Holiday Look #5: Deep Dark Pleather Plum

A very “noir” look focusing on glossy dark lips that works on any skintone! There are a few tips to wearing monochromatic looks like this.

• Conceal, conceal, conceal! Dark, monochromatic looks can make uneven skin tone and any redness more obvious.
• Keep the eyes a little softer if you don’t want to look too vampish. I used a soft taupe as the main lid shade and plum only in the outer corners.
• Wear a brighter blush. Dark monochromatic looks can really drain the face or make you look sallow, so the way to balance it out and stop everything from going completely goth is to use a soft pink blush to add a little sweetness and color to the face
• Be prepared to touch up! Like a glossy red lip, you will likely need to be careful when wearing a glossy dark lip. Smears, smudges, track marks from your hair getting caught in your lips, you name it.

Product used:

• Foundation - LANEIGE Snow BB Soothing Cushion SPF 50 No. 21
• Concealer - MAC Studiofinish concealer NW20
• Powder - ClearLast Powder in Medicated Ochre
• Brows - Shu Uemura Hard Formula 9 Pencil in Seal Brown
• Taupe shadow - MAC Satin Taupe
• Plum shadow - MAC Rich Core
• Silver shadow - Lancôme Hypnôse cream shadow in Diamant Argenté
• Brown/plum liner - Rimmel Exaggerate liner in Perfect Plum
• Mascara - Lancôme Hypnôse mascara
• Blush - Benefit Rockateur
• Plum Lipliner - Make Up Store Jazz
• Plum gloss - Givenchy Gloss Interdit in 15 Velvet Purple

Deep, dark juicy purple lips with Make Up Store Jazz lipliner and Givenchy Gloss Interdit in Velvet Purple.

Holiday Look #4: The “Dense brown smoky” (Make Up Store Volga Shadow)

Trust me when I say this is one of the most intense - AND the quickest - smoky eye looks ever. In fact it’s slightly slapdash, and you can swop out the brown shadow for pretty much any color you want as long as it’s not pale.

The trick is not to cover the entire black base with shadow, but to leave just a bit at the lash line so there’s a natural gradation from black to brown as you smoke the shadow outwards.
The star here is the rich brown duochrome shadow, Volga. This MAC Club lookalike is less red-toned, so if Club makes you look like someone’s socked you in the eye while you were partying, this is a fantastic alternative.

You need only:

1. 1 brush - a rounded synthetic eye buffing/contouring brush like the Loveybelle small eye contour brush, which I used here
2. 1 matte black khol or cream liner - anything very soft and intense and creamy
3. 1 deep brown shadow - I used a satiny duochrome from Make Up Store called Volga - which is like a less red version of MAC Club shadow - for a bit of dimension (the black base will deepen and make it more matte, so choose something slightly brighter or more metallic than you intend)
4. 1 pale ivory/beige shadow [optional; I used an ivory shade in my Tarte Call of The Wild palette]
5. Mascara
6. A soft pink-toned blush - I used Benefit Rockateur, which is my go-to daily blush when I’m lazy to think!
7. A soft pink shimmery lipgloss - Make Up Store’s Orchid is a frikkin’ gorgeous beige-pink that isn’t too sheer or too frosty.

P.S. On nails, I am wearing Erik from Make Up Store, a blackened-green creme that looks like Japanese kombu (dried seaweed).

Holiday Look #3: Longwearing Soft and Glowy (feat. Benefit Groovy Kind-a Love Kit)

Benefit Groovy Kind-a Love kit contents

Not everyone’s into a smoky eye or red lips and winged liner. If you prefer the subtle enhancement of a low maintenance “girl-next-door” look that will last the night, this one’s for you!

I used a nifty little limited edition kit from Benefit, “Groovy Kind-a Love”, which includes minis of Porefessional balm, Benetint, 4 neutral brown shadows, a mini They’re Real mascara, and mini dandelion/gimme fever duo. Everything you need for an ultra-natural and flattering look.



Products: everything in the kit except for the concealer, lip liner and lipbalm.

1. Concealer - Make Up For Ever Lift Concealer #2
2. Lip liner - Givenchy Lip Pencil #3
3. Lipbalm - use any pot balm you have that gives a slight sheen!
4. Tips:
5. Layering blush is a way to make it last the whole day, but be careful not to go overboard or you could end up with overly red cheeks. The thinnest layer of both will go a long way.
6. Try Stay Flawless 15 Hour Primer on the lids as an eyeshadow primer!
7. To avoid a stain wearing away unevenly on the lips, use a thin layer of nude liner as a base first.

Holiday Look #2: Neo-Pinup Tutorial (purple-taupe eyes and metallic red lips)!

The 50s look features full and arched brows. Here I emphasized the arched shape but kept the color quite soft instead of using a typical black-brown.

Polished skin was a big thing for pinups and it’s no different here. I used a dewy finish foundation and a radiant setting powder so there would be a soft-focus glow.

• The pinup eye features a very clean eye lid and some matte shading along the socket line, but I kept things smoky and luminous with a soft taupe shadow over the entire lid.
• Kitten liner is a must. But instead of hard black, I used a soft metallic taupe brown to keep the eye area very luminous and soft. (A grey or brown would work too.)
• To add dimension I used a metallic red lipstick instead of a regular creme or matte texture. But you still want to emphasize a slightly rounded upper lip by exaggerating the outer sides of the cupid’s bow just a little with red liner. (Not too much or it will look extremely unnatural.)

Products used:

1. Skin: MAC Face & Body foundation C2
2. Concealer: MAC Studiofinish concealer NW20
3. Setting powder: Bourjois Poudre de Riz de Java
4. Blush: TheBalm Hot Mama
5. Brows: Shu Uemura Hard Formula 9 pencil in Seal Brown
6. Brown liner: (used as eyeshadow base) Bourjois Regard Effet Metallise in 52 Brun Inoxydable
7. Eyeshadow: Givenchy Le Prisme Yeux Mono #14 Elegant Taupe
8. Liner: Lancôme Hypnse Star Eyes cream shadow in ST 211 Quartz Taupe
9. Mascara: Lancôme Hypnôse mascara 
10. Lip liner: MAC Cherry lip liner (to fill in and shape the cupid’s bow)
11. Lipstick: Kat von D Foiled Love 
12. Gloss: Any clear gloss

"Midnight Rose" Tutorial (Dramatic Pink/Plum Smoky Eyes using Givenchy Le Prisme Yeux 71 Purple Show)

Rosy pink tones are not typical colors for the eyes, because it can go so wrong and make your eyes look tired and swollen. Do it right, and it can be pretty and dramatic with a slight “goth”/gothic feel.

Here are a few tips:

• Make sure you conceal any unevenness and redness in your skin. Rosy shadows will bring those out, and make them more obvious. 
• Blend a rose colored shadow with softer, more pastel tones AND make sure you ground it with dark definition at the lash line. 
• One other trick is to use a bit of liner in a contrasting tone (I used an olive-bronze pencil since there are so many red tones and green is on the opposite end of the color wheel). A brown or plum pencil complements the rosy shadows better but they would fade right into the background instead of standing out.
• Pair it with soft blush and neutral/nude lips. Rose everywhere can look quite scary and over the top.

Products used:

1. Foundation: Makeon Chokchok Shining BB Cushion (smoothed on with fingers)
2. Concealer: MAC Studiofinish Concealer in NW20
3. Powder: Bourjois Poudre de Riz de Java
4. Contouring: The Body Shop Matte Bronzer 01
5. Blush: Benefit Rockateur (I keep using this recently; it goes great with most looks…)
6. Eyeshadows: Givenchy Le Prisme Yeux Quatuor in 71 Purple Show (it says purple, but the colors are more rosy-plum)
7. Liquid liner: Givenchy Parad’eyes Liner in 1 Dream in Black
8. Pencil: Givenchy Magic Khôl in 5 Bronze
9. Mascara: Givenchy Phenomen’eyes Waterproof in 1 Water Black (this is fantastic for very separated wispy looking lashes and good lift because it catches every lash)
10. Lipstick: The Body Shop Colour Crush lipstick in 220
11. Lipgloss: Clinique Long Last Glosswear in 18 Mystic (a purple grape). This was applied just around the center of the lips for some dimension. 
12. On nails: Lancôme Rouge Reglisse, which is a dark blood/red but looks black here.)