Now that the seasons are well and truly changing – some of you even have snow already! – I thought it might be a good time to look at what steps you really need to take to make your fall/winter makeup look really, truly, fantastically beautiful.
First up, as always, is the condition of your skin. It is crucial to have it well moisturized before you put any make up on. If your skin is looking dry, or “pulled”, or if you wear Bare Essentials style mineral foundations I recommend the incredible Elixir by Make Up Forever.
It boosts your skin’s hydration by over 500%. Your skin instantly looks super healthy and luscious.
Its an important piece in my makeup kit, as well as in my personal makeup arsenal.
Number 2:
Always use a primer. My favorite? Smashbox Photo Finish. I like the clear one best.
Let your moisturizer soak all the way in before you apply it.
The third piece of the puzzle is a foundation brush. This one is from the CorinnaB line
Use a simple press and roll motion, rather than “painting” the face. A high quality foundation brush will enable you to do a flawless & gorgeous foundation application.
A little side note here. My favorite foundation? There are 2 that I personally use:
Makeup Forever’s amazing HD Foundation when I want more coverage…
And Makeup Forever Face & Body when I want a more sheer finish. You don’t want your skin to look “made up”. Ideally you want it to just look like beautiful skin. These two foundations are perfect.
Back to the Essential Steps…
Number 4:
You must powder your foundation to set it, and you must use a really good, finely milled powder to do this. You don’t want to see particles sitting on the surface of the skin, making the skin look dusty.
I use Makeup Forever HD powder.
Number 5 on the list is using a little something special high on the cheekbone to create a little shimmer magic (keeping the skin looking alive & glowing). I have two favorites.
Nars The Multiple in Copacabana, which I have used for years, and the amazing Julie Hewett Shimmy
I actually wear Shimmy every day. Love, love looove it!
I also wear number 6 on the list every single day, and don’t think I could live without it. Cream Blush
Check out the ridiculously fabulous Julie Hewett Cheekie cream blushes. My absolute favorite? Vampie, shown here.
Now don’t be put off by how dark it looks in the jar. It is actually a soft wash of color that you will add to the cheek, giving it a beautiful glow. It’s not the goth purple that it appears to be, but more of a warm berry tone. Universally gorgeous, it looks fantastic on everyone.
I love a good cream blush to keep the skin looking vibrant. Most don’t have the holding power to stay all day, or they look gooey on the skin. Julie Hewett Cheekie stays on all day, and is movie star perfect. (she did after all, create it for movie stars…)
Number 7:
This season is all about the eyebrow. A beautiful, groomed, full brow to be exact.
I find pencils are too obvious. They are more about an extremely defined, angled brow, so what I am loving this season is the super cool Smashbox Brow Tech, shown here.
One side is color, the other is a wax that you can use to control those wiley strays, should you have them. Smashbox has fabulous color choices that work with your skin tone, rather than against it, as many brow products out there do. I also like the formulation, as it really does disappear into the brow, and not sit there glaring at the world for all to see.
Number 8 on my list? A really, really killer mascara.
Avoid the drug store cheapies completely. They’re not doing anything good for your lashes, and they tend to crumble and drop.
I have long been a major fan of the incredible DiorShow Blackout mascara, and buy it in bulk.
However I just got turned onto Julie Hewett’s mascara with rose oil.
You can really extend and build a fabulous set of lashes with this divine mascara, and it smells like roses!
I’m sure the rose oil has all kinds of conditioning benefits for the lashes, but the thought of roses when you’re batting those babies is really quite sensual!
Finally, step 9, is a really, really high quality lip balm. Every night, and throughout the day you must keep that kisser supple and hydrated. Flakey, cracked, chapped lips? Not so zexy.
I’ve been using Julie Hewett Organic Camellia Lip Balm for ages. I have it in original, and in ruby.
Camellia oil is an amazing conditioner, and this product has the right texture, so your lips aren’t slimey, and it doesn’t ball up on the lip.
I keep these in my car, my handbag, my nightstand – everywhere.
I know it sometimes seems that I talk about the same companies over and over, but my commitment to you is to only tell you about products that I really do use, both on myself and on makeup jobs as part of my professional kit.
And now you have the Essential 9 Steps To A Flawless Fall Makeup…
xo
C
Using the Monarchy palette from Smashbox and a smudger brush like the CorinnaB smudger, get a small amount of the center circle of the dark brown, work it into the back of your hand, or a kleenex, then smudge through the lash lines. This will give you a much softer look.
