Here’s how to sparkle and shine this holiday season with my top 3 smashing looks!
Forget matte skin, smoky eyes and beachy locks. It’s all about glowing skin, a soft smoke and sexy pouts with flowing waves. Here’s how to master the looks…
Shocking red lips!
Photography Darren Tieste
For a mega-watt lip color you need to prep lips before making them your make-up statement. My all-time favorite for prepping lips is using Vaseline on a toothbrush and gently rubbing over lips for a few minutes. Then I apply a lip balm and leave this to soak in whilst I do the rest of my make-up.
We all know the golden rule – bright lips mean very little make-up elsewhere. You don’t want eyes, lips and cheeks all competing for attention!
Wash a taupe or bronze shadow over the eyelid and blend upwards and out. Sweep mascara onto top and bottom lashes concentrating on directing the lashes up and outwards; this gives the illusion of longer lashes.
Bold lips require a precise application so start by outlining lips with an exact matching lip-liner. If you have a thin top lip outline just on top of the natural lip line and blend the inner edges with a cotton bud. If you have big lips outline just inside the lip line and blend edges.
Use a lip brush to apply lipstick – load up your brush and start the application in the center of the top and bottom lip and then blend to the outer corners. This also ensures that lipstick won’t sink into the outer corners and bleed.
Expert tips
- Prevent lipstick from feathering and smudging by wearing foundation over the lips and finishing with a translucent powder around the mouth.
- If deep red lipstick looks too intense, soften it back by smudging with a gold shimmer lipstick or lip-gloss.
- The skin on lips is delicate so use a soft, well- sharpened lip liner and before you outline dab pencil on your hand to soften the tip.
Marc Jacobs Beauty Lovemarc – Lip Gel in ShowStopper Classic Red, $30USD.
Nars Guy Bourdin Holiiday Collection Limited Edition Cinematic Lipstick in Future Red – Cherry, $26USD
Dolce & Gabbana Classic Cream Lipstick – Sicilian Jewels Collection in Rubino – Deep Red, $36USD
Flowing waves
Photography Darren Tieste
This is one of my favorite hairstyles – mainly because I’m partial to long hair! There are so many different styling tips to creating waves but I like to make it simple by blowing out my hair with a medium round bristle brush starting at the crown and working my way down and placing each section on top of each other and keeping it in place with big long clips. Once I’ve finished, I blast the roots with the dryer and then I use a medium curling iron to curl my hair from the mid- lengths to ends.
I then gently shake out the curls by throwing my head forward and loosening the curls with my fingers and then I spritz hair with a soft holding hair spray. This way when the girls start to get droopy I repeat this step and it livens up the curls again.
Expert tips
- For best blow-drying results, make sure hair is 70% dry before attempting to style it. Trying to style while wet is a waste of time and effort.
- Always use a clean hairbrush when styling. You should wash brushes once a week with a little shampoo and warm water.
- To guarantee glossy locks, spray hair with a shine-in spray after you’ve placed curls.
Drybar The 3-Day Bender Barrel Curling Iron, $125USD
Bumble & Bumble Styling Lotion, $25USD
Oscar Blandi Lacca Hairspray, $25USD
Glowing skin and smoldering eyes.
Photography Darren Tieste.
It’s easy to get luminous skin – simply start with a thorough cleanse and exfoliation followed by a facial mask. Masks are the quickest and easiest way to pep-up skin. A clay type mask draws out impurities and gel masks are firming and creamy formulations hydrate and plump skin.
Stick to a ‘less is more’ application technique when it comes to foundation and powder and use creamy textured blush or bronzer
Give your eyes a natural smoke with a combination of bronze, taupe and gold shadows. Simply sweep taupe shadow over the entire eyelid and brush on a bronze shadow along the brow bone and blend upwards. Dot the inner eye area with gold to open up the eyes and finish with lashings of mascara to top and bottom lashes. Add a few false lashes to the outer eye area for a sexy stare. Give lips a juicy finish by using one of the newer heavily pigmented lip-glosses in your favorite color.
Expert tips
- Use a clean make-up brush for each color so you don’t mix up light and dark shades.
- Don’t try to correct errors by rubbing away eyeshadows or liners with your fingers or a tissue. This will only give your make-up a muddy appearance, Instead, use translucent powder or liquid foundation to clean up any mistakes.
- The rule of thumb with creams and powders is you apply creamy eyeshadow after you’ve done your powdered eyeshadow.
Sephora Collection Colorful Eyeshadow in Taupe Shimmer, $13USD
Dior Diorshow Black Out Mascara in Rich Black, $25USD
Nars Sheer Glow Foundation in Ceylan, $44USD
