I went to a MAC tutorial at Bloomingdales today, and it was super helpful in figuring out 1) where my crease is and how to emphasize it, 2) what my many makeup brushes do, and 3) how to put in false lashes and sculpt my eyebrows.
This is a pretty neutral look, but the artists helped me spice it up a little. I’ll try to go through tips and steps for our future reference.
First, we brushed on some normal moisturizer with a fluffy brush (about the size of a blush brush), followed by a tinted moisturizer, which acted as the foundation, and then concealer. Next, was two layers of powder. The first was a flesh colored one to set all the make up, and the second, a bronzer. The last prep step for the face is a dab of blush on your cheeks to make them nice and rosy.
Tip: When putting on bronzer, start at the top of the forehead working the powder into the hairline to make it more natural. Then, work your way down the sides of your face to give it contour. Brush under the chin and under your cheekbones for additional shaping. (Sometimes, I also like to dab a teeeeeeny hint on the top of my nose to give myself a sun-baked look. But just a tinge because you don’t want to flatten your face.)
After the face, we started working on the eyes. It’s hard to tell from this picture, but here are the basic steps:
- Brush on an eye primer. (I’ve been people use their fingers, but it’s nice to buff it in with a brush- use a small concealer brush.)
- Put on a light color (5-10 shades lighter than your skin) right under your brow. Don’t worry about blending it in. You’ll do this later.
- And a medium tone by dabbing at the corner of your eye and working it in. Use your finger and feel your brow bone; then, make circular motions right under that with a brush. Sweep the remaining eye shadow (don’t grab more) in a “windshield wiper” motion towards the inside of your eye. See how I have a darker circle on the corner of my eye? Like that.
- You look kinda silly, but keep going. Take a really light color and fill in the lid right above your lashes. Work your way up until you meet the medium tone from your windshield wiper strokes. Blend thoroughly.
- Take a darker color and go back to the windshield wiper strokes. Darken it especially around the outer corner to form a nice frame for your eyes.
- Blend.
See the many layers in the first photo? There’s the light color right under the brow, the medium for most of my lid, the light color (use whatever you want) for right above my lid, and the darker color for the corner of my eye.
Next, put on eye liner. Use an angled, thin and hard brush. Dab some gel eyeliner (comes in a pot) and make little strokes near your lash line. Smooth it out. For the winged look (see how my eyeliner goes beyond my eye), draw a line in the upper corner of your eye that’s a continuation of your lower lashes. Then, connect it with the upper lash line. Curl your lashes, put on some mascara, and wait for it to dry. Finally, apply some false lashes, et voila!
Tip: Put the glue on the false lashes and wait for it to almost dry before putting it on your eyelids. It’ll stick better and you don’t have to hold it in place as long. Also, if you tilt your head back, you can see yourself in the mirror as more easily than trying to close one eye. Lastly, reapply some black eyeliner so that fake lashes blend in.
Tip: Some people say that curling your fake lashes and then reapplying mascara will help bind the fake lashes with your natural ones. This is true, and you should curl your lashes. However, not putting on mascara will make the fake lashes last longer. So it’s up to you what you want to do.
To make this neutral look pop, the MAC makeup artists also put on some blue eyeshadow on my lower lashes. This is totally optional. It’s applied the same way as the top lids. You can also wet your brush before dabbing it into the eye shadow, and you’ll come out with a more vibrant color.
Finish with a nice lip stick or lip gloss. I can’t wait to try this again on my own, especially the false lashes.
Here’s what I look like after a whole day of hanging out by the Ferry Building with some cold ones and then buying much needed cat food shopping. (Mon Petit Coeur wasn’t starving but the dry food was running on the last 2 cups.)
