March 2012
12 posts
TUTORIAL: SMOKEY EYE IN 10 STEPS
The smokey eye is one of the most popular and sought-after looks in makeup, often being sported by celebrities on the red carpet as well as models on runways. By making your eyes ‘pop’, this sexy makeup style is popular due to its simplicity and versatility. Whether you’re 19 or 39, there are many different variations of the look that you can wear with endless possibilities.
This look can be done with almost any color, but if you are not familiar with makeup it’s a good idea to stick to a neutral shade at first. A bronzey brown or plum-ish purple are safer choices, but if you are naturally adventurous with your makeup, opting for vibrant shades or different combinations of colors such as turquoise or bright purple can be a lot of fun.
For today’s tutorial, you will learn how to do a standard smokey eye in 10 steps.
Items Needed
- Eye primer
- Cream color base
- Shadows:
1. Neutral base/highlight,
2. Mid color and
3. Dark color ie: beige, bronzey brown and dark brown
- False eyelashes
- Eyelash glue
- Mascara
- Eyelash curler
- Liquid or pencil eyeliner in black
- Under eye concealer
- Brushes:
1. Small flat brush
2. Small round blending brush
3. Larger round blending brush
4. Bigger highlight brush
5. Concealer brush
Once you have gathered your items needed you can get started:
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1. Before you apply any makeup on your eyes, apply a eye primer on your lids as it will help prep and moisturize your eyelids for better eye shadow application.
2. Apply a neutral cream color with your small flat brush on your eyelids or some kind of cream base; this will help powder products stay on and blend better, as well as prevent your eye shadow from creasing. Blend evenly in a sweeping motion all across your eyelids from the inner corner to the lash line and up to the highlight.
3. Take same brush and apply your neutral/highlight color(beige) in the same motion as you did with the cream base, going up to the highlight.
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4. Take the same brush and apply your mid color(bronze brown) over the area that is just below your eyebrow bone, covering most of your eyelid from the outer corner to the inner corner, sweeping your brush back and forth. Keep in mid not to dab too much of the product with your brush, if you did you can smear some of the product on to the back of your hand.
5. Take your small round blending brush and and blend the mid color even more in short little strokes moving your brush back and forth. Once you have blended the mid color evenly so that it fades into your highlight area(just below your eyebrow), take the same brush and dab a tiny bit of your darkest color to the upper outer corner of your eye. You can increase the intensity of the look by dabbing more of the darkest color there.
http://static.becomegorgeous.com/img/arts/2009/Dec/16/1631/krsitenstewartsmokeysteps_thumb.jpg
7. Take the same brush and blend the darkest point in an outward ‘V’ shape, like ‘<’ and ‘>’. Move your small round blending brush as if you were tracing the ‘<’ repeatedly. Use the larger blending brush and repeat the step until the color is blended evenly into the highlight.
Photo: Christopher Collie
Makeup & Hair: Sandra Chung for Coveted Cosmetics
8. Curl your lashes with an eyelash curler, apply mascara, then apply false eyelashes with eyelash glue.
9. You will notice how your smokey eye is intensified before and after false eyelashes. After your lashes have dried and set, apply either black liquid or pencil eyeliner across your upper lash line covering the band of the fake lashes. You can line your bottom lash line as well, depending on how intense you want your smokey eye to be. Take your small round blending brush and dab some of the mid color and line your bottom lash line with it, the heaviest point at the outermost corner of your eye. Apply mascara to your bottom lashes to your liking.
10. Take your large highlight brush and dab some of your neutral/ highlight color and sweep it across your highlight area below your eyebrows. Your eyeshadow should be an even cascade of colors with the darkest color at the outermost corner of your eyelid, the mid color on your eyelid and the highlight right underneath your eyebrow. Clean any eye shadow fall out with eye makeup remover and apply under eye concealer.
And there you have it, the iconic smokey eye in 10 easy steps. To complete your look, finish off with some nude lip gloss for a contemporary look ,or opt for a luscious red lip for a show-stopping effect. Let me know what your favourite smokey eye tips are, until next time!
Sandra.
February 2012
1 post
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November 2011
1 post
LEONE X HUSH MAGAZINE COMMERCIAL SHOOT
Last week I had the opportunity to do hair and makeup for a promotional video collaboration for Leone, a local luxury boutique and Hush magazine, a local publication who was commissioned to shoot the video. Everything was put together in a very short time and I also had to work at Vancouver Fashion Week the same day . So, as hectic as the day set out to be, everything turned out rather smoothly et voila - here are some behind-the-scenes snapshots of the shoot.
Settin’ up shop - My kit has been significantly reduced over the years..less is more
In terms of hair and makeup, the concept was rather simple. The synopsis was essentially a young couple pulling up in a Maserati to Leone and spending a splendid afternoon shopping as they walk out with tons of shopping bags in the end. A few different scenes were shot, such as entering the store, trying on different outfits and browsing through their three-level boutique as well as having coffee at at their cafe.
“Make her look older, please” said Kevin, the Marketing/PR director of Leone, referring to our fresh-faced model Cara who clearly didn’t look a day past twenty. So I did, and although she still looked young, she was definitely more ‘well put-together’ and mature than ‘old’.
Baby-faced Cara
I decided to go with a 40’s movie siren- inspired makeup look - bronzey smokey eye to bring out her iridescent blue eyes paired with a bold red lip with peachy cheeks. For her hair, I first blow-dryed and then curled it with a large curling iron and teased the lights out of it to get that voluptuous va-va-voom look.
More volume!!
The result:
Cara in character
I thought the bold lip went well with the Cavalli leopard print jacket and J Brand dark denim. She could pass for a young version of “The Real Housewives of Vancouver”, n’est pas? As for the grooming for our male model Alex, it only took a few minutes since he already looked like he was born for the part. The models then slipped into their respective wardrobes and truly looked like a few young celebutantes. Like a scene straight out of Gossip Girl, if you will.
Here comes my ride. It’s just a Maserati. No biggie.
The director Shane definitely was good at what he does because the shoot wrapped up in just a few hours. The first scenes took the longest to shoot, even though it mainly consisted of just the two models pulling up in a Maserati and getting out and walking into the store. Then Shane decided to incorporate a concierge person to open the car door for our starlet.
Our male model Alex looking very dashing and 007-ish
But since it was a busy sidewalk, passers-by kept walking into the scene and some of them waited in anticipation to see who was going to step out of the Maserati. Most people assumed it was going to be an older guy in his mid-life crisis but ..surprise! Just a couple of young, good-looking people ready to drop some major paper at one of the most luxurious boutiques in town.
“I hope you know how much it will cost you if you call me ‘Linda’ next time.”
“Yes dear, that was an expensive mistake.”
The shooting then proceeded inside the store, where scenes of the two models trying on various outfits were shot. If you’ve never been inside this boutique, it’s really quite beautiful with traditional Italian influences. Take a stroll and you may feel like you’re shopping at the Duomo in Milan.
The young couple grab a cappuccino at the L2 Cafe. Mambo Italiano.
The final scene ended with the couple taking a siesta at the L2 Cafe. An obscure location, it’s hidden way in the back of their boutique downstairs which carries more casual lines such as Rebecca Taylor and Diesel.
I used to eat here every week because the food is just simple, rustic and delicious home-made Italian favourites like chicken parmagiana and spaghetti with meatballs. You can judge the authenticity of how Italian they are by how loud the yelling is in the kitchen, and how thin Giuseppina’s(the boss and head chef) pizza crust is.
It was a short and sweet shoot since I had to run off to Vancouver Fashion Week so I didn’t actually get to wrap up with the whole crew. I got to see the product in the editing process and it looks really impressive. Beautifully shot and edited, it doesn’t just look like your average promotional video; you can almost envision the interesting backstory behind it. I’m excited to see the final post-edited video, which should be up soon..stay tuned!
