Video: Beyonce Countdown Music Video

Inspiration Pic: 

I decided to give my take on one of the many beyonce music videos that are out there right now. I didn't really fancy the make up she had in the "Party" music video. In the video for "Countdown" she had the make up look pictured above in various colors (green, orange, etc). All of them featured a bright pop of color on the lid space, and a cut crease with winged liner. A cut crease is a popular arabic make up technique where the eyelid is "cut" by using a dark color to create a line of separation between the lid color and the crease color. The separation of these two colors is very obvious and not blended. It's a challenging look to do because the crease cut must be very precise and clean. The crease color has to be blended upwards, not downwards onto the lid space.

Products Used:

FACE: 

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation 115

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation 153

MAC Studio Finish Concealer NC20

Make Up For Ever HD Powder

MAC Mineralized Skin Finish "Soft & Gentle"

MAC Blush "Mocha"

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

BROWS:

Make Up For Ever Eyepencil #6

EYES:

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes "0L"

Red Earth Multipencil "White"

Make Up For Ever Flash Colors "White", "Yellow"

MAC Eyeshadows "Carbon", "Wedge"

Make Up Store Cybershadow "Ra"

MAC Fluidline "Blacktrack"

L'oreal Million Lashes Mascara

Ardell Demi-Wispies False Lashes

LIPS:

MAC Lipstick Fleshpot

Revlon Lipstick Pink Pout

MAC Clear Lipglass

Video: Nicki Minaj "Y.U.Mad" Music Video Make-Up Tutorial

Inspiration Pic: 

Nicki Minaj has been featured in almost every video it seems lately. In all of her latest videos she's been rocking the orange lids and pale lip combination. Her eyeshadow seems simple but its all about the seamless blending to really make it look good. As a base i used a white eyepencil which was creamy enough to be blended by fingers. The white will brighten and make any eyeshadow applied over top of it pop. Then I blended a bright neon orange eyeshadow into a softer muted brown as i went towards the brow bone. Of course Nicki Minaj always has her outrageous false lashes. I went for the Red Cherry 100s which are full and drama and long. In order to avoid the "sleepy eye" that falsies can give you if they're too heavy, make sure to curl your false lashes so that it gives them some lift and allows for more of your eye to be seen. Her lip was pretty simple, a pinky nude but always with plenty of shiny gloss. 

Products Used: 

Chanel Vitalumiere Foundation "20"

Chanel Loose Powder "20"

MAC Studio Finish Concealer NW20

Sleek Make Up Blush "Life's a peach"

Make Up For Ever Eye Pencil #6

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes "0L"

Red Earth Multipencil "White"

Sugarpill Eyeshadow "Flame Point"

MAC Eyeshadow "Soft Brown"

Make Up For Ever Star Powder 902

MAC Fluidline "Blacktrack"

L'Oreal Million Lashes Mascara

MAC Lipstick Fleshpot

Revlon Lipstick Pink Pout

H&M Gold Lipgloss

Red Cherry False Lashes "100"

Video: Bold Christmas Party "Ombre Lip" Trend

Inspiration Pic:

Christmas is only a month away! With the holidays coming up i decided to film a series of holiday party looks, this being the first one! I've seen the ombre trend everywhere lately, and it seems no one does a single lip color anymore. Ombre lips combine dark, medium, and light tones of the same color to make the lips look full and more 3-dimensional. I chose a really dark vampy red because it is almost winter, and what's more christmas-y than red lips at a holiday party! Paired the dark lips with a copper cream shadow that stayed put the entire night and a dramatic winged liner that extended more than i normally would.

Merry Christmas :)

Products Used: 
Make Up For Ever HD Foundation 115
Make Up For Ever HD Powder
MAC Studio Finish Concealer NW20
Make Up For Ever Eye pencil #6
MAC Blush "Mocha"
MAC Mineralized Skin Finish "Soft and Gentle"
Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow "Flatter Me"
Make Up For Ever Eyeshadow 122
Maybelline Gel Liner
Red Earth Multipencil "White"
L'oreal Extreme Collagen Mascara
MAC Lip Pencil "Brick"
MAC Cremestick Lip liner "Velvetella"
Estee Lauder Pure Color Lipstick "Fig"

xo

Video: MAC "Glitter and Ice" Inspired Tutorial

Inspiration Pic: 

I know i'm a little late to this party, but i have a reason. So MAC's Glitter and Ice hoilday collection came out sometime in october. When i first saw it i hated it, i still hate it. I think it has nothing to do with christmas, they look more like robots than ice queens, and the models in the promotional shots aren't attractive at all. Especially that one on the right, ANYWAYS. I was going to do an icey look and i figured i'd use MAC's promo pics as a starting point, and i thought the eyebrows were cool, but that was pretty much all i was going to take from it. Created spiked brows using black eyeshadow and mirrored that spiked effect with a gel liner under my eye. Since it's icey, all the shadows were either silver or grey and lots of sparkle. Kept the lips nude but used clear lipglass to add more shine, which by the way is THE BEST lipglass. Sticky as hell, but lasts for hours. 

Products Used

Make Up For Ever HD Foundation 115

Make Up For Ever HD Powder

Make Up For Ever Concealer Palette 2

MAC Mineralized Blush "Pleasantry"

Snazaroo Metallic Face and Body Paint "Silver"

MAC Eyeshadows "Carbon", "Smoke and Diamonds", "Blanc Type"

Make Up For Ever Diamond Powder "White 1"

Make Up For Ever Star Powder 902

Maybelline Gel Liner

Red Earth Multipencil "Silver", "White"

L'oreal extreme collagen mascara

MAC Lipstick "Fleshpot"

MAC Lipglass "Clear"

Video: Christmas Party Gold Glitter Makeup

Inspiration Pic: 

For this look i wanted to do a little bit something more than just regular gold shadow, it is christmas after all. Since i had glitter pigments just sitting on my table i decided to use them. I created a winged out shadow shape that was very structured and remained relatively unblended towards the outside corner. On the eyelid, i used a matte black in the corner and faded into a gold glitter which covers 3/4 of the lid area. As much of an impact glitter gives you, i HATE working with glitter. it gets everywhere, its messy, its so hard to clean up any fall out underneath the eye. Always, ALWAYS use a creamy base for the glitter to stick to OR use a product like Make Up For Ever Eyeseal which keeps the glitter where you want it to be. When working with glitter make sure you still choose quality products as this can very easily get into your eye (don't use regular craft glitter), Make Up For Ever has an entire range of different colored glitter which is surprisingly not gritty, barely noticeable after applied and super shiny! This look is all about the eyes, so i went easy on the lips making them a slightly deeper color than their natural color. 

Products Used: 
Make Up For Ever HD Foundation 115
Make Up For Ever HD Powder
MAC Studio Finish Concealer NW20
Estee Lauder Desert Rose Blush
Make Up For Ever Eye pencil 6
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner "Zero"
MAC Eyeshadow "Carbon"
Make Up For Ever Metal Powder "Sunflower Gold"
Make Up For Ever Glitter "Gold 1"
Make Up For Ever Flash Color "Gold"
Maybelline Gel Liner
Covergirl Lash Blast Volume Mascara
Estee Lauder Pure color lipstick "Rose Tea"

Video: Quick Two-Toned Winged Liner

Inspiration Pic: 

Saw this picture in Flare Magazine and decided to recreate it! It's quick and fun and revamps your regular winged liner with a pop of color. Definitely not my full start to finish make up video but it was cute and fun so i thought i'd film it. This can be recreated with any cream shadow, not necessarily liner. Set with the same color eyeshadow if you want longevity. Do your make up as per usual, and when you're ready for liner first draw on the coloured half, making it thicker than you normally would so that it can peek through when you draw on black. Finish the look with the black liner, thin enough to show the colored half and winging it out the same amount as the coloured half. Follow up with whatever lipstick color you choose, i chose to go nude for daytime, dabbing on a little pink flash color so as not to completely erase my lips. 

Products Used: 

Bare Minerals Foundation Original "Fairly Light"

Benefit Erase Paste "Light"

Make Up For Ever Eye Pencil #6

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

MAC Mineralized Blush "Pleasantry"

MAC Eyeshadows "Blanc Type", "Wedge"

Make Up For Ever Flash Colors "Turquoise", "Fuchsia" 

L'Oreal Extreme Collagen Mascara

Make Up For Ever Rouge Intense Lipstick "23"

xo

Review: CND Shellac Nails

I've been hearing all about gel based nail polish lately and i thought i'd give it a try since it was only $5 more than a regular manicure. I've heard various versions of this: Shellac, Gelish, Gelac, OPI Axxium Gel lacquer, etc. The one i tried happened to be Shellac. The concept of this manicure is that instead of getting artificial gel nail tips, this special polish is applied directly onto your natural nails and cured under a uv light. The result is gel nails, without the artificial look of nail extensions. I was drawn to this because i've tried gel nails in the past and i found them to be way too thick to look realistic, they ruined my natural nails with the buffing and filing of the nail surface thinning it out way too much. Shellac promises to have a 0 dry time, last 14 days without chipping, maintaining shine and absolutely no damage to your natural nails. There is no filing or buffing of your nail surface and removal is done through a soak off method where the gel is saturated with remover until it can be easily removed off your natural nails.

 I have to say, i am pretty hard on my nails and this was amazing. I did experience some chipping and that was mostly my fault. I was picking at them lol. Apart from that, all i've seen is some gaps from nail-growth near the nail bed which is expected and some wear near my nail tips. The shine has lasted 14 days and i'm sure it could last even longer. It looks so much neater than traditional polish, it lasts much longer, and the shine is so much more than a regular top coat. The best part of it i think is all the time i saved not having to repaint my nails as soon as they started chipping. I honestly can say i haven't thought about my nails in 2 weeks and normally i'd be repainting the very next day.

The only thing i would change would be the color range, CND has a limited selection and this makes your choices kind of...limited. I'd also recommend going for a lighter shade because nail regrowth is less obvious and for those on a budget you'd be able to prolong your visit to the salon helping your manicure last longer. I probably won't wait the full 14 days next time because regrowth gets to be a little obvious, but it was nice not to have to worry about chipped nails a day after they've been painted. I'd definitely give shellac a try again and recommend it to anyone looking to get out of a nail polish rut.

xo

Video: Adele Inspired Make-Up Look

Inspiration Pics: 

Love Adele's sixties inspired make up looks and hair. Decided to do a video on the look considering it's one of my favorite every day looks. The darkened crease gives the eyes a little drama and dimension without looking too overdone for day time. The crease or the "banana" technique (make up for ever term), is probably one of the hardest to master. It's hard to separate the highlighted lid from the darkened crease so blending is very important and has to be done in specific areas leaving others untouched. To get Adele's crease colour, a variety of different brown eyeshadows were used. Of course no sixties look would be complete without winged liquid liner, a lush set of false lashes, and nude lips. I tried to get Adele's bouffant hair style lmao. I thought it looked more Snooki pouf than a 60's hair do. The only thing i didn't film was probably my foundation/concealer routine and my eyebrows because thats self-explanatory and kind of boring haha!

Products Used: 

Chanel Vitalumiere "20 Clair"

Chanel Loose Powder "20 Clair"

MAC Studio Finish Concealer NW20

Make Up For Ever Eye Pencil #6

Too Faced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer

MAC Blush "Mocha"

Make Up For Ever Aqua Eyes "0L"

MAC Eyeshadows "Blanc Type", "Wedge", "Espresso", "Patina", "Rice Paper", "Sketch", "Carbon"

Maybelline Gel Liner

L'Oreal Extreme Collagen Mascara

MAC Lipstick "Fleshpot"

QUO 218 Lashes

Video: Roy Lichtenstein Inspired Make-Up Look

Inspiration Pics: 

I was looking at pictures of old comic books, and really liked the vintage style of Roy Lichtenstein. Then i came across pictures of people recreating his comic book looks on real faces, making them look 2 dimensional. Normally with make up we try and make the face look more dimensional and shapely, so this intrigued me. 

What you didn't see in the video was that I started with a regular base, this isn't so exciting, foundation then set with a powder. Tightlined my upper lash line with urban decay liner and added a couple coats of mascara. I used "Blanc Type" eyeshadow on my lid to give it a matte highlight that would emphasize the lids, as i would be "cutting the crease" with a black gel liner. I emphasized all the shadows, nooks and crannies on my face using the gel liner, and then outlined my lips, as this type of cartoon style tends to have black outlines. Added some red lips, and a white highlight. Lichtenstein's cartoons are most often of sad women, so i drew the eyebrows in a sad upward shape and added a tear drop using MUFE's flash color in "bright blue" once again outlining it in black. To give it that real comic book feel, i used the end of my MAC 266 Brush which had a circular shape to draw the pixelated red dots all over my face. 

Products Used:
Revlon ColorStay Foundation "Ivory"
Chanel Universal Loose Powder "20 Clair"
Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Pencil "Zero"
MAC Eyeshadow "Blanc Type"
Make Up For Ever Smoky Lash Mascara
Maybelline Gel Liner
Make Up For Ever Flash Colors "Black", "White", "Red", "Bright Blue"
MAC Lip Pencil "Beet"
MAC Lashes "5"

xo

Halloween

Halloween this weekend! I know i've done a million and one videos on different looks but i don't think i'm going to be any of them. I don't have any costume to go along with any of them :(. Since i'm dress-up obsessed, i'm going to have 2 costumes this year! Can you guess what one of them will be? 

xo 

Elle

So I guess i'll make a blog.

I don't really talk in my videos because i think that's awkward and i really don't want to listen to myself for hours when i edit the videos afterwards lol! I decided to create this blog as a partner to my videos to explain anything that I did that maybe needs explanation or to include various inspiration pictures, products used, extra pictures of the finished look, etc.

Most of you know i'm trained in professional make up artistry, I've been passionate about make up for as long as i can remember and it's probably one of the very few things i truly enjoy doing. I hope that comes across on video and they're not too boring :). I try and speed through the redundant parts as fast as i can like foundation and eyebrows. Although I've been getting requests on how I do my foundation routine, I don't think i'm  quite ready yet to sit in front of the camera COMPLETELY bare faced. Frankly, i don't think anyone else is either hahaha.

I hope everyone's been enjoying the videos so far, i've gotten so much support from friends and even people i didn't realize watched them. Honestly, everyone's been beyond sweet so thank you :)

xo
Elle