Lighter Smoky Eye Meets Natural Beauty

I had another gorgeous client this afternoon for prom makeup. She wanted a smoky eye look, but nothing too heavy or dark. I opted to work with more browns and taupes versus grays and blacks. I emphasized her natural features as well. I love how this look came out!

Here's the break down...

1. I primed her face with MAC Moisture Infusion, followed by Korres Greek Yogurt primer. I let this settle into the skin as I worked on the eyes.

2. For an eye primer I used Tarte's 24 hour Creaseless primer. Once this settled into the eye area we got to work! I mainly used the LORAC Pro palette to create this look with the help of some MAC shadows. To lay down a transition color I used a MAC 217 with MAC "Soft Brown". This was a bit darker than the skin, but still worked as a transition shade all over.

3. In the crease I used "Taupe", "Sable", and "Expresso" from the Lorac Pro palette mixed and blended together to create this less dramatic smoky look. On the lid I used "Cream" and "Pewter" from the LORAC Pro palette mixed together to give it some dimension. 

4. To keep the smokiness of the look going I used Tarte's Skinny Smolder eyes in black and blended it out with "Expresso". As for lashes I applied Ardell "demi 120". These created a more cat eye look. To blend out the look underneath the eye I used a mixture of "Sable" and "Expresso" on a pencil brush.

5. Before I applied foundation I sprayed her entire face with MAC Fix Plus. She was looking a little dry, and I didn't want dryness to be a problem with this look. As for foundation I used Revlon Colorstay For Normal/Dry skin in "Buff". I lightly applied this with Sigma F80. To conceal her eyes I applied MAC Pro Longwear concealer in "NW15". This brightened her face. To set the concealer in place I used MAC Prep and Prime CC in "Illuminating", but only on the concealer because her skin was dried out a bit.

6. To add a bit of dimension I used Benefit's Hoola bronzer on her forehead, hollows of her cheeks, and jawline. This wasn't too dark because I applied it with a MAC 188 to give it an airbrushed look. 

7. As for cheek color, I used MAC blush in "Melba" with MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in "Stereo Rose" on top. It gave a really nice sheen to the cheeks. 

8. I lightly filled in her brows, to give them more attention, with MAC "Soft Brown". 

9. As for a lip color I applied MAC "Pure Zen" with Urban Decay lipgloss in "Midnight Cowboy". These two complimented the look very well.

10. To set the entire look in place I used Urban Decay "Chill" setting spray.

This makeup look was natural, but it emphasized certain features. 

She was naturally beautiful, and I just emphasized certain features with makeup! She was another great client to work with...I'm surprised we got the makeup done in a timely matter beings she had me laughing the entire time. Beautiful makeup on a beautiful girl! XO!

Dramatically Dark Smokey Eye Makeup

My prom season has officially begun! Prom makeup is one of my favorite types of makeup to do. Here goes my first prom makeup client break down....

She requested a dark, dramatic smokey eye with a nude lip. I took it to a heavier contour so we wouldn't lose any of her facial features with the heavier eye look. It turned out stunning!! Pictures truly don't do it justice. And can I just mention how flawless her skin is?! Seriously...This girl has skin to die for!

The break down....

1. I started working on her skin first. I primed her face with MAC Moisture Infusion, followed by Korres Greek Yogurt primer. I let these sink into the skin while I started the eye makeup.

2. For an eye primer I used Tarte's Creaseless primer. All the shadows I used on this entire eye look are from the LORAC Pro palette (a necessity!). 

3. Using a fluffy brush I put down "Taupe" as a transition color from the lid to the brow bone. To build more intensity in the crease I mixed "Sable" and "Expresso". This built the depth. Using a MAC 217 I started defining the outer V with a matte gray shade from the MAC RiRi Smokey Eyes quad. I gradually built this color up. After the shadows were blended out enough I went in with "Black" on another MAC 217 and put this just on the outer edge, slightly into the crease. As for the lid, I applied "Slate" with a flat shader brush. There is a slight inner corner and brow bone highlight, using "Cream" from the LORAC Pro palette. Seriously...So simple!

4. To give the eye look a serious smokey look I used Tarte's Skinny Smolder eyes in black. I smudged this along her lash line and blended it out with a smudger brush with just a tad bit of "Black" on it from the LORAC Pro palette. As for lashes, I applied Red Cherry "#43". 

5. Once the primers set into her skin I applied YSL Illuminating foundation in #50 to the entire face. She didn't need much coverage, but it helped even everything out. I used a Sigma F80 brush.

6. As for highlighting and contouring, I used MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NW20 under her eyes, bridge of the nose, forehead, chin, cupid's bow, and jawline. For the contour I used Too Faced Chocolate Soileil on her forehead, temples, hollows of her cheeks, and jawline. This all blended out very nicely. To set the concealer in place I used MAC Prep & Prime CC in "Illuminating". 

7. As for blush, I wanted to put a little bit of color back into the face, but nothing that would take away from the contour/highlight and eyes. I used Clinque's "Peach pop" on the apples of her cheeks in a backwards motion. To give the blush a little more emphasis I touched the tops of the cheekbones with MAC mineralize skin finish in "Soft & Gentle".

8. Once the eye makeup was set I smoked out her lower lash line using "Expresso" and "Black" from the LORAC Pro palette to give it a darker look. I finished the lashes off with Makeup Forever mascara in black. 

9. As for the lips, I used MAC "Hue" lipstick and MAC "The Wee Coquette" lip glass (this was discontinued). 

10. To set the makeup and ensure the face to last all night long I used Urban Decay "Chill". 

This look came together so beautifully, and pictures truly don't do it justice!! Absolutely stunning! Not to mention she was an amazing client to work with. XO

Fresh, Bold Prom Makeup Tutorial

Prom season is just around the corner, and I figured I'd get my first prom tutorial done with. I kept the skin illuminated and natural looking, with a slight contour. The brows were lightly filled in. As for eyes I wanted to kick it up a notch, but stray away from shadows. I think the winged eyeliner with gold eyeliner on top gave it the extra push I was looking for. I finished the look off with a bold pink lip. This makeup look is perfect for a prom look with an extra push of color.

Here is a before and after... Flawless skin!

The gold glitter eyeliner didn't photograph as well as I hoped it would have.

As for products and how I achieved this look...Here we go!

1. I applied MAC Strobe Cream all over her face to give it the extra luminosity. Followed by Covergirl TruBlend fix sticks to highlight and contour her entire face. She needed minimum foundation because of how flawless her skin was when we started. 

2. As for foundation I used L'Oreal True Match Lumi foundation and blended the highlight/contour and foundation together with a Beauty Blender.

3. To highlight under her eyes even more I used MAC Prolongwear concealer and blended that with a Beauty Blender as well.

4. To define her brows a bit more, I used Anastasia Brow Wiz in "Ash". I did light strokes because I didn't want to give her a bold brow. It just needed some shape.

5. The only shadow that touched her eye was Benefit's Hoola bronzer. The bronzer matched the contour perfectly, to keep the natural eye look going.

6. I wanted a bold eyeliner. For this I used L'Oreal gel eyeliner in blackest black. The wing kicked this look up. On top of the black eyeliner I used NYX Glitter eyeliner in "Gold". This gold brought out the blues in her eyes even more.

7. To finish off the eyes I used Maybelline Lash Stiletto mascara.

8. As for her lips, I used Milani's lipstick in "Flirty Fuchsia". This is a beautiful satin finish with blue undertones. These blue undertones are going to compliment her teeth and smile very nicely. 

9. Once her foundation was set into her skin I used MAC MSF in "Stereo Rose" on her cheekbones. It gave a very natural looking flush to her face, but added some color back.

10. After everything was applied I sprayed her face with MAC Fix Plus and this was the result.

I love how fresh and dewy this look is! Absolutely beautiful!