A Little Bit Showgirl!

This is a look I did for a themed week over at Random Acts of Makeup. If you don't know what that is, ask and I shall tell you. The theme was burlesque and I took it the more traditional stage makeup route - but with pink instead of red which ended up making it very show girl. Oh well, I was pretty happy with the results.. so here they are for you!

YOU KNOW THE DRILL. Naked, clean skin. Haha. Let's be honest. This is me when I first woke up, I used a baby wipe to take off last nights eye makeup. My face is not clean. But yours should be. I am bad for this. Awful for this.

Skin time! For a stage look, you want to use a fairly heavy foundation to cover up all imperfections - you want to start with a blank canvas. I used a Kryolan cream foundation. Buff it into your skin with a dense, synthetic hair brush - I used the Real Techniques Expert Face brush.

Here is where it starts to look like a trainwreck until the end! Use a white pencil, such as NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, and use it as a base anywhere you will  be using a highlighter or bright color. Brow bone, lid up to crease, and bottom water line. This will make a big difference at the end  I promise.

Now add black liner just in the crease, don't worry about making it a perfect line it's just the base for a shadow and you'll be able to clean up the line once the color is done! This is REALLY pretty, I know. But once again, trust me.

Next, use a small, stiff eyeshadow brush to press the color you are using into the white pencil on your lid. I used a pink pigment shadow from NYX that a lovely RAoMer gave to me. Use whatever color you want, or just white for a more traditional burlesque not showgirl look.

Now use a black shadow to define the bottom line of the black pencil. It shouldn't be blended at the bottom. Just a straight black line. I told you it looks like a trainwreck until the end. I used an angled liner brush to get the line and Kat Von D black eyeshadow.

The using the same black eyeshadow on a round contour eyeshadow brush blend it up right to the brow bone highlighter. I had some blending issues on my left side. Yikes! ..No one is perfect though. Once you've got the shadow down, if you feel like you need MORE blending, use a soft fluffy brush back and forth on the edges. Sometimes just switching to a clean brush is all you need!

Use a q-tip dipped in makeup remover or if you are classy like me your own spit to clean up the shadows to create a nice winged effect. Just start at your bottom lash line and follow that line up and out to find out where you want the wing to end. Does that make sense? Also, you can add on a bit of white eyeshadow to re-highlight your brow.

Silly Jayne, you are supposed to take pictures of ALL the steps. What I've done here is tight line my top lashline, a fairly dramatic wing on the top, and a straight line on the bottom underneath the lashline and the white liner that wings out at the same angle as the top liner. Where do you make the top liner wing? Just follow that eyeshadow line I got you to clean up! They don't need to be PERFECT - they're going to be viewed from far away. Do this with whatever liner brush or liquid liner YOU are confident with. I used an angled liner brush.

Alright, it is time to contour. For stage, you need a fairly dramatic contour so the lights don't wash you out and make you look flat. I used another Kryolan cream foundation to contour on the same Real Techniques brush as before. You can use an eyeshadow or bronzer on an angled blush brush as well.

The finishing touches.. and again I forgot to take pictures! Yikes! I used a wet angled brush dipped in a dark brown eyeshadow to define my brows. I made them strong because I want them to be seen from afar! On my cheeks and lips, I used the same NYX pigment as I did on my eyes. I used a fluffy brush blush to brush it on the apples of me cheeks.And a nude lip liner (I think mine is Too Faced), a light pink lipstick and the same stiff eyeshadow brush as before to press the pigment into mylips! For mascara, I used Maybelline the Falsies - about 5 coats. This would be the perfect time to add lashes. 

Ta-da! The finished look. What do you think?

Feedback is always appreciated.

<3 Catlady

WOW PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

So I've decided that at the end of every month, I am going to talk about one product that has just completely blown me away. For March, that product is NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk. Wow. It's so creamy and smooth when it goes on - but it has amazing staying power. The color is so perfectly white and opaque. It makes the perfect eye shadow base. And it's super inexpensive!! I did a swatch test one night with some purple shadow and the results were very impressive..

This is my hand with 3 swatches on it. The color I am swatching is Lancome's Color Design in Drama. The top swatch is done on top of my every day product Too Faced Shadow Insurance. The middle swatch is done with the NYX Milk pencil. And the bottom swatch is just on clean skin. Wow, am I right? That's some beautiful pigmentation coming from the Milk.

However, there is more things at play than just looking pretty when it goes on. They need to stand the test of time. After doing these swatches I ended up going for a run - wearing a long sleeve sweater that hits just on my hands. This picture is after that run. The swatch done over clean skin is practically 100% gone. You have to look for it. The Too Faced Shadow Insurance swatch is still there - but it's definitely lost most of it's pigment. The NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk swatch? The glitter is mostly gone but dang that shadow stayed in place pretty impressively!

A super glittery "Smoky V" makeup!

I got a fabulous present in the mail full of lovely cosmetics! In it there was an Urban Decay Stardust in Void. I absolutely had to use it create a dramatic, glittery eye makeup. I was pretty impressed with the product, although I will say it has A LOT of fall out.

This is a highly unflattering picture that shows off the makeup you will be doing: A smoky V is when the outer 1/3 of the eye is smoked out. A lot of people want to call this a Smoky Eye but it's actually not! It's a great look and seriously looks good with any color. I used black and white because it's simple, dramatic, and fun. But I also do this look most days with light neutral colors.

SO.. onto the tutorial

Start with a completely naked face. I am ..obviously.. fresh out of the shower. Cleansed, toned, and moisturized. Ready to go. Get there. But maybe without the shower unless you need it.

Use a nice, full coverage foundation to achieve that flawless skin look. I, personally, used Revlon Photoready in Vanilla today. It's a tad yellow, but it's what I had! I wouldn't bother concealing under your eyes here because the shadow is GOING to fall out.

Take 2 eyeliners - a white one and a black one and mark on your lid where you want the colors to go. I usually recommend the inner 2/3 with white, and the outer 1//3 with black. I used NYX eye pencil in Pearl and an Avon liner in black.

Using a matte, neutral brown, blend a shadow into the crease and slightly above. I take mine pretty high above the crease because I have a lot of space due to my hood. You don't have to take it quite so high. It's a preference thing. I used Urban Decay Tease for this part.

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Here, I've patted the glitter/shadow onto my eyelid. I used a cheap no name brand white glitter (I would not recommend this.. as you can see it didn't have a lot of coverage) on the inner 2/3 and the UD Stardust in Void on my outer 1/3. It doesn't really show up as glittery next to the stark white glitter on camera but in person trust me, it was. Blend the two shadows together with small, careful motions bringing the white into the black. Don't be afraid if it looks messy at first, it's normal

Next, you will want to highlight the brow bone using the same white shadow or glitter you used before. It will come out more sheer without the white liner as a base which is fine since a stark white brow bone can look a bit trashy. I've also lined both the upper and lower lash and waterlines with the same black Avon pencil.  

Brows are an important part of every look - ESPECIALLY a more dramatic look. So go right ahead and fill yours on in. I did mine pretty heavy, but again it's a personal preference. Do yours how you like them. I find the easiest way to do my brows is with a powder, short quick strokes as though I am drawing tiny hairs. I also added a coat of mascara in this step.

Hi, I'm Jayne and I forget to take pictures of the last steps. In this picture I have contoured (hollows of cheek bones, under chin, around forehead, and sides of nose) and highlighted (center of forehead, top of cheekbones, cupids bow). I also added a soft neutral blush (Lancome Blush Subtil in Sheer Amourose) and a lipgloss. Derp derp.

Pull your hair down, reconceal under your eyes.. and bam! A whole new person. My under eyes are a bit smudgy, so hopefully you can clean that up and out do me when you do this look. ;)