Makeup Tutorials

Hopeless Romantic

Valentines Day is right around the corner!!!  Here’s the makeup look I did for last Monday’s “Romantically Rocking” post.  (Pssss I hope you didn’t forget to enter that giveaway!  It closes tomorrow!

What I used:

• Eye shadow primer*
• LORAC Starry-Eyed Baked Eyeshadow Trio in Movie Star*
• LORAC Front of the Line PRO in Black*
• Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Amethyst
• Smashbox Eye Beam Double-ended Brightener
• Hourglass Film Noir Full Spectrum Mascara in Onyx
• Vanilla eyeshadow for blending
• Nude/Champagne Lipstick

*Eye primer, baked eye shadow, and liquid liner pen were all from LORAC’s Close Up: Real Life To Red Carpet Eye Tutorial.

Steps:

1.  Apply the Caviar Stick from lash to just above the crease.

2.  Taking a small (but stiffer) eye shadow brush start blending around the edges using a stippling action.

3.  With the same brush I patted the golden color in the Movie Star trio just to the inner corners.

4.  Line upper lashes with Front of the Line in black extending out and up for a little cat eye.

5.  Line lower lashes with the inner rim half of the Smashbox pencil, this gives the illusion that your eyes look bigger.

6.  Coat lashes with black mascara.

7.  Sweep a pink blush and champagne-nude shade to the lips.

xoxo Heather

Cheap Trick: Holiday Pink

Remember this post I did a few weeks back?  This is my holiday pink variation.  I find this look to be much more subtle compared to the Smokey Seduction one.  I have a cruise coming up and I’ll be rocking this quick look the whole time I’m sure!

You’ll need:

• e.l.f. Studio Eyeliner/Eyeshadow Duos in brown/basic and black/smoke.
• Pink with gold shimmer eye shadow
• Pearl white eye shadow
• Vanilla eye shadow
• Black eyeliner
• Black mascara
• Apricot blush
• Apricot gloss

Steps:

1. Apply the basic side of the one duo from lash to just outside crease.  Draw a thick line of the smoke side on the other duo and smudge.
   
2. Dust the pink/gold eye shadow from lashes to just above the crease, basically on top of the duos you just applied.
3. Vanilla goes under brow to just over the pink, making a nice flawless blended look.
4. Take the pearl white to just inside the corners if you want a slightly more dramatic look.
5. Apply black liner to top lash line then go at it with your mascara
6. Dust the blush to the apples of your cheeks and smudge on the gloss!  (I stuck with apricot shades here so they didn’t compete with the pink in the eye shadow)
   

Love ya ladies!

xoxo Heather

Cheap Trick: Smoky Seduction

Stumbled across this great application technique just recently and now I’m addicted.  Easy way to transform any look to a more dramatic one AND make it last with just $3.00.  This is my everyday smokey eye look!

You’ll Need:

• e.l.f. Studio Duo Eyeliner/Eyeshadow (I’m using 2 different ones, pearl/glow & smoke/black, they’re only $3!)
• Silver eye shadow
• Blue-gray eye shadow
• Black eyeliner (can use the one with the duo)
• Black mascara
• Pink blush
• Nude lipstick

Steps:

1. Apply the pearl side of the one duo all over your lid from lash to just over the crease.  Using your finger, soften the line to just above the crease.
2. Apply a fat line with the smoke side of the other duo above your lashes.  I use a foam eye shadow applicator (the ones that come in most eye shadows that I toss aside for later) to smudge this carefully out to a more exaggerated winged line.  This will create a more intense look closer to your lashes.
3. Take the blue-gray shadow and pat the shadow on top of the cream shadows.  Start from the outside of the lid closer to the lashes (so the bulk of the shadow goes in the spot you want it the darkest) and work it up just over the crease and into the inner corner.
4. Lightly sweep the silver shadow into the inner corner for some added drama.
5. Line upper lashes with black eyeliner following under the winged line from before.
6. Coat upper and bottom lashes with black mascara.
7. Dust pink blush on the apples of your cheek and apply nude lipstick as you walk out the door.

Enjoy!

xoxo Heather

Going Classic with Cream Eye Shadows

If you’re a follower on my twitter you might have noticed I posted a picture last week on a new cream eye shadow I tried out for fun.  It went on pretty smoothly but I checked it only 4 hours later and noticed it had creased so bad there was no color left on my eyelid!  It looked like I slept with my eye makeup on after an all nighter of partying.  So embarrassing… I returned that crap the next day.  Note to self–Do NOT skimp out on cream eye shadows.  You get what you pay for!

There is a look to this post and a point I’m trying to make.  Cream eye shadows are a great addition to any makeup kit and when blended correctly you can really create some amazing looks that will keep all day.  I also use creams on days where I’m looking for a longer lasting look (layer–>eye base, cream shadow, then powder shadow).  Below are the steps and what exactly I use to create such a look.  Please don’t feel you have to use these shades, I used these colors because they are universal to any Diva. 

Products:

• Eye base
• Champagne cream shadow (Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow: R.S.V.P.)
• Gray cream shadow (Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow: Strut)
• Vanilla powder shadow
• Black liquid liner pen (Smashbox Limitless Liquid Liner Pen: Jet Black)
• Black mascara

Helpful Tools:

• Concealer brushes, 1 for each cream color (Sigma Concealer F70)

Steps:

1.  Apply eye base from lash to brow

2.  Apply a thin layer of R.S.V.P. from lashes to brow with a F70, go back and apply a 2nd coat from lashes to crease.  *Tip: Benefit’s creams are buildable!*

3.  Using the other F70, starting out lightly, apply Strut from lashes to crease on the outer half.  Blend by dabbing finger lightly around the edges.  You may have to go back in the inside corner with R.S.V.P. to create a more seamless looking blend. Line lower lashes with Strut by dabbing the edge of your brush with a bit of the cream and lightly sweeping under lash line.

4.  Line upper lashes with the Liquid Liner Pen with an slight exaggerated wing at the end.  Go as bold as you’re comfortable.

5.  Coat lashes with mascara.

I finished this look off with a light pink cream blush and a neutral lip.

Good luck ladies and Happy hump day!

xoxo Heather

Purple Shimmer

Since it’s Behind the Lash’s birthday I decided to put together a how-to look using my favorite color for eyes–PURPLE!!

What you will need:

• Eye base
• Neutral shimmer cream eye shadow (Benefit Creaseless Cream Eyeshadow/liner in R.S.V.P.)
• Very shimmery-glittery white eye shadow
• Bright purple matte eyeshadow
• Matte brown eye shadow (optional)
• Vanilla eye shadow
• Purple eye liner (Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil  in Lust)
• Black mascara (BADgal lash mascara in Black/My Review)

Steps:

1.  Apply eye base then your creaseless eye shadow.  This guarantees a long lasting look, I swear by doing this.

2.  Apply white glittery shadow on lids from lash to crease.

3.  Apply the bright purple shade from the outside corner to about the middle of eyelid.  You will make a slight V-shape.  I also went in and dusted a little along my lower lash line.

4.  OPTIONAL: I used a pretty bright purple for my look here that I toned down a little for day with a light sweep of a matte brown shade just on the crease area.  This all depends though on the shade of purple you used and how daring you feel that day haha.

5.  Apply your vanilla shade just under your eyebrow to crease to tie it all together.

6.  Line upper lashes with a bold purple eye liner in a wing fashion for added drama.  I didn’t apply it in the inner corner because the white eye shadow makes the eyes appear larger.  Smudge a little along the outer lower lash line.

7.  Multiple coats of mascara.

I tied this look up with a bright pink cream blush and a bright pink lipstick.

Thank you for helping me ring in the blog’s birthday!

xoxo Heather

Matching

South Beach eye shadow/Twilight eye liner/Top: Forever 21

I’ve been wearing this eyeshadow almost every day since I got it, sometimes light (like above) or I’ll mix it with a darker shade for something a little dramatic.

xoxo Heather

How To On e.l.f. Studio Eyeliner & Shadow Stick

As I mentioned in Monday’s post I recently purchased some e.l.f. products and although the mascara was not a big hit the eyeliner & shadow stick was not bad at all.  Actually it was easy to use and the color turned out really pretty! Below is a quick look I created using the dual sided pen.

image via eyeslipsface.com

Products:

• e.l.f. studio eyeliner & shadow stick in Plum/Purple
• Eye primer
• Silver eyeshadow
• Champagne eyeshadow (off white shimmer shade)
• Black mascara

Steps:

• Apply eye primer
• Use the shadow part of the stick from lash to crease
• Smudge the edge of the shadow line with your finger

• Apply a little silver shadow to the inner corner
• Blend the champagne shadow  from brow to the crease

• Line upper and lower lashes with the liner end of the stick
• Coat lashes with black mascara

xoxo Heather

Ps.  Hop over to my FB page to enter a sweet contest with Sebastian Professional hair products!!!

3 Ways to Wear Coral Red Lipstick

In this post I wanted to show you 3 different ways you can wear red lipstick, or an orange red like mine.

Tools you may need depending on which look you want to try:

• Coral Red lipstick (I’m using the Zuii organic line I talked about HERE)
• Concealer
• Reddish lip pencil (although a neutral one would work fine)
• Shimmery white eyeshadow (I ALWAYS have a small sample size in my purse)
• Orange shimmer lip gloss
• Lip brush

*Traditional Red*

1.  Concealer all over lips (picture above)

2.  Line lips with your lip pencil making a thick line, smudge with your finger

3.  Apply red lipstick

4.  Blot with tissue (pic 1 below)

5.  Re-apply another coat (pic 2 below)

*Color Pop*

1.  Concealer on lips

2.  Take lip brush and apply a coat of your red lipstick (pic 1 below)

3.  Apply orange lip gloss to bring out the more orange hue in your lipstick (pic 2 below)

*Shimmery Light*

1.  Concealer on lips

2.  Take lip brush and apply a coat of your red lipstick

3.  Dab your finger into a shimmery white eye shadow and apply to the inner part of lips

4.  Top with a clear shimmery gloss

xoxo Heather

2011 Spring Trends

Sephora made it super easy to show you all the trends that will be making their mark this spring.  Which ones are you most excited about?  I love the orange lips and neon brights!

Special for my readers: Stila Eyeshadow Palette for $10!!! Includes the best-selling Kitten shade at Sephora.com. (No promo code required)

xoxo Heather

Pic A Day on Facebook.

I’ve been uploading a picture a day to Facebook for February as part of Gala Darling’s Radical Self-Love movement.  You can see all my pics HERE.  I still have a few days left!

xoxo Heather