Laura Mercier really brought about the whole notion of the 'flawless face'! Her Secret Camoflauge (SC) product is by far one of the best products on the market and the more I read about her makeup products, the more I love the whole philosophy around the 'flawless face'. Basically there are 5 steps to acheive the flawless face:
1) A foundation primer (currently my absolute favourite foundation primer is a product by Benefit called 'The Pore Fessional')
3) The 'SC' - Secret Camouflage - by Laura Mercier (I use the #4) - perfect to cover any imperfections!
4) Concealer - I use Laura Mercier #4 concealer
5) Powder - you can either use a translucent powder or if you have a golden undertone to your skin or want to add some warmth to your look, you can use a bronzer in place of the powder (this is one trick that I use all the time and my favourite is Refined Golden Bronzer by MAC)
There is also an 'optional' #6 step that the Makeup artists at Laura Mercier use and its their brightening serum that can be applied around the eye area!
I didn't use the eye brightener to create my flawless face, however, for a special event I definitely would!
I tried to find a recent photo of myself so you could see a before and after of the effects of 'the flawless face':
BEFORE:
Once you have your flawless face as a base to your face (or 'canvas') you can begin to play around with various looks - I have created 3 - I started with a neutral/natural 'le no makeup look' (which was a look that was requested by a friend on FB - she really wanted to see me with a very natural makeup look). The other two looks are just a result of simple 'building' on the natural look - sometimes all you need to take a look from day into evening is a change and lipcolour and a little definition on the eyes. I want to really show you how easy it is to 'build' on a look once you have a good foundation or base:
THE NATURAL LOOK:
To create this look, start with the 5 steps listed above to create the flawless face (I mentioned all the products I used: Benefits 'the pore fessional', W5 true match foundation by Loreal, Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage #4, Laura Mercier concealer #4 and Refined Golden Bronzer by MAC).
After I created the flawless face, I simply added a blush (#70 by Make Up For Ever), a brown eyeshadow to define my brows (I used Bengali by NARS), a sweep of eyeshadow and mascara (Soba eyeshadow by MAC and Loreal Voluminous mascara in Brown-Black) and a neutral lip (I used Bronzelle lipliner by Lancome, Siss Lipstick by MAC and Rimmel's Bronze Ambition lipgloss) - the result: natural, warm, healthy - the classic everyday/casual weekend look!!!
BUSINESS MEETING or DAY INTO EVENING:
Sometimes you need a look that says 'I'm confident and sure of myself' or sometimes you just want to make an impression and add some drama to your otherwise natural look. Its actually quite easy to take your nautral day look and turn it into a business, day event or evening look - all I did was add Brown-Copper eyeliner by Laura Mercier and smudged the upper lashline with Bengali eyeshadow by NARS. I also changed my lipcolour - I used Cork lipliner and Strength lipstick by MAC. This look is still quite natural, but with a little pizzaz and drama - this look says 'take me seriously' but in a classy, I'm a sophisticated woman type of way!!! Hence, its both approachable and professional!
EVENING/GLAM:
There is nothing more sophisticated than a little black dress and red lipstick. I have writen before that the real trick to red lipstick is to find the one that works the best against your skin-tone. Women with cool skin-tones look amazing in either a deep burgundy lip (my favourite is Rebel by MAC) or a deep pink/plum toned red. Women with warm skintones glow in a more yellow based red or orange-brownish red (like the one I'm wearing in this photo - its Chili by MAC). Finally, those women with a neutral skintone look fantastic in a true red - perhaps a colour like Russian Red by MAC.
In this photo I used the same makeup as the previous photo, but simply changed the lipcolour to my best red - Auburn lipliner and Chili lipstick by MAC, added Cork eyeshadow (MAC) into the crease and outer corners of my eyes and simply added a pop of colour to my existing blush - I used Gold Deposit mineralize powder! 3 simple changes and you've gone from evening to 'Glam'!!!
This post was so fun for me to do - it was also eye-opening to discover how easily it actually is to 'build' on a look once you have a great makeup base and canvas. Working with makeup is like painting a portrait and you're the artist - you get to create the end result - there is power and confidence in that!!!
2 comments:
All your looks in this post are beautiful, including the "before." My favorite is the natural look, but that's because it's the look I always aim for when I'm putting on makeup myself. And then people tell me they can't tell I have it on. :)
Great tutorial!
Jeanine
Thanks so much Jeanine! I've been so used to wearing eyeliner and going for a smokier look, that I forgot how refreshing a natural look can be! I think I'm going to start doing a more natural look for day!
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