I love makeup and I’m always looking for new ways to wear it, especially for special occasions such as Valentine’s Day or a date night. I usually wear earth tones and prefer a natural look, but this time I also created a bolder look, with a smokey eye and bright lip. It is a bit risky, because most makeup artists will tell you to play up only one area of your face, but somehow this combination worked for me.
Natural looking makeup
Earth tones such as chocolate and sand, give warmth to your look but aren’t excessive. This makeup is all about enhancing your natural beauty, defining your features such as your eyes and mouth but subtly. That’s why neutral tones are an excellent choice for a day look or professional environments. Here’s how to achieve it.
- Apply concealer if you need it, then define eyebrows and apply the lightest eyeshadow shade all over the lid.
- Then apply a brown hue in the crease area with an angled brush so that the shadow forms a “v” on the outside corner.
- Outline the eye with a dark brown pencil staying as close as possible to your natural lash line.
- Apply two coats of black mascara *if you are really fair, you can use a dark brown mascara).
- Use bronzing powder to define your cheekbones and give warmth to the face. If you have excess shine, use translucent powder.
- Now apply a lipstick in a color similar to your own natural lipcolor and then apply some golden glow in the middle of the lower lip.
In this case I used Smashbox’s eyeshadow palette, an Artistry eyeliner in brown pencil, a light brown eyebrow pencil from L’Oreal Paris, Lancôme Grandiose black mascara, Bobbi Brown bronzer in Medium, Neutrogena anti shine pwder, Jacquard lipstick by Aerin and the Nourishine lipgloss by Mary Kay in Golden.
Smokey eyes with a bright lip
If you want a more dramatic look that’s perfect for a special night out, smoky eyes still are a great option. This time I tried using different shades of gray and a bold lip in a hot pink. I am obsessed with the new Intense Colour Lip Gloss from Dolce & Gabbana en Bouganville (available at Saks Fifth Avenue) and really liked how it looked with my gray eyeshadows.
Here’s how I did this look:
- First I defined my brows with a brow pencil.
- Then I used the Nourishing Long Wear Eye Shadow + Built-In Primer from Neutrogena in Smoky Steel. I used the medium gray shadow on the lid (not the darkest one) starting at the lash line. I blended it well and then use an even lighter gray in the crease area.
- Then I used the highlighter, the pearly white shadow, right at the brow bone.
- Instead of using an eyeliner, I used the darkest gray shadow as a liner.
- Then I applied one coat of mascara so the look still looked soft.
- The rest of my makeup was pretty natural and I just applied a bit of blush in the apples of my cheeks.
- The hot pink lip gloss gave it a fresh pop of color that is perfect for Spring.
Did you like my two makeup looks? Which one is your favorite?