makeup

PERFECT EYE SHADOW BLENDING

Post + Photography by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun

I can’t stress this quick tip enough. Do not blend with the same brushes that you used to apply the shadow! Don’t do it! Hear my voice in your head and put the brush down, grab a clean unused one and blend with that one.

Why? Because when you create a smoky eye, you’re depositing a lot of product onto the lid, so how can you truly blend the shadow you’ve precisely placed if there’s still product on the brush? You’re just applying more, not blending. And smoky eyes are all about blending. Furthermore, you typically use more than one shade when creating a smoky eye (lighter on the lid and darker in the crease or The Reverse Smoky Smoke with the darker on the lid and the lighter in crease), so if you blend with the brush that you applied one of the colors with, the remaining product on the brush will spread over the entire area and create a sloppy and muddy look. What’s the point of taking the time to do something pretty to only undo it or not finish it properly?

OUR FAVORITE BLENDING BRUSHES:

STEPS:

  1. After you’ve finished your smoky eye, grab a clean, unused brush and blend all over by sweeping the brush back and forth in a windshield wiping motion then in smaller swirling motions, then again with bigger motions.
  2. Continue until there are no harsh edges.

If you don’t have a clean brush in your arsenal (you know who you are!), no worries, just put your laptop down and take a trip into your makeup bag and clean them so I can sleep tonight knowing our TBD readers clean their brushes regularly! Revisit my Brush Cleaning Tutorial if you need a refresher. Thank you!

 

makeup

TEAL IS THE NEW BLACK

Spring is the perfect time to break out a little color in your palette! And it’s much more wearable than you think if you apply the bold color along the natural shape of your eyelid (don’t wing it out) and pair it with a soft pink cheek and lip. I had the pleasure of creating this look for Emmy Rossum a couple weeks ago for her red carpet event and got so many emails asking what I used on her, I thought I would do even better and actually show you step by step exactly what I did on Emmy on my friend Jessie!

Sponsored Post + Photography by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun

TOOLS:

  • Teal Eye Shadow — I used Lorac Eye Color in Celebutant and also really love Urban Decay Stardust Eye Shadow in Atmosphere which is slightly cooler while the Lorac shade is warmer (revisit my Undertones post if you haven’t determined yours yet!)
  • Medium Dome-Shaped Blending Brush – Urban Decay 24/7 Shadow Brush is the perfect compacted head for control when applying all over the lid and in the crease. If you don’t own a brush like this one yet, you’re missing out!
  • Black Waterproof Liner — I love Tarte Skinny SmolderEYES Amazonian Clay Waterproof Liner in Onyx because it glides on thick and the blackest black like a kajal liner but it’s waterproof so it stays longer.
  • Mascara – I used Kevyn Aucoin Curling Lash Color in Rich Pitch Black because it’s kinda major when it comes to curling and painting your lashes. Trust.
  • Pearl Cream Eye Shadow – I used Stila Smudge Pot Liner in Kitten, the iconic warm pearl shade.
  • Small Tapered Brush — Try the W3LL People Tapered Angle Eye Brush for both the pearl shadow above the crease or the teal shadow on the bottom lashline.
  • Pale Pink/Peach Cream Blush – I used Stila Convertible Color in Gerbera which is gorgeous on pale skin like Emmy’s and medium skin tone like Jessie’s or try Petunia on dark skin tones or Fuchsia on the darkest skin tones.
  • Foundation – I used Luminess Air Matte Foundation because I love the velvety coverage and the fact that it’s matte so you don’t need to powder after.
  • Pale Pink/Peach Lipstick or Gloss – Emmy chose to leave her lips bare that night but another option would be Lorac Couture Shine Liquid Lipstick in Haute like I used on Jessie for a colored shine or Vincent Longo Wet Pearl Lipstick in Honeysuckle for a satin finish.

STEPS:

  1. After applying foundation all over your face and neck, apply the teal shadow all over the lid and crease with the medium dome-shaped brush.
  2. Sweep the teal shadow along the bottom lashline with the small tapered brush.
  3. Rim the inner waterline with the black waterproof liner by gently pulling down on the bottom lid and tracing the pencil just above the lashline.
  4. Sweep the pearl shadow just above the teal, above the crease, to add a little life to the area.
  5. Coat the lashes with mascara.
  6. Smile in the mirror to pop out the apples and apply the pink cream blush on the upper half of them.
  7. Finish with the pale pink lipstick or gloss.

By now you’ve probably caught on that we find a lot of our makeup + hair must-have’s on one of our most favorite beauty sites, Beauty.com… so we’re so excited to invite our readers to their bi-annual Friends & Family 20% Off Event from today until Friday 5/17 at midnight PST! It’s such a rare opportunity to get 20% off YOUR ENTIRE ORDER of your favorite prestige makeup brands like Urban Decay, Kevyn Aucoin, Stila, Vincent Longo, Lipstick Queen and my favorite Beauty Blender Egg-Shaped Sponge that you’ve been dying to try (including all of the products used in this post, just make sure to use this link after you’ve added the items to your cart to get the 20% off)!

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makeup

LIPSTICK AS BLUSH

Post + Photography by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun

Using lipstick as blush is not only a lifesaver, but it’s actually how cream blush came about believe it or not! A classic satin or matte finish lipstick is the perfect substitute for blush. Further, there are hundreds of different shades of lipstick, and not as many with blush, so I find that I’m using gorgeous pinky-nude lipsticks on my clients’ cheeks all the time simply because I don’t own blush in that color! Here’s the best way to apply it: READ MORE…

makeup

CAT EYE STAMP

Post + Photography by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun

It seems from comments and emails that some of you still don’t confident feel enough to wing your liner, so I’m going to keep thinking of ways to make it easier for you! This trick is awesome because if you can press a brush in a stamping motion, you can create a cat eye. The width of an angled liner brush is precisely the length of the flick you would draw in a cat eye, so instead of drawing it, just stamp it! Here’s how: READ MORE…

makeup

SECRET EYE LIFT

Post + Photography by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun

I created this simple tutorial for a few reasons:

  1. I want to make sure that when you highlight your brow bone, you highlight underneath the entire brow, not just the outer half of it (so you “lift” up the whole brow),
  2. To gently encourage you to use a matte light pink kohl pencil instead of a white shimmery shadow (that is distracting and defeats the purpose),
  3. And to remind you that brightening the brow bone shouldn’t be detectable; it’s an illusion that draws light to the area and creates the appearance of lifting the brow, simple as that. So blend blend blend!

Here’s how:  READ MORE…