Makeover: Isobel

Another very quick makeover this week, featuring the lovely Isobel, who came to visit Chez Lippie recently.
Meet Isobel:

Isobel wanted a very simple evening look.  One that looked polished, and elegant, but that wasn’t too dramatic.  We had a chat about colours, and discovered that muddy purples were the order of the day.
As ever, we start with the base.  Now, Isobel is 60 years old, and has skin that many a thirty- or forty-something would envy, barely any pores, and very minimal lines, I was in awe!  With this in mind, we used a very, very light base of Benefit You Rebel in Lite:
Then, onto the eyes.  We wanted to make them the focus of the look, so we picked out a Laura Mercier eyeshadow (one of my own personal favourites) in Twilight, and used that all around the eyes:
I also used the same shade as a liner – applied with a liner brush – and followed this with a touch of Bourjois Ultra care mascara in black:


To highlight those lovely cheekbones, I used Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips as both a blush and a highlight.  I love these US-only versions of Bobbi Brown’s shimmer bricks, the quality is astonishing for a “drugstore” product, and they’re very flattering.

I added a touch of lipstick (sorry, very, very sorry, I can’t remember which one) and used MAC Behold eyeshadow to darken Isobel’s eyebrows a touch, for added definition.
Here’s the before and after:

Apologies – as always – for the terrible photographs in this makeover, this was a nighttime makeover, and we struggled with the lighting.
Thank you, Isobel for taking part, it was great fun, and I really hope you enjoyed your new look!

Makeover: Helen

Ah ... back in the makeover swing of things after the Christmas break, it's nice to have them back!

Please welcome Helen, here she is giving it her best "Prisoner Cell Block H" pose:

Helen wanted a very simple, daytime look that she could easily replicate herself, that would make her look more "polished".  We picked some nice, neutral shades to suit her skin-tone, and that would be easy to apply in a rush.

As always, we started with the base, we thought that using a tinted moisturiser would be the best thing, so we wouldn't have to "mess about" with moisturiser and foundation and powder.  I used Benefit You Rebel in light, with a little light concealor under Helen's eyes to even out the little dark circles she has there:

This left us with a nice, sheeny glow.  Then we moved onto the eyemakeup. We had picked out the Paul & Joe eyeshadow I bought recently in 95, which is a lovely rose-gold shade, as we thought it went very well with Helen's eyes:

As you can see from the picture above, it's very natural-looking.   I applied it in an almond shape all over the eyelid, up to the brow-bone, then replicated it on the other eye:

 

 

 

Helen seemed quite impressed!  In order to emphasise the  blueness of Helen's eyes, I used a Chanel chocolate-brown eyeliner on the top lid, and added a tiny amount of Clinique liner in charcoal under the bottom lashes.

Once I'd finished off the eyes with a smudge of Clarins Wonder Perfect (currently my HG mascara) on the lashes, I applied a dab of Cargo Illuminator in Wind to Helen's amazing cheekbones:

Then I realised it needed a bit more blending in, so taking a soft fluffy brush, I did just that!  To give a llittle sheen to Helen's lips, I applied a layer of Clarins Joli Rouge in fig, which is a lovely soft reddish shade, with a lot of illuminating particles:

 

 

I think she liked it!

Here's the before and after:

It's a very simple look, with a minimum of fuss and products used, but I think it polished Helen up a  treat.  What do you think?

Makeover: Kerry

After a bit of last minute confusion with one of my other volunteers, the lovely Kerry stepped in to have a makeover, and I'm glad she did, as this is one of my favourites!

Meet Kerry:

Kerry is really very pretty already, with enormous green eyes.  Sometimes Kerry thinks she looks a bit young (never an issue as far as I'm concerned!) so was looking to create a sophisticated "grown-up" look, that was hopefully a bit glamorous too.

As always, we started with the base.  Kerry has beautiful porcelain skin, so we used Bobbi Brown liquid foundation in "porcelain" as the main base, and Benefit's You're Bluffing as a concealer on the birthmark on her upper lip.  I decided against using Bluffdust as a powder because Kerry is so pale, and we used ELF HD Powder to set the look instead:

Then, to make the most of Kerry's gorgeous eyes, I made use of a Bobbi Brown palette I have that features mainly chocolate shades, I applied a shimmer wash of colour over Kerry's lids, then defined the crease with a darker shimmery brown shade:

Once they were in place, I lined the eyes with "coffee, and applied just a little more shimmer to Kerry's  lids:

 

 

Once that was in place, I darkened Kerry's brows just a little (with Smashbox brow powder kit), and added a single layer of Clarins Wonder Perfect Mascara, the difference was amazing!

A light touch of Cargo Plant Love's Wind (please note no schoolgirl jokes today, thank you) around the cheekbones and temples to warm the look up a bit, and then I used NARS Sex Machine on Kerry's lips, and finished with a tiny slick of Dior lipgloss (the name of which has worn off, but is a very pale pink with a hint of green iridescence.  Nicer than it sounds, honest!)  Here's how it looked when it was all put together:

And here's the before and after:

Many thanks for stepping in Kerry, hope you liked your new look!

Makeover: Jane C

Another Sunday, and another makeover (or two) today!  Please meet Jane:

Jane's great, and I think she's one of the most naturally gorgeous people I've ever met, so having her volunteer for a makeover was a lovely surprise!  Jane was interested in finding out a simple look suitable for daytime, and trying out a more dramatic look too.  Here's what we came up with - and before we start, I must apologise for the quality of the pictures in this post, we lost the light quite dramatically towards the end of our session, and so some of the later pictures have a lot of shadows which I find really distressing!

So, for the daytime look,  as always we started with the base.  Jane is blessed with naturally creamy skin, so, instead of using a foundation, I used Benefit You Rebel in Light to even out her skintone:

I used a very tiny bit of ELF High Definition powder on Jane's T-zone, but there really wasn't a huge amount of corrective work that needed doing here.  We then moved onto Jane's eyes, I dug out my Bobbi Brown  palette, and used Flesh as a colour wash all over the lid up to to brow, then used Naked as a crease contour:

 

Jane uses a lot of grey shadows ordinarily, but we thought something a little different might work, so, as an eyeliner, we used a Korres pencil in blueblack - I love these pencils, they're buttery-soft and beautifully blendable, perfect for a novice user - to set off the browns in her eyes:

 

 

Then, we finished off with a little Lancome Hypnose, a dusting of Cargo Illuminator in Wind on the cheekbones, and a little beige lipgloss:

For Jane's more dramatic look, we removed the eyemakeup altogether and started from scratch.  I was determined to make this as simple as possible for Jane to be able to replicate at home, so I used a very similar application technique, and mainly just worked with different colours.

As a colour wash over the lid, I used Korres eyeshadow in Base 12s, which is a lovely taupe with a slight pink iridescence.  The iridescence made Jane a bit nervous, but once I explained that it's not actually a PINK eyeshadow, and it would just make her eyes seem a bit brighter, she relented and let me use it.  Then, to accentuate the crease, I use MAC Behold, which is a grey-taupe, and possibly the most useful eyeshadow I have in my kit:

 

 

I then applied an extremely thin line of black powder eyeshadow in place of liquid liner, and accentuated the lashes with a coat of Lancome Hypnose Drama (forgot to take pictures of this step - sorry!) Once the eyes were finished, I applied Ellis Red from Ellis Faas to Jane's lips, and the look was finished:

Personally, I love how this looks on Jane.  If I were to try to re-create this look, I'd probably do a little cheekbone contouring too - probably using Ilamasqua blush in Rumour - and add another coat or two of mascara.  I'd also make sure the lighting was right!

Thank you very much for being my sitter, Jane, I hope you enjoyed the session as much as I did.

Makeover: Mel

It Sunday Makeover time, and this week I was delighted to welcome along Mel:

Mel's a schoolteacher, and was looking for a simple and easy day time look that suits her colouring.  Mel actually owns a bit of very lovely makeup, but doesn't use it very often, so I was hoping to show her how to get the most of some of the things she already owns, and introduce her to a couple of techniques to get the best out of her routine.

First of all, we started with the base, to even out Mel's skintone we used YSL Perfect Touch Foundation, and for the slightly darker skin around her eyes, we used By Terry Eclat de Teint to conceal.  I like both of these products as they have the brush built in already, and they're super-quick and easy to use:

 

 

Mel has really lovely grey/blue eyes, so we decided that they would be the feature.  As we were trying to keep this simple, we use Benefit Creaseless Cream eyeshadow in RSVP all over the lid, up to the brow area:

Then, to define the crease - and as an eyeliner - we used Cargo Plant Love eyeshadow in Sparrow:

 

 

Then a lick of mascara

And we were ready to add the finishing touches, which in this case were a light dusting of Cargo's Plant Love Illuminator in Wind over the cheeks and temples, and a light coat of Estee Lauder's lipstick in "Beige".  I also darkened Mel's eyebrows a touch with Smashbox eyebrow powder:

 

Lovely, quick, and natural.  Here's the before and afters:

 

Thank you, Mel. Let me know when you want to go shopping!

Makeover: Anna

Another Sunday, another makeover ... please meet Anna:

Anna came to me a couple of weeks ago, wanting to look more polished, and also to see how to create a smokey eye that would suit her beautiful grey-green eyes.  We decided on a neutral brown palette from Pixi to create the look around - I can't read the name on the packaging anymore, sorry - and I thought keeping the focus on those lovely eyes was definitely the way forward.

First things first, as always, we start with creating the perfect base.  Anna has some red marks, and a few pigmentation issues, so a foundation that could double up as a concealer was ideal.  I chose Benefit Play Stick foundation in Jax.  I really like these foundation sticks as they're really versatile, and you can amuse yourself painting pictures on your face before you blend them in! (Yes, I am a child).  We dotted a little extra over the problem areas,  blended well, then finished with a layer of Benefit Bluffdust to even out the complexion.  Here's how it looked after:

Already a little more polished! From the eyeshadow palette below, I used shade two as a colour wash all over the lid, and used shade 1 as a brow highlight (this is a well loved and much abused palette, so please forgive how it looks!):

I thought these colours worked really well on their own and would be suitable for a pretty and polished day time look with just a touch of mascara.  Anna wanted something a little more defined however, so I went on and used shade 3 to add some contour definition, and shade 4 as a liner:

 

Then, of course, it was time for mascara, we added a layer of Lancome Hypnose, and it really made her eyes stand out:

After this, we added blush (MAC Blushbaby) and a tiny slick of lipgloss (Prescriptives Stellar) and the look was finished:

Polished, subtle, slightly smokey, and really lovely.  Here's the before and afters:

Still waiting to hear how the date went, Anna!

Makeover: Gillian

It's Sunday, and that means it's makeover day here at Get Lippie!  Meet Gillian:

Gillian came to me a couple of weeks ago, wanting to look like a sexy 50's bombshell.   Now, this is a look I happen to love, as it's actually pretty simple and quick to put together.  First things first though, the classic bombshell look is dependent on flawless porcelain skin for it to work.  So we used a base of Max Factor Seamless in porcelain to even out Gillian's skintone, and give us a flawless base to work from:

 

We added a little concealer, then powdered down with some Benefit Bluffdust to tone down any lingering redness and give a matte finish, and Gillian was feeling more like a bombshell already!

There are two main elements to the bombshell look, eyeliner, and lipstick, both are crucial, so we'll start with the eyes.  I started by showing Gillian how to define the crease of her eyelid using MAC Behold as a contour shade:

Once this was in place (and Gillian had had a lesson in how to find it for herself) we moved on to liner.  Liquid liner can be tricky for a novice, so I showed Gillian how to use powder and an angled brush to paint on a line that looks just as dramatic and flattering as liquid liner, but takes a lot less practice to perfect.  We used Virgin Vie shadow in charcoal, then a coat or two of mascara:

 

Personally, I think this look suits Gillian down to a tee, and we could just have added a touch of lip balm or gloss right here and we'd have a lovely glamorous look suitable for daywear already!  However, the bombshell look demands lipstick.  So we added a slick of Guerlain lipstick in CanCan red as the finishing touch:

So there you go, quick, simple, with a minimum of products, but the maximum of impact.

Here's the before and afters:

Thank you, Gillian.