Giving make-up a slap

By Rebecca Willis

Recently I went to a party as a panda. It wasn't fancy dress—I just put on too much of a new, smudgy eyeliner that I'd never used before. Special occasions prompt us to want to look our best, and make-up, like clothes, offers the chance to choose what that might be. But where on the spectrum from natural to mask-like artificiality do we want to sit? And even if we know, how do we achieve it when there are acres of products on the shelves and we have less than a square foot of face on which to put it?

After the panda incident, I decided to get to grips with make-up, in theory and in practice. While I wear moisturiser daily, eyeliner often and lipstick sometimes, I have never made the transition to foundation or any sort of whole-face make-up. It always seemed odd: as a child you're told to keep your face clean, then suddenly as a grown-up you're encouraged to put dirt on it. I hate the feeling of having my face covered in gunk which gets on my clothes and my phone, and I dislike planting a kiss on a cheek clammy with what the industry calls "product". The occasional quick swish of compact powder on a sponge moistened with water is as far as I go.