I´ve never been a big makeup person, preferring the natural look with a bit of mascara and eye liner, but I decided to take my makeup look up a notch up this year, now that I´m 21 and all. Like a big girl. My look is still based on accentuating the natural, but I´ve tossed in a few new products I´m simply loving at the moment. Now, this look is obviously based on my skin complexion and eye colour, but because it´s based on a nude colour palette, you can switch it up based on your skin tone :) Enjoy x
All about that base:
One of the things I take very good care of is my skin. I think that keeping your skin in good condition on its own will be the first step towards feeling confident (without makeup). I personally, do not break out often and one thing I hate is for my face to feel caked with layers of base. I prefer a BB Cream that has the benefits of being breathable, has an SPF protection factor and gives me a dewy, youthful glow.
I love the Sorbet BB Cream, which has an SPF 15 protecting factor, helps even tone skin, brightens skin, has 24 hour hydration and acts as a perfecting primer. I mean, what more could you want?!
One thing I don't like about BB Cream though is that it doesn't last long like a foundation.
If I´m going out and I need something I know is gonna last a few hours, I´ll put a thin layer of Essence Stay All Day 16h foundation (soft creme) on over my BB Cream. I find that it just keeps the BB Cream in place and gives an overall finished, matte look.
Don´t neglect your brows babe!
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I think strong brows can change a look completely and also helps emphasise and make your eyes pop without doing much to them. I use the Essence brow pencil in a dark brown shade, to match my dark brown eyes. I usually only fill in my brows at their thickest part (on either side in the middle of my forehead).
I actually lost this product recently, so its not photographed here (sorry), so I´ve been using my mascara brush to lightly brush my brows up a bit and add a bit more darkness to them.
Eyes eyes eyes:
Because my eyes are almost a black shade of brown, I like to do makeup looks that really make my eyes look intense. I usually opt for a thin sweep of liquid liner (Essence Liquid Ink), making a classic cat eye. And add a bit of mascara (Essence Get Big Lashes Volume Curl), angling it towards the outside of my eye, to help compliment the angle of the cat eye.
Eye shadow: I use the Catrice 010 Blossom ´N Rose eye shadow palette. Blossom ´N Rose I´ve tried other brands before, but I find that this one lasts really long on my skin and the rosey colour palette complements the peachy blush undertones of my skin, but would be amazing on both tan and fair skin shades.
I also have this DoDo Girl Contour Highlight palette in shades of nude, which I use as an eye shadow too! I love the peachy shade for my eyes as they look natural and add a matte look to my eye lids, which is perfect for a daytime look.
Cheeks and Lips:
When you find your perfect lip shade you have legit found a gem. For me, this is the Essence Donuts Go Nut Velvet Matte Lipstick in shade 01. It´s got this gorgeous browny-peachy-plum colour, which I use both during the day and at night. I read once that your lipstick should be 1.5 - 2 shades darker than your natural lip colour and this one is perfect for me.
For my cheeks I dab some of the lipstick on and pat down in round motions. This ensures that my blush matches my lips, but also gives me a blush look that looks totally natural. Over this I´ll contour some Essence Go For the Glow highlighter in the champagne gold shade for some glitz if I´m feelin´ fancy ;p. I´ll usually lightly brush some onto the bridge of my nose, below my eyebrow ridge and on the top of my lip to further emphasise my lipstick, too.
I hope you enjoyed this article, even though it´s super simple and nothing profesh at all! Lemmeno in the comments what your favourite products are and why xx
Stay beautiful,
Jess x