Beauty: 6 Products That Help You Transform Your Everyday Makeup from Blah to Ooh-La-La (Even On-the-Go)
As the weather finally warms up, all the city activities started to pick up again – from post-work cocktail hours to fancy theater night outs with friends – New Yorkers are all pumped up and ready to come out to play! It’s only the beginning of June, I already have my calendar all booked up through the end of August with all sort of festivities, I can’t be more excited.
Since most of these events happen during the week after work, I always have to figure out a way to do a major touch up on my makeup (if not re-doing the whole makeup) to elevate my everyday makeup to an event-appropriate makeup. If I’m lucky, I’d have some time to run home for the transformation, but in reality, most of the time I have to magically transform myself somewhere between work and the event, just like all the super heroes do their quick change in the phone booth.
After some years of practice and trials of errors, I finally have a system figured out! When doing makeup for a semi-formal or formal event, sometimes people mistaken it as making the makeup “thicker, heavier or more colors”….. but by doing that, you only end up wearing too much makeup, and possibly looking unnatural and trying too hard.
The trick to elevate an everyday makeup to an event makeup is to “define and refine”, it’s the small details that make the big differences on the whole look. Instead of piling on more powder and adding more colors, create a finer definition to enhance your features will make the makeup look more refined and more formal for any event occasion. Here are some products that I have learned to count on to create the perfect definition for my event-ready makeup:
1). Yves Saint Laurent Fusion Ink Foundation SPF 18YSL Fusion Ink Foundation
Foundation is called foundation for a good reason; nothing can be built on top of it if you don’t have a good base foundation. The biggest mistake people can make when it comes to foundation is to over do it, and end up making the whole face look fake and cakey. This particular foundation is super lightweight and thin like air, yet it has a solid coverage that evens out the dark spots and little flaws. It takes just a little bit for me to create a base for my whole face in the morning; if I need to transform my makeup to something nicer in the evening, I just dab small amount on the spots that are needed and blend it in with my finger. Then I’m all set to retouch the rest of my makeup.
2). Benefit Cosmetics Gimme Brow
It is amazing how eyebrows can determine the look of the whole face. When I’m wearing the least makeup, I always make sure my eyebrows are groomed to make my look pulled-together. When I want to do a more formal makeup, eyebrows can make a crucial difference, too! Instead of just using an eyebrow pencil to fill in the brows, I like to use this brow brush to give my eyebrows a more defined structure. The brush is small and pointy, which makes it easy to apply the fiber gel precisely, whether you’re creating some strong arches or a set of lush eyebrows. It is an easy product to add on to your everyday brows and give it a more refined look. The formula is water resistant, too… so you don’t have to worry about sweating away your perfectly done eyebrows.
3). Benefit Cosmetics They’re Real! Push-Up Liner
Eye makeup is where I like to play with the most when I need to elevate my makeup for the evening. Whether I’m putting on a sultry smoky eye, or an alluring winged cat eye, a good eyeliner is the key to make the look on point. If the eyeliners were not defined, no matter how much eye shadow I put on, the finish look would always look a bit sloppy and casual. This Push-Up Liner claims to be foolproof, and it really is– it’s an incredible easy to use product. The custom-angled tip makes it easy to draw right to the base of the lash line, no matter how thin or thick the lines you want to create. The gel formula glides smoothly and dries down to a clean and solid matte line, it instantly gives an impression of a professionally done makeup. It’s a perfect tool to redefine your eye makeup and kick it up a notch.
4). Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil
Just like eyeliner, lip liner gives the lip makeup a perfect definition and creates the illusion of the perfect makeup instantly, no matter what lip color you’re wearing. This lip pencil is one of my favorites; it combines the precision of a pencil with the application of a lipstick, can’t go wrong with that!! The formula has a rich pigmentation that makes the color vibrant on every application, and the matte creamy finish is universally flattering. I usually line my lips first to create the perfect outline, and filled in the rest with solid color. Give a gentle kiss on a bolting paper to get rid of the excess, and slightly dust the lips with some loose powder to soften the edges, and there you have it. Don’t forget to moisturize your lips before you apply the makeup, chapped lips will never pass in any occasions.
5). Clinique Chubby Stick Sculpting Highlight
I understand the magic of contouring, it is literally Photoshop in real life, but I still prefer to keep things simple and lightly enhance my given feature without over-doing it. Instead of using all the contouring colors and tools to create all sort of shading and sculpting, I usually just use a highlighting product to give a little boost to my existing features. I like this Clinique Sculpting Highlight; it has just the right amount of illuminating effect without too much shininess. I like to dab it on the end of my brow bones to bring out the eyebrows, a little on the inner corners of the eyes to brighten up the eyes, maybe just a touch on the apple of the cheeks for a more defined cheekbone, and curve of the Cupid’s bow for a fuller pout. It’s the subtle little touches that give the whole face the secret definitions.
6). Urban Decay All Nighter Long-lasting Makeup Setting Spray
When you get the perfect hairdo, you use some hair spray to make it stay in put; same thing with the perfect makeup, you need a little help from the setting spray to hold all the perfectly defined details together. This All Nighter Long-Lasting Makeup Setting Spray, as the name suggests, you can spray it and forget it… you can keep your focus on the events and don’t have to worry about messing up your makeup for the rest of the night.
Last but not least, don’t forget to put on some fragrances, it is said that a women who smells good appears to be more attractive…. I guess it never hurts to smell good, right? Always think “define to refine” your makeup… you’ll never go wrong with that!!
Xo,
Alicia
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Reblogged this on champagne&cardigans.