My go-to makeup look

I tend to run late. That's why I try to save time, when it comes to getting ready to leave the house. In that attempt, I decided on a fast and easy makeup look, that would be perfect for both daytime and nighttime. I do that look whenever I have limited time to get ready and when I feel uninspired or bored to do something different.
It's very simple and natural, appropriate for any occasion and with a few alterations here and there, it can meet everyone's standards.
Let me take you through it step by step..


The first thing I do is apply my BB cream. I use a brush for the application instead of a sponge or my fingers, because it gives a finer finish.
If you prefer more coverage, you could use a full coverage foundation.

Maybelline BB Cream
The brush is from Sephora

The next step is concealer. I use one for any blemishes and redness and one to highlight the under eye area. I use my fingers to blend it in.
You could also use a sponge for that, but if you use your fingers, don't rub the concealer on to blend it. Just do a light tapping motion.

Avon Colortrend Concealer

L'oreal Lumi Magique Highlighter

After that, the base is ready.
I skip contouring, because I feel it's unnecessary, especially when I'm in a rush. If it's an important step for you, then contour away.

Filling in my brows on the other hand is a must for me. I feel that my face is lacking a certain spark, without filled in eyebrows.
I use a matte brown eyeshadow with an angled brush for that step, because I feel that it gives a more natural look, than that a liner would. Also the angled brush is very helpful, when it comes to the thin corners of the eyebrows.
If you don't mind filling in your brows, you can skip that step and save even more time.

 Sephora Eyeshadow Palette in "Almost nude"
The brush is from the Body Shop

 

After my eyebrows are ready, I apply a nude eyeshadow on my lids and on the outer corner under my brows. The eyeshadow I use, just highlights the areas I apply it on.
For a nighttime look, you could also use a shimmer shadow for your lids.

Sephora Eyeshadow in "Porcelain"

 

The next thing I do, is a delicate cat eye, with a black liquid eyeliner.
If you want to go for a bolder look, you could definitely "enhance" the cat eye.

Sephora Long-lasting Liquid Eyeliner

 

To finish with the eyes, I just curl my lashes and apply some mascara.
For a day look I always apply just one coat of a "subtle" mascara, but for nighttime I usually do two to three coats of a volumizing and lengthening mascara.

Rilken Extra Volume Mascara

The next step is blush. I use one in a tone that seems natural on my skin and compliments it.
I never leave the house without a touch of blush, because I'm very pale. But if you don't feel like you need it, skip that step entirely.

Estee Lauder Tender Blush in "Peach Nuance"

 

The final step is doing the lips. I have two options for that step, depending on my mood and where I'm heading.
The first one is a (literally) nude lip, with just some sheer lip balm, to keep my lips moisturised.

Korres Mandarin Lip Butter

The second option is a pink lip stain.
Depending on the occasion, you can just apply a thin layer to give some extra color to your lips, or build it up to a bold lip.

Sephora Cream Lip Stain in No06

 

And voila!

 

 

What's your eye shape?

We've talked about the different face shapes there are and the makeup tricks you can use, to bring out the best in them. Knowing your eye shape is just as important, especially if you like doing loud eye looks and bringing focus to your eyes. So keep reading, to find out, what the different shapes are and everything else you should know about them.

You could have a combination of two or three shapes (more on that below) and small or big eyes with any of the following shapes.
To open up small eyes, use a white or nude coal eyeliner on your lower waterline. If you want to use black liner, apply it softly under the waterline, otherwise your eyes will appear even smaller. Still it's better to use black eyeliner only on the upper part of your eyes.
To lengthen small eyes, a subtle cat eye, is the best option. With a liquid liner start a thin line almost from the inner corner of your eye, going outwards. Once you get to the outer corner, slightly curve the line upwards and out.
If you want to "shrink" large eyes, do the opposite of everything I told you about small eyes. Black liner is your best friend. Apply it on your upper and lower waterline. You can also add more around that, for a heavier look.
To lessen the length of your eyes, use black liner on the inner corner.

Now what's your eye shape?

 Standard

Most people have a variation of the standard eye.
With this eye shape you can see the eyelid all the way across, when the eyes are open. The eyes are not too far apart and not too close together.
If you have a standard eye, you can do any eye look you want, because the shape of the eyes is balanced. Still it's always flattering, if you use a slight amount of a light shadow on the inner corner of your eyes.

Almond & Hooded

Almond (also called Asian) eyes are another shape you can do anything you want with. You can use shimmer, dark colors or anything else you want and go even as far as the brow.

A cat eye is very cohesive with almond eyes and really brings out their shape.

Hooded eyes can be very similar to almond eyes. With this shape, the lid is completely or partially covered. This can occur through aging, or be your eye shape since birth.
 The "rules" are basically the same they are with almond shaped eyes. You can extend the shadow all the way to your brow, but if it's hooded because of aging, it's better not to use shimmer in this area, because it will draw unwanted attention.
Another thing you can do is to use a light shadow on the inner corner of your eyes to open them up, because hooded eyes tend to look small.

Close set

Close set eyes means, that the eyes are closer together to the bridge of the nose.
They could also be any one of the two shapes above. For any pair - "close set-almond" or "close set-hooded" - use a combination of the tricks of both the shapes.
If you want to bring close set eyes further apart, avoid dark colors on the inner corner of your eyes. Also draw the eyeshadow or eyeliner out of the outer corner of your eyes, going slightly upwards.

Wide set

Wide set means that the eyes are further apart, to the sides of the face.
With wide set eyes, you can have any of the two shape pairs too - "wide set-almond", "wide set-hooded". Use a combination of the tricks of both shapes, to have the best result.
With wide set eyes, you can do whatever you want, but have in mind that the further you draw your shadow outwards, the more you'll pull the eyes apart.
To bring wide set eyes closer together, bring darker colors all the way to the inner corner of the eyes.

Down turned

If you have a down turned eye, it means that the outside corner of the eye is pulled downwards, sometimes looking sad.
For that type of shape, when you're applying eyeshadow, stop slightly before the eye starts to droop. Don't worry, it won't look weird, but when you apply mascara, it will give the illusion of a lifted eye. Another way to do that, is to do a cat eye with a liquid liner, or even just apply your shadow going upwards on the outer corner of the eye, giving a very subtle cat eye result.

Deep set

With deep set eyes the eyelids go way back, creating dark shadows over and around the eyes. There's also usually a big part of the lid exposed.
You can have a combination of deep set eyes and any one of the shapes already mentioned, except from hooded. You can even have triple combinations, like "deep set-close set-almond" eyes. The best thing to do is to use the middle ground of the tricks of the two or three shapes.
If you have deep set eyes, avoid dark colors on the lid - unless you're doing a smokey eye, which is balanced -, because they will enhance the shadows over your eyes and make it look like they are even further back. So try to keep the eyelid light and shiny, to bring it out.

 Protruding

Protruding eyes are usually large and tend to come out (protrude).
You can have all the different shape pairs with protruding eyes, except of course of a "protruding-deep set" eye. Like with the deep set eyes, you can also have triple combinations. Use the tricks of the two or three different shapes in balance, to get the best result.
With protruding eyes you can generally do anything you want, but if you want to minimize the effect of it, use mat dark colors on the lid. Light and shimmery colors would bring the eye out ever more.


Now that you know, have a great time doing your eye makeup accordingly, to bring out the best version of your eyes!

Denim on Denim!

Denim is the most known and used fabric of the last decades. It' s mostly used on pants (jeans), but from time to time, depending on the different fashion trends, you can see it everywhere! There are denim shorts, skirts, dresses, shirts, jackets and even accessories...

For the most part, mixing denim items has been considered a crime of fashion, but lately, if you do it right, it's a big fashion "do". If you combine the right denim colors and finish the outfit with the right accessories, you'll end up with a great casual look.

I chose a dark pair of jeggings and matched them with my denim button up shirt. To incorporate another of my favorite trends -metallics, I added a loose golden knit sweater. I rolled up the sleeves of the sweater and the denim shirt to give an even more laid back vibe.

For shoes I wore my favorite Dr. Martens lookalikes, that look amazing with almost any day outfit and give a subtle rock feel.

The jewellery I chose, is quite simple: A pair of red rose stud earrings and for arm candy, a studded bracelet paired with my red swatch watch.

I also kept my makeup simple, with some hot pink lip stain, a hint of eyeshadow eyeliner and mascara.

On my nails, I have this golden based leopard print design. Leopard is one of my favorite patterns in fashion, because it provides an elegant but also rock and fun element.

You can watch a tutorial on this nail design here.

Even though the fashion "police" allows and admires denim combinations, doesn't mean that it's everyone's taste. Each one has their own style, that shouldn't be determined from what is "hot" and what not. The different trends and fashion guidelines are there, merely to give inspiration and ideas.

Valentine's Makeup Tutorial!

If you're in a relationship, Valentine's Day is a sweet, romantic, loving day, filled with laughter and hugs. But it could also be stressful, because of the obsession, that the day should be perfect. Perfect date, gift, outfit, makeup...

If you're single, there are two ways you can go. You can either stay at home, with a great chick flick, tissues and lots of chocolate, or you can put on your favorite, most sexy dress, great pumps, get your single girlfriends and go out, to show them what they're missing!

Both, single and taken, though, need a makeup look, that is flawless and eye-catching.

That's what I'm gonna show you step by step, in this tutorial.

1. Put on your favorite foundation, concealer and powder, to create the perfect base for your makeup.

Sephora Mattifying Compact Powder No30 Medium "Sand"
Avon Colortrend Concealer "Light"
Maybelline BB Cream "Light"

 You can also contour and highlight, following the tips I gave you in the "Makeup Tips based on your Face Shape" post.

Seventeen Finishing Powder No02 "Pearl"
Sephora Mattifying Compact Powder No50 Deep "Mocha"

2. If you want, you can fill in your eyebrows with a matte brown eyeshadow, that almost matches your hair color. This step will give more definition to your features.

Sephora Eyeshadow Palette No09 "Almost Nude"

3. Take a light pink (matte or sparkly) eyeshadow and cover the whole lid and crease.

Sephora Eyeshadow No28 "Sweet Candy"

4. Take a rose gold or copper gold shadow and cover the outer 1/3 of your eyelid, up to the crease.

Bourjois Eyeshadow No52

5. With a black coal eyeliner line the upper waterline and 2/3 of the lower waterline.

Avon Super Shock Eyeliner "Black"

6. With a black liquid eyeliner create a cat eye. Start from the inner corner of the eye, go all the way out and create a tip, that you will then connect to your basic line. You can do this as thin or as thick as you prefer, but try to keep it subtle.

Sephora Long-lasting Liquid Eyeliner No01 "Black"

If you're not comfortable using liquid eyeliners, your can use your coal liner. Sharpen it well, so that you'll be able to get more detail.

7. Curl your lashes and add a lengthening and volumizing mascara.

Maybelline Falsies Volum' Express Mascara "Black Drama"

8. Add some natural pink blush.

TommyG Blush on Satin No512

I did the blush first as you can see.

9. It's time for the lips!

a) If you're "taken" and preparing for a date, put on some tinted lip balm, in a natural light pink color.

Korres Mandarin Lip Butter "Purple"

b) If you're single, put on your favorite bright red or fuchsia lipstick and some lip gloss to give it a shiny finish.

Erre Due Fullcolor Lipstick No02

 10. Finally, put on a great smile and have fun!

♥ Happy Valentine's Day ♥