Before/After: A Liner & Red Lip Variation

Is there anything more striking and classic as a red lip and an lined eye? I highly doubt it. I call up this combination more than any other makeup look in my repertoire. I do get a little tired of this look sometimes, not often but once in awhile I do. So I try to make it as interesting as possible by changing various aspects of it. Simple little things that might be utterly unnoticeable to the general public except to a MUA obsessed with details and textures!

So once again I was asked to do said combination and I had a pretty young model to work on. So instead of a full blown glamorous red lip/liner combo, I chose to tweak the liner into a different shape and keep the skin looking ethereally sheeny. It's very hard to explain this but my main concern was how it would look on the final pictures. I hope my behind-the-scene photos will do it justice. Anyway here's Alex without makeup.

Face Prep: Alpha-H Age Delay Cleansing Oil, Decléor Aroma Cleanse Cleansing Water, Decléor Life Radiance Double Radiance Cream, Shu Uemura Brightening UV Under Base Mousse, Decléor Nourishing Lip Balm.

 

As you can see Alex is young and has beautifully clear skin with a bit of darkness under the eye. I didn't want to wing the liner out like how you'd naturally do on a glamorous look. Instead I wanted to do a dip downwards or an inverted liner focusing on the lower eye instead. Hopefully the following pictures will help explain it better.

 

Here's Alex after makeup.

Foundation: Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua, Givenchy Mr Light, YoungBlood Natural Mineral Foundation.

Eyes: YSL Dare To Glow in No 1, YSL Waterproof Eye Pencil in Black Ink, MAC Fluidline in Black Track, YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils Shocking Mascara in Deep Black, Magnifibres, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara in Black.

Eyebrows: Shu Uemura Hard Formula Brow Pencil in Seal Brown, Gold Mascara.

Cheeks: MAC Taupe Blush, Burberry Fresh Glow, YSL Dare To Glow in No 1.

Lips: MAC Lipmix in Crimson.

Powder:  Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder.

 

Here's a closeup of the look.

And one of Alex dressed in character and looking down.

What do you think? Enough of a twist on this classic look to make it look fresh and modern? 

 

Tweet

Latest Kit Acquisitions: Skin!

I apologise for the recent blog silence. As always work has been crazy but add to that trying to sort out personal matters, it really doesn't leave much time for blogging. Saying that all is well and I am busier but also happier than ever. Let's not waste time talking shall we? I wanted to bring attention to some recent launches that as a MUA excite me, a lot!

Sisley Gentle Makeup Remover

Finally one of my favourite brands launches their contribution to micellar cleansers! Totally botanical and gorgeous, this huge bottle with a clever press-down pump smells and feels lovely. I've just received it so will be doing a review as soon as I use it at work.

RRP £69.00 for 300ml.

Giorgio Armani Maestro Fusion Makeup

When I first got wind of this last year, I got quite excited and when I had a chance to play with a drop of it from a sample vial, I tweeted about it without disclosing the brand. This might be the industry's first oil-based foundation. Volatile oils evaporate upon contact with skin to leave a beautiful matte finish. Once again I will report back as soon as I get to use it on a shoot but so far I am impressed.

RRP £36.00 for 30ml.

DiorSkin Nude Skin-Glowing Makeup

This favourite amongst MUAs has been relaunched promising enhanced skin-glowing properties, thanks to velvety translucent pigments, skin beneficial waters and a hydrating
binding agent. I'll report back as soon as I use them but testing on my hands, I'm loving the fluid coverage that looks and feels gorgeous on skin.

RRP £31.00 for 30ml.

As mentioned before I will report on these new additions as soon as I trial them properly on shoots, which means more than just once or twice. Has anyone tried them yet? I'd love to hear from you about how you got on. 


Tweet

Before/After: Psychedelic Screen Siren

I've been on a bit of a colour theme of late with my work. I find that I go through phases with my work and what I do. And the current look for me is full of colour and high voltage glamour! It's almost a throw back to the strong vibrant colours of the 80s but done in a modern way with the latest formulations and technology. 

One of my favourites recently was a big fashion spread for a London magazine and the location where we shot was used to film A King's Speech, full of grand decor and old school glamour. The clothes were all dark and pretty strong. A quick meeting with the team decided that we were going to make her a bit of a psychedelic Hollywood screen siren. Actually those are my words, not theirs! Anyway let me introduce Julia.

Face Prep: Decléor Aroma Cleanse Cleansing Water, Decléor Life Radiance Double Radiance Cream, Shu Uemura Brightening UV Under Base Mousse, Decléor Nourishing Lip Balm.

Julia is pretty perfect in terms of features! Her face is a joy to work with and absolutely perfect  for an intricate beauty look so I let loose and let my creativity  go wild. Our hair maestro Peter decided to use a blond wig to totally complete the look and by doing that, we had an absolute blank canvas to work with so I knew that Julia would be able to take a strong strong look.

I wanted jewelled colours, vibrancy and disregard to traditional makeup rules. So I brought out a selection of my favourite colours in my kit. To give you an idea, I took a rough photo of the palettes I worked with.

L-R: Tom Ford Palette, YSL 5 Colour Palette, Makeup Forever Aqua Cream, Shu Uemura Palette.

Here's what Julia looks like after the full works!

Face: YSL Le Teint Touché Eclat,  Givenchy Mr Light, YoungBlood Natural Mineral Foundation.

Eyes: MUFE Aqua Cream, Shu Uemura Eyeshadows, Tom Ford Burnished Amber Palette, YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils Shocking Mascara in Burgundy and Deep Black, Pixi Endlessly Silky Eye Pen in No 3 Black Tulip.

Eyebrows: MAC Brow Gel in Clear.

Cheeks: MAC Taupe Blush.

Lips: Iman Luxury Moisturising Lipstick in Citron. 

Powder: Jurlique Rose Silk Finishing Powder.

 

Here's a close up.

I changed the lip colour half way through the shoot to get a slightly different effect for Julia. Nothing major, just a deep jewel red.

Lips: MAC Ruby Woo Lipstick, MAC Pro LipMix in Crimson, MAC Pigment in Reflects Rust.

 

Thought? I'm such a fan of colour and it's been awhile since I've been able to do a full on eyes and lips look. I love it!

 

 

Tweet