Makeover! Ashley

Ashley is a very busy mom, balancing her day job with her home life.  She wanted to learn some new techniques to liven up her date-night look.  She requested a pin-up, cat-eye, bright lip look.  To achieve her goal, we modified that request to a bold winged liner with a brighter-than-she's-used-to pink lip.

Ashley has super pale skin with a smattering of freckles, deep brown eyes, and intense cheekbones.  She has the perfect face structure for winged liner, and I was stunned with how well and how naturally she pulled the look off.

Here she is before:

And, after!

Side-by-Side:

To achieve her subtle pin-up look, we really concentrated on two things: perfect skin, and winged liner.  I find that for flawless porcelain skin, nothing beats a good Asian BB cream.  We used Skin79 Super Plus Beblesh Balm, with one layer all-over, then a second layer over any stubborn areas, and then one more layer for the under-eye area.  Because this foundation is full coverage, it will take away her natural glowiness; so, I mixed in a bit of No7 High Light Illuminating Lotion to the Skin79 before application.  We set the undereye area with a Lorac powder, and then all over with Aveda loose powder.

For the winged liner, I sketched in our "rough draft" with Mosha Katani's eye pigment, dry.  Then, once we were happy with the placement, I filled it in with Mosha Katani's eye pigment, mixed with her Sormeh Sealer.  This mixture creates a liquid liner that will stay put all day.

Here is a complete list of what we used!

Face:

Face: Skin79 Super Plus Beblesh Balm, Boots No7 High Light Illuminating Lotion (may be discontinued, can substitute Benefit High Beam)

Illuminating Powder: Lorac Perfectly Lit Oil-Free Luminizing Powder in Spotlight 

Contouring Powder: Too Faced Matte Bronzing Powder in ChocolateSoleil 

Blush: tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour blush in Splendor  

Setting Powder: Aveda Inner Lightloose powder in 01 translucent

Brows:

Powder (to fill): Stila In The Know palette, Earth

Lips:

All-over: Wet n Wild Silk Finish Lipstick in 525D Retro Pink

Eyes:

Lids: E.L.F. Essentials eyelid Primer

Lids: Stila palette In The Know (air, all over lid and up to eyebrow)

Lids: Kat Von D palette Ladybird  (harlow, just under eye socket ridge)

Liner:  Mosha Katani Eye Pigment in Black Sea, Mosha Katani Sormeh Sealer

Lashes: Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara

Brushes:

RealTechniques Stipple brush

RealTechniques Powder brush

Sonia Kashuk Smokey Eye Brush Set

Angled brush for eyebrow

Tutorial! Sarah's Makeover - Eye Makeup

I did a gunmetal grey, smokey eye for Sarah's makeover.  It is a relatively easy, yet dramatic, look for a night out. 

Start with a layer of eyeshadow primer over a clean lid.  I used E.L.F. Essentials Eyelid Primer in Sheer.

Next, from the Stila palette In The Know, I used "air" on the browbone.

Then, from the Urban Decay palette Naked, I used "Gunmetal" on the lid...

And "Virgin" on the browbone.

Then, blend the space between the two with a clean eyeshadow brush.  Try to not go too far into either color's territory.  You are trying to get a gradient that fades very subtly from one color to the next.  Just wipe the brush back and forth, lightly, until the color has traveled and blended.

Next, apply Stila Jewel Eye Shadow in Golden Topaz to the entire space that you just blended, and farther up onto the lower browbone.  Apply it LAST over the top of the Gunmetal in the crease only and blend it lightly, but take care not to pull the Gunmetal up onto the browbone.

Smudge Mosha Katani Eye Pigment in Pharaohs around the entire lashline.  Be generous with the amount on the upper lashline, as a light layer of Pharaohs is nearly the same darkness as Gunmetal.  You'll need two to three layers on the top lashline.  Then, take a clean eyeshadow brush and swipe the brush back and forth on the lower lid to smudge out the color to the bottom of the lower lid.  I take the color as far as my lower lashes go.

Now, to the waterline, apply Mosha Katani Eye Pigment in Black Sea.  The pigment will build with layers, even when damp, so if you want a darker shade, apply another layer.

Add mascara!  In Sarah's look, we used Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara in Black.  I am using Wet N Wild MegaVolume in Very Black here.

Touch up the Golden Topaz with a few more swipes, if you like.

And here is my before and after!

Done!

Makeover! Sarah

Onward with makeovers!  I really L-O-V-E doing these!  I hope ya'll are enjoying them, too.

I've been so fortunate that many ladies have been volunteering to model for me, so I am getting lots of practice applying makeup to others.  It is so different to put makeup on someone else, and I have found that I am really, really, really, REALLY slow at it.  I am getting a bit faster, and hopefully I'll be able to improve with my speed with more practice.

So, next up is Sarah!  Sarah is a very busy mom of 4 beautiful children, and she wanted an easy, everyday look... but, as we started talking, I realized that she wanted to try some bolder looks for special occasions, but she didn't know what to try, and didn't really have time to play around to figure out what would look good.  And let's face it, who has time to play with makeup with 4 children to care for?  So, I derailed the plan, and tossed her in to the deep end to pull her out of her comfort zone and into some glam-time!

Here she is before we started.  She has beautiful porcelain skin, adorable freckles, and those sparkling blue-green eyes!

And here she is, after!  We gave her a deep gunmetal eye, highlighted with an amber sparkling shimmer, and a soft smudge of smoke.

Side-by-Side:

This next picture is my favorite!

 What we used:

Face:
Moisturizer: Avalon Organics Vitamin C Renewal Rejuvinating Oil-Free Moisturizer
Face: Skin79 Super Plus Beblesh Balm
Contouring Powder: Too Faced Matte Bronzing Powder in Chocolate Soleil 
Blush: tarte Cheek Stain in Blissful


Brows:

Pencil: Cover Girl Brow and Eye Makers in Midnight Brown 

Powder: Maybelline Ultra-Brow Brush On Color in 10 LightBrown 

Lips:
All-over: Sephora Nano Lipliner in 16 Pure Pinky
All-over: Wetn Wild Megalast Matte in 915B

Eyes:
Lids: E.L.F. Essentials Eyelid Primer in Sheer
Lids: Stila palette In The Know (air on browbone)
Lids: Urban Decay palette Naked (Gunmetal all over lid, Virgin on browbone)

Lids: Stila Jewel Eye Shadow in Golden Topaz (in crease and to outer v, to soften and blend gunmetal to lower browbone)

Waterline:  Mosha Katani Eye Pigment in Black Sea, on waterline.

Liner: Mosha Katani Eye Pigment in Pharaohs, around lashline.

Lashes: Jordana Best Lash Extreme Volumizing Mascara in Black

Brushes:
RealTechniques Stipple brush
Sonia Kashuk Smokey Eye Brush Set
Angled brush for eyebrow