Makeup Tutorial: Captivating Emeralds

Some times I like to divert from the traditional brown smokey eye. It's an easy, simple and safe option. However, there are times I like to incorporate a pop of color in my makeup. What's life without a bit of color anyway? So let's try something different.

Here's a tutorial for a dramatic green smokey eye.

Tutorial

Step 1

 Apply a creamy black base on your eye lid and blend it slightly above your crease. This is to ensure your eyeshadow sticks on and doesn't crease.

Step 2

 Apply a medium vibrant green color on the inner half of your lid. The black base will intensify the green to a shimmery finish due to the contrast. Layer it on for a brighter effect.

Step 3

Apply some black eyeshadow with a flat brush and create an edge on the corner of your eye. Pat the black over the rest of the cream base and blend it inwards and above your crease. Concentrate the color on the outer corner of your eye to create that 'smokey' look.

Step 4

Using a small detailed brush, pick up a bit of the black eyeshadow and smudge it along your lower lash line. This will balance out the look.

Step 5

Highlight your brow bone and inner corner with a light cream or white shade. Blend it down if you want to diffuse the black a bit.

Step 6

 Line your upper lash line and your water line with your favorite eye liners. Create that winged cat-eye line if you prefer.

Step 7

Mascara or pop on a couple of falsies and... Voila! The look is complete!

I wouldn't say that this tutorial is easy. For one thing, using black can make it difficult to correct mistakes. This will require some trial and error - a normal thing with most dramatic looks. I certainly didn't accomplish this in 10 minutes or less.

Don't be discouraged. Keep on trying. As they say, 'Practice makes perfect.'

Hope you enjoyed this! Have a good one.


-L

Makeup Tutorial: 'Blank Space' Inspired

With the release of her latest album, Taylor Swift has once again produced a song that's not only catchy, but humorous and delightful to sing to. I was also impressed by the make up she wore in the music video so I thought, 'Why not recreate it?' It's edgy and bold and a perfect look to wear out to parties.

I also had the song on repeat while doing this tutorial. ^-^

Without further ado, let's get started.

Tutorial

Step 1

Begin by applying a base. A white shimmery cream eyeshadow will help brighten the eyeshadow as well as giving it a base to stick on. This is optional if you do not own one. Any eye primer will be sufficient enough.

Step 2

Apply a medium brown in the crease for added dimension. Blend it out above the crease and towards the inner corner.

Step 3

Using the edge of your eyeshadow brush or an angled brush, create a 'v' shape on your outer corner with a grey or black eyeshadow. Blend it into the medium brown shade for a smokey cat-eye. Pick up a bit more and focus it on the outer lash line. Maintain the sharp edge of the 'v'.

Step 4

Take the same dark grey/black shade and run it on your lower lash line. Stop short of the inner corner.

Step 5

Using a flat eyeshadow brush, pat on a shimmery white eyeshadow onto the lid. The cream base will intensify the white and help it adhere better. Use the same white shade to highlight the inner corner for a brightening effect.

Step 6

Use a cream or light skin tone shade to highlight under your eyebrow. Drag it down slightly to create a smooth transition.

Step 7

Line your eyes with your favorite eyeliner, Use a white eyeliner on the water line (because Taylor did use white in the music video). Mascara your lashes or pop on some long falsies for the dramatic effect.

And voila!

I feel like this particular look fits well with a winter theme. It may not look exactly like the one Taylor wore in the music video. It's 'inspired' after all. =)


Hope you guys enjoyed this and have a try at it. Have a good one.

-L

Makeup Basics: Eyeliner

Where makeup is concerned, eyeliner would be in my top 5 essentials. It completes a majority of makeup looks by accentuating the upper lash line and elongating the eyes. Mascara does a similar job, but for a short-lashed girl like me, it's not enough.

Over the past couple of years, friends have told me that they found it difficult to achieve that 'winged' eyeliner look. And I found that just explaining it wasn't as helpful. So let's make a small tutorial.

In this tute, I'll cover a few basic and common eyeliner styles using pencil, eyeshadow and gel liners. I'm omitting liquid from this because a) I don't own one and b) it's similar to gel liners, only more runny.

So let's get started!


Basic Blunt Liner

This style would probably be one of the first ones we learn as teenagers. The liner of choice at that age would be pencil. This style is dependent on your eye shape, so adjust the thickness to your preference.

Step 1:

Start at the outer edge of your eye. Imagine your eye is in 3 sections and the thickness increases towards the outer corner and thins towards the inner corner. So create a thick-ish line on the outer 3rd, stopping at the very tip of your eye. Make sure that you cover the area in-between the lashes so there are no gaps.


Step 2:

Following the rule of thirds, create a new line in the middle of your eye and connect it to the outer line. This new line should be slightly thinner, thickening a bit at the end to blend with the thicker line.


Step 3:

Using the previous lines as a guide, draw on the inner corner thinner, tapering inwards. Connect it to the middle line for a smooth merge. The overall result will give your eyes an almond shape look.

TIP: If you are using a creamy pencil liner (which you shouldn't because it WILL smudge), you can opt to smoke out the line for a hazy effect or conserve using more liner by using a small precise brush to pull the liner across your lash line.


Soft Smokey Liner

This style of liner is by far the easiest and more forgiving of the two in this tutorial. Mainly because we will be using an eye shadow to create the line. Eye shadow can be easily erased or blended out to mask any mistakes. Beginners are highly encouraged to start here.

Step 1

You may or may not use the rule of thirds for this style. We will be 'smoking' out the line and any unevenness. So begin by using a precise brush or an eyeshadow applicator and line close to your lashes so there are no gaps in between.

Step 2

Using the same brush/applicator, run it over the line and diffuse it slightly. You will notice that the line will become slightly thicker and more noticeable. You can then either create a blunt liner style or use your tool to smudge the eye shadow further out. This is not a precise cat-eye, but a smoked out version.

This style will create a softer, natural effect on your eyes. You can also swap out black with any other color eye shadow you prefer. This is a perfect place to start especially if your hands aren't as steady at first.


Precise Cat Eye (Winged Liner)

This final liner will require some practice and patience. I will be adding a neat little trick beginners can use to help achieve a defined wing.

Step 1

Once again, line your eyes using your liner of choice. I will be using a black gel liner for this tutorial. Try to be careful when using gel because it won't be easy to correct mistakes.

Step 2

Now here's a trick to get that wing. Using a business card or piece of paper, align one of the edges with your lower lash line. It should look as if the paper or card is extending the lower lash line. Use this as a guide to draw your wing.

Step 3

Starting from the tip of that wing, connect it to the rest of the liner. It will create a triangle on your outer corner. Fill in that triangle to complete the wing. Thicken the line if required to balance out any unnecessary bumps.

This liner style is a personal favorite. I wear it on days out and even when creating makeup tutorials.

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I hope this basics tutorial is helpful. There are many other liner styles and tutorials if these 3 aren't your type. I hope you have fun trying these and any others.

Thanks for stopping by!

-L

Makeup Tutorial: Fall Inspired

The season of fall is upon us. The leaves should be changing, days run shorter and gusts of cool air arrive as night falls. Or at least we, in the Middle East, would love to think. Although it's still pretty warm, the slight drop in temperature is enough to officially announce the arrival of Autumn.

To commemorate this beloved season, we are going to do a Fall inspired makeup tutorial. This can be paired with a dark lip color for a full-blown look.

Products

Left to right: NYX Eyeshadows, L'Oreal 24h Gel Liner, Rimmel Scandaleyes Liner Pencil in 'Nude', Red Cherry lashes #747s

Tutorial

1. Pick up a peach colored eyeshadow and concentrate this on the eyelid. Don't go above your natural crease, but you can blend the edges.

2. Take a medium brown shade and blend this into the crease. This color is going to be the blending and transition color for the next couple of shadows.

3. For an interesting pop of color, take a small amount of a medium orange and blend this above the brown shade. This is optional, but I thought to include it to represent autumn leaves.

4.1 Take a dark brown and stamp this on the outer 'V'. Concentrate this only on the outer corner for definition.

4.2 Take a blending brush and diffuse that dark brown. Make sure it blends into the medium brown and orange.

5. Take a skin tone or highlight shade and apply this onto the brow bone. You can also use this to lighten the orange if it's too bright.

6. Take a purple shade and line your bottom lash line to about half way. This will balance the eye and compliment the brown/orange tones.

7. Use the same brow bone shade to highlight the inner corner.

8. Line and mascara your eyes as usual. Thrown on a pair of false lashes if you're a short-lash girl like me. Here I used very natural lashes.

And here's the completed eye look!

I love the color scheme for this look. It's borders on natural and dramatic pretty well - not too much or too less. This would probably look gorgeous on girls with lighter brown eyes. But overall, it looks simple and can be a flexible look.

Hope this helps you! Have a good one!

-L

Makeup Tutorial : Natural Cut-crease

So far, we've gone from dramatic to colorful to natural in the previous tutorials. So I had a brainstorm. Why not mix it up? A natural makeup look with a dramatic twist. It's been done before, but that's how I'm pitching it.

This technique is especially helpful for women with smaller lids spaces or monolid eyes. I understand it can be a little hard to work on eyeshadow placement when you feel it won't fit and the result would be 'clownish'. This particular trick should help create the illusion of more lid space and, as a result, more open eyes.

Switch up the colors as you see fit, but within the same placement and theme.

Products

Left to right: L'Oreal 24h Gel Liner, Lancome brown eyeliner, Essence I Love Rock black eyeliner, Red Cherry Lashes # 205, NYX Box of Eyeshadows.

Tutorial

1. Take the brown eyeliner and outline the area that sinks between your eye socket and brow bone. Press lightly to locate the area,

2. Blend the line out until it's a brown hazy blur. This will act as a base and outline for the eyeshadows.

3. Line a warm medium brown eyeshadow onto the pencil outline. Blend out the edges so it's not too sharp.

3. Take a dark brown and outline below the medium brown. Blend it into the medium brown so there is a smooth transition between the two shades.

This should be what it should look like. All good? Excellent. Moving on.

4. Picking up a light vanilla/cream eyeshadow, pat it on your eyelid. Avoid blending it into the brown shadows and concentrate it solely on the eyelid.

5. You may also use the same light shadow under your eyebrow to highlight your brow bone and in the inner corner to brighten the eye.

6. Take the same dark brown eyeshadow and line the lower lashline to about half way. This is to balance the eyes and add a bit of definition.

7. Line your eyes as usual. One tip is to extend your liner to a similar length of your cutcrease. This will elongate your eyes and accentuate the cat-eye effect.

8. Throw on some lashes or a lengthening mascara. Don't forget to coat those lower lashes as well.

And here is the finished look!

An exaggerated 'natural' eye with a dramatic twist and added flair with the long lashes. Definitely for someone who wants to add a bit more 'oomph' to their everyday makeup. This technique may take some practice and getting used to, but the result is amazing.

I hope this helped you. Have a good one!

-L

Review: Sleek Makeup iDivine Ultra Mattes V1 Pallet

Eyeshadows are the dresses of the makeup world. Or at least I believe they are. They can be worn casual, bold, bright, dramatic, simple; it all depends on the wearer. Eyeshadows reflect your makeup style.

Sadly, low-end makeup brands in Dubai are slow to update with new collections and products so there aren't a lot of new toys to test and play with. Boo hoo. Finding new brands is pretty rare as well. We lack many of the popular American , UK and Asian brands. So you wouldn't believe my excitement when an amazing friend brought this bundle of joy back from her adventures in London.

This is a review on Sleek Makeup's i-Divine Pallet in Ultra Mattes v1.
(And of course, it's bright.)

I have read, heard and watched all the hype circulating around Sleek's eyeshadows. I've heard of how pigmented they are, the color payoff, the quality, etc. So I psyched that I could finally test it out for myself.

The packaging is 'sleek' and eye-catching. I would assume that each design corresponds to the shades, hence the bright colors for this particular pallet. The pallet itself reflects a matte coat with the Sleek logo.

The pallet contains 12 eyeshadow of a very good size and amount, The quality of each eyeshadow is absolutely phenomenal. I always fear lighter shadows to turn out chalky, patchy with low pigmentation. These eyeshadows (both light and dark), are smooth to the touch and the color payoff is just crazy (in a good way). Plus each of the colors have names. Cool!

Swatches with flash

Swatches without flash

As shown, the color pigmentation is everything a makeup enthusiast would wish for. The pastels are opaque, the yellow and blue are true and bright and the dark shades are just right. The gray and white are a little more sheer, but can be layered for intensity. The colors photograph beautifully and pack on with minimal fall out. The consistency is soft and velvety to the touch. The colors for this pallet offers variety for very bright and interesting looks.

I am definitely satisfied with the quality and vibrancy of the eyeshadows in the pallet. And now I'm itching to get my hands on the rest. Of course, this pallet is not for everyone. However, it can be used for a sheer wash of color on the lid or a pop of color incorporated into a neutral look. I do recommend you give this (and any other pallet in this brand) a try.

After all, everyone needs a splash of color in their life.


-L


*The pallet or products from the brand can be purchased at http://www.sleekmakeup.com/