Sunday, October 30, 2011

Easy 20's-inspired Siren Look


A dark lip and dramatic eye can be overly-dramatic when paired together, but if you're going to be dressing up as a flapper girl for either Halloween or any other fancy occasion, this is a simple look that can help you channel the 20's with minimal fuss.

Regardless of skin tone, what you'll need are:
  • Matte foundation and powder
  • Black shadow (matte)
  • Dark russet/wine shadow (shimmery)
  • Contouring powder (matte)
  • Very dark black-purple or black-brown lipstick

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Step 1: Begin by applying matte foundation and powder over your face. If you need to be really dramatic, make sure you REALLY apply the powder. If you just want a 20's-inspired look like I did, leave a slight glow to your skin.

Step 2: Brows. For a dramatic look, you can cover your brows with Prit stick (UHU, or any other water-based stick glue). Rub it on and smooth away any excess, let set for a bit, and then apply foundatino over it. I don't recommend this unless you are an expert at brow-drawing, because you'll need to draw in entirely new brows and most people can't get both sides even.
If you want to go the easy route like I did, just use the matte black shadow and a fine angled brow brush to shape it gently and make sure you have a pronounced arch. Don't make it thicker than it naturally is.

Step 3: Creating the doe-eye. Lay the base by packing matte black within the lids. Note that the color only goes up into the socket at the INNER half of the eye. At the outer half, it slopes down and ends right at the outer ends of the eye. No wings, flicks, or smokiness. 
On the bottom lid, DO THE REVERSE, and concentrate color on the outer half of the lash lines. At this point, it will look very odd and panda-like, but don't worry.
This creates the exaggeratedly rounded eye look of 20's screen sirens.

Step 4: The fun part; smoking it all out. Use a dark rust or maroon colored shadow on a blending brush, and smoke out the edges of the black. Carry the color up to the bottoms of your brows on the inner portions of the eye. At the outer ends, it should slope downwards and not wing out.
Repeat on the lower lash line, concentrating the smokiness on the outer halves instead of inner this time.

Step 5: To finish up, apply black gel liner along the upper and lower lash lines. No need for precision. You just want to darken up the lash line.
Then apply mascara to finish. If you want to be more dramatic, wear spiky false lashes with gems or rhinestones near the TIPS. Women in those days liked to apply little balls of glue right on the tips of their lashes, but since I don't have any black glue to mimic the effect, I had to do without.

Step 6: Cheeks. Instead of a blush, which would spoil the whole Noir look, go for subtle contouring using a matte powder along the cheekbones.

Step 7: The final touch is an uber-dark lipstick (I used MAC Prince Noir but you can just darken any magenta or plum lipstick with a black one (L.A. Girl has an affordable and good-quality black lipstick). Focus on your cupid's bow, while leaving the outer corners of your lips just a hair thinner than you'd usually draw them, but not too much unless you're going for a dramatic interpretation. 
This gives that exaggerated curvy lip of the 20's but still remains flattering for most lip shapes.

48 comments:

  1. You look beautiful with this makeup! It definately looks 1920's.. Boardwalk empire!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I think you did a great job of modernizing both the colors and the application of the old 20's look. <3 Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Thanks for the kind comment, Eden-Avalon!

    ReplyDelete
  4. You look so beautiful on those pictures !
    I juste discovered and I love it.

    Can you tell me what eyeshadows are you using for doing this makeup ?

    Thank you,
    Sara !

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Sara!

    For the black, you can use any good, pigmented matte black available as they all look the same. I used the matte black in the Wet n Wild Coloricon Greed Palette.

    For the maroon brown, I used a hot pot from Coastal Scents, Chocolate Berry. I think it's out of stock right this moment as it was going on clearance the past few weeks for US$1.99! http://www.coastalscents.com/makeup/palettes/custom-palettes/hot-pots/hp-028.html.

    If you don't mind something quite similar but less red, try Chocolate Cherry http://www.coastalscents.com/makeup/palettes/custom-palettes/hot-pots/hp-030.html

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you very much Candice :) !

    ReplyDelete
  7. What lipstick are you wearing????

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rosie, that's MAC Prince Noir. (Smoked Purple is close but they're both only available at Pro stores.)
      Try Diva or Film Noir!

      Delete
  8. Wow beautiful! What lipstick did you use?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Rin, it's listed in the post; I used MAC's Prince Noir. It's quite similar to Smoked Purple or Diva (a bit more red), if you're not able to find Prince Noir at a MAC Pro store.

      Delete
  9. I love this make-up look!

    the-renaissance-of-inner-fashion.blogspot.co.uk

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Tanya! Nice blog, btw! (And Happy New Year to you.)

      Delete
  10. This makeup is gorgeous ! I love the lipstick so much !
    Sara,
    http://thecrimeofashion.blogspot.fr

    ReplyDelete
  11. Love your Lips colour...
    http://www.chocochipchic.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
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