I’m a makeup artist – my clientele are mostly celebrities. Here are instructions for you to recreate the "Old Hollywood" look we see on so many celebrities - cuz Mummies need to vamp it up sometimes too!
This is definitely a more “polished” look, and takes a little more confidence to pull off! The focus here is, of course, the red lip.
So grab your makeup kit and let's get started!
Start by making the skin look as porcelain-perfect as you can using your foundation and concealer to hide any imperfections, spreading the foundation over your lips as well, and powder to give your skin a matte finish.
Make sure your brows look groomed. If you have great brows, you could spray a bit of hairspray on a toothbrush you no longer use and comb them through your brows to control the direction of the hair. If your brows are a little sparse in some areas, use the small angle brush with an eyeshadow colour that matches your hair to fill in or create a better shape.
Use your eyeshadow base over the lid, past the crease of your eye. Since the focal point of this look is the lip, let’s keep the eyes a bit more simple and not go too far with eyeshadow colour.
Using a black liquid eyeliner, draw a thin line along your lashline. Try it out once or twice before you debut this look -practice! Try not to hold the brush/tip of the liner like a pen so that the sharp tip is the only thing touching your skin… try laying the liner tip on it’s side and dragging it along. Don’t think you have to do your liner all in one solid line - small strokes are fine as long as the end result looks smooth.
If eyeliner is too scary for you, LOADS of mascara also looks fantastic! Two coats!! Go for it! (red carpet-ready tip: buy a pair of medium length false lashes, and cut them in half vertically. Use the bit that was meant for the inner edge of your eye, and use lash glue to put that at the outer edge so the longest lashes are at the outermost corner of your eye. Instead of closing one eye while you are trying to apply the lash, keep both eyes open and tip your chin way back while you are looking in the mirror… like you are looking up your nose! Then just plop those little corner lashes on the outer edge, right where the lashes meet your skin. The glue and band of the false lash should be on your skin, not on your natural eyelash. These outer-corner half lashes are like a push-up bra for your face! And, since it’s not a full false lash, looks much more “natural”.)
Use a soft, matte textured blush shade (just a little bit to give warmth to the contours of your face) and use your blush brush to apply this along your cheekbone, not blending further in than the apple of the cheek. A light hand is important here, you will get a big pop of colour from the red lips!
Ahh, red lips. So many women I know are afraid of red lips! Let’s tackle the classic red lip first: you will need a red lipliner. Something that matches the tone of the red that you’ve chosen. (If you are unsure of what red would look good on you, the easiest thing would be to get some help from the artists who work the makeup counter… try them on! Your comfort level with the shade of red you choose is important!!) I like to apply the lipstick FIRST, and do the lipliner SECOND. This way you can tell if you have lined your lips evenly or corrected any areas that need a little help, then blend the edges of the liner into the lipstick. Gently blot your lips with a tissue. (If you are using a stay-on lipstick you will not need to blot). Is this look a little too strong for you? Try using your shade of red lipstick (this works better with a NON stay-on lipstick, just a regular texture) and skip the lipliner. Put a bit of the red lipstick on your bottom lip only and smoosh your lips together, or use your fingertip to spread it out over both lips. This gives more of a “stained” red lip, and is a little softer. You can add red in small amounts until you are comfortable with the intensity!
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