Unfortunatley, I neglected to take a "before" picture that night, so I had to find a random picture of her sans makeup.
So, she's obviously a looker to begin with, but of course I had a few tricks up my sleeve to take it up a notch.
Here's the "after" shot:
Very pretty, no? Her eyes stand out more and look brighter, her skin looks flawless and everything looks beautiful without looking like she's wearing loads of makeup.
Here's what I did:
1.) I applied concealer to the eyelids. I'm sure you're all tired of me writing this, but concealer works as a base for eyeshadow, holding it in place and making application more even. There are a ton of expensive eye "primers" out there, but I haven't found one that I like more than a simple concealer. I used L'Oreal's True Match concealer. The consistency is great; not too watery, not overly thick. And it blends very easily.
2.) Next, I went in with the shadows. I ended up using Pixi's Eye Beauty Palette in Minimum. It contains eight complementary eyeshadows ranging from a shimmery cream color to a deep coffee bean brown. I actually recommend this to anyone who wants a simple palette that they can use for virtually anything. You can create natural looks with it, as well as a few higher drama looks depending on what you want. You could get away with this being the only eyeshadow you own. It's great too, because 99% of people have some amount of brown in their skin, so no worries about it not being flattering!
I got off track. ANYWAY, I first went in with the shimmery cream color. When I say shimmer, I don't mean chunky glitter or anything. It's very subtle and sheer. I applied this under the brow and on the inner corner of the eye. This immediately wakes your face up. Then, I took a medium basic brown shade and brushed it on over the whole lid from the lashline to the crease and blended it upwards (but not actually hitting the brow).
3.) At this point, I added eyeliner. My recent fave is Sonia Kashuk's Plummy Bronze pencil. I couldn't find it online, but I know Target has it in stores. It's not too dark, or too light. It's more bronze than plum, but there is just enough plum to it to add a bit of pop to your eye. This went along to upper lashline, thickening as I went to the outer corner (that lifts the eye up). On the bottom lashline, I only applied it on the outer half. Applying liner all the way around can make your eyes look smaller than they are, and often droopy.
4.) To blend the liner, I went back in with the Pixi palette. Taking the deepest brown shade, I applied it over the upper lid's lashline and also on the outer half of the lid up to about a centimeter or so away from the brow. It should be darkest close to the lashline and blended upwards. It's very important to blend. Harsh lines are not pretty; you end up looking like a hooker. If that's the look you're going for, ignore my advice. I also went back with the shimmery white hue and added a bit more to the inner corner of the eye and blended it into the inner half of the lid. It should almost look like your eyelid was cut in half and half of it is brown and half is light cream. At this point, I blended a ton to remove any harshness, and to give it a seamless effect.
5.) Next, I cleaned up under the eye. It's so easy for shadow to collect there. I usually use a makeup remover wipe and a little moisturizer. Then the concealer goes on under the eye. I dotted it on and blended (always blend, blend blend!) This is also a good time to dot the concealer anywhere that there might be redness or any imperfection on the skin. Simply dot it and pat it until you're happy with the result.
6.)Then, I took a very sheer tinted moisturizer and applied very little to the face (of course avoiding the eyes that I just did). I used American Beauty's Ultimate Diamond Mineral Makeup (added bonus: it contains SPF 15!) I blended down to the neck to avoid the whole looking-like-you're-wearing-a-mask look.
7.) Cheek-wise, I used a peach-toned blush under the cheekbone and Revlon's ColorStay Finishing Powder in Brighten to highlight above.
8.) Finally, I brushed on mascara. I find that using two different tubes makes lashes look superb. Using two different formulas is the best of both worlds--you don't have to choose whether you want long or full lashes! I first applied one coat of Rimmel's Glam Eyes mascara. This is more for lengthening and separating lashes. The next mascara I used was Maybelline's Great Lash BIG. The brush is huge and it adds tons of volume. Then came the most important step; I went through with a clean mascara wand (you can buy packs of them online) to get rid of any clumps.
Despite that fact that this blog is super long, the entire look only took me about 15 minutes.
And there you have it. Perfect pretty face that doesn't look overdone...just a bit more polished!
If you'd like to get a personalized makeover from me (either in person or through email with a picture), send me an email atSassyAlana@gmail.com.