Internship Make-Up Do’s and Don’ts

devil-wears-prada-office

You’ve landed the fantastic internship and even shelled out some cash for nice button-downs and sensible heels. But on the morning of your very first day, you stand in front of the mirror and wonder: exactly how should I do my make-up for work?

Here are a few tips on how to look pretty and luminous under the harsh office lights without veering into heavier, going-out make-up. Just follow our easy do’s and don’ts…

DO:

Wear subtle blush or bronzer.Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush ($25).

Use that eyeliner and mascara— and bring it with you. Dark eyeliner and mascara open up your eyes and keep you from looking tired (which we know you are). Go easy with a just a hint of black, and remember to keep the pencil with your for touch-ups throughout the day. Perhaps brand-new to Sephora Fairydrop’s Scandal Queen Mascara ($24) and MAC’s Eye Pencil ($13) will do the trick.

Keep your lips simple with a tinted balm. Lipstick requires lots of reapplying and sparkly gloss can be a bit come-and-get-it for the office (particularly male upper management). Since your lips are bound to get chapped throughout the day, kill two birds with one stone with a lip balm with a hint of color— chic and sensible. We recommend Burt’s Bees Tinted Lip Balm ($7).

DON’T:

Layer on sparkly eye shadow. You’ll most likely be sitting close to your supervisor or at least have a couple face-to-face conversations. From that close distance, any intensely sparkly or shimmery eye make-up will be super noticeable, making you look overly made-up for work. Save the sparkles for the after-work drinks and weekend partying, and instead try Revlon’s Matte Eyeshadow ($4.99) for day.

Apply heavy foundation. Again, working in close physical proximity to others, your make-up is very obvious. Heavy layers of base will look tacky and betray your attempts for easy-breezy Cover Girl beauty. Looking like you’re trying too hard is never pretty— stick with bareMinerals Matte SPF 15 Foundation ($28) from Ulta.

Spritz on intense perfume. You’d hate to be the culprit when a sensitive-nosed boss comes sniffing around the cubicles, crinkling up her nose and asking aloud, “What’s that smell?” (Trust us, it’s happened to us with a particularly fragrant Thai dish we once ate for lunch in our cubicle.) Super embarrassing. Keep to very light perfume, like the fresh-scented Stay by Gap ($25), or none at all.

Head on over to 1,000 Dreams Fund to learn how to get funding for your dreams!