Dat Fleekness!

[Oh heyyyy, that's my face! All shadows are Kat Von D Innerstellar palette. Brows are Anastasia Beverly Hills pencil and pomade. Lashes are.... huge! I don't remember what I used]

 

I asked on my Facebook what I should blog about today, and one reply was "eyebrows on fleek!" LOL. So I'm actually going to take that idea and run a bit in a different direction with it.

 

If you're on instagram for any length of time, you'll come across memes about bad eyebrows. It's actually become quite the compliment now to mention how good a girl's eyebrows are. And as someone who has to DRAW the majority of my brows on, I can't say that I don't also enjoy someone saying something positive.

 

But instead, I won't be outlining an eyebrow tutorial, because you can find that anywhere. What I'm going to write about is preferences and styles of makeup. I've learned so much of what to (and not to do) via social media, youtube, and makeup classes. But what you'll have to take with you after all of it, is that makeup is an art. And art is subjective. As much as I love a good dramatic eye or lip, my true passion is flawless skin.... without a filter. And that's where the craft is for me. Especially when I'm short on time, I'm going to focus on skin instead of eye makeup. Why? Because I want my client to take tons of selfies and not open FaceTune once to fix a harsh line!

 

 

 

[My client Amber and her husband, Brandon. I wanted to give Amber the perfect smoky eye for this special night in Vegas last week, but I couldn't do what I wanted. Because my cab never showed up, I ended up being more than 15 minutes late. I had to do the best I could with a little over half an hour application time. But as you can see, she glowed and looked beautiful.]

 

I just find it funny how if you pay attention to what is trending on Instagram and other social media outlets, it's the "more dramatic the better" approach. And perfectionism leads the race. Filters on filters. Even video gets filtered and edited into a brand new creation.

 

[Case closed: These three pictures were taken at the same tutorial class online. The picture on the left and the upper right were taken at the same time. This class featured a front camera and a zoomed side which they ran simultaneously during the live feed. I kept waiting for the artist to grab his blending brush.. but he never did! I took screen shots of the feed because I couldn't believe what was happening! What's funny, is that when the uploaded the final cut to the site, they removed the zoomed angle shot. And what you found all over instagram was the bottom right, highly photo shopped image.]

 

 

[Here's the other problem I have with all the filtering you see on social media, it can make you feel bad that even though you're doing your best, it just never measures up! At least that's how I felt in the beginning. In the above picture of Vivian, I went all-out on the filters on the right side, but left side is untouched. To me, I don't know what these makeup artists are trying to sell with making all these changes....]

 

So where I go for inspiration to improve my skills are actually the HD pictures taken at red carpet events. Those cameras don't hide ANYTHING. I love following makeup artists who take the same eye for makeup. No harsh edges. No filtering. But naturally enhanced beauty.

 

To me, when someone sees how beautiful one of my clients look, I don't want them to notice their makeup first, but the confidence and natural beauty shining through. But that's just my aesthetic. And if you love heavy contour and stick-straight cat eyes, you rock that shit out!

Fleek out your brow with all the pencils, pomades and concealer you want! Some people do a jaw-dropping job at it.
My aesthetic is as natural as I can get away with, at least most of the time!

 



How I made a custom powder contour kit for my pale-skinned roomie.

 

[Jessica was more tan on this evening when I did her makeup. I was having a Katie Holms smoky eye moment that night]

 

How many contour kits are out there now? More than you can shake a blending brush at, for sure. And while I personally love the Kat Von D kit as well as the brush that goes with it, it's not built for everyone. And many that are offered on the commercial market don't seem to completely fit the fairest of skins, and even if they have one or two colors that fit, the rest of the kit is typically unusable.

When I asked my roommate, Jessica what she'd like to add to her makeup collection, she said she wanted some beginner powder contouring options. While I favor creams, not everyone feels confident enough to use them.

 

So here's my beginner-friendly contouring "kit" for super fair skin.

 

 

Starting with the Blush Brush from E.L.F

This is one of my favorite contouring brushes. Forget your name brands, aside from the Kat Von D brush, this is my favorite.

 

NYX HD Blush

Taupe and Nude.

I chose two colors because they bother offer something different. Taupe casts more gray tone while nude is slightly rosy and warmer. When I contour, I rarely use just one color. If you look at your face and pay attention to the colors, you'll find that it has a gradient with the natural shadows. At the high points you have a lighter version of your own skin (the highlight section). As you transition into the darkness or shadows, you move to your natural skin tone, a darker version of it (usually a slightly warm or taupe) and then the grey or darkest color. This is why I bought two colors. When she wants to give more life to her face and enhance the definition, she will follow that same pattern. A small amount of deep color and more of that lighter transition.

What I also like about these particular powders is that they are fine and not very pigmented. Harder to mess up and therefore great for beginners. You can always add more, but it's very hard to take away.

 

 

Tarte Matte Bronzer

The only slightly more expensive aspect of this collection. But well worth it. This is another soft powder built for naturally fairer skins. It won't pull orange and the fact that it contains no shimmer means that you'll have a natural look to your skin.

 

My steps for natural contouring:

1. If using liquid foundation, set with a light layer of loose powder (check out other posts for product recs)

2. Use Nude powder around perimeter of face. Sides of forehead, upper hair line if you want to lower it (optional), slightly on (not under) cheeks, jawline, and with a fluffy eyeshadow brush upper sides of nose (not flat sides as that can make your nose look wider)

3. Use Taupe on areas of face that you want to make a more dramatic change in. For Jessica, sides of forehead, backs of cheek (only slightly below, go too low and your face will sag) and a small, fine line on upper sides of nose.

4. Use bronzer to help blend and unify the look. Applying where sun would naturally tan the face and avoiding areas you want to highlight. And if the face and neck are lighter than the rest of the body, use bronzer on fair areas to create balance.