Tuesday, March 29, 2011

My Everyday Makeup By I Am Style-ish

I'm not a makeup expert as I leave that to many of the talented bloggers or youtubers out there but I do get asked a lot of questions about my makeup and I think that a lot of you are like me where we like to wear makeup, we just don't want to look like we have a ton of it on.  While I completely love the look of the dark smokey eye or the brightly colored lids, my little eyes just can't pull it off like people with big eyes/big lids/big creases.  I've just come up with a way that works with my face and eye shape and most importantly my style.  I often think of makeup as just another accessory, it should match your style and just add to your complete look.

The foundation to my everyday makeup routine: 1.YSL Touche Eclat 2. Tarte Dark Circle Defense 3. Tarte Smooth Operator Foundation  4. MAKE UP FOR EVER Duo Mat Powder Foundation 5. Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (I depotted it)

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 um yes, I realize my brows look wonky here but I swear it was the angle of the photo and since I was using a 35mm lens which can have a bit of a fishbowl effect on faces.  In person they were straight! :)

Here's what I used to create this look which is a pretty standard look for me, I just change the colors of shadows and eyeliners each day.  I just realized I forgot to put my eyeliner in this picture.  I used the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Zero (black). 1. Meilasu Cream Shadow (gifted from kkcenterhk.com) 2. Tarte Cheek Stain Flush 3. Eye shadow set (gifted from kkcenterhk.com) 4. NARS Lipgloss 5. NYX Black Label Lipstick in Dusty Rose
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Quick tutorial on the eye makeup:
  • Dab on a small amount of shadow primer all over the lid
  • Using the cream shadow as a base, lightly pat it all over the lid.  The primer and the cream shadow ensures that the shadow stays on all day.
  • With the shadow palette above, I started with the medium brown shade and a medium sized eyeshadow brush and brushed it all over my lid, extending above my natural crease but following the shape of my eye
    • the easiest way to do this is to apply the shadow all over but as you are going over your crease, open your eyes and look straight into the mirror and brush on the shadow just slightly above your lids.  This will ensure that when your eyes are open, you'll still be able to see a hint of the shadow but it won't look like you are wearing a crazy amount of eye makeup.  This is super essential for girls with small lids like me where most of the eye shadow gets lost when you open your eyes.  For girls with bigger eyes/bigger creases, this step is not as important since you'll be able to see the color when your eyes are open.
  • With a slightly smaller brush, brush the lightest golden shade on the inner corners of your eyes, in a span from the corner to the middle of your lid.
  • Using a fluffy brush, blend the two colors together in the center of the lid.
  • Using a small shadow brush, dip it into the darkest brown color and start at the outer corner of your eyes sweeping inward and extending into the golden color that you just applied.  Don't sweep too much into the middle of the eye, just enough to be able to blend the colors so that it's not a harsh line of where one color starts and one color stops.
  • Line your bottom and top lash lines.  Using the same brush you just used on your outer corners, dip it into the darkest brown shade and slightly tap it into your bottom lash line for more of a dramatic look.  The powder also helps keep the liner from smudging.
I should also mention that I do my eye makeup first even before I put on concealer.  This is so if anything smudges or the eyeshadow flakes off onto my cheeks, clean up is so much easier to do than trying to wipe things off once your foundation/powder is already set.
And for those of you who don't know, my long lushes lashes are actually lash extensions!  I LOVE them.  I've had them on for awhile now, see my review post about them here.  I get them refilled every 3-4 weeks and they look fantastic all the time.  I never have to worry about false lashes,  lash glue, mascara or raccoon eyes ever!  For local readers, I go to Lady Lam who is my favorite, she's awesome so go check her out if you are thinking about getting them.

My lip color is always dependent on how I do my eyes. If I do them a bit more dramatic then I go for a toned down pink or nude color but if my eyes are more neutral than I have fun with my hot pink or red lipsticks.  Makeup is a lot of fun but I admit, it's taken me awhile to get the hang of it and figure out what works with my face.  Back in high school I would read fashion magazines and follow along with their tutorials (can you believe we didn't have youtube back then?  OMG I'm old! haha)  but the results were always a disaster.  If you're really interested in learning how to do the best makeup for yourself, watch/read as many tutorials as you can but the best thing to do is to not to follow along to exactly what they are doing but to pick up on tips that would work for you and then incorporate those together.

Thank you, I Am Style-ish
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