With the party season upon us, it's time to start vamping up that face! Because parties are the ultimate excuse to go all out when it comes to make-up.
When it comes to maquillage, we here at Style Blog have always been a big fan of a larger-than-life sexy, smouldering, smokey eye. So when we heard MAC's senior make-up artist, Amber D, was having a master class in "Editorial make-up" we couldn't help venture along to get inspired and to steal some tricks of the trade!
Editorial make-up is generally a lot stronger than normal day-to-day make up. Timid lasses who are afraid of colour on their face or standing out too much really should never attempt such fierce, fashion-forward looks. So be brave or go home!
Edgy and super cool make-up always looks great on beautiful models posing in a magazine - however, in reality, the look often doesn't quite cross over. Editorial inspired make-up can easily look way too full-on in the flesh and basically on any normal gal (i.e those of us who aren't models!)
The idea is to find a happy medium between the two and work from there.
Style Blog will now take you through a step-by-step, how-to guide to achieving sexy, high-glamour party make-up. Say sayonara to the forgettable, plain Jane and say hello to a drop-dead-gorgeous sultry siren - the envy of every party!
Step 1: Prep the skin.You can't start anywhere unless you have a base. Cleanse, tone and moisturise. This may be a tad boring but it really is a big necessity. Apply MAC's "Strobe Cream" with a brush, stipple over the face to get a good, healthy glow (which will come through the final make up look)
Step 2: Apply foundation on to the face with a foundation brush, buff onto skin so it is all even. Amber loves the "Sculpt Studio Finish".
Step 3: Conceal any blemishes, darker pigmentation, under-eye circles or blotchy red patches with concealer. Amber then sets the skin lightly with loose powder and Mineralise powders to bring a 3-dimensional quality back into the face and give a radiant glow. We love MAC's limited edition "D-Squared" brush (#165) for this!
Step 4: Eyebrows. The trend has been for strong, full brows so brush the brows and feather in colour with the eyebrow pencil in "Lingering", a colour that suits most.
Step 5: Next: the eyes!
This look is not for the faint hearted! Using MAC's "Blacktrax" black liquid eye liner, draw a black line along the crease of the eye and blend out. If you prefer, use a black eyeshadow such as MAC's "Carbon" to apply the line.
Using dark eyeshadow shades such as "Embark" & "Corduroy", blend to your heart's desire to create Rock'n'Roll eyes for a "worn-in" and super sexy look.
Then, using an eyeshadow brush, firstly spritz with MAC's "Fix-plus" and then dip MAC's Pigment Powder in "Tan" on to the eyelids.
A smidgen of Pigment powder in "Reflex Pearl" was added and then for a really crazy, rock look some "Gloss Cream Brilliance" was added to the lid to sexify the look.
The paler tone on the lids really make the eyes pop!
Oh, and don't forget to line the eyes with lots of black "Feline" eyeliner!
Step 6: Lashes! Curl the lashes with a great eyelash curler and add lashings of MAC's "Zoom Lash" in blackest black.
If you want to really amp the look up, add false eyelashes now.
Step 7: Contouring and highlighting the face. We love, love, love MAC's "Sculpt & Shape" for this job. Using "Emphasis" highlight the areas in the face that need highlighting then contour with "Bone Beige" to get some amazing cheekbone action!
Step 8: Lips! Amber D went for a strong eyes and strong mouth look that was popular in the 80s. Robert Palmer's video Simply Irresistible comes to mind! Amber achieved this by using MAC's paint sticks to get really intense colours in a poppy red and a purple tone to bring depth to the lips. She finished with some white chroma cake painted on as a highlight onto the lip: tres manga-esque!
Overall this is a particularly strong look!
When it comes to a smouldering dark eye, Style Blog is always more inclined to pare this all back with a sexy nude lip. We love MAC's "Warm me up" lipstick with a good slick of lipglass "2N" over the top.
A final electric highlighter over the face to create a dewy glow (MAC's cream colour base in "Pearl" is a must!) and voila! It's time to hits those parties with your sexy new glammed up look. Watch out boys!
