great for getting closer to the mirror.

Mascara
I tend to skip mascara when I'm wearing my glasses as I find my lashes can catch on my lenses leaving stripes of mascara down them, but if you do want to apply it then again a sample size will give you a short brush handle with a full sized spoolie end.  I have quite a collection of sample size mascaras which have been part of a gift with purchase from the higher end brands, such as Estee Lauder and Clinique.

Blush
I just put my glasses back on and apply my blusher as usual.  My frames are quite small so I don't find they get in the way.



4 comments:

  1. Thanks for sharing - I'm "blind as a bat" too (-8.5 in my left eye, -9.25 in my right eye). I came up with an alternative solution, buying a pair of magnifying make up glasses like these cheap ones from eBay: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MakeUp-Magnifying-Make-Up-Magnified-Eye-Glasses-/131150245627?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Make_Up_Sets_LE&hash=item1e8929eefb

    I then got them reglazed online in my own prescription from here: http://www.ciliaryblue.com/pricelist.html - or I guess your own optician will do them for you too.



    I can now see clearly out of one eye when applying eye make up to the other. Perfect!

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  2. PS - just seen your post about your glasses too - looking fabulous in specs! Have you got any pics of you wearing your old pairs? I found a pair of mine the other week - they were the height of fashion at the time, not so much any more!!!

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  3. Have you thought of make-up glasses (they have one lens that flips over from side to side)? I got a pair and then got a replacement lens put in by my optician (a compromise prescription as my eyes are slightly different). I think you can also get make up glasses with two lenses which both flip down (hinged at the bottom) if your eyes are drastically different.

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  4. I've got these too - went for the ones with two lenses though (they hinge at the bottom so flap down). Mine are similar to these http://www.imusthaveit.co.uk/product/N050268/ and I got lenses to my prescription put in from a place that was recommended online called Ciliary Blue. No more squinting at the mirror for me!!!

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