Shall we?
Step #1: Start with a clean, moisturized face. Around the eye area--from the brow bones to the lashline--gently pat a bit of liquid concealer into the skin until it's blended. Don't apply the concealer to the under eye area yet; that will come later. Take a fluffy eyeshadow brush and lightly dust some loose powder around the entire eye area, from the brow bone to the lid to the under eye area. The loose powder will not only help to soak up any residual oil on the eyelids, it will also serve as a barrier between the skin and whatever flecks of eyeshadow that might fall onto the skin during the process. And that, let me assure you, makes for much easier under eye clean-up! :)
Step #1:
This is the eye area that you will be working with for this look,
from just below the eyebrow to about where the first line of
this writing would be, if this picture was your face.
Step #2: Take your fluffy eyeshadow brush and dip it into a shimmery champagne eyeshadow, then dip it into your loose powder. Dust this shade--a combination of the champagne shadow and the loose powder--onto your brow bone and into the inner corner of your eye, to highlight. (The combination of the champagne shadow and the loose powder makes for a subtle glow that works well for the daytime, I found.) Make sure to softly blend out any harsh edges.
Step #2
Step #3: Take a smaller, flat eyeshadow brush and very gently pat--pleeeeease don't rub!--a light grey/taupe shade onto 3/4's of your eyelid only. Leave the inner 1/4 of your eye alone, so that the champagne highlight can still shine through. (Oh...and I apologize for the "highlight" instruction, the circled areas, and the arrows. I couldn't erase them once I had added them onto the drawing, as it was done in pen. Sigh!)
Step #3
Step #4: Dip your small, flat eyeshadow brush into a dark brown shade and a light plum shade of eyeshadow, and apply it to the outermost 1/3 of your eyelid, blending out the shadow at the crease of your eye. With the darker shades in this look, it is important to keep the edges of the shadow soft. It's a smoky look, but it's also a subtle look. :)
Step #4
Step #5: Take a black eyeliner pencil and apply it to your lash-line, in a lopsided " < " shape. The upper half of this " < " shape should be longer than the lower half, with the line growing from thin to thicker at the outer corner of the eye.
Step #5
Step #6: Take a thin, stiff, flat eyeshadow brush and gently pat a sparkly black eyeshadow onto the eyeliner that you just drew onto your lash-line. This not only helps to further emphasize the eyeliner; the powder of the eyeshadow also helps to lock the eyeliner pencil in place and helps to keep it from smudging and running. Using the same brush, apply a dark plum/black shade over the sparkly black eyeshadow; if you want, you can skip the sparkly black eyeshadow and just use the dark plum shade. It's entirely up to you. :) The plum shade really softens the look very prettily, though.
Step #6
Step #7: An optional finishing touch on the eyes would be to curl the eyelashes and then apply black liquid--or gel, or cream--eyeliner to the upper lash-line, winging it out at the outer corner of the eye to make a cat-eye shape. This is purely an optional finishing touch, however; if you don't like liquid eyeliner or you simply find that the eyeliner that you have already applied is enough to your liking, you can by all means leave it at that. I just like to add liquid eyeliner sometimes because it gives my lash-line a nice, crisp pop...and I happen to really love the winged-out cat-eye shape.
However, another few finishing touches on the eyes that I would not skip--unless I had the fortune to be in possession of naturally dark eyelashes and fuller eyebrows, that is--would be applying mascara and filling in the eyebrows. These are both elements that give the eyes a nice, polished look, and a well-groomed and nicely emphasized set of eyebrows can frame the eyes so very well, as other makeup artists before me have pointed out. :)
The Optional Step #7
As for the rest of the face: after I've made up the eyes, I take a fluffy powder brush, dip it into my loose powder, and gently sweep away the eyeshadow that has fallen onto my face in the application process. I then apply my concealer to even out my complexion, and blend a mineral powder foundation over that. I use the same champagne eyeshadow that I highlighted my eyes with to highlight the high points of my face--my cheekbones, the Cupid's bow of my upper lip, and the bridge of my nose; then, I add a light sweep of bronzer and natural pink blush, applying powder afterward as I find necessary.
For the lip color to pair with this look, I would recommend wearing either a pink-neutral shade or a rosy-mauve shade, in a lip gloss, balm, or lipstick. I'm about to add the list of items that I used to make this look, and you might be surprised at the lip product that I used for it. ;D
Oh...and before you begin to wonder if I'm being paid to advertise for this company because I've used so many of its products to make this look, allow me to assure you that this is not the case. I own a lot of Lancôme products because a) I've been a fan of the line for several years and I've bought a good amount of their items, and b) until autumn of last year, I worked at a makeup counter for that cosmetics line, at a department store. When you work for a cosmetics company, they tend to send you a lot of their products, so that you can try them yourself and therefore better recommend them to your clients.
I can tell you, then, without being biased by my occupation--because I no longer work for the department store or the Lancôme company--that I really do like the products, and I believe in their quality and efficacy. It is an expensive line, however, by most levels of constructive criticism; I like the line, but I can't always afford to buy solely from them. So, if you would rather buy the less pricey makeup options that are available at the drugstore or other such places, I can assure you that it is completely possible to make this look without breaking the bank. :)
The items that I used for this look are:
(I've heard that they've stopped making this product; any loose mineral powder will do just as well.)
- The bronzer that I used was a complexion-warming/highlighting duo from Lancôme; however, it was part of a limited seasonal makeup collection that the line did, and so it isn't available anymore. (Which is a real pity, because it is one of the few shades of bronzer that goes all right with my palepalePALE skin!) You can substitute any bronzer that you like!
(See? I told you that you'd be surprised about the lip color!)
And that is how I made my daytime-appropriate, effortless and yet polished-chic makeup look. I feel as though there are still a lot of instructions and a lot of different products to use, but the end result of the look really doesn't appear to be overdone. All it takes is a light hand with the makeup, and a good amount of blending. And you can simplify this look as much as you want to. :)
Before I sign off on this post, here's an update on Baby, size-wise first...
Image source: thebump.com
Baby's bones are turning from cartilage into real bone, and my little munchkin is starting to fill out with some baby fat now, I've read. I'm also starting to notice what I think might be some of Baby's movement in my tummy: it's all little squirmy flutters, tiny judges, and tickling feelings, and sometimes it's difficult to tell if it's the baby or just the usual activity of my stomach. I'm becoming increasingly convinced, though, that what I'm feeling is the baby...and it is so awesome to sit very quietly and wait for the little bumps and squirms to start up. I love it.
I think the tummy is also expanding somewhat...sometimes I feel like my stomach muscles are really stretched and achy, but I'm happy about it, because that means that the baby is growing. We've started planning the gender reveal party, so you'll be hearing about that soon too. :D
Until then--
À bientôt!
-- Cait + Baby
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