Christian Dior, Fall 2012 Couture makeup. (Eyeshadow, kohl pencil, blush, maximizer and lipstick, all Dior.) Feeling inspired? Try 8 more ways to upgrade your cat eye.
Makeup: Pat McGrath. Photo: Thibaut de Saint Chamas for Christian Dior Parfums. Design: Kathleen Schenck.
Love a little mood-boost quote? (So do we.) We’ve got 25 more where this came from! Photo: Mark Leibowitz / Design: Kathleen Schenck
Seriously straight (and chic) ponies at Alexander Wang, spring 2013
Photo: Mark Leibowitz
POST + PHOTOGRAPHY BY AMY NADINE, GRAPHIC DESIGN BY EUNICE CHUN
For years I've concentrated blush only on the cheeks. But as I've evolved and grown as a makeup artist, through studying my work on the red carpet, magazines and television appearances as well as working on every skin tone and face shape out there, I've learned that a real actual flush doesn't just occur on the cheeks. And a lot of the time if we only blush the cheek, it can come across a little clown-y or stripe-y. So try this technique and create the illusion of a healthy glow as opposed to the "hey everyone, I'm wearing blush" look! Here's how:
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FYI, you guys.
Show: Etro, spring 2011, Art: Jenifer Gobie. Photo: Mark Leibowitz.
Braid beauty at Jason Wu, spring 2013
Photo: Mark Leibowitz
Marc Jacobs spring 2013 beauty, NARS
Photo: Mark Leibowitz
"I have yet to meet a woman—be she supermodel or senator—who doesn’t believe in the power of a good hair day. Find your best color, cut, and style, and everything else follows." - Cindi Leive
Get more beauty tidbits from Glamour's Editor-in-Chief over on Glamour.com.
I kind of love nail polish. Like, this much:
This is only a small portion of my collection
So, when I was asked if I wanted to test out a few new colours from Butter London's fabulous collection, I jumped at the chance.
Nail polish is quite literally the best accesory: it's affordable, funky and can spruce up that little black dress with a punch of colour. Butter London is one of the more high-end nail lacquers and has so many earthy, stunning colours for Fall (and a glittery purple lineup for holiday 2011). So yeah, of course I wanted to try it.
The Product: Butter London trio package The Black Knight.
I product tested three Butter London shades: a metallic blue named "Big Smoke" (my fave), a soft powdery pink called " Teddy Girl," and a juicy burnt cranberry named "Saucy Jack":
The Black Knight trio pack from left: Big Smoke, Teddy Girl and Saucy Jack
Formulation and application: What I love about Butter London's polishes is they they are "3-free", meaning they don't contain formaldehyde, toluene or DBP, which is reason enough to go for it. What I love even more is how well the colour goes on and how long it lasts.
I'm a stickler with my polishes: if the brush is too thick, the colours too runny or the formula too thin, it's something I notice. Butter London's lacquer had the ideal small brush size with adorable packaging to boot.
I lacquered up two coats of "Saucy Jack" before a big night out and it practically glided on, leaving my nails looking super smooth. After painting a clear coat overtop, my nails lasted perfectly for about a week-which is quite rare for this constant typist. The stunning red colour looked adorable with my brand new American Apparel dress, accentuating it perfectly (pictured below):
American Apparel's two-toned mini dress in black and ruby
The Final Word:
While usually an OPI girl myself, I think it's safe to say that I'm now a convert; Butter London's uber-cool packaging, perfectly-sized brush and "3-free" formula have given my rack of polishes a good run for their gloss.
Images courtsesy of yours truly and American Apparel.
DVF spring 2013 nail art by 10 Blank Canvases for Glamour.com.
Pretty in purple. Inspiration from Jason Wu and Etro, spring 2011.
Photographs by: Mark Leibowitz
Photo: Getty
In our latest column, "Ask a Fashionista," you can solicit our strongly held opinions on everything from how to wear a midi skirt without looking like a tree stump to whether a certain retail CEO should go ahead and resign already.
Q: I’m fair skinned. How do I pull off a smoky eye without it looking like I’m wearing too much makeup? - Molly, Brooklyn, NY
A: When a smoky eye of Kim Kardashian caliber is many people’s most immediate reference for the look, it can seem pretty intimidating, especially for pale folks on whom a dark eye might be overwhelming. The good news is, it doesn’t have to involve 20 minutes of shading and lining and doing that thing where you blend a frighteningly dense shadow out and up into the crease in some kind of spoon-tip shape.
Make like Eva Green, queen of all things French and foxy, and keep it simple.
For fair-skinned ladies (or dudes) easing their way into a smoky look, I’d advocate a less-is-more approach. And a casual, minimalist smoky eye actually works on people of all skin tones, so this isn’t just for pale peeps.
The nice thing about a smoky eye is that unlike cat eye liner — which sometimes feels like it requires a fine art degree to do in a non-messy, symmetrical way — you can’t suck at it. You just can’t. You take a tequila shot maybe, and you practice. And then you get better.
Arguably the easiest way to dial down the impact of a smoky eye is by subbing in brown liner for black. I actually tend to like this more because it’s less obvious and therefore ups the wearer’s mystery factor, which, let’s be real, is the whole point of the look.
A great (and affordable!) liner for this is Maybelline Define-A-Line Eyeliner in Chestnut Brown. If you’ve got darker skin, pick an espresso or brown-black color. Using short strokes, trace the liner from the outer corner inward, skimming along the waterline as you go. If you want — and you do — wing it out a few centimeters past the outer corner and then rim the lower waterline, adding a few dots along outer corner of the lower lashes. Then take the spongey bit at the end of the eyeliner and use little back and forth motions to smudge the liner a bit. Easy squeezy.
Taylor Swift demonstrates the power of the brown smoky eye. Photo: Getty
Pro tip: Make sure the eyeliner has a nice density as you’re putting it on, but don’t make the line too thick, since it’s going to be extended a bit by the smudging. Keeping it close to the lash line will make it look more natural when it gets smoked out.
You can leave it there, or go in on your lids with a shimmery brown shadow that’s lighter than the liner — remember the look that cemented Taylor Swift’s status as a total smokeshow? — to add a little more depth. Another option is to pat the tiniest bit of liquid highlighter, like Nyx’s Born to Glow, onto your lids to give it a little sheen.
Another option for paring down a smoky eye is a method I like to call “putting on a lot and then wiping most of it off.” This is the way to go if you want to channel, say, Alexander Wang’s spring ’12 show.
This works well with a black or slate gray (again, go lighter if your skin is lighter) eyeliner. Apply it in a thicker line than before, roll a q-tip around in some moisturizer and wipe the majority of the liner off, leaving it be at the lash line. Go in with a clean q-tip to get the excess off and to smudge the remaining pigment in. Since things are a little liquid here, add a dab of highlighter to the center of your lids. Swipe on some mascara, pull on a leather jacket and you’re out the door.
Email us your questions at [email protected] or leave one in the comments section below.
Shopping alert: Behold 30 chic little finds for $30 and under.
Glamour writer Lauren Bernstein demonstrates how to get ready for a holiday party in your office bathroom.
Vampy + Matte: How dramatic is this super-dark lip? Photo: Mark Leibowitz
Glamour writer Lauren Bernstein demonstrates how to get ready for a holiday party in your office bathroom.
Tutorial + Photography by Amy Nadine, Graphic Design by Eunice Chun
Looking for something fun and different to try this weekend? Why not add a little highlight to your cat eye by calling upon its twin counterpart! You might remember when I did this look on Lauren Conrad back on the red carpet back in 2011 from our Double Liner Story... anyway, it's much more wearable than you might think and it shows you're confidently willing to take chances! Here's how:
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