Friday Talk: Makeup Mistakes--Evening Makeup

I will recommence with brushes in a future post, but someone specifically asked about fancy-schmancy evening looks, and with all the upcoming weddings and graduations, I thought I'd get on this puppy now. So let's get down to business on night looks.

First of all, most of the daytime rules for makeup STILL APPLY! You still choose one feature to highlight, generally eyes or lips. You still choose colors that work for you, albeit generally more intense colors. You still don't wear colors that match your clothes just because they match your clothes, although if those are colors that work for you, go for it.

So say you've got a fete coming up and you want to feature your eyes. Great choice! First, consider what you're wearing. For an upcoming wedding, I'm wearing a turquoise dress. Now, with my coloring I can wear turquoise shadow, and I'm considering it. I'm also considering going with gold shadows and accessories. It's best to choose a contrasting color for the feature you're choosing, so you with something that contrasts your clothing in a shade that works for you. If you're fair, go with a wash of color. If you're dark, go intense. If you're afraid of a lot of color, go with an intense liner or eye color used as a liner. I plan to wear a color like this Electric.

You want to do the smoky eye, eh? Ok, first of all, don't automatically think black and dark grey. Just go with smoky shades of colors that look good on you. Brown or hazel eyes? Try this or this. Blue eyes? This is lovely, or this. Greens, I like this for you.

And please be sure to slap on several coats of mascara after, and only after, you curl those lashes. I know the thing looks like a medieval torture device, but at least your lashes will look amazing. Recently I've fallen in love with the Cover Girl Lash Blast. Good length, passable volume, and super cheap. If you want to try your hand at false lashes, a few tips: first, use lashes that are just two
or three stuck together, not a full strip. Curl your lashes, apply mascara, stick the lashes on the outside of the eyes (they look
more natural this way), then cover the line with liquid eye liner. This process is not for the faint
of heart.

Oh, you chose lips instead? No prob. First, refer to my previous post about lipstick mistakes. Remember the sloughing, the clear liner, the lip brush. For evening, you can punch up the intensity of your lip color, just remember to go in shades. It's like a paint chip, you normally don't want to go with the darkest or lightest colors except when you're looking to make a splash.

As I said before, if you're going with red, watch your skin tone. Porcelain skin? Blue undertone? Go with a blue-red. Yellow or olive? Go with a warmer, orangier red. Remember that the more blue red a lipstick, the whiter it makes your teeth look during that grand gala. You'll want to make a REALLY clean line with reds.

That's not to say that red is your only choice, or even your best one. Experiment with pinks, berries, bronzes, brown-based hues (carefully, carefully). See again my previous post about lipstick mistakes. Generally, brown is one of them.

Good evening makeup marries perfection and a little something that's off-center. A perfect face is boring, as is the expected, so I'd love to see what you do with your mug for your fancy events, so let me see them!

Fussy tends to like a little more natural look than yours truly, so go check out what she has to say about the whole makeup shebang!