Maxi's Make Over

This is Maxi, she is a self confessed make up addict. Maxi decided to brave my make over experience to learn more about contouring for her face shape. Maxi loves to wear bold make up for her job which is customer facing and sales related.

Maxi loves her foundation, and often wears at least three layers. I seriously wondered why as underneath it all, she has wonderful skin. Maxi always thought her skin was dry because make up flaked and caked up on her skin. My dear with three layers of foundation + heavy concealer + powder I am not surprised... Actually, Maxi's skin is prone to oiliness and blemishes around the nose and chin, I could tell from a few open pores around the nose.

No make up

I had just received my Face Atelier foundations order from Coco Beau in the post so I started this look using Face Atelier Ultra Foundation in shade #1 (it is slightly too dark but quite a healthy looking tan if blended down the neck). Maxi has porcelain skin and says that finding foundations to suit is very difficult. I wanted to show her that if you have great skin, you don't need much foundation and that less is most definitely more. It can be much more beautiful than a full coverage foundation. My advice is that if you are going for full coverage, prepare to be uncomfortable, it's thick, heavy and comes off on everything. The only time I wear full coverage is if I know there's going to be flash photography or high definition video lurking about! I would not wear it for every day life.

I also used shade #3 as a contour on the forehead and chin. Maxi's face shape came under my scrutiny and she is definitely a rectangle, so the last thing she needs is dark contours along the temple and cheeks. Keeping the contour on the forehead and chin gives a subtle shortening effect to the face.

I then used e.l.f Undereye concealer and highlighter in light under the eyes. I used the highlighter side along the cheekbones. The highlighter was also used on the sides of the face (on the cheek next to the ear) to widen the face.

I set the foundation and concealer with e.l.f HD powder. My tip to avoid over powdering is to apply powder with downward strokes using a very fluffy brush, press that in with a dry sponge and then use the powder brush in downward strokes again to remove the excess powder.

Bourjois Duo Chrome pencil in Brown/Gold was used all around the eyes and half way in to the crease. Smudged well and then I applied a matte dark brown eye shadow over over the pencil and smudged it well in to the contours of the eye. I then placed a champagne coloured eye shadow over the rest of the eye lid.

Waterproof black mascara was applied to curled lashes.

I then kept the rest of the face very simple, an autumnal rusty brown gloss in and a sweep of Beauty Without Cruelty Hot Chestnut blush on the apples of the cheeks. This is a truly fantastic blush which suits everyone. I rely on this blush a lot, I really should get a back up! I do not blend this up to the cheekbone or temple. With Maxi's face shape, keeping it lightly blended on the apple is best.

The finished look is suitable for work or going out.

The eye shadow placement on the eyelid is important with Maxi's eye shape, she has deep set eyes, so keeping the eyelid light and shimmery means that they look more open. A darker brown is then used in and above the crease to open up the eyes further. This techniques can be used with any colour combination and is the most suitable for Maxi's eye shape.

Deep set eyes look bigger with lots of liner on the bottom lash line (not waterline)

I think Maxi looks amazing, the brown really rocks her blue/green eyes. With her porcelain skin tone it looks smokey without being too dark which can drain the face of any natural colour.

What did you think of Maxi's make over?