If you have an interview coming up it is essential to look your best when meeting with a prospective employer. Apart from showing up to the job interview on time, with a well-constructed resume in-hand, you equally should look the part! You probably know that bright blue eye shadow is not appropriate to wear to a job interview, but you may not know what eyeliner color to use, whether or not to wear fragrance and what variety of foundation you should wear. Follow these useful tips for wearing makeup to an interview:
1) Makeup Foundation: Wear a foundation that has light to medium coverage. Do not wear full coverage foundation, even when you have a lot of blemishes and discoloration. Full coverage makeup foundation can look incredibly cakey and thick, especially when worn in broad daylight.
2) Stay Neutral: Although wearing colorful eye shadow may be fun and vibrant, an interview is not the appropriate place to wear colorful makeup. Apply an eye primer, followed by a dusting of eye shadow which matches your skin tone. This will cover little veins, redness and uneven complexion on your eyelids. Next, find an eye shadow that is half a shade darker than your skin tone. Using a crease brush, apply this shade in your natural crease and lightly combine upward. Stop here! Do not use in excess of two eye shadow colors.
3) Eyeliner: Skip the black eyeliner just this once. Instead, go for a creamy brown eyeliner using a kohl eye pencil. Apply the eye liner on your top lash line, and do not wear any eyeliner on your bottom lash line. Make sure to smudge the top lash line with a smudge brush or pencil brush, so that the eyeliner looks natural. It should look like your natural lash line, just slightly enhanced. When done correctly, your eyelashes look fuller and your eyes look more alert and open.
4) Professional Pout: Wear a tinted lip balm instead of lipstick. It is far too risky to wear lipstick to an interview, as lipstick can wind up on your teeth. Additionally, lipstick has fallen out of favor in the last few years, with employers preferring a more natural look. Lipstick has a tendency to look too dramatic, even though you go with neutral pinks. Everyone knows that isn’t your natural lip color! Save the red and fuchsia for date night.
5) Fragrant Faux Pas: Do not wear perfume to a job interview. It goes without saying that you should be neat, clean and presentable when going to an interview. But you may be unaware that it has become el-passé to wear fragrances to interviews. Many people have allergies to the floral ingredients and botanicals commonly found in perfume and cologne. And, even if your potential employer isn’t allergic or sensitive to fragrances, you risk of wearing a scent the employer simply does not like. How terrible would it be if you missed out on a job simply because the employer dislikes the smell of your perfume?
Of course, understanding how to do your makeup for an interview is just one piece of the puzzle. Be sure you have carefully researched the employer, industry and hiring manager in advance. Think about what questions you may be asked, and what questions you have for your potential boss. But rest assured, not anybody will question your appearance with these five makeup suggestions.