Fall Makeup Looks

The Hot Fall Makeup Looks: 2007

One of the most popular Fall 2007 makeup looks is the smoky eye/nude lip look. Can you give us some tips on how to create this type of face?

First and most important to remember when creating the “smoky eye” look at home is, DON’T BE AFRAID OF MAKEUP!! The majority of women I’ve worked with and spoken to say the reason they shy away from trying the “smoky eye” look is because they think it’s either too difficult or that look takes too much time to apply by themselves.

• The first thing to consider when choosing the eye shadows you want to work with when creating the “smoky eye” look is what type of eye shadows you usually prefer. You can choose from matte eye shadows, shimmer eye shadows or sometimes an eye shadow will have little pieces of glitter infused into the pigment (color). Also, depending on how defined or dark you want your “smoky eye” to be you can use eye shadow colors other then the traditional black eye shadow to aid in creating a softer look that is more tailored to your personal preferences.

Let's start using a traditional black eye shadow to create the “smoky eye” look. The eye shadow colors very popular for the Fall 2007 season are shimmer or glitter infused eye shadows in colors like Black Tied or Gentle Fume, from MAC Cosmetics.

For my explanation of how to create the “smoky eye” look I will use my favorite MAC Cosmetics eye shadows, Black Tied as our dark (contour) color, Dovefeather or Mink Pink as our medium (blending) color and Shroom as our light (highlight) color. All can be found at: MACCosmetics.com.

Some of Arianne's smoky work.

STEP #1: Always start by setting a "base" on your eyelid so your eye shadow will last longer and crease less. One product I’ve found after trying so many on the market that really combats creasing eye shadows without fail from MAC Cosmetics is called Paints, and the shade I prefer because it works on almost every skin-tone is, “Untitled.” If your shadow usually doesn't crease and your lids aren't oily, you can use foundation or concealer as your base.

STEP #2: Let’s start with our dark (contour) eye shadow, Black Tied, which you will apply starting at the outer corner of the eyelid and blend roughly to about the middle of the eyelid while blending towards your brow line, stopping just below the crease of your eyelid. My newly discovered blending brush from MAC Cosmetics called #217, is so soft and fine it makes blending your eye shadows almost too easy to believe. Always start with a small amount of eye shadow when applying your dark (contour) eye shadow as it’s much easier to add more color than it is to remove color when you’re working with darker eye shadows.

Before moving on to your medium (blending) eye shadow, make sure to blend the dark (contour) eye shadow very lightly just above the crease of the eyelid, this will prevent your eyelid from looking “down-turned” or the eye shadows from looking too heavy.

• Tip/Trick: Use a very small eyeliner brush or q-tip to bring the “contour” eye shadow along the lower lash line up around the outer corner of the eye, pulling the color around to the upper lash line and keeping the color just slightly darker then the rest of the contour color you’ve already applied. Then blend into your contour color. This will “lift” the corner of the eye for that sexy, doe-eyed effect. Or rim the tear line with black or brown liner for a "pop."

STEP #3: Now take your medium (blending) eye shadow color either Dovefeather (a light grey/purple shade) or try Mink Pink (a light pink/mauve shade). Start blending at the middle of the eyelid where you softened your contour color and simply blend the eye shadow into your contour color. Blend lightly up to the crease of your eyelid. Be mindful not to go too close to the inner corner of your eyelid with the medium color as it can make the eyelid look too heavy. A great brush for this a Sephora brand brush called “All Over Eyeshadow.” It’s thick and softly rounded at the top, great for blending and softening eye shadows together seamlessly.

STEP #4: To finish the look, take the same Sephora brush you used for your medium (blending) eye shadow and use it again to apply your highlight eye shadow color, Shroom. Start blending at the inner corner of your eyelid, blending lightly toward mid-eyelid into your medium eye shadow. This will soften any harsh lines in your eye shadows.

Complete the “smoky eye” look by taking your highlight eye shadow from the lash line at the inner corner of the eyelid up towards your brow line while also blending down from the brow into the other eye shadows. This also brightens and enhances the shape of your eyes, creating a soft yet dark and sultry finish to your “smoky eye” look.

Now, this season a sexy nude lip color or fresh light pink lip color is paired with the “smoky eye” look. My personal favorite lip finish is a very juicy/glossy lip. However, if you prefer matte lip color, that’s perfectly fine as well; I’ll just illustrate some examples of each.

• Glossy: Nude colors that compliment a “smoky eye” very well are MAC C-Thru, Enchanted, Chai or Underage. Another great lip gloss I’ve recently discovered and adore is Dior Addict Reflect Ultra Gloss, which is also a non-gooey lip gloss that has a very juicy/sparkly finish. Some great nude colors are #317, #147, #347 and #227,

• Matte: Traditional lipstick will generally produce the best “matte” look but honestly I prefer a more “glossy” lip-color for finishing my looks, so the only matte lipsticks I keep in my kit are from MAC Cosmetics called Honeylove and Feel So Fine. These have a great matte finish alone and look even better underneath your favorite lip gloss.

Arianne knows nude lips.

That same basic look is popular almost year-round, and isn't exclusive to 2007. How would you twist it to update it for Fall 2007 specifically? Is it *extra* smoky and dark this year? Are there any other colors you could use besides the traditional black/brown? How would you use them to create a look just as smoldering as the old faithfuls?

To put a little twist on the “smoky eye” look for Fall 2007 my personal favorite way to change the look is to go very “glowing” or “bronzy” with my choice of color palette. You can make brown eye shadows more fun by using shimmer eye shadows to recreate a “smoky eye”. My most recent discovery in eye shadow colors again come from MAC Cosmetics.

The colors I like for my brown eye shadow palette are Mulch, Bronze or Romp for my dark (contour) colors. For my medium (blending) eye shadow I only use a color called Goldmine specifically to create the twist on the traditional “smoky eye” look. To complete this new look simply highlight your entire brow line from the inner corner of your eyelid with a shimmer eye shadow such as Shroom or Rice Paper.

Another way to put a twist to the traditional “smoky eye” look is not to focus on the lip color as your finishing touch but focus rather on your Cheeks using both blushes and bronzers to create a glowing/fresh feel that compliments your warmer eye shadows.

Another popular fall makeup look is the vampy lip and nude eye. How would you go about choosing the right lip products based on a person's skin tone without making them look goth (the fear of many women branching out into dark lipstick territory)?

When you want to try another very popular Fall 2007 look, the “vampy” lip with a nude/understated eye you should always stay within a range of lip colors that make you comfortable because in the end that’s most important when trying a different look for the first time.

What I have found helps me pick the right color for women I work with is to look very close for the true “undertone” of the lip color, does it have a bluish red undertone or an orangish red undertone as a base for the lip color?

Get tips for choosing makeup colors based on skin tone.

My little trick for deciding what tones are best for each different person is, and I know this sounds strange, but turn over your arm and look at the veins that run along your inner arm from your elbow to your wrist (they will be more noticeable near your wrist).

Based on the undertone of your skin, these veins may look blue which means you will generally look better in “cool” color tones so you would pick a darker lip color with bluish red undertones in it to complement your coloring, or your veins may look green which means you will generally look better in “warm” color tones so you would pick dark lip colors with orangish red undertones in them to complement your coloring.

Another tip or trick to try when picking a lip color that’s not too dark on you is to look for what is called a “lip stain” which is lip color that gives you a darker pigment but has a lighter, sheer and longer lasing finish. Some of my favorite lip stains are Benefit Cosmetics Benetint Lip and Cheek Stain, or try their Pocket Pal (lip stain and gloss in one), or try Sebastian Trucco’s sheer lipstick in Revived or Stained.

It's All About Balance

With the vampy lipstick/nude eye look, do you have any tips for balancing the eye makeup with the lips? Obviously not enough eye makeup will make the face look undone, but too much is overkill. How do you find that perfect balance when it comes to fall makeup looks?

To balance a light eye with a dark lip without leaving your eye makeup too understated for your darker lip colors. You want to keep your eye shadows soft yet defined and the easiest way to achieve this effect is by using matte eye shadows instead of using shimmer eye shadows. My top choices for very user friendly eye shadows come from Makeup Forever Cosmetics USA because they allow you to create personalized “trio palettes” you fill with eye shadow colors you can choose for yourself.

You would apply these eye shadow “trios” in the same manner and technique described for the “smoky eye” look to create a noticeable “nude eye” look by taking the darkest shadow for your contour, use the medium shadow to blend into the contour shadow. Then take your light shadow as a the highlight from the inner corner of the eyelid, blending toward the brow line while blending your highlight down into your other eye shadows to soften the look. Again I choose to use matte eye shadows because they create much “softer” finished looks for the eyes, which will compliment your darker lip color much better. Remember when going for the “nude eye/dark lip” look you don’t want the focus on your eye-makeup you want your lips to really “pop” and stand out whereas with the “smoky eye/nude lip” look you want the focus to “pop” on your eye makeup while your lips are softer and understated to achieve the right finish to the look.

Fall makeup is easier to create than you probably thought!.