Style 101 - Dressed to the Nines

Most looks I've been posting since I started this series have been about casual/fun looks.  What do I do when I really want to dress up?  What do I do for a night out?

Obviously I go heavy and I have a lot of fun.

Here are the starring players: liquid foundation, concealer, eyeshadow base, plum eyeshadow quad, blush lipstick, liquid eyeliner, mascara, and powder.

I like my mineral foundation, but if I'm really going all-out with makeup, I like the extra coverage of liquid foundation.  Lancome Teinte Miracle is a favorite of mine.  It truly does make your skin look lit from within.  Worth the hefty price tag.

I prep my skin with serum after cleansing and moisturizing.  I start with concealer, blending with a sponge and also use a sponge to blend the foundation.

Eyeshadow base goes on the lids.  It smooths out the color and gives the shadow more staying power and keeps it from smudging too much.

I use all four shadows in the quad.  It's a little hard to see, but this one contains a white highlighter, pale sparkly lavender, a medium plum, and a dark plum.  I place the lightest shade under the eyebrow and bring it down all over the lid area, taking it around the tear ducts. The lighter plum goes on the lid and up into the crease.  The dark plum goes from the outer corner of the lid and the outer edge of the crease.  I don't wing it or cat-eye it.  My eyes are very round and trying to extend color outside the lid area just looks weird.  As a final touch I put just a little of the pale lavender in the middle of the lid.

I put a very careful dark gray line on the upper and lower lids with the liquid liner.  Don't use liquid liner for the first time the day you intend to wear it out of the house.  It takes a steady hand.  Practice first.

I finish the eyes with a coat of mascara.  Years ago I could get away without it because I have very thick lashes, but they're not what they use to be and they now get lost in the rest of the eye makeup.  A light coat keeps them from disappearing.

Blush is a nice neutral pink and lightly applied.  With so much eye focus, the cheeks have to stay in the background or we'll be veering into clown territory.

I would normally keep lipstick fairly neutral for the same reason you want to keep blush toned down.  However, the day I was photographing this look, I was wearing a red dress, so I couldn't let my lipstick clash.  I put on a blue-undertoned red (yellows and oranges don't really work in my wardrobe or on my skin tone) very lightly and then topped it with a clear gloss.  With a different outfit I might stick to a dark mauve.

Finish the whole thing with powder and I'm good to go.

I took photos for a post about a sun-kissed summer look and never got around to posting it.  Not really a good time to post that sort of thing anymore.  That will have to wait until next summer.  I plan to do posts on the business look as well as how I do a traditional smoky eye.