Wednesday, August 14, 2013
Parisian Inspired 'Le No Makeup' Look
In a previous post, I mentioned that while in Paris, I noticed two distinct makeup looks - 1) the natural, 'is she even wearing makeup?' look and 2)the natural, subtle eye with red lip! Since I have showcased two ways to do the red lip, a softer version and a brighter 'true red' version, I decided to also do a post on the 'Le No Makeup Look'. What I observed in Paris, is that even with little to no eyeshadow/blush/lipstick etc, you could always tell that the Parisian woman is sporting mascara. Mascara is the key focus to creating the 'le no makeup look' because when applied properly and with double, even triple coats, mascara can 'really' open up the eye and create a sense of alertness and freshness. The key to the 'le no makeup look' is not 'le no makeup', its using makeup in a way to sculpt the face vs add colour. Its about enhancing the natural lines/contours of the face. Its a single sweep of a warm-golden or neutral taupe shadow to enhance the eyecolour, its pinching your cheeks and choosing a colour to enhance the natural rosiness or peach flush of the skin, its choosing a lipshade that is one shade deeper than your own (as if you have just bitten your lips)or even wearing a clear balm/gloss and letting the natural colour of your lips shine through. It was very difficult for me to understand this look because my focus for years has been on colour and creating variations of the smokey eye, playing around with various lipliner and lipstick combinations etc. Once again, it comes down to the 'less is more' philosophy. The notion of beauty and simplicity for the French woman is not how many beautiful lipstick shades she owns to go with her million designer outfits, but that she is able to own one or two signature shades and incorperate it into her classic 10 peice wardrobe. Its the ultimate in CHIC living!!! For my 'le no makeup' look, I started with a clean face, a dab of concealer and bronzer, my favourite blush (Frivole by Chanel), two coats of black mascara (I love loreal voluminous mascara) and a swipe of MAC 'Spice is Nice' lipstick (this shade is my new favourite 'my lips but better' shade) - Here is the look - VOILA:
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5 comments:
Perfect! What a lovely "no makeup" look, very polished and pretty! I would never leave the house without mascara, and if I have to, I always carry some in my bag- it's the one "desert island" item I would choose if I had to!
Thank you so much Sonia. Its so interesting that you mention that mascara would be your 'desert island' item - countless celebrities have said the same. In fact, after re-reading some of my favourite makeup books recently, mascara and concealer/concealer-highlight are the items that are considered the most 'essential' because the 'eyes' are the one feature that often shows signs of 'wear and tear' so to speak - mascara instantly says 'voila' which a concealer/highlighter adds that extra bit of brightness. I hope to do a post soon just on makeup tips for the eyes and how to brighten them without wearing too much heavy makeup! Stay tuned!!!
Renata, this might be a bit of a longuish comment (so perhaps don't publish, unless you want to), but I wanted to share a couple of observations with you. At times, like in this posting or the posting three posts ago, where you've also done more "natural" looks, I wondered for a bit why I didn't think those were best looks for you, though still pretyy (because you are :). I think I got it now looking at this photo, it is because of how easy it is to cross chroma, hue and undertone lines, since much of the colors that say "no makeup" probably belong to Lights and Softs (I can see you as Soft Elegance as in style, but not as in coloring, not when vivid lipstick looks that good on you :). So for this photo, the lipstick is almost crossing into Soft territory, and the eyes are soft and light. Likewise in the second photo from three posts ago. The first photo in that post, where both lip color and shadow are soft/light, I would say this: if you want to do a "color of my lips" look, perhaps create greater intensity in the eyes, still neutral, but a bit darker, more mascara, etc. The neutral chocolate look you did with your cobalt blue top back in December would be a great one. The second thing I would say is, when you want to create a soft/light look, use the medium/light/neutral shades in the BW palette, as opposed to colors that are Light or Soft in hue, undertone and chroma. You will still get the effect you're after, while affirming your true coloring, and your need for a certain level of saturation and the correct undertone. All the best to you and please continue to share your journey. I've missed you during the time your posted less often :( What some people don't understand is that this self-discovery that you have embarked upon is not vanity and it is certainly not mindless. On the contrary, it is a mindfull realization that without self-knowledge and self-love we can never attain our best and highest selves.
Fil - thank you so much for writing your comment and feedback. I actually really like the point that you made and see what you mean about adding in BW tones when doing this look for more of a balance. Although I did this 'le no makeup' look post, its not something I can see myself wearing a lot - I much prefer, as you suggested earlier, to wear red lips and a neutral eye as my natural look! Perhaps I never really thought about creating bright winter 'natural' looks, like black mascara, a pop of colour on the cheeks and red lips - actually, it would have a very 'Marie Antoinette' French royalty look - hmmm...great idea Fil - thanks!!!
Nice -- I really like it on you.
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