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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Conquer Contouring

It's amazing what a bit of contouring can do to change the structure of the face. It not only creates depth in any hollow areas, it gives a bronzed, healthy effect and it slims down the face beautifully (and we ALL know we want that!). You can take contouring to the extreme or you can go very subtle, either way, it will change your makeup routine forever!
Contouring can be done using creams or powders. Your dark contour should be two to four shades darker than your foundation, depending on how dramatic you want the look to be. It should also be matte. A darker matte cream/powder will give the illusion of shadows, you place this strategically in any hollow areas for depth, to make it appear further away (eg. under cheekbones).
Your light contour, or your highlight, can be matte or a shimmer. Again, this should be two to four shades lighter than your foundation. This will give the appearance that the area is sticking out more (eg. on top of cheekbones). If your highlight has a shimmer, the metallic particles in this will reflect the light, giving a more dramatic effect. I personally prefer a matte finish to the face and would definitely recommend a matte to anyone conscious of fine lines around the eye area! A shiny highlight will just sit in these fine lines, drawing attention to them.

Getting started......

The cheeks:
Using the side of your baby finger, feel the hollows underneath the cheekbone. You will also notice, when you look straight into the mirror, there will already be a slight shadow from your natural cheekbone. This is the area we want to darken yet still giving the illusion that it is our natural shadow. Now we know where to darken, it's time to start using product.
You want to use a fluffy powder brush that isn't too large in size as you want to be able to control how much product goes on, and where! I find the angled goat hair F40 Sigma brush the best to use. Dip the brush into a small amount of product (not too much as you can always add more product, but it's harder to take product away!). Using small circular motions, apply the product to the hollow area. This motion will blend the product out and into your foundation colour giving a more professional look. Extend the colour from halfway down the cheekbone (under the outer corner of the eye) , all the way backwards to the hairline and your ear.

The forehead:
After contouring the cheeks right up to the hairline and the ear, extend the colour all the way around the hairline using the same brush. This will give a natural bronzed look as this would be the area that is first hit by the sun! This isn't the only purpose. If you have a forehead slightly on the larger side, this step is important for you! Extend the colour downwards slightly onto the forehead, deepening the colour and density of the product at the top two corners of the face and the temples at the side. Again this gives the appearance of a shadow, giving the illusion of a smaller area.

The nose:
I could not leave the house on a night out without contouring my nose! It's a bit of an obsession. If you want to make your nose look skinnier, take a clean fluffy eyeshadow brush (I like to use the crown angled, flat topped eyeshadow brush) and your contour powder and lightly line the sides of your nose all of the way down to the tip. This should go from the inside of your eyebrow, down both sides in a straight line, to the end. Ta-da, your welcome! A skinny nose!! If you want to make your nose shorter, using the same brush and contour, lightly apply some product to the bottom area of the nose, from nostril to nostril.

You then need a different brush to apply highlighter. I use the Sigma F05 as I find it is the perfect size for highlighting.
Take your product and apply it to any areas you want to stand out.

The cheeks:
Apply the product in circular motions on top of the cheekbones and around onto the temples of the cheeks closer to the edge of your eye. This will make your cheekbones stand out more, give the face a natural lift and help blend the product out into your foundation.

The nose:
If you have contoured the sides of your nose, you can add a small amount of highlight along the centre to make it look even skinnier.

MUA Tip: If your wearing a strapless top/dress, add a small amount of your highlight along the top of your collar bones!!

And there you have it. Your tips to conquer contouring. Let me know how you get on!!

Happy sculpting

Jx

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Halloween Horrors

Just a quick note to say ill be doing Halloween looks coming into October!! Leave a comment below to request any looks you guys wanna see!!

Jx

Monday, September 10, 2012

Lip Contouring

Whether its a fuller lip you're looking for, or a full blown trout pout, you need to follow these steps!

1. Whatever lipstick you have decided to wear, you need a lip liner that is two to three shades darker.
Establish where the outline of your natural lip is. Take your lip liner and with short strokes, trace the outline of your lip slightly on the outer edge.
You may need to do some corrective work to the lip for the shape to look even on both sides. Most people's lips are fuller on one side than the other. Take your time applying your products and always take a step back to look in the mirror to evaluate your work.
Colour the outer corners of the lip with the same pencil, this will add depth to the finished look.
2. Decide if you want a rounded or a pointed cupids bow. I personally prefer a more rounded look, but both look beautiful!
3. Apply your lipstick to the whole lip using a lip brush for a more defined look.
4. Using either a face highlight or an eyeshadow highlight, apply a small amount above the cupids bow. This will reflect the light making this area stand out more.
5. Whatever you use to contour your face(this should be a matte powder/cream around three shades darker than your foundation), use a small amount of this product underneath the bottom lip. This will create the effect of a shadow giving a much fuller effect.
6. Last but not least, use a lipgloss one or two shades lighter than your chosen lipstick. Apply this to the centre of the lip only.

And there you have it. You will have Angelina Jolie lips in no time!!

Mwah

Jx

Thursday, September 6, 2012

MOTD Natural Look

Being a rare sunny day in Dublin today, I decided to keep my makeup nice and natural looking.
I prepped the skin using my No.7 Beautifully Matte Makeup Base to keep my skin nice and matte throughout the day.
Revlon ColourStay Foundation is my personal fave at the moment so I applied this all over the face using the colour Natural Tan 330 and my Sigma F50 stippling brush to achieve that flawless finish.
With my fingertips I applied NW30 MAC Prolongwear Concealer under my eyes and onto the tops of my cheekbones to add brightness to these areas. I then went into the inner corner under my eye with Soap&Glory Kickass Concealer in the colour Light(the peach side) to give an extra bright glow!
Using my Sigma F30 powder brush, I pushed INGLOT AMC powder in the number 55 into the skin to set my makeup and make it last longer.
I contoured the face using INGLOT pressed powder in the number 31 and their blusher, number 29 on the apples of my cheeks.
I filled my brows in using an old Sephora angle brush (that I got in a travel set years ago) with a mixture of a matte chocolate brown and a light brown for the inside corners(I don't know the names or brands of the specific ones I used as I got them in my kit when I was back in college!).
Under the brow I highlighted the area using INGLOT eyeshadow in 46 and contoured the eye using my face powder(all over lid) and my contour powder(into the crease). Finish the eye by applying a generous amount of Essence 3in1 mascara to the lashes.
I lined the lips using MAC Boldley Bare lip pencil and filled them in with MAC Honey Love lipstick. Last but not least, a quick coat of Essence Stay With Me lipgloss in 02 My Favourite Milkshake and your good to go!!!

Jx