A great Party look
I am sure you would love to have your own make up artist, hair stylist, fashion consultant, publicist etc etc…but unless you decide to take the plunge and throw yourself into the Big Brother and Reality TV look at me I am desperate to be famous territory, chances are, you will have to make do with taking care of some of your beauty and styling needs sometimes.
On the Plus side, you won’t have to embarrass yourself saying things like I am addicted to smells or have a meaning of life moment over whether or not your photos should be airbrushed for a magazine cover. In fact, saving your energy by not being famous could indeed mean you actually do something worthwhile that does not involve spending 24/7 trying out new face fillers or worrying about winkles.
Never mind. You can still take inspiration from Celebrities and recreate their party looks without having to spend a fortune! You just need to follow a few rules.
Rule 1 – Beauty is skin deep. Indeed.
If you want to have that radiant complexion sported by a number of Celebs when you have a big do to attend you just have to eat well, sleep at least 8 hours a day, drink 8 glasses of water, exercise, take up green tea or white tea or purple tea…or whatever colour tea the Celebs are drinking currently, cleanse and moisturise your skin daily and NEVER EVER go to bed wearing make up. Not even Mineral. You do all that and voila, you walk the Celebrity party ready path.
oops, No time for that now as your big night out is in fact tonight? And your skin looks so grey you might get mistakenly identified as a brain-eating zombie from the latest special effect feast new blockbuster? Ok, let’s see what I can do. Hey, don’t roll eyes sister. I am good but I can’t do miracles you know?
The mistake mere mortals with no expert at hand make is to plaster a lot of make up on in the hope that it will hide the tired skin and somehow make the wearer look fresh and flawless. It won’t. No matter what make up brand you are wearing, plastering a whole load on your face trying to apply a mask to hide imperfections will only make you look old and set you apart as a way too much make up wearer the magazines keep telling us men hate. As if they notice, please!
Fear not. Here is what you do. Use a gentle face wash for your skin type and wash your face. Now, use an exfoliator and rub off the dead skin. Apply a facemask. I love the fresh ones that you can get in Lush. Bang them in the fridge and use it once a week to get to the celebrity complexion mentioned above. A good alternative is the Montagne Jeunesse range of facial masks. I use the chocolate one for a deep cleanse as I have combination skin. They also have some very nice hair products as well. All sold in sachets so you can buy and try different ones without having to commit to a full size product you might not like. They are sold in Dunnes and Tescos, maybe in Boots too. I love the range. It is par with rather more expensive products. Shhh… Don’t tell them. They might decide to put up their prices!
Have an eye gel pack or cucumber slices over your eyes while the mask is on. This will ensure your eyes look rested.
After you remove your face pack, moisturise and apply eye cream, making sure the moisturiser is the correct one for your sin type and the eye cream is fluid. Heavy eye creams will only make your eyes puffy. Leave both for a few minutes before moving on to the next step.
2. A bit of make up primer goes a long way
Make up artists the world over rejoice in this rule. There is a very obvious reason for this and no, it is not to keep the cosmetics companies in business and therefore this tedious group I am a part of in employment. A primer achieves two goals. It smooth out the skin and it also ensures your make up stays on for longer.
There are a number of good primers out there. The MAC primer is ok. I use it sometimes. There are better out there, like the one from SmashBox and the Laura Mercier primer for instance but for the sake of the 30% discount I get as a Make up Artist I recommend Mac! No, I don’t really. In fact, I avoid their eye shadows like the plague. They are way too over hyped and poor in quality since Mac was sold. More of the pity.
Apply a pea size amount of make up primer and Leave it to for a couple of minutes.
3. Foundation should match your skin tone, not change it
Another huge mistake mere mortals tend to make. You see them around in BT, buying foundation that is far too dark/the wrong tone for them. I will let you into a secret here. Most of the people working in make up counters haven’t a notion. They are there to sell. They have targets to reach.
A bit short sighted to sell people the wrong products you might think but hey, Global corporations must have sussed that when they sell a women the wrong foundation, she is not likely to know it is wrong for her. The people she trusts to tell her won’t. For instance, her partner, knowing that being honest and saying yes darling, your bum looks huge in that or honey, are you ok? your skin looks a rather peaky shade of orange, is not going to get him brownie points and as for friends, ladies, in all honesty, when was the last time you actually told a friend the street walker chic she seems to favour was left in the 80s? So you see, with the vast amount of clout and visibility such brands play with, they know the customer will come back when they have a buy 2 get a gift promotion. They always do!
If you want the science bit on skin tones/undertones read my “Colours – a brief history of tones” blog. For the purpose of this discussion, if the foundation doesn’t match your neck then it won’t compliment you.
4. Don’t just rub it – blend it
The hard and fast rule when applying foundation is: if it is for oily/combination skin therefore oil free, use a damp make up sponge to apply it. If it is a moisturizing foundation, a foundation brush is better.
Starting from the middle of your face, blend the foundation outwards and downwards. Mixing it with a moisturizer or skin illuminator will ensure that the make up doesn’t look terribly heavy.
I have an absolutely amazing skin illuminator I use for evening make up. Flashlights by Elesis. Unlike most illuminators, it is not a pearly shade but a peachy tone. I mix it with foundation for a youthful, dewy, glowing look.
For day time make up the no 7 illuminator mousse is amazing. It gives a powdery, even finish and although it is light reflecting, it is not shimmery.
Don’t use foundation on lips of eyes. It wasn’t made for these areas.
5. Make your Eyes the window to your soul
As above, your eyes should be foundation free. If you are not too confident with dark eye shadow, it is better to leave the skin under the eyes for when you have finished applying your eye shadow. Why? Well my dear, because it means you can wipe it clean of eye shadow without making a mess of your carefully applied base!
For the look I am covering here, you can actually use the Trick I shown in TV3. Use a soft eye pencil and smudge. Pencils that have been created for smudging will be a safe bet and most of them have a smudging brush at the end. Score. Two for the price of one.
Apply a liquid concealer to the eye lids. Use your fingers to dab it and ensure it is uncreased. Dust the tiniest amount of setting powder if you are using eye shadow. If you are using a smudge pencil don’t put powder on top of the concealer.
If you are using eye shadow, apply it to eye lids blending it well. then with a flat brush apply some more to the crease of the eye noting the feline shape created below. Now, use a pearl shade, nothing too shimmery just below the eye browns. This will open up and give depth to eyes.
Now clean up under the eyes if required.
Make sure you blend the shadows
Apply concealer under the eyes and again, tap it to blend it and avoid crease. As before, if you are using eye shadow, apply a tiny bit of powder. Blend the make up under the eyes and make sure you join the top and bottom at outer corner.
Now line the eyes, including the water line. Apply lots of mascara or better, fake lashes!
If you have used the smudge pencil, dust very gently the tiniest amount of powder on top. This will ensure it stays on for much longer.
6. Use only loose powder
I have to make a clear statement here. I just don’t think there is a need for pressed powder outside of the stage or TV. According to historians, lead was a major component of face powder in the olden days. The era the pressed powder reigned supreme. I rest my case.
If you want the flawless, radiant look, use loose powder. And only on the T Zone
7. Bronzer – use it to enhance the shape of your face
Use a non shimmery bronzer to finish this look. If you have an oval face, then just apply high from apple of cheeks to ears. If you have a round face, apply it from temples, around the jaw line and just below cheekbones. Basically use it to mould the contour of your face into an oval and then apply to cheekbones.
Use a tone just two shades darker than your natural skin colour and apply a little bit at a time. It is easier to add than to take away!
8. Lips – keep it moist
Lips tend to dry at a much faster rate than the rest of your face. Using 8 hour – never wash off lipsticks will soak up any moisture and make them look cracked and dehydrated. Not exactly an inviting sight.
A flavoured lip treatment will work better and give the right amount of shine to offset the eyes, without being glopey.
Enjoy your night.
By Rossana Dickinson
Chief Make up Artist
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