Fall is finally in the air! Along with the cool breezy weather, warming up to my favorite spiced drinks - (love me some pumpkin spice latte), layering up in scarves, sweaters and leather - I have to say I absolutely love the beautiful colors of the season. Oh, and I can’t forget, it’s another reason to wear a bolder color on my lips too! My daily Mom and work life suits the natural face and neutral color palette, but when I get a chance to play with colors, I like to paint it bold – especially fall-inspired colors!
Some of my favorite shades of autumn are burnt orange, bronze, copper, brick, chocolate – basically all the earthy colors of the season. These colors look so gorgeous with every skin tone too, that’s why this look is perfect for anyone to try. Especially if you want something different - here’s a modern twist to your typical fall beauty look. Adding in a hint of pizzazz with the double liners just make it stand out more from the norm! Here are some tips and tricks on how to achieve this look – Enjoy!
SKIN
Taking care of your skin is the holy grail of flawless makeup applications. Cooler weather normally yields drier skin so it’s important to feed your skin with lots of water and apply moisture locking serums and creams to keep it hydrated and plump. Some of my favorite skin treatments are the Atomy 7 Solutions Gel Mask ( 30 minute night time mask for instant soft and fine line minimizing, and re-energizes stressed skin – favorite for my brides and I have some in stock at my STORE), Bioelements Recovery Serum ( silky moisture-locking serum with ultra-smoothing ceramides and emollients for skin that's dry, visibly aging, or over-exfoliated) Make Up For Ever HD Elixir ( lightweight serum that absorbs quickly into the skin to instantly hydrate and brighten, great as a primer), Embryolisse Lait-Crème Concentrate (hydrating and nourishing moisturizer for all skin types, I also use as a double up primer for drier areas) and Atomy Eye Cream (instant softness under the eyes). I have so many favorites and my product list changes as my skin matures and adjusts to the seasonal conditions.
FOUNDATION
My skin tends to be semi oily to normal depending on my schedule. When I’m mostly working indoors, my skin stays normal and my makeup remains matte throughout the day. On certain days where I’m running around and working on site jobs, my face can get pretty humid and shiny. I’ve been experimenting with a mix of foundations for my specific needs and this combination works well with my both my freelance and in studio days. NARS All Day Luminious Weightless Foundation (Fiji), Make Up For Ever HD Foundation (No. 140) and literally a speck of Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer (No. 8) – when combined together, these formulas gives me enough coverage with long lasting staying power with the help of setting and finishing powders. I keep the application simple by using a synthetic foundation brush for the initial application, then dampen a sponge wedge or a Beauty Blender to blend and smooth out. This yields an evenly applied finish and better control of building the amount of coverage I want. The way I hold, move and stamp the sponge is the technique that I focus on perfecting efficiently for that smooth, polished, yet natural looking skin finish.
CONTOUR and HIGHLIGHT
I normally do not contour with deep tones for my daily face routine. I only do this for more dramatic looks or when I’m going to be seen by a large crowd from a far away distance. Deep contouring can look strong up close, so I shy away from this when I’m working my natural beauty clients. But, don’t get me wrong - I love doing strong contour for pictures though!
For this look, I did go bolder using L.A. Girl PRO Conceal in Beautiful Bronze. This is a rich fudge color that looks beautiful on yellow and olive base skin tones. I like to blend with a damp sponge wedge so I have control on sculpting the shade into the contours of the face. Highlighting is one of my favorite things to do – for my face, I had to use a few items: to correct the darkness under my eyes, MAC Mineralized Concealer in NW25 did the job since it has a hint of salmon to mute out the blueish under eye tone, then, apply a extremely small amount of Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer No. 8 to cover up any dark spots around the high cheek bone area (this is the best coverage for gray blue dark spots)! This shade has an orange hint to mute out the pigmentation making it disappear yet look like skin. Again, I used a damp sponge wedge to blend and mix the products seamlessly together while building camouflaging coverage. Just be careful not to take this product too close to the fine lines around the eyes since it has a thicker consistency, it can build up and crease. One of the reasons why I like to apply the mineralized concealer directly under the eyes is because it has a sheer consistency, yet good buildable coverage.
SETTING POWDER
Setting the cream based formulas will lock in the coverage and also build more of a flawless velvet finish, if done right. Underneath my eyes, I like sheer powders but on the rest of my face I like a stronger yet natural looking finish to create the soft, velvety texture. Using the same damp sponge wedge that I used for the highlighting, stamp the sponge into a generous amount of the NARS Loose Translucent Setting Powder (Crystal) – this product is extremely fine with a hint of iridescent shimmer – press the powdered sponge onto the back of your had to release access powder, then gently set under the eyes. This technique locks in the seamless blended under eye concealer and highlighting. On certain days, I may use an alternative option which is the Ben Nye Luxury Loose Powder (Buff). Your makeup will stay in place without creasing with this technique. Dab the sponge along any areas that may get shiny (for me, it’s typically my forehead, nose bridge, sides of the nose, chin and the center of the cheeks) By doing this, it will lock in and absorb the access oil before it can spread out to the powdered surface. You can stop here if you’re content with the coverage, or you can continue to apply thin layers of powders for an even more flawless appearance. One of my personal favorite tips to help minimize my enlarged pores is to use a buffer brush to set the setting powder. Apply in a circular motion so the setting products can be pushed into the skin and fill into the curved grooves. Works great under the eyes too!
FINISHING POWDERS
Some of current my favorite finishing powders are the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish collection. It’s sheer, soft and buildable which is very important to create a clean, non cakey texture. I use a combination of 3 colors and build up the coverage and contouring by applying the “Medium” tone first all over the face to set as the base color. “Medium Golden” is focused primarily on the forehead hairline, temples, cheek hallows, nose bridge and jawline. Then, I apply “Give Me Sun” as a detailing element to re-enhance the contour zones.
Blush is next using my favorite tapered (so soft) goat hair brush to stroke the color seamlessly along the cheekbones and apples in a soft mauve color from Pro MUA Cosmetics. Using the same brush (but the opposite side) I grab some bronzer with small amounts of shimmer to add a soft highlight strobing effect on the high cheek bone zones.
For nose contouring, I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit using the shade Fawn. The fluffy CREASE brush picks up enough product to make it look natural and soft blended. Be light handed when doing the nose contour. It can look harsh if there are too much product and if the brush is being pressed to hard onto the skin. Apply using the tip of the fluffy brush.
BROWS
Once I have the face all set and ready, I move on to the eye brows. For this look, "clean and natural" was the idea. For natural looking brows, I only use one product – powder, with the help of the most amazing angled eyebrow brush and spoolie from Anastasia Beverly Hills. Although my hair is dark, I feel that the brow powder in TAUPE works perfectly as a fill in color. To define the base line of my brows, I do like to use a stronger pigment, SOFT BROWN, to give it that clean edge look. I would typically finish the brows with clear brow gel to redefine the hair and blend together any clumpy spots. If you like the “sharpened” edge look, use a round lip brush with NARS Creamy Concealer (Custard) to clean any blur lines and reshape the base and tail. Blend and fade away any remaining concealer.
EYES
Oh, this is the fun part! So I’ve seen the Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture World Traveler palette all over Instagram and I’ve been trying to find a reason to try it. Being a makeup artist, it’s the toughest challenge to hold yourself back from over stocking products that you just have an abundance of – like eyeshadows! But, it wasn’t until I actually saw the palette while snooping around in my friend’s makeup kit, that I knew I had to add it into my pro kit. The color selections and pigment are so divine! I also love that it is lightweight packaging and super travel friendly! So, I’ve been dying to use these fresh new colors for a fall makeup look! First, use NYX COSMETICS Eye Base in the Natural Tone and MAC Paint Pot – Soft Ochre to conceal and prime the lids. Blend evenly and fade away upwards into the brows. Here are all the eyeshadow colors and brushes I used for the eyes:
Morocco (matte brick) on the crease line using the CREASE (fluffy) brush – I apply the color in a windshield motion with my eyes open and using the tip of the tapered shape to carve a soft shading of color into the sockets of my eyes.
Fudge (matte brown) on the outer corners of the eyes using the SMUDGER brush which picks up a stronger amount of pigment to shape out the outer parts of the eyes. I prefer stamping the colors and building up the intensity, then softly stamp upwards to fade out the intensity.
Intense Gaze (satin coral pink) on the center lids using the DEFINER brush to stamp and glide down the color onto the eye lid skin.
Chic (satin copper gray) in the inner corners by dabbing with the pinky finger and overlapping into the center lid area for a seamless blend of colors.
Line outer lashline with COVERGIRL Liquidline in Brown and blend with Fudge using the liner brush to softly feather out and extending the outer lines pass the natural eye corners (this will create a guidline for the double liner)
Metallic (Satin Gold) on the lower lash line using the PENCIL brush to smudge and blend into the Fudge liner
LINER
This is the eye style game changer! (and one of my favorite techniques to do) I literally shut the world out and hold my breath when I create the eyeliner on my clients (and on myself!) It requires so much precision and when working with waterproof gel eyeliners (that do not irritate or fog up the eye contact lens) like INGLOT Cosmetics AMC Gel Liner (black), there is no room for error! As much as I love using the MAC ANGLED LINER no. 266 for the clean, fluid application, I’ve been recently loving the MAC FINE POINT no. 210 brush even more. It just gives me more sharp, clean edges. It’s also more gentle as it glides smoothly, and friendly when applying on the water line, tight line, and the tiny inner corners. When working on the eye flesh areas, you want to work fast and efficiently – this eyeliner gel and brush does the job for me! To create the double liner, simply take the brush straight across extending from the lower lash line into the skin and passing the corner of the eyes. The line should taper into a finer line as it is extends to meet parallel with the upper winged liner.
LASHES
And another game changer are lashes. It just pulls the look together and brings out that extra ounce of attitude! One of my favorite set of false lashes are the tapered end ones by KISS in Sultry. It is the perfect amount of volume and length for my Asian eyes. Sometimes other styles can be too much where the lashes are touching my eyebrows – so, I love this style since it makes me feel comfortable, it’s natural, yet glam, and it does not cover up all the eye makeup that I worked so hard blending! Define the upper and lower lashes even more with a few generous coats of COVERGIRL Clump Crusher by Lashblast Mascara (very black).
LIPS
Finally! We are near finished with this final feature. For my fall color lip, I added a few items to create the burgundy, wine with hints of plum tone. I like the matte texture for extra sophistication so I started out with lining my entire lips with MAC Lip Liner (whirl) and outlined the shape and deepen the corners with Motives Lip Liner (Auburn). I applied Motives Lipstick in Plum Drama and added hues of red with NYX COSMETICS Soft Matte Lip Cream in Amsterdam.
FINISHING SPRAY
You can rock out this look even longer by misting the MAC Mineralize Charged Water over the finished look. I also like the SKINDINAVIA Finishing Spray (oil control) and the CINEMA SECRETS Moisture Spray. Fan the mist immediately after it settles on the skin - this will dry it quickly and prevent any staining of water spots. You will see a huge difference in the way the makeup sets with your natural oils and lasts throughout the day!
WOW! I feel like I just wrote a makeup hand book! Thank you so much for valuing my tips and tricks of the trade. I love sharing these little secrets that make a big difference in the way I look and feel. Give it a try and send me a message - I'd love to hear your stories! Or if you have any comments and/or questions I can further help you with! Stay beautiful inside and out - Lisa