13.2 Basic Makeup Application

13.2 Basic Makeup Application

Quick Answer: Match undertone, then highlight high planes and contour receded planes. A clean basic sequence is foundation → powder → blush → eye → lip. OAC 175:10-7-33 bans no-sharpen pencils, requires sharpening before each use, and requires the sharpener to be cleaned and disinfected. Strip lashes are makeup; bonded eyelash extensions are a separate service under OAC 175:10-7-33.1 that only a Facialist/Esthetician, Cosmetologist, or Eyelash Extension Specialist may perform. Independent OpenExamPrep makeup teaching is not an official OSBCB or NIC procedure kit.

NIC theory Domain 3 includes basic makeup application at 3.C.2–3. Oklahoma adds Board sanitation that will not appear in a national brand tutorial: pencil construction, mascara wands, cake-color scraping, tray barriers, and a hard line between strip lashes and bonded extensions.

Color theory for complexion

Foundation that matches value (light/medium/deep) but misses undertone looks ashy, orange, or mask-like along the jaw.

Complementary neutralization is the same color wheel used in hair color:

• Green-leaning corrector mutes redness (flush, acne marks) before foundation.
• Peach/salmon corrector lifts blue or gray darkness on many deeper complexions.
• Yellow corrector can soften purple shadows on lighter cool skin.
• Violet brighteners are a classroom trick for sallow yellow — use a sheer amount or the face goes lavender.

Check the match on the jawline into the neck, not only on the back of the hand. Office lighting lies; a window or true-neutral lamp is the better judge. If the client will be photographed, powder to control flashback from overly white or SPF-heavy bases.

Highlight and contour

Highlight is a lighter product on planes that should come forward: tops of cheekbones, brow bone, inner corner of the eye, cupid's bow, and a restrained stripe on the bridge of the nose. Contour is a deeper, often cooler product on planes that should recede: hollow under the cheekbone, sides of the nose, temples, and along the jaw if the client wants that shape.

Rules that keep contour from looking like dirt:

• Choose a contour one to two levels deeper than the skin, not a stark gray stripe.
• Keep highlight on bone, not in pores in the center of the T-zone if the client is oily.
• Blend until the edge disappears into foundation; a harsh line is a beginner tell.
• Cream contour usually goes after foundation and before or with powder; powder contour sits after the set. Either can be correct if the rest of the sequence stays sanitary.

Foundation, powder, blush, eye, lip sequence

Schools argue about whether eyes go before foundation to catch fallout. For Oklahoma theory recall, use this defensible basic order unless a stem specifies otherwise:

1. Consult, cleanse, moisturize, optional primer — you cannot match color on dirty or flaking skin.
2. Foundation — thin, even film; pump or spatula-dispensed product, never fingers in the bottle mouth (OAC 175:10-7-33(e)).
3. Concealer where needed (after or with foundation depending on coverage strategy).
4. Powder — sets cream, reduces transfer, and gives blush something to grip.
5. Blush — on the portion of the cheek that lifts when the client smiles, blended toward the temple, not as a clown circle.
6. Eye — brows, shadow, liner, mascara. Disposable mascara applicators only (OAC 175:10-7-33(d)).
7. Lip — last, so the client is not talking pigment onto the rest of the face during eye work. Lip color from a sanitized pencil or a spatula-dispensed cream, not a shared stick dragged across every mouth.

Place a barrier (freshly laundered towel or paper towel) on the tray under implements (OAC 175:10-7-33(h)). Cake makeup is scraped onto a single-use or disinfected palette, not swirled from the compact on the client's face (OAC 175:10-7-33(f)). Public testers require disposable applicators readily available (OAC 175:10-7-33(g)).

Pencil sanitation — OAC 175:10-7-33(a)–(c)

Memorize the three sentences:

• Make-up pencils that do not require sharpening should not be used.
• Make-up pencils that require a sharpener must be sharpened prior to each use.
• Pencil sharpeners must be cleaned out and properly disinfected by immersion or spray with an EPA-registered disinfectant after each use.

A twist-up pencil never exposes a fresh core, so the same contaminated tip would touch every client. Oklahoma's cure is structural: use a pencil you can sharpen, sharpen before each use, then disinfect the sharpener. Wiping a no-sharpen tip with alcohol does not satisfy (a).

Strip lashes versus bonded eyelash extensions

These are different services in Oklahoma even if both sit near the eye.

Strip lashes (makeup) — OAC 175:10-7-33, including subsection (i) strip eyelash use and storage, and (l)(1) strip eyelash extension application with commercially available products used per manufacturer instructions:

• A band of lashes is adhered along the lash line with temporary cosmetic adhesive and removed the same day or shortly after.
• Lashes must be stored in a covered container.
• Once lashes are removed from the original container, they cannot go back into that container, may not be used on another client, and may not be stored for later use of the same client.
• Cutting implements used to section strips must be disinfected and stored covered.
• Glue stones, lash tiles, and palettes used to pull lashes must be disinfected between clients.
• De-tack tape on a clean towel, never on skin. Nozzles or droppers used to rinse the eye must not touch eye or skin.

Bonded eyelash extensions — OAC 175:10-7-33.1 and OAC 175:10-9-55(b):

• Extensions are threadlike natural or synthetic fibers bonded to a natural eyelash (application, removal, trimming, plus cleansing of the eye area and lashes; the definition also reaches tinting, laminating, and lifting in the Board's eyelash-extension definition).
• Only a licensed Facialist/Esthetician, Cosmetologist, or Eyelash Extension Specialist may perform eyelash extensions. A Threading Technician license is not that authority.
• Work environment rules include a seat for the licensee, a seat or bed for the client, non-porous chairs/beds disinfected after each client, a forehead barrier, and handwashing with soap and water before the service.
• Tweezers, cutting tools, glue stones, and palettes are cleaned and disinfected after each client. Extensions portioned out and unused are discarded, not returned to the bag for another person.
• Glue must be properly labeled, semipermanent, and intended for use on the human body.

Do not call a strip-lash makeup set an extension fill. Do not tell a client that OpenExamPrep's sequence is the official Board makeup test. The Board publishes supply lists and rules; this guide teaches those rules independently.

Practical sanitation habits that show up as theory traps

• Never insert a used mascara wand back into a shared tube.
• Never apply lipstick from a bullet that already touched another mouth; spatula the product onto a palette.
• Never de-tack lash tape on the client's cheek to save a step.
• Never keep leftover strip lashes in a labeled envelope for Mrs. Smith's next prom booking — 175:10-7-33(i)(2) forbids same-client storage once they left the original container.
• Manufacturer directions still govern commercially available strip application, brow/lash lightening except the scalp, and temporary tattoos such as henna or crystals (OAC 175:10-7-33(l)).