How to have fun with make-up?
I like to have fun with my makeup just as much as I like finding new ways to pair the clothes in my closet.
On a daily basis, I do not have an usual makeup style, I can go bare face on monday, wear winged liner tuesday, red lips wednesday and a smokey eye on thursday…
It is so enjoyable to be able to look different everyday.
This is why I always look at catwalks, editorials and makeup racks (indeed) for out of the ordinary looks.
I adopted some over the years. They are easy to wear, yet really catch the eye.
Let me share them with you.
1/ The under the eye dots
I saw this in a Kenzo advert in 2000 and immediately decided to copy it as an high school everyday style.
I feel it really make the eyes sparkle.
I kept doing it even since and, recently, I saw this look in several shows.
Large and silver version at Givenchy 2012
Fashion is always coming back.
So if you love something and feels like it suits you, keep doing it!
2/ The sparkly liner
If you read me, you know I love all that glitters.
Therefore, when, almost 10 years ago (!) I hit the makeup rack from Too Faced and saw those glittery liners, I could not resist buying a my-little-pony-turquoise-colored-one which shade was called “drunk dial”.
I then bought a silver and a gold one.
It makes the eye look like a jewel with just one little line.
And it is so much easier to apply than regular eye liner!
3/ The flashy violet mascara
I hereby decline any liability for consequences. This topic is very divisive.
In 2012, Géraldine Dormoy, one of my favorite blogger, targeted my attention on Stella Mc Carney’s show vibrant violet mascara.
I felt it made the model’s eyes look like butterflies. I too wanted to look like one. So I went to Make Up for Ever and bought the purple smoky lash.
On a nude makeup it look amazing.
I love to put loads of it to reproduce the vibrant color.
4/ Odd nail polishes
Being a very small surface, nails are the perfect area to try unlikely colors.
I like to use eccentric nailpolishes to make classic outfits look more fun.
The only problem is me having literally no patience to wait for them to dry which always makes me postpone my color change (same problem as loving shirts but hating ironing).
Consider every bizarre shade ^^
Essie’s electric blue
Almond green as seen on Pshiiit
Gold
Emerald green on short nails
Lilac nails
Barbie pink nails on a not Barbie outfit
5/ Red eye makeup
When I was a teenager, I sneaked into my mother’s bathroom and found this reddish brown eyeshadow that I begun stealing from occasionally.
It made my amber eyes look fabulous, like they were lit up from the inside (am I selling my eyes right or what?).
Years later, when I saw red eyeshadows on catwalks, I felt it made the models look like sexy vampires.
I also discovered that the egyptians used to wear burnt sienna on their eyelids and that, during the age of enlightements, french aristocrats used some bright red just under their waterline.
Since looking like a sexy egyptian vampire from Renaissance with luminescent eyes sounded appealing to me, I went looking for red eye makeup last year… which was not easy, trust me. I finally got some at Kiko but also spotted great stuffs at Make up for ever.
I think red can look good with any eye color because this is a color you have in your skin.
Try it on you and be careful do not overload ^^
And you? Do you use unusual makeup tricks?
I gave the whole topic a second thought, here’s what came out:
To have fun with makeup sometimes also means stepping outside your comfort zone (think a pastel wash of colour all over your lid, or the wonderful dots above/below the eyes, or colourful mascara/winged eyeliner. Start slowly and use a very light hand with the products overall.
To stil look good (and not ridiculous) when trying out these wonderful suggestions Alois collected, I’d recommend to keep the rest fairly simple. This means only very, very light blush or contouring (if you feel you need it, as it’s very superficial and product-heavy; I’d recommend skipping it in favor of the special makeup you’re willing to try out), only nude lipstick or non at all (better use lipbalm or even clear gloss, if you feel like you can’t go with “bare” lips).
Maybe even a toned down wardrobe would be a good idea? If you’re a maximaist by heart, this obviously doesn’t count, but then you wouldn’t read this post anyways, would you?
I think, colourful makeup plus bright nails goes very well togethter, as the colourful areas aren’t located right next to each other (unlike eyes and lips – the 80ies was the time to observe what happened, if you coloured them both eqally bright). You could even match it, e.g. blue mascara with bright blue polish. Combined with a white striped shirt and blue jeans, I could imagine it looking quite sophisticated!
I’m a makeup chameleon and LOVE playing around, even if I touch the realms of… say, avantgarde sometimes.
And I really love and wear the undereye dots! As my eyes are hooded and a bit droopy, I don’t place the dots under the eyes, but e.g. in the inner corners (makes an instant cateye’ish look) or on the upper lids. Bonus for all fellow hooded lid-sporting ladies: on us, it doesn’t look too daring, as our upper lid hides most of it, and only makes it noticeable when blinking. A sexy surprise moment, I think!
I’m also a lover of red eyeshadow, just make sure not to pick a too natural looking colour (like pink-ish if your’re a light cool type), that way you avoid the dreaded “looking ill”-look. Metallic shine helps here, too. Just don’t go natural on this! (I can recommend MACs beautiful shade “Cranberry”, which I’m using myself. I’m very fair skinned, so I’m proof it works marvellously on pale skin too! And on dark skin it’s a no-brainer.) If you use a strong shade of red and blend it with natural matte brown, it gets quite wearable for daytime. Use black eye liner to noticeably go for the “it’s make up (not inflamed eyes)” look, again. I wear this in my quite conservative office without ever looking off.
It complements green(-ish) and blue(-ish) eyes fantastically! You’re absolutely right, it makes your eye colour shine and look really intense!
I’ve collected a few links by fabulous red-eye-wearing Frida Skoglund from Sweden for you. She’s a pale girl with dark hair and amazing makeup skills, and you can see how fantastic red eye shadow can look in different places and combinations:
http://frida.chic.se/today%c2%b4s-makeup-look-eyes-to-kill/
http://frida.chic.se/orebropride/
http://frida.chic.se/a-fall-inspired-makeup-look/
http://frida.chic.se/metallic-red/
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-coppering-2/
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-chic-galan-2014/
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-fire-walk-with-me/
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-amber-lights/
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-plum/
http://frida.chic.se/club-cranberry/
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-dirty/
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-steamy-3/ (here, a little red does all the trick in supporting the other colour!)
http://frida.chic.se/todays-makeup-look-hot-red/#./?&_suid=146064724973007058537141852144 (its FIRE RED, and not a good look in my opinion.. but it’s very RED indeed.)
Tutorial with MACs Cranberry: http://frida.chic.se/tutorial-cranberry-eyes/
Roundup Red: http://frida.chic.se/tema-rott/
Hope you find this collection helpful!
Thanks for your ever-so-well-curated posts without the “blabla”-factor! I really enjoy this.
Evelyn
You are the only person in fashion whose advice I would be willing to take without reservation.
🙂
I agree! I love you Alois, the only fashion blog I look at!
Thanks Natasha