ModestyBrown

I spent the afternoon with the lovely ModestyBrown. As soon as I realised that we lived close enough to each other to meet up without an epic journey, I invited her round for tea, cake and a makeover.

We discussed the kinds of looks and styles that Jane likes. We came up with two, an easy out the door look which makes you look like she's had a full night's sleep. The second was a smoky eye look suitable for Jane's eye shape and colouring.

We picked two; the first was inspired by Photographer Amy Dunn and is a natural and nude bronzed look.

Bare faced!

Jane bought with her a sample of Lancome's Photoluminescent foundation, it was quite similar to Nars Sheer Glow. It gave just enough natural coverage to even out the skin tone without covering freckles which I find looks really fresh and natural. I also used it as a concealer by using a smaller brush to apply another layer to any blemishes and under the eyes.

I then used Nip + Fab's under eye concealer and brightener which is quite pink based. This product is an excellent brightener but you have to work fast with the product before it dries and cakes. I find that applying with a brush (or the applicator brush) then blending with clean fingers works best.

Next we moved on the the eyes. Jane has gorgeous, large, clear blue eyes. Her eye shape I would describe as a mix of oriental (inner corner is slightly hooded) and round/deep set. It really is the first thing I noticed about Jane and I wanted to make the most of them.

Taking inspiration from the photograph, I applied an e.l.f's mineral eye shadow primer and matte mineral eye shadow in innocent as a base. I then applied a lightly shimmering cream shadow (from the BeeLuscious A/W 2009 palette called Canary Diamond) to the entire lid and up to the brow bone.

My technique for this eye shape is to apply a mid toned shadow on the outer and inner corners to fake out a deeper crease. I do not apply this shadow in the middle of the crease. This makes the eyes look rounder and less hooded. I used a mixture of Naked and Buck from the Urban Decay Naked palette.

I then applied an e.l.f waterproof liner pen in coffee between the lashes as a very thin line. This served to thicken out the lashes but doesn't close down the eye to make them smaller.

I applied an Alva organic deep black Mascara, naturally water resistant. For a day look I would use just a touch of mascara on top and bottom lashes just to add colour.

Next I used an eye brow wax and powder to frame Jane's eyebrows. I used e.l.f's eye brow kit in medium.

We move on to the lips, I used The Body Shop No 42 which is a pale and sheer peachy pink. Perfect for day time wear and does not require a mirror!

For blush I used a cream blush called Coco Spice from the BeeLuscious A/W 2008 palette followed by e.l.f Blush in Bronzed..

Here are the results, perfect for day wear. I think Jane looks amazingly fresh faced without looking overdone!

Jane's second look was a smoky look inspired by the Bobbi Brown Black Velvet collection. Black smoky eyes are fantastic for drama but if you just want to look good rather than like a wannabe model, it's best to tone it down to more muted colours. It is very rare to see a pure black smoky eye look, the same amount of drama becomes much more feminine if muted colours like blue, brown, plum and green are used instead of just black.

I used a dark bronze eye liner pencil to line the lower water and lash lines (MAC teddy, which Jane has). I then used it to mark out the outer corner of the the eyelid. Then I smudged it and applied eye shadows over the top. I spent ages blending to keep it looking natural. I graduated colours to the inner corner going from smoky brown to chocolate bronzes. I used the BeeLuscious palette again and mixed several brown and black shades (Cognac, Dark Angel, Goldspun and Amber Gold) to create a wearable smoky eye.

On the lips I used a nude gloss, e.l.f's caramel candy luscious liquid lipstick.

Meowwww Tiger!

Smoky night look, a close up.

When Jane got home she applied some false lashes, you can see these photos on her wonderful blog http://www.modestybrown.com/2010/09/my-afternoon-with-oxford-jasmine_09.html . I heartily recommend you head over for a read and follow Jane's blog.

I thoroughly enjoyed talking and gossipping with Jane about blogging and make up, I hope you like the make overs!