Make makeup work for you

Makeup is a must for women who want to look crisp and polished all day, beauty experts say. To maintain a polished appearance, there are a few essential items every working woman should have in her possession.

"Professional women should carry whatever makeup items they may need throughout the course of the day," says Bettye Odom, a 20-year veteran of the skin-care business. Those beauty "tools" may include pressed powder; a retractable blush brush (that has already been dipped in blush), lipliner, lipstick and facial tissues to smooth trouble areas around the nose and eyes, where makeup tends to dry and cake.

The main thing to remember, Odom and others say, is that time is of the essence. You shouldn't have to take a special break to touch up your makeup. Work it into your schedule. It should only take a moment to powder your face, freshen Your lipstick, and basically make sure that you remain radiant throughout the day.

A compact of pressed or loose translucent powder, which helps to lessen an oily glow, is an essential pelt of the working woman's cosmetic arsenal. "The natural look is in, but you want to make sure that you're not shining," says New York hair and makeup stylist Gerard Dure.

Los Angeles makeup artist Pauline Terry agrees. She suggests stashing a few blotting cloths that already contain powder in a purse or convenient office desk drawer to take care of excess oil.

If you choose to use pressed powder; Terry and others say, remember to do what the same implies--press it rather than streak or smear it across your face.

Aerosol facial mists are also a must to keep the face feeling and looking clean from 9-to-5, some say. "Women can spray the face with the fine mist, and it refreshes the face and feels like you've washed it," says Odom. "But it doesn't disturb the makeup."

After a quick misting, Odom suggests reapplying the pressed powder; taking care to check the comers of the eves, where it can cake up. Women should check this area of the face regularly during the course of the day, she says.

If you're planning to have lunch outdoors, dab on a little sunscreen first, experts advise, to avoid skin damage. Applying sunscreen is necessary during both warm- and cold-weather months, Odom says, because "even on cloudy days the sun still shines."

Women are advised to steer clear of deep, dark lipliners for office wear: "Black lipliner is out," says Terry of Los Angeles, "so stop wearing that. It gives a hard look. You walls to go for something that's soft and feminine. As a rule of thumb, your lipliner should be two to three shades darker than your lipstick."

Periodically throughout the day, Terry suggests that women check their makeup, particularly their lipstick, to see if it's time to reapply. "Freshen your lipstick after eating or drinking anything hot," the veteran makeup artist says, "and drink out of a straw so that you don't mess your lipstick up."

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