Tuesday 30 October 2012

Recent Work: Balanced Eyes, Lips, and Cheeks

Here are some of my favourite makeup looks that I have done over the last couple of months.  I chose these looks specifically because each one of these looks demonstrates balance between the eyes, lips, and cheeks.  When doing a heavier eye, it's usually most flattering if you pair it with a more muted tone on the lips so that it does not compete with the eye.  When doing bright or dark lips, it's best to apply a softer eye so that all the attention remains focused on the lip.  When trying to achieve a soft, natural look, I find the best way to accomplish this is by using a palette of soft shades on both eyes and lips.  The impact comes from applying a set of fluttery full lashes so that the eyes still manage to stand out without using any dark or heavy shades.  

Balanced Face: Soft Shades: 
As you can see Amber's face is well-balanced with a palette of soft shades of pink, plum, and taupe.  She wanted a really glowy look so I used a pale peach high lighter on her cheekbones.  Face: MAC Matchmaster Foundation, Select Cover Up, and Mineralize Skinfinish Natural.  Cheeks: MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden, MAC Blush in Well Dressed, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle buffed in to the tops of her cheekbones Lips: MAC Lustreglass in Love Nectar 


Eyes: MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study, MAC Eyeshadows in Et Tu Bouquet, Patina, Glamour Check, Shroom, MAC Kohl Power in Raven, Ardell Demi Luvies False Eyelashes
Sabrina wanted a natural look, but wanted her eyes to stand out.  Her bridesmaid dress was a soft, celadon green so I wanted to use a similar palette without making it too matchy-matchy.  Face: MAC Matchmaster Foundation, MAC Select Cover Up, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Cheeks: NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna, MAC Blush in Well Dressed and Instant Chic, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle to highlight.  Lips: MAC Lipstick in Angel, MAC Lipglass in C-Thru
Eyes: MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study, MAC Eyeshadows in Shroom, Vex, Patina, Mulch, MAC Chromaline in Black Black, Ardell Demi Luvies False Eyelashes
Balanced Face: Bright Lips, Soft Eyes
Kate was planning on wearing a gorgeous bright pink dress to a wedding.  As soon as she said that I knew I wanted to do an updated take on a retro-glam look.  Instead of doing red lips, I chose to do a bright coral-pink and it looked stunning on her.  Since the lips were the focus here, I chose to do a soft, neutral eye.  Face: MAC Matchmaster Foundation, MAC Select Cover Up, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Cheeks: MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden, MAC Blush in Fleur Power, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle to highlight.  Lips: MAC Lip Pencil in Lasting Sensation, MAC Lipstick in Party Parrot
Eyes: MAC Paint Pot in Bare Study, MAC Eyeshadows in Naked Lunch, All that Glitters, Omega, Soft Brown, Charcoal Brown, and Shroom, Revlon Colorstay Liquid Eye Pen, Ardell 136 False Eyelashes
Balanced Face: Strong Eyes, Muted Lips
Catia was standing in a wedding and wanted dramatic eyes to be the focus of her look.  She showed me a picture of a really defined, contoured smoky eye and I was pretty excited to re-create it for her.  Strong eyes call for subdued lips and that's exactly what I did here.  Face: MAC Matchmaster Foundation, MAC Select Cover Up, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Cheeks: NARS Bronzing Powder in Laguna, MAC Blush in Melba, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Semi-Precious Goldstone to highlight.  Lips: MAC Subculture Lip Pencil, MAC Shy Girl Lipstick, MAC Love Nectar Lipglass
Eyes: MAC Paint Pot in Nubile, MAC Eyeshadows in Naked Lunch, Dazzlelight, Shroom, Soft Brown, Patina, Typgraphic, and Carbon, MAC Kohl Power in Feline, MAC Chromaline in Black Black, MAC #36 lashes. 
Lisa wanted a really dramatic smoky eye with pinks and greys so I knew the rest of her face had to kept a bit softer.  Soft pink cheeks and a soft pink lip complemented her eye makeup beautifully.  Face: MAC Matchmaster Foundation, MAC Select Cover Up, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish Natural, Cheeks: MAC Bronzing Powder in Golden, MAC Blush in Well Dressed, MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Porcelain Pink to highlight. Lips: Sheer pink lip gloss by Quo (shade name not known). 


Eyes: MAC Paint Pot in Nubile, MAC Eye Shadows in Pink Freeze, Shroom, Star Violet, Perky, Print, Typographic, MAC Chromaline in Black Black, MAC Kohl Power in Feline, Ardell Demi Wispies False Lashes
 I hope you enjoyed reading all about balancing your look!  Hopefully this has inspired you to try something new - whether it's a bold lip or adding some false lashes for some drama.  Just remember to have fun!

x
Annemarie