Get the Look: Cleopatra Eye

Recently I reviewed the book Eye Candy by Linda Mason and found this great Cleopatra Inspired eye. I decided to do my own take of the look, with different colors, different textures, and a little different lower lid. It is over the top, yes, but fun. Here is how to get my Linda Mason Cleopatra inspired eye.

Start by applying a base all over the eye area, from lash line to browbone and a little under the eye on the lower lid. Take a light blue shadow and apply with an eyeshadow brush from crease to browbone, taking it into the inner corner a bit.

Take a royal blue shimmer shadow and apply from lash line to above the crease using an eyeshadow brush. Blend well into the light blue.

This next step is optional. If you feel confident enough with liquid liner skip to the next step. If not, take a teal eye pencil and draw on eyeliner as shown above. If you make a mistake or the line gets to think, go over it with a wet q-tip and try again.

Take a teal liquid eyeliner (the one shown is by Wet n Wild) and go over the teal pencil. If you skipped over the last step, just free hand the above design on your eyes with liquid liner. Wait for it to dry.

Take a silver shadow and apply with a small blender brush underneath your eye in the inner half, staying above the teal line.

Take a purple or violet eyeshadow and brush with the small blender brush on the outer half of your eye, taking it out to the wing of the liner. Do not go under the teal line.

Take a black pencil liner and line your bottom waterline, winging it out to directly under the upper teal line (as shown). Apply mascara and you are done! If you would like, apply false eyelashes for a more dramatic look.

Finished product without falsies.

Get The Look: i-sparkle Starlight

In this tutorial I will show you how to get a light, fresh spring pink eye, perfect when you want some color but do not want to overdo it. You will need the i-sparkle quad in Starlight and any base, mascara, and eyeliner of your choice.

First, apply your eyeshadow base from your lash line to your brow bone, and on your lower lid. Apply highlight color (the light pink in the background of the quad) to your brow bone and bring it down into your inner corner.

Apply your lid color (the bright coral petals of the big flower) all over your lid and above the crease. Blend into the highlight.

Take the rose-gold color (the smallest flower) and pat some on your inner eye and about halfway on your lower lid.

Take the darkest color (located at the center of the big flower) and work into outer v and outer crease. Take some on the outer half of your lower lid. Blend well with touching colors.

Apply eyeliner and mascara, groom brows (which I did not :P) and you're done! Looks great with a soft pink lip color and rosy cheeks.

Get the Look: Applying Lipstick

Applying lipstick is one of the most overlooked skills in putting on makeup, most people just grab a tube, put it on and go. While that is ok for touch ups, applying lipstick takes more time.

Choose a lipstick. You can go with whatever works with the rest of your makeup or you can choose something fun and new and work around that color. Remember that if you want your lips to look bigger, go for glossy, light shades and if you want to minimize them go for dark, matte shades. I never let that rule eliminate any lipstick from consideration though, I mainly just go for what I like.

Prep the lips. Exfoliate them, using a store bought lip scrub, a home made one like Aquaphor and sugar, or gently use a washcloth. After, be sure to apply a balm or lip primer.

Most people do not have to do this next step, but it can help. Apply a flesh colored lip eraser, or in a pinch, concealer to the lips and pat in with your finger. This is to neutralize the natural lip color. Pat a little along the line around your lips if you are going to redraw the lip line.

Line the lips. Some people say to go for a flesh-toned shade always, and while I reach for my flesh-toned a lot, I also like to experiment with using different liners, sometimes to match my lipstick, sometimes to change the appearance of lip colors. While some say the latter is a huge no-no, I say have fun, if everyone followed every makeup rule life would be boring! I think it looks fine as long as it is not really dark liner with light lipstick. When using a different color lip pencil than liner, though, you might want to fill in the lips lightly so if the lipstick wears off you don't have a big line around your mouth. When lining the top lip, define the cupids bow, then work out each side to the corners of the mouth. When lining the bottom, starting from the center is easier. Make sure you use a sharp pencil.

Apply lipstick. Some people prefer from in the tube, some people prefer with a lip brush. I prefer with a lip brush, especially with dark colors because it gives you more control over where the lipstick goes. Make sure everything goes on even and stay in the lines. Blot with a tissue. If you want (and it looks good) just leave it at that. If not, apply a little more after you blot.

Apply finishing touches. If you would like gloss over the lipstick, apply at the center of your bottom lip and the center of your top lip. Blend outward towards the corners. By emphasizing the center, you make lips look plumper. You can also highlight the area above the cupids bow with a highlighter to make lips look big if you do not want gloss. Don't forget to touch up throughout the day/night!

Get the Look: Shadow Application Areas

When I post an eyeshadow tutorial, I use terms that are not in the everyday vocabulary. Though I try to be as specific as possible when describing where colors go, it helps to have this diagram. This picture shows where certain parts of the eye are located (when it comes to applying makeup). You can see here all the terms I use, such as lower lid, above the crease and outer V. I hope you find this easy to read, I did have some problems fitting the words into the spaces. One thing missing from the picture is the upper waterline, which is the part located underneath the upper lashline. I hope you find this picture helpful for future tutorials, and if you have any questions just let me know!

Get the Look: Purple Eye

Though all colors on the lids are hot for spring, purple or violet shades seem to be the hottest. Here is my take on the trend.

First, apply a base all over your lid and slightly under your eye. Get a pale pastel shimmer purple and apply it from the lash line up to the brow. I used Bon Bons (the cheap kind you get for $.99) loose shadow in Purple.
Use a bright purple (Milani Single Shadow in Shock) from the lash line to above the crease and take the color under the eye a bit.

If you want the purple to sparkle, apply Jesse's Girl Eye Dust in Cloisonne Violet (you can get this at Rite Aid) all over the Milani Shock.

A dark blue shadow (Sally Girl Shadow in Midnight) should be patted on your outer lid and blended inward.

If desired, cleaned up the loose shadow fallout with a powder brush and define the outer edges of your eye shadow using a wet q-tip.

Apply liner and mascara anyway you like and you're done!

Get The Look: Simple Colorful Eyes

Colorful eyes are hot for spring this year. Though it may seem intimidating, there is actually a very simple way to do a basic two-color eye. Pick out two complimentary colors and a highlight, I used a green and a blue, plus a champagne color. Usually the darker color will be on the outer third.

First, apply a good base all over the eye area up to the brow and including the lower lid under your eye. I used the new Loreal Hip Paint in Secretive.


Apply one of the shadows (in my case, Milani Clover) to the eyelid focusing on the inner 2/3rds of the eye. Blend upward slightly. Take the shadow and brush it in a thin line under the inner half of the lower lid.


Take the other shadow (Milani Blue Ice) and pat on to the outer third of the eyelid. Brush it on to the outer half of the lower lid.


Blend well where the two colors meet by taking some of the outer color already on your lid and moving it slightly into the inner color. Take a bit of the outer color (already on your lid) into the crease. Don't forget the blend under the eye as well.


Take any highlight color and apply to your brow bone. Blend the top of your color eyeshadow into the highlight color to avoid harsh lines.


Make sure everything looks the way you want it to.



Apply liner, mascara, and brow fix. Your eyes are done! Make sure that you use foundation to cover any imperfections on the skin. Colorful eyes seem to bring those out. Also, don't use to bright lipstick or blush if you want to balance out the brightness of your eyes.

Get the Look: Easy Gray Smokey Eye

In this tutorial I am going to show you how I turn this bunch of items



into this simple smokey eye.



The first thing you do is apply a base to your eye. Dot on base with the doe-foot applicator, then blend in with your fingers. Apply the lightest shade, in this case a pearly white, all over the eye area, up to the brow bone with eyeshadow brush.



Next, apply a medium gray shadow on the lid. Pat on to the lid, then blend upward above the crease.



Take a dark gray and pat on to the outer corner of the lid. Blend where the medium gray and the dark gray meet. Also, put some of the dark gray into the crease of the eye.



Using a black shadow and a pencil brush, smudge the shadow on the lash line. It can get a little messy, it doesn't have to be perfect. Blend upward slightly. Apply the same shadow to the bottom lid.



Finish with a kohl liner at the top and bottom lash lines. Smudge the liner a bit. Apply at least two coats of mascara and you're done!

Get the Look: Tightlining

I think I mentioned tightlining on this blog before, but I never went in depth on what it is or how to do it. Tightlining is a way of applying eyeliner to the lash line. Eyeliner is pushed between the lashes to give the lash line a more dense look. It is more subtle that applying liner to the lid and looks fabulous. You can tightline using cream or gel liner, pencil, or liquid. I am going to show you how to do this with cream liner, since I find it the easiest.

Start with a cream or gel liner and a flat liner brush. Usually I would use black liner since it is more natural, but for this tutorial I am using a dark blue. Flip your lid up so that you can see the lash line. It is where the lashes hit the eye, not the pinkish part below that. The pinkish part is called your waterline.



Take your flat liner brush and dip into liner. I scrape the sides on the edge of the jar to keep extra product from smearing everywhere. Take the brush and put it a little under where the lashes meet the skin, press upward, and wiggle. You should make a short dash with your liner. Keep going along the lash line overlapping dashes, pressing and wiggling. I start from the outside in, but I'm sure you can go from the inner corner out. If the line is not dark enough for you, repeat the same process until it is.



Now, here is the part where if you get good enough you can skip, but I am just not that good yet. Take a damp Q-tip and run along the waterline taking out any excess liner that might be smudged there.




For the bottom, just repeat what you did for the top, but this time coming from above since the lash line is already exposed there. You can also run a Q-tip on the bottom waterline if you get any smeared there.




You are done!

Get the Look: Liquid Foundation

A great base is always the start of the perfect full face of makeup. Foundation is the key to getting a great base. So, learning to apply foundation? Pretty important. There are many ways to apply it, using sponges or skunk brushes, and a foundation brush. Though I love those first two ways, a foundation brush is easier and cheaper to get than a Beauty Blender Sponge or a MAC 187. So without further ado, here is my tutorial for applying liquid foundation (with a foundation brush).

Start with a clean moisturized face. You might want to pull your hair back so you don't get it in the liquid. Then apply a foundation base using a foundation brush. Just pump or squeeze the base on to somewhere flat (a palette maybe) and apply from there. Make sure you get in everywhere foundation is going to go. This step is important because it helps the foundation last longer and not settle into pores. Unfortunately, a good foundation base is hard to come by at the drugstore. I have found that Revlon makes one in their Age Defying Line, but I have yet to try it.



Shake foundation if necessary. Pour from bottle of pump to a flat surface. Why? So you do not contaminate the bottle by sticking your fingers in it. Dip your middle finger into the liquid you just poured and dot across the forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin as seen in the picture. I used a slightly more orange foundation just for this picture so you can see where to put it.



Take your foundation brush (you can get one for $1 from E.L.F Cosmetics or a nicer, yet still inexpensive one from Sonia Kashuk) and start blending in the dots all over your face until you cannot see the foundation. Make sure to get all the way up to the hairline and back toward the ears (but not on them). Some people say to blend on to the neck, and some say to just blend well at the jaw. I think if your foundation is matched close enough you should be able to get away with blending at the jaw. If you are unsure or it looks too mask-like for you blend into the neck.



Conceal. I like to use a concealer brush, but some concealers come with wands. Whatever you use, after applying, dab with your middle finger to get a less harsh look.



Apply powder using a fluffy, soft powder brush. I am using a translucent powder to set my foundation and to keep it matte looking. Just lightly dust over face in a circular motion, making sure to blend in any streaks of powder.



Now you are ready to apply the rest of your makeup!

Get the Look: Flushed Pink Cheeks

It is raining outside and I am wishing for spring already. As a quick pick me up I broke out my new favorite pink blush, Revlon A Floral Affair in Pinking of You. All four Floral Affair blushes are great. The hinged clear packaging is nice and the raised design on the powder makes these look higher end. They are a bit pricey at $11. 49 (at Walgreens) but you can get them on sale.

Powder blush is about the easiest makeup item to apply. All you need is the blush, a fluffy blush brush like my MAC 129 and maybe some translucent powder.





First, pick up the color on your brush. If the color is bright, I would just tap the brush in the pan. The Revlon blush is kind of sheer on me, so I brush the pan slightly. Smile. The round part of your cheeks is called the apple, and you want to concentrate your color there for the most natural look. Using circular motions or short strokes, apply blush to the apples and blend slightly upward toward the hairline.


Do not apply blush in one streak from apple to hairline and do not apply blush past the irises of your eyes (going toward the nose). Those things will make the blush look fake. Also, if you are using an even slightly pinkish color, do not apply to the forehead, you will look burned.

Did you apply too much? Go over it with translucent powder to dilute the color.

The debate rages on about when to apply blush, some people like to apply before doing their eyes and lips. The idea is if it looks ok alone, you haven't overdone it. Some prefer to do blush last to finish the look. I think it is a matter of preference, apply when you want to.

Get the Look: Subtle Taupe Eyes

The new Loreal Limited Edition Showstopping Taupes Quad is a great way to practice applying eye shadow. The colors are pretty and have shimmer, plus are easy to blend and match. Here is how I use this quad to get the perfect subtle taupe eye.

First, take the top left shadow, a shimmery beige, and pat on and blend all over the eye from lashline to brows, into the inner corner and a little under the inner part of the eye.

Then, take the color to the right of that, a gray/silver, and pat it on to the lid*. Blend up above the crease into the shimmery beige.

Take the dark taupe color on the bottom left and put on to the outer third of you eyelid and into the crease. I also take the dark color under the eye about a third of the way. Blend well where gray meets dark taupe.

I put a touch of the pink color in the center of the eyelid to bring that area of my upward, but this is completely optional.

Line upper and lower lashlines with a black liner (I tightlined using a cream liner). Last, coat lashes with mascara.




*If you would like a variation on this eye, use the pink color all over the lid instead of the gray/silver. The quad is $6.99 at Longs Drugs.

Get the Look: Red Lips

Get the look of glamorous red lips this season. Start by gently buffing off the dead skin on your lips with a damp washcloth. Apply your favorite lip balm, like Sephora Brand Lip Butter ($2) and let it sink in. This will give you a great lip base to work with. If you would like to redraw your lip line in any dramatic way, cover lips and lip line with concealer. I redrew my lips slightly, exaggerating the bow. Line lips with a red or neutral lip pencil. Choose red if you do not want to tone down the color, but choose neutral if you are afraid of your lipstick wearing off and leaving a ring. I used Wet n Wild Creme Lip Liner 717, if you are looking for a neutral try 712. Both are $.99. Shade in lips slightly with the pencil. Apply red lipstick all over lips up to lip lines with a lip brush. The red lipstick pictured here is N.Y.C. Ultra Moist LipWear in Sheer Red. If you are looking for something a little darker, try Retro Red. Both lipsticks are $.99. Then, blot. To keep the lipstick from fading, I then set with translucent powder (N.Y.C. Smooth Skin Loose Face Powder, $2.99) and reapply lipstick with lip brush.

Get the Look: Mod Eyes

Get this mod inspired look with a few basic steps and some great drugstore buys. First, curl your eyelashes. I used Revlon Eyelash Curler ($3.99). Then line top lid thickly with a liquid or gel liner, like Loreal Hip Color Truth Eyeliner in Black ($11.99). Wing out the ends for a cat-eye. Line lower waterline with white eyeliner. I used Rimmel Soft Kohl Kajal Eye Pencil in Pure White ($2.99). Get out false eyelashes, like Ardell Fashion Lashes 110 ($3.49). Apply eyelash adhesive like Duo Eylash Adhesive in White/Clear ($5.99) with the back of a makeup tool to the lash band. Let the glue get tacky. Then, apply lashes as close to your lashline as possible, starting at the outer corner working in. Press gently and allow adhesive to dry. Swipe one more coat of eyeliner on. Then, curl the lashes again and apply any black mascara to top and bottom lashes. All products mentioned are available at Walgreens.