Cabaret Mod: Dramatic Antique Gold Graphic Liner

This look hinges on 2 things: A highly metallic liquid liner or pigment, and a set of very long, very spiky lashes. It's obviously not a subtle day look, but for night, it can be extremely dramatic.

I used:

MAC Reflects Antique Gold pigment (a golden-taupe micro-glitter)

Black liquid liner

Sasa Lashes #03 Sexy

Step 1: Begin with a thick swatch of black liquid liner. If you're new to this, do 2 strokes the way I did below. (1) made by laying the brush along the curve of the lower lash line (tip pointing outwards) and gently setting it down along your upper lid. If your brush is very wet, you can either blot lightly on the back of your hand so that you don't get a big blob of black for your flick, or (2) you can first swipe the centre of your lids to get rid of excess first. This ensures that you have maximum control and precision when you do your outer flicks.

Step 2: After the 2 lines, you can slowly connect the 2 outer points of the black lines earlier, curving gently to follow your lash line a little. When you are safisfied with the outer portion of the wing, continue into the inner corners last, just as your brush has the least amount of product left. This will give you the finest line possible, which is exactly what you want.

Step 3: With a metallic liner or glitter liner (you can create your own like I did by mixing glitter sealant and a metallic bronze pigment/glitter) and a flat angled brush, draw a line diagonally from the outer most tip of the flick to the inner corners of your eyes. The line should be almost straight. Fill in the space between this and the black line, and then layer on more product to get an opaque, foiled metal strip along your lids.

 Step 4: Run the bronze along the outer halves of your bottom lashes, and then apply a strip of very long, spiky lashes. They should be shorter on the inner corners and longer on the outer so the overall look is still slightly cat eyed. I'm not using a super flared lash like the Eylure Nicola because that would obscure the dramatic wing.

Place on the center of your lashes after the glue has dried at least 1-2 minutes, then firmly tuck the ends in. If you need, run over the base of the lash band with black liquid liner again, just to make sure there is no glue showing.

Step 5: Run a pale yellow, white, or beige pencil along the inner rims of your lower lash line, and then apply black mascara to bottom lashes. These lashes can really obscure and darken your eye, closing them off and making them appear smaller, so adding this bit helps to brighten them up a little again.

Step 6: To finish, I decided to go for a pale, milky pink (NYX Strawberry Milk Round Lipstick) on the lips and a hot pink flush (NYX Pinky) on the cheeks. By all means switch around to find colors you're comfortable with, because this eye goes with literally any lip shade.

Modern Gothic Romance (Inspired by Jordan Liberty)

Black liner, hot pink cheeks, and Noir lips, with slate grey nails

Is "wearable Goth" makeup an oxymoron? 

Not exactly. 

This is not really Goth in the modern sense of the word, but rather, pulls from the late-medieval Gothic age, with its strange blend of opulence and dark dramatism. It's not always about matching over-the-top black lips and eyes. 

Sometimes, beauty is as much what you do, as what you choose not to do.

For this look which is inspired by Jordan Liberty, the eyes are extremely clean and more reminiscent of a 50s kitten eye than anything overtly "Goth", and the only touch of drama comes from the flicked liner and long flared lashes. The lips are the only thing that is slightly edgy about the look, blending black with a dark metallic purple for a 3D lip.

To pull everything back so I don't look like a reanimated corpse, I threw in an intense pink flush on the cheeks for a doll-like twist.

Step 1: Apply a matte beige to the lids, and a slightly warmer medium toned apricot (both from the Wet n Wild Greed Palette) to the outer halves of the socket line for very subtle definition. As we want the look to be very clean, the eye lids should not be discolored.

Step 2: With a flat liner brush, apply black gel liner (Maybelline Lasting Drama) to the lids. As always, draw in the flick first, then the lash line. This allows you to really control the length and angle better.

The finished liner should give your eyes a slightly exotic tilt but not be so thick or angled upwards that you look like you're channeling a Sophia Loren look.

Step 3: False lashes. I applied very full synthetic lashes (Fairy Lash #10 from Sasa), longer at the outer corners than the inner. The longer outer edges will lift your eyes upward. (Try something like Red Cherry 043s for a similar shape, although these are not as full.)

The outer edge angle of your lashes should follow the curve of your liner earlier.

Step 4: Apply a hot pink blush (NYX Pinky) high on the cheeks. Pull it in further towards the center of your face than you would normally wear, just to give it a bit more of a doll-like look. And I hate to say this, but you CAN go a bit heavier than usual, as it needs to balance out the strong black lips.

Step 5: This is the scary part. Use a black liner to rim the edges of your lips. If you have small lips like me, leaving the center of the cupids bow bare so you don't close off your whole mouth.

Step 5: Fill in the outsides with black lipstick (L.A. Girl Creme Lipstick in Dreamer), and then run a dark metallic purple (Make Up Store Magic lipstick) in the center of the lips and blend outward slightly. If you can't find a dark purple metallic lipstick, the EASY way to do this is to dab MAC Grape pigment around the center of your lips and then press them together to distribute. Then apply a tiny touch of Vaseline or Rosebud Salve to return some shine without making the lip look glossy.

You can always choose to go all-black on the lips, as long as you keep the overall texture creamy, not matte. The look you're going for is enigmatic, but still pretty and soft. (Well, as soft as a look can be with black lipstick anyway.)

On the Nails: Revlon Top Speed Nail Enamel in 810 Hazy

Holiday Look: Molten Metal

What happens when you layer gloss over a high-sheen metallic? I decided to find out.

For this look, I picked one of the creamiest and densest metallic shadows around, The Body Shop's single eye shadow in #45, which is to this day one of the most intense deep-silver shadows I've ever come across, considering that it is not a cream formula.

Step 1: To prep the lids, I lined my upper lash line with a thick swatch of black shadow for some soft definition. Because I'm applying gloss over my lids later, powder or pencil formulas are more suitable than liquid liners.

Step 2: Pack the silver shadow gently over the entire lids, going into the inner corners a little just for a bit of a twist.

Step 3: I applied matte yellow liner to the waterline, and then popped on false lashes. I love Eylure's (Miss Eylure range) Olivia lashes. Mascara on the bottom lashes will complete the look.

Step 4: You can stop at Step 3, but if you really want to go to town with it, and don't mind the look getting a bit messier over the day, dab a clear gloss onto the center of the lids, and gently pat outwards on both sides.Try to keep it off your lashes as much as possible.

Step 5: I applied a hot pink blush lightly to the cheeks (NYX Pinky) and magenta lipstick (Sephora #R11 is one of the creamiest and most beautiful) to the lips. The eyes are strong but not extremely colorful, so I just wanted to make the look just a bit edgier by going for a strong lip instead of the expected nude.

Other products used:

• Foundation: Lancome Teint Miracle O-03 (I'm test-trying a sample over this week)
• MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC30
• HD powder
• Brows: Maybelline Eye Studio Eyebrow pencil  (There's no name or number on the pencil - it's the grey-brown shade which is perfect for dark hair)