True beauty comes from the inside. Every child knows this. But some days life catches up with us, and our natural vibrancy may not be as apparent as usual. Or a special occasion prompts us to look extra vibrant. These tips can help you meet the day with shine and sparkle.

Drink Up

Water, that is. Yes, we talk about drinking water a lot here at MHLC, because it really is that important. Sufficient hydration helps keep the body functioning optimally, and nothing perks up a tired face like drinking a tall glass of pure water.

Natural Pigments

You can do a lot with fruits and vegetables to enhance your beauty without needing a product. Rub a beet slice on your lips or cheeks for an instant burst of bright red color that will last for a few hours. Use a squished pomegranate seed for the same effect that will be more of a warm red tone rather than the cool purple-ish red of beets.

Spirulina and chlorella powders make interesting eye shadows that nourish the skin of your eyelids as they enhance your eye color. And a pinch of turmeric can add a golden glow to eyelids or cheeks.

Appropriate Glittering

Nothing says pretty! like some sparkle. Glitter is a great way to brighten up your face without applying a lot of potentially pore-clogging product. Make sure you use a skin-safe glitter, not one made just for craft projects. Try a little glitter on your eyelids, brows, or cheeks.

Know Your Season

When you start planning a full makeup experience, it is important to pick a color scheme that flatters your skin tone. What looks good on one person may be unflattering or uninspiring on another. One of the ways to find a flattering palette is to learn your season. Spring people look best in pastels and light colors. Summer people are enhanced by bright, vibrant colors. Autumn people are framed well by earth tones, and Winter people are served by cool, neutral colors.

Once you know, stay within your season, but play with combinations of appropriate colors. For example, an Autumn person is usually flattered by a rose highlight, dark brown shadow, and green or dark purple accent.

Play to Your Strengths

The key to effective makeup is to bring out your best. Just like with clothing, you want to diminish the appearance of unflattering things like blemishes and under eye circles, and highlight features like your high cheekbones or pretty eyes.

As you examine your face and learn more about applying makeup, you may want to actively re-shape some of your features. You can make your nose appear thinner or your eyes wider apart with proper shading and highlighting.

Find Your Cheekbones

A little blush can do wonders for your overall look, but it needs to be applied correctly. The biggest mistake women make with blush is to apply it too close to the nose. You want to place the blush just below the cheekbone, but at least three finger widths away from the side of your nose. A little highlight above the upper cheekbone can make the cheekbones pop, too.

Three Part Eye Shading

There is a simple formula for enhancing the beauty of your eyes. Get three shades a mid tone color that is little lighter than your skin tone, perhaps in a color that matches your outfit, a lighter color with a little sparkle, and a dark color like brown, black, or dark green, or deep purple.

Cover your eyelid with the mid tone color. Apply the lighter color to the brow area with a gentle hand, very lightly filling the space between the crease and the brow. Then swish the dark color just in the eye crease, and blend the three colors just a bit so they seem to fade into each other. For a little more drama, add a very tiny line of the dark color to the bottom edge of the entire upper lid and the outer half of the lower lid. For most eye shapes, this will make your eyes look more alert and attractive.

Remember the Brows

Appropriately enhanced brows complete the look of the face. You want them to have a flowing shape, and be neither too thin or too thick. If they seem to disappear once you have the rest of your makeup on, use a little brow liner, eye liner, or dark shadow to make them pop a little but not so much that they become a dominant feature.

Keep It Simple

This tip applies to pretty much everything in life. When it comes to makeup, usually less is more. Thick applications and mismatched colors can be fun for parties and other special occasions, but for everyday wear start light. You can always add more layers and complexity, but it is hard to tone down an overdone face without washing it and starting over. Remember that makeup is meant to enhance your natural prettiness, not hide it.

Beauty comes from within; this is an irrefutable fact. Clothes and airbrushing and makeup and all the other accoutrements of image cannot change a persons inherent beauty. But it is fun to play, and there is sacredness to adornment. Try these tips the next time you want to enhance your natural beauty and delight in the power of color and sparkles.