Makeup goes on best over clean skin. Washing your face about a half hour before you are going to start putting on makeup is recommended as then your skin can relax after the washing. This will not only let your skin tone return to its normal shades and tones (hot or warm water will change the appearance) but it allows the pores to close back down, which keeps makeup out of them. Don't do really harsh scrubs, as these can really open up the skin surface and allow the oils and chemicals of makeup to get into the pores, which leads to breakouts later.

If you have to do hair styling as well as your makeup, know what you are going to do with it before you do any makeup. Be sure that anything you might do to your hair as far as washing or wetting it is done prior to doing makeup, as one wrong splash could ruin it. Some hairdos require curlers or putting the hair up in some way, and if all you'd need to do is take the hair down and quick style it, then you'll want to do that prior to your makeup. Also, make sure you have a way of keeping your hair out of your face while you do your makeup.

Even though you may wind up in a dimly-lit restaurant or club, have a well-lit location to do your makeup. When I was in high school, my mom kept all her makeup in the bathroom, but would bring it out in a little basket to the kitchen to makeup her eyes, as there was a mirror on the wall there that had much better light. Being able to see what you are doing makes for a cleaner and more even application. You don't want to look like a painted clown if you make yourself up in dim light and then find yourself standing someplace bright. Put the makeup on in good light, and then check it in more dim light to see the effect if you know you are going to be out someplace darker. If you need to make the look more bold, you can always add more easily. Removing too much makeup is much more difficult.

Applying just a little makeup is usually a better choice than applying a lot. Running short on time? Just powder your face, line your eyes, brush on a touch of shadow, apply lipstick and go. You can use the exact same makeup for daytime work and a night out dancing, just by applying it lightly for day, and then doing a quick but bold touch-up in just minutes.

Original version of this post appeared on Hubpages.