Inspiration of the Week: Highlighted Eyes

A slew of gorgeous models, including Doutzen Kroes (one of my favorite models) at the Victoria Secret Fashion Show, sporting the glow-y gaze.  All photos from Pinterest, collage made in PicCollage.  

I am loving the simple, clean look of a highlighted inner eye with healthy, radiant skin.  You can achieve this look easily with any pearly eyeshadow dabbed around the tear ducts.  Add some black mascara and a hydrating tinted moisturizer, and you are done!  To enhance this look, apply some peach blush lightly to the apples of your cheeks.  This look works for all skin tones!

Tutorial: Red Lips (and otherwise natural makeup)

After posting this photo to my Instagram account (@ericabasha, if you want to follow)  I had a request for a tutorial / product information.  This is a typical weekend day look for me, since it is quick, easy and looks put together.  So here it is!

1.  Apply moisturizer to the face as normal.  I also use a tinted moisturizer over my regular moisturizer.  I like Bare Minerals Skincare Tinted Moisturizer because it doesn't make me break out and it has sunscreen in it.  There are SO many formulas out there, including many drugstore brands, so just use what you like!  A BB Cream would work also.

2.  Apply under eye concealer and spot conceal any red areas.  I use Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer for the under eye area, and Bobbi Brown Face Touch Up Stick for the rest of my face.  I recommend applying the under eye concealer with your fingers (helps blend it better) and a synthetic brush for everywhere else (helps it stick better and wastes less product). 

3.  Apply Bare Minerals foundation (or any mineral powder foundation you like) with a big brush.  

4.  Apply bronzer (I like Nars Bronzing Powder in Laguna, but anything will work as long as it is not too shimmery) in a "3" motion on both sides of your face (so it hits your hairline, cheekbone, and jawbone) and over your nose.  

5.  Apply blush to the apples of the cheeks.  I almost always use Nars Orgasm, but any peachy blush will work.  

6.  Fill in eyebrows with the product of your choice.  These days I am using MAC eyeshadow in Omega and a angled brush, then adding a little of MAC's eyebrow pencil in Fling.  Comb through with a spoolie brush.

7.  Put on some mascara.  I obviously have some recommendations on this site:)  

8.  Now this is the more precise step.  Make sure your lips are clean and moisturized (flakey lips never look good) and then line the perimeter of them with a lip liner.  You can use nude, clear, or red liner.  Because the finished look is more natural, you do not have to exaggerate your lip liner or draw a harsh line.  The liner really just acts like a barrier to the lipstick and prevents bleeding color.

9.  Apply the lipstick! I usually just use the tube and apply directly, but you can always use a lip brush (helps with precision) instead.  I used Nars Matte Lipstick in Heat Wave, but any matte red lipstick should suffice.  

10.  This last step is completely optional, but I added a shimmery highlighter to the inner corners of my eyes and to the brow bone.  I used Anastasia Beverly Hills Brow Duality, which is a fat pencil with one matte highlighter and one shimmery highlighter.  A good dupe is NYX Cosmetics Eyebrow Push-up Bra.

And there you have it!  It seems like a lot of steps, but I promise it is a quick process.  If you try it out, please let me know what you think in the comments section.

A Quick Lesson on Highlighting and Contouring

I know a thousand Pinterest pins, YouTube videos, beauty blogs, etc cover the concept of highlighting and contouring, but I am doing my own version:)
The general concept of highlighting and contouring is to add brightness/lightness to areas of the face you want to bring attention to (or draw forward), and to create depth in areas you want to create a shadow (or recede).  So remember, light = highlight/"pop" and dark= shade/recession.
When you see all the crazy face charts available on social media, you will notice that generally the highlighted areas are the middle of the forehead, the brow bone, bridge of the nose, under eye area, top of the cheekbones, cupid's bow, and depending on the shape of the face, the chin.  Contoured areas are usually under the cheek bones, the perimeter of the forehead, the sides and tip of the nose, and the jaw line.
Highlighting and contouring can be done very subtly (e.g.: swiping bronzer or contour powder to contour, highlighter powder or cream on the planes of the face to highlight) or very dramatically (e.g.:  the typical Kim Kardashian look, which is done with a lot of concealer and foundation in various light and dark shades).  My esthetic tends to lean toward a more natural look, so my preference is to leave heavy contouring for photo shoots and special occasions.  In person, heavy highlighting and contouring can look jarring and unnatural.  It is totally cool if you are feeling the more dramatic look, I am just giving you a heads up!

I realize this is a very popular topic, so I thought I would do a photo tutorial (my first!).  Here we go!

1.  This is me with my typical eye makeup, brows done, and a light layer of liquid foundation (brand is Face Atelier, which I use in my kit).  I do not normally wear this foundation, as it tends to make me break out if I wear it too frequently (contains silicones, which look great but can make sensitive skin reactive).  Ok, back to the topic at hand! I don't have under eye concealer on, since I am going to add it in the highlighting step.  None of my photos are retouched, as it defeats the purpose of real life makeup.

I am not feeling my hair color here, oh well!  

As you can see, the foundation makes my skin look a little flat.  Highlighting and contouring will bring some depth and life back into my face.  Since my nose is not the smallest, it will also help to shape it to appear a little narrower.  

2.   For highlighting, you will want to use a cream or liquid concealer or foundation (your choice!) in 1-2 shades lighter than your actual skin tone.  For contouring, you will want to use a concealer or foundation 2-3 shades darker than your actual skin tone.  You will also need a synthetic concealer or foundation brush to apply the product and a cosmetic sponge to blend the products (Beauty Blenders are amazing for this, but pricey).

For highlighting, I used the Temptu Concealer Wheel in the lightest shade.  For contouring, I used the darkest shade.  

3.  Apply the highlight shade to the areas of the face you would like to "pop" or illuminate.  For me, I did the areas previously listed. If you want to be really fancy, you can also use the light shade to "carve out" your eyebrows.  This basically means to clean up your eyebrows with the makeup product to make them appear neater/more even (especially along the upper brow).
 Then apply the contour shade to the areas of the face you wish to sculpt.  I chose to sculpt out under my cheekbones, the sides of my nose (going up and slightly underneath the bottom of the inner part of my eyebrow), the tip of my nose, my jaw and my hair line.

Everyone looks like a weirdo during this process! It will look good  in the end, promise.

4.  Blend out the light areas with the cosmetic sponge.  It usually works best if the sponge is slightly damp, so that is what I did.  You want to kind of press or dab the color to blend rather than swiping or rubbing it.  After you are done with the light areas, go ahead and do the shaded areas.  Be sure that there are no harsh lines, and that your jawline area is blended well.  

This is with everything mostly blended.  I thought my nose needed more contouring, so I added it after.

This is with the nose contoured more to my liking.  Sorry that the lighting is a little different here.

 5.  If you want, you can add an actual highlighter to your cheekbones.  I did use a powder highlighter (Tarte's Exposed blush).  You can also add bronzer if you prefer (I did not in this tutorial).  Add blush and then set everything with a loose powder and a big fluffy brush.

The finished product!  

And there you have it!  This is a look that takes some practice, and some getting used to, depending on how much makeup you wear on a routine basis.  Please let me know if you have any questions about this tutorial:)

A Quick Lesson on Highlighter

I received a request to write a post about highlighters.  I love the illuminating effect of a good highlighter, especially for a special event.  You can use it on the high planes of your face; in other words, cheekbones, cupid's bow, brow bone, etc.  It is recommended NOT to use it on your forehead or nose in most cases, since it may cause a shiny look that may not be flattering.  You can find highlighters to suit your skin tone, so it looks like a "natural" glow rather than a stripe of shininess.  Those with paler skin with pinkish undertones tend to look best with a silvery or light pink highlighter.  Folks with golden undertones look best with a gold or pinkish gold product.  Women with a deeper complexion can use bronze or a darker gold. You can find highlighting products in liquid, cream, and powder formulas, and you can apply them with your fingers or a brush.  My favorite highlighters are below!

1. Benefit Watt's Up

This is a cream stick formula.  The one shown is in a trial size, but the real product is bigger.

2. Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-hour Blush in Exposed

This is a powder formula with a gold undertone.

3. Nars Albatross

This is another powder formula with a iridescent gold finish.

4. Benefit High Beam

This is a liquid formula with a light pink tone.

From top to bottom: Watt's Up, High Beam, Exposed, and Albatross