For Art…

It has been a long time since I posted last and I feel like I am suffering from withdrawals! But I am back now and this post is a little bit different. My very, very good friend Una is an amazing artist, and she asked me to do her makeup for an upcoming self-portrait she must paint. We had a lot of fun with this one. The feature piece of this portrait (besides her stunning eyes) will be the gorgeous head wrap she chose to wear. The head wrap is full of colour so we had to choose colours to compliment it without competing with it. Because she will have to paint using the photos we took as her inspiration I decided to really play up the shadows so I went pretty heavy-handed on the highlighting and contouring. As intense as I made this look she still carried it off effortlessly, if you’re into bold, striking makeup this is one you should definitely try out! I want to thank Una for giving me a free rein with this look, you were the best model! xx

Firstly, a very smooth, glowy canvas is required for this look. I used Bobbi Brown’s Extra Illuminating Moisture Balm, this gives a lovely finish to the skin. As always I prepped and primed the eyelids with a primer and of course MAC’s Pro Longwear concealer, and set it with a powder. I then applied a transition shade very high in the crease and worked it up toward the brow bone, I used MAC Soft Brown and then deepened it further using Makeup Geek Barcelona Beach. I then used a tightly compacted eyeshadow brush and packed on a very deep purple all over the upper lid blending into the crease. Blending is really important when working with these really deep colours. Originally I had planned to keep the outer edges round but as always my plans got thrown out the window and I subtly dragged out the outer edges creating a flick that rather than lifting, points straight out. This really widens out the eyes. Then using Urban and Chaos from the Urban Decay Electric palette I built up the dimension and depth of colour on the lids. This can take up quite a bit of time as you need to keep blending every time you add more colour. The effect is amazing though, well worth the effort! Because the colour on the lids is so intense I simply lined the lash line with a black kohl pencil to fill out the lashes, nothing fancy as a thick black line will just be overkill.

Next I moved on to the face. With these deep colours make sure you clean up under the eye. This is why I do the eyes first, otherwise you can mess up your foundation. I applied concealer under the eyes using a beauty blender, if you haven’t heard of these magic little sponges, look them up, they are amazing. I then applied foundation using the Sigma Flat Kabuki brush. Next step is highlighter, I love cream highlighter so I used MAC’s Prep and Prime Highlighter in Radiant Rose, for tips on this have a look at my contouring post, it’s straightforward but for this look I just went much heavier handed to bring a lot of brightness to the face. I then contoured using a very light bronzer and the NARS Ita brush. I really carved out the cheekbones so that we could play up the light and shadow in the photos, normally I would blend out the contour lines better but this time I decided to leave them quite sharp. I applied a very light dusting of a soft pink blush, the lighter the better.

Finishing off the eyes I blended the transition shade along the lower lash line and then darkened it with the original deep purple we used. I didn’t apply any blue on the lower lash line because i wanted to create a contrast. I then filled in her brows, let me just say Una’s brows are amazing. They are so thick and shaped perfectly to accentuate her eyes. I’m in love with her brows! Next I added loads of black mascara. And finally a very subtle nude lipstick tied everything together.

I loved creating this look with Una, I’m dying to see her completed self-portrait! I hope everyone else loves this look as much! xx

Product List:
Foundation: Urban Decay – Naked Skin 1.0
Concealer: MAC – Pro Longwear NC15
Setting Powder: MAC – Mineralize Skin Finish Light Plus
Blusher: MAC – Dainty
Highlighter: MAC – Prep and Prime in Radiant Rose
Contour: MAC – Mineralize Skin Finish Jolly Good
Eyes: MAC – Soft Brown; Makeup Geek – Barcelona Beach; MAC – Shadowy Lady; Urban Decay – Chaos and Urban.
Brows: MAC – Crayon in Lingering
Lashes: Bobbi Brown – Smokey eyes