Achieving that perfect look. Looking good and having flawless complexion and kiss-me-quick lips are more a result of practice and patience than specific products. So, we’ve asked our friends at Max Factor for some professional tips on achieving that movie star look.

Avoid solid blocks of colour - carefully blended eye shadow looks professional and will flatter the eyes. Make sure that you remember the basic rules-dark shadows deepen or hollow an area, light shadows make an area stand out. So light shadows look fresh on lids and brow bones, whereas dark shadows make the most of lash lines and contours by adding definition.

The secret to applying mascara is beginning from your lower lashes first using the tip of the wand. When applying mascara to the top lashes, sweep the brush from the base to the tips. Want to make your mascara more visible? Add another coat of mascara.

If you go in for a matt or deep shadow, teaming it up with kajal is a good idea. When applying the shadow, apply across the eyelid. Your kajal can work as eyeliner as well as inside the lower rim of your eye. Do you want to use a lighter shadow? Give an outline by blending the lighter shadow with a neutral shade along the eye-socket line. How about applying a shimmer eye shadow only on the eyelids and a brief touch of mascara? This minimalist look will speak volumes when it comes to eye.

There are no right or wrong colours to wear. The key to showing off your eyes lies in experimenting. No matter what the colour of your eyes - black, brown, blue or green - the shadow colours will only end up enhancing them if worn right. As mentioned, your eyes can speak volumes with the barest hint of shimmer and shadow. Remember to add colour little by little and blend well. Don’t forget it’s easy to add extra eye shadow but tricky to remove too much. If you have coloured your hair blonde, soft browns, greys, peaches and string pales such as blues and pinks are your colours. Fair with brown hair? Go in for a warm dusky colour such as violet or brown or opt for peaches, greens and warm pinks. If you have slightly darker skin, you can pick from vibrant deep browns, strong russets, blacks, electric blues, violet, deep pink, orange and gold all of which will accentuate your eyes.

Liquid Foundation. To get the best results, start with cleansed, toned and moisturised skin. Apply the foundation to the centre of the face, across your nose and cheeks then blend out over the face. To ease blending and avoid caking, always apply some moisturiser before applying foundation and give it a minute or so to absorb. If you use a liquid foundation, always shake the bottle well before you apply it. Pigment can settle at the bottom and give you an uneven finish. Contrary to what is done at parlours, use your fingers and avoid a sponge when applying liquid or stick foundation. The heat of your fingers will cause the foundation to melt and blend with your skin better. Make-up sponges may leave streaks of foundation across your face. Blend your foundation onto your cheeks, forehead, nose, chin, even your eyelids, starting from the nose and working outwards. Use as little or as much as looks right for each area - which may also mean applying none at all. An easy trick for a glowing look is to use two different shades of foundation. Apply your ‘true’ shade, which matches the natural skin tone of your neck, all over your face as normal. Then apply a slightly darker shade on your nose, cheeks, chin and forehead to create a ‘cross’ of slightly darker colour in the centre of the face. This technique ‘punches-up’ the colour in the face and livens up the skin tone. Keep a compact mirror with you when shopping for a foundation. Always check the colour and how it appears on your face away from the artificial lights of the store as a shade that looks great on your skin in the artificial light may look bad in daylight. The trick for selecting the right foundation is to check which one will be virtually invisible when you apply it to the skin between your cheek and your jaw. Get yourself a foundation 'wardrobe'. Your skin colour and needs change over the year and one foundation is not going to look right for 12 months. Use a little more than a tinted moisturiser during summers when your skin is darkest, a paler foundation for winter and something in between for those rainy days – if you decide to wear any at that time. Compact Foundations. Apply with a dry sponge to get even coverage. Have dark circles under your eye that need to be concealed? Apply foundation all over your face with the sponge provided and then use a fine brush to cover up dark circles. You don’t need to use powder with compact foundations. Stick Foundations. You do not require a sponge to apply a stick foundation to your skin. Simple apply directly or with your fingertips. The right way to apply is to work outwards on your cheeks. Similarly, for your forehead and chin, begin and work your way outwards or upward.

Powder adds a matt finish to foundation and allows your other make-up to glide on easily. For a natural finish, apply powder loosely with a brush after you have used foundation. For a more flawless look, use a puff to press the powder onto the skin. The puff makes the foundation, the concealer and the powder melt together so you're left with a perfect matt finish rather than a dusty layer. Use translucent powder to avoid any colour build-up. Powder is there simply to give a matt finish, not to add any colour.

Before applying blusher, make sure you remove any excess colour on your blusher brush. The right way to apply blush is to sweep the blusher across your cheekbones using a thick, soft blusher brush. Remember that the blusher should not extend further than the centre of your eye and lower than the base of your ears. For the most natural flush, match your blusher texture with your foundation. If you have used a liquid foundation, ensure that you use a cream blusher. This will blend better with foundation than powder blushers. Save powder blushers to use with a powder finish foundation. Square face. To soften a square face, use a deeper shade of either powder or blush and apply to the edges of your jaw line. Apply blusher across the cheekbones. Long face. To shorten a longer face or soften a pronounced chin, brush your chin with a natural but deep shade of blush. Round face. Round faces need additional contour to add shape. Blush is a must on the cheeks and deeper shades should be applied to the jaw line to help recede it. Emphasise the chin using a pale brush dotted onto it.

Apply a little foundation or concealer over your lips before you apply lipstick, as this will mask your natural lip line. It will also allow you to correct the shape of your mouth and provide a good base for the lipstick, ensuring that the colour will be 'true' and last even longer. When applying lipstick, use a lip brush, as it will help you fill in even the tiniest creases with colour. This way, your colour also will last longer. Use a light but bright colour to emphasise your lips. While emphasising a great mouth, it will draw less attention to less than perfect lips. Neutral lipsticks will minimise the impact of a very full mouth and a very dark shade can make thin lips look even smaller. A matt finish absorbs light and slightly downplays the mouth giving a sophisticated, natural finish. Other lipstick tricks include using a pearl lipstick or gloss on full lips to reflect the light and make your lips appear larger. A gold highlight in the middle of your lower lips creates a full, sexy pout.

Your everyday lip liner should be a neutral shade to match your skin tone or mirror your lipstick shade. Don’t be afraid to draw just over the natural line to give the illusion of fuller lips, or slightly inside the lips to downplay a full mouth. These tricks will help draw attention to your lips as and when you please. If you have uneven lips, use a pencil to correct a natural line by following the contours and creating the shape you want. Be sure to blend it in to avoid a hard line. Fill in lips with a smooth lip liner underneath your lipstick. This gives greater colour intensity and minimises 'kissing-off' your lip colour.

Have luscious lips and want to make them appear slightly smaller? Or have small lips and want to make them appear lush? The colour of lipstick and the way you apply your lip liner will alter the appearance of your lips. If you have small lips, don't be afraid to draw just over the natural line to give the illusion of fuller lips. Use a bright colour to emphasise your lips. To downplay fuller lips, draw slightly inside the lips and select a darker shade of lipstick. To aid uneven lips, use a lip pencil to correct a natural line by following contours and creating the shape you want. Blend it in to avoid a hard line.