Kate got married earlier this year, and wanted to look natural, yet special for her wedding day, and the base to work on was easy!  She has a wonderfully smiley face, and just oozed calmness throughout her preparations, making my life very simple!

Having already got together for a trial earlier, we’d decided on a look using a variety of products;  her base was kept light with a smoothing layer of Illamasqua satin smooth primer to keep her makeup fresh all day, then a very light layer of MAC studio fix fluid in NC20.  Kate had very few blemishes, so I just simply used a few of my Yaby concealers from my palette to dot under her eyes and around her nose.

Its key to prime lids first before eye makeup, and I invariably reach for my Clinique touch base.  What I do that’s different though, is that I actually set that with powder too, in this case, Benefit Bluff Dust yellow powder.  Kate had slightly high colour to her cheeks, and this helped to not only neutralise that, but also to keep it at bay.

For eyes, I used 4 MAC shadows, Blanc Type all over, from lash to brow, not really to add colour, but to add a base that I could then blend all the other colours into.  I swept a soft layer of Naked Lunch across her lids, concentrating it on the inner half, with a wash of Satin Taupe on the outer half, taking it slightly above her natural crease, just to create a ‘halo’ effect round her lashes when her eyes were open.  To add depth to her lashes, I used Twinks, a deep rich chocolate, and blended it in so that it just enhanced her outer top lashes.

And again, wanting to add depth and impact to her lashes, I used the Pixi Gel liner in Black in a really fine tight line to her top lashes; its really an optical illusion more than a visible line, it just enhances the lashes that are naturally there!

Kate already had a natural shadow to her lower lashes, so I just strenthened that a little with a Christian Dior eyeliner in Deep Brown, and washed her very very long lashes with Lancome L’Extreme Waterproof mascara in Black.

As I mentioned before, Kate already had a high colour to her cheeks, so I added the merest hint of Smashbox Fusion Softlights, just to give her cheeks a bit of 3D impact in photographs – its too easy to think that you don’t need cheek colour, but that can translate into flat faces in your pictures – not such a good look!

Kate isn’t particularly a lipstick wearer, so we chose to go with a lipgloss.  Whilst lipsticks do make a great statement, many of them are high maintenance, and if you don’t wear lipstick very often, it won’t be instint to remember to reapply, leaving a strange afterlook.  Better to stick with gloss and one in a tinted colour, and at least your look won’t be vastly different if its vanished!  We chose a Clinique gloss in Clearly Pink, which at first look is a bright pink, but its a buildable shade, wear it in a single layer for a wash of colour, or build it for more oomph!

Finally, the whole look was set and finished with a couple of sprays of MAC fix+ spray.  Its essential to work with lots of fine layers when you want to create a makeup look to last all day, and this is the final stage.  And the added bonus is that it takes away the final powdery look, leaving your face looking flawless and natural, but no powder…!

Kate dropped me a note earlier this year, a part of which, I’d like to share here – “It lasted the whole day and everybody was commenting on how lovely it looked. I felt that I looked natural but special at the same time and that couldn’t have happened without your expertise!! I feel blessed to have found you, thank you so so much!!”

Good products and a steady hand, plus a delighful client make a makeup artist’s job very easy!

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Jackie Tyson is the resident makeup artist for Britain’s Got Talent and X-Factor, aswell as being the main makeup artist for Avon.

With over 20 years’ experience, Jackie is one of the most successful make-up artists working in the UK industry today. Her extensive and varied roster of International celebrity clients includes Yoko Ono, Sienna Miller, Bon Jovi, Avril Lavigne, Katie Melua, Lily Allen, Daniel Craig and Coldplay. Jackie also has unrivalled experience of working in the UK television industry and on video shoots

Here, she’s created a ‘How To’ for school leavers and Prom Goers.

CHOOSING A COLOUR

Jackie Tyson says: “If you can’t wear colour on prom night when can you? Be brave and dare to wear those colours you’ve been eyeing-up all year. Keep your dress colour in mind when picking your palette but remember that you’re not limited to an exact match, in fact, over-coordinating can be a bad thing. Whilst electric blue eyeliner definitely works with a pale blue dress, gold and tawny hues look just as glamorous.

As a general rule of thumb the lighter the colour of your dress, the bolder the makeup can be and vice versa. Barry M has an amazing array of colour Dazzle Dust in a rainbow of different colours so you’re unlikely to get stuck without the perfect shade.

A fab cheat if you’re not confident to wear colour on your face is to paint your nails in brights. Avon Speed Dry Nail Enamel is a fab selection of colours that dry super-fast so even if you want to apply it at the last-minute, you’re unlikely to smudge it on your outfit! This season I love Red Wine on short nails and if you have decided on bold make up go for Ballerina”

FLAWLESS SKIN

“With cameras flashing at you from every angle, radiant skin is a must so remember to exfoliate thoroughly once a week around six weeks in advance. For prom night less is definitely more so avoid all-over cakey foundation and instead target blemishes individually. Young skin rarely needs a full layer of foundation!

Matt skin is definitely the finish of now so apply powder to eliminate troublesome oily areas. Bellapierre Mineral Foundation is an excellent lightweight powder that can also be mixed with your favourite moisturiser turning it into a liquid foundation perfect for covering up blemishes. Alternatively if you are not after coverage, try bareMinerals Mineral Veil”

EYES & LIPS

“A common mistake is to think the bigger the event the more makeup you should apply. Clear-looking skin, a touch of colour on the cheeks and either a bright pout or show-stopping eyes is all you need.

There are some great high-shine lip glosses available that are worth a go. Rimmel  London’s Royal Lip Gloss in Peach Crush is an easy to wear shade that looks good on almost anyone! The high-shine is non-sticky, lasts and also has a lovely fruity fragrance. Lipstick can be quite high maintentance when you are focused on having a good time so opt for glosses with great colour pigment. POP does some great colours, like the POP Mini Ribbon Gloss tins with lots of colours so you can even blend your own shade.

Finish off with a top-notch mascara such as Avon SuperShock for power lashes! If you want to go one step further, opt for some individual one by one lashes from Eylure or coloured ones from Blink & Go . Applied in just 20 minutes, Blink & Go lashes, available in salons nationwide, last up to two weeks and come in a rainbow of colours. I’ve used them on Natasha Khan of Bat for Lashes and the Sugar Babes.”

PRACTISE

“The best advice for the perfect prom look is quite simply to practise. Avoid mistakes and stress on the big day by knowing exactly what look you want and how to achieve it in advance. What better excuse to invite your friends over? Sample each others’ makeup, making sure you use your own clean brushes, and keep those embarrassing mistakes amongst the girls!”

Want a prom makeup lesson?                                                          

With 20 years of experience making-over the stars of stage and screen, Jackie is now sharing her secrets. Newly opened, the Jackie Tyson Makeup School in a purpose-built studio at her beautiful country home in Berkshire (40 minutes train journey from Paddington) hosts intimate groups of up to eight people for makeup lessons.

You can choose from a selection of one, two-day and one-week courses to learn both evening and day makeup looks and some of Jackie’s tricks of the trade. Lessons have been developed by Jackie and her team to provide simple and easy to follow steps to create the looks. Check out www.JackieTyson.co.uk to see Jackie at work.

Tanya had a November wedding at one of my favourite venues, Belvoir Castle, which was a great setting for her glamorous winter theme.  The dress was very princessy with Swarovski Crystal accents and Tanya wanted a soft smoky look for her makeup to compliment the dress without venturing into evening makeup territory.

I started by prepping Tanya’s skin with Benefit ‘That Gal’ primer – a lovely pink primer which gives skin a little bit of glowiness under foundation.  Chanel Pro Lumiere foundation in shade 30 followed and I used Makeup Forever concealer where needed.  I love all Chanel foundations but Pro Lumiere is the one I tend to use most.  It gives good coverage without being heavy and it’s not completely matte either, so your skin still looks like skin.  I set the whole base with Mac Blot Powder in medium dark.

Going for a soft smoky look with the eyes I used Mac paintpot in ‘Painterly’ as a shadow base.  I find the paintpots very good for holding shadows in place and stopping creasing.  Mac Vanilla shadow was used all over the lid up to the browbone, followed by Mac Patina on the mobile lid and Mac Satin Taupe in the crease, outer corner and lower lashline.  A little bit of Bobbi Brown Espresso shadow was worked into the upper lashes to give some more definition with a touch more Vanilla under the browbone to highlight.  Tanya’s lashes were curled with Shu Uemura lash curlers (a staple in my kit – I would be lost without these!) and two coats of Max Factor False Lash Effect mascara in black applied.   Bobbi Brown gel liner in Caviar Ink was used on the top lash line and Tanya’s brows were lightly filled in with Chanel brow powder.

Belvoir Castle in November is quite dark and the venue had been candlelit which looked amazing.  To reflect this and make sure the makeup stood out, I wanted Tanya’s skin to have a soft glow.  I used Mac blusher in Peachykeen on Tanya’s cheeks and went over the top of that with Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in ‘Candlelight’.    A little bit of Chanel Soleil Tan de Chanel bronzer (limited edition from Summer 2009) was used to contour around the temples and give a little bit of warmth to the skin.

Finally for Tanya’s lips I outlined with Chanel lip pencil in Nude.  Bobbi Brown lipstick in Ballet Pink with a little bit of Chanel glossimer on top completed Tanya’s look.

Rochelle O’Brien

www.rochelleobrien.com

Jackie Tyson, celebrity makeup artist with 20 years experience behind her is the lead makeup artist for Britain’s Got Talent and The X Factor.

In the last few weeks, her sole female contestant has been Stacey Solomon, the Diva from Dagenham, and Jackie has kindly shared with MAF how she created her look, from the original style sheet through to the finished look.

“I dealt with the most nervous contestants of the series this weekend,” says Jackie. “So to relax Stacey before her performance and to give her skin a lovely glow, I gave her a mini facial using some of the Karin Herzog Salon Preparations range, including the Mild Scrub, Glyco Rose Serum, and the Oxygen Face Cream.”

Get the Skin:
With Stacey’s skin prepped, I then used Givenchy Subli’mine Sculpt Light foundation, which gave her skin a lovely fresh, dewy look.
To give her skin an extra glow, I applied Cosmetics à la Carte Bare Blush in ‘Honey’, blending into her cheeks with a soft blusher brush.

Get the Eyes:
I firstly gave intensity to Stacey’s eyes by applying black kohl pencil under her lower lashes using MAC Eye Kohl in ‘Smolder’.
Then, I added sparkle across the whole lid with Vita Liberata Pure Pigment Sparkle Eye Shadow in glitzy ‘Tinseltown’.
More drama was added with MAC Fluidline gel eyeliner in ‘Blacktrack’, and lashings of Avon Spectralash Mascara, before applying Stacey’s signature false lashes using Eylure Individual Lashes.
Stacey’s eyes were completed with Elizabeth Arden Dual Perfection Brow Shaper in ‘Brunette’ to perfect her brows.

Get the Lips:
Stacey’s lovely pink lips were achieved with L’Oréal Glam Shine in ’103 Forever Nude’.”

As a make-up artist, people are forever asking me “is this foundation good?” “What foundation do you use?” “How do you get the flawless skin that you see in the magazines?” first of all, bear in mind that all of your favourite actors/singers/models are extensively airbrushed before their pictures reach the pages of magazines. With that in mind, the good news is that flawless skin can be faked, in real life as well as in photos

I’m going to take you behind the scenes of a recent shoot we did for balance life magazine, where the focus of the article was beautiful, flawless skin.

Of course, beautiful skin is as much about skin care and skin prep as it is about products. The first step is taking care of yourself – eating well, sleeping well, a good skin care routine (the usual suspects). A good cleanser and moisturiser can do wonders for your skin. I could make general recommendations here, but I wont – different things work for different people. Everyone’s skin is different, and finding the right products for you can be a long and painstaking journey, but it is so worth it in the end.

The model for the shoot was Marita (from Nemesis, Manchester) and she made my life incredibly easy – she already had great skin and had cleansed, toned and moisturised the night before the shoot. as far as skin prep for Marita, all I needed to do was moisturise her (I tend to use embryolisse as my moisturiser for shoots – it is fast working, sinks into the skin really quickly and is quite hydrating and light). in other circumstances I might need to quickly exfoliate, moisturise and use a primer – primers can be a great base for makeup to stick to and also to fill in fine lines/wrinkles, and the base will literally glide over it.

Next, I started mixing the foundation. Because Marita had such good skin already and also a few freckles (I love freckles in beauty images) I wanted to use something really light on her. I always keep foundation as light as possible where I can; I’m a firm believer that less is more. For this particular shoot, I used Kevyn Aucoin’s sensual skin enhancer foundation. Anyone who has used or seen this foundation will be sat here reading this, wondering what the hell I’m talking about – this foundation is one of the thickest, most pigmented cream foundations on the market! In fact, when you see it in the flesh, it actually looks like more of a hardcore concealer.

Every make-up artist has their weird and wonderful habits and ways of doing things – personally, I thin down foundations religiously, until there is almost nothing there, and slowly build it up depending on the coverage I want. For this, I use a professional thinner but foundation can be thinned with any good moisturiser (mixing the moisturiser/thinner in with the foundation until you have the consistency you want) – I thin every foundation down, from cream to liquid, but this is purely out of personal preference. Remember, foundations primary purpose is to even out skin tone, not to be layered on to cover all of your blemishes/imperfections (that’s what concealer is for!)

A little trick that I wrote about in the article for balance life is adding a little bit of liquid highlighter into the foundation (a little fingernail sized amount) as well. traditionally, you would use a shimmery liquid, powder or cream highlighter along the top of the cheekbones, the brow bone and anywhere you wanted highlighting – in photos more so than real life, it can give a subtle contouring effect if used in conjunction with blusher or bronzer, but adding a little mixed in with your foundation can really wake up tired and dull skin if done right. It adds a little glow and radiance, but if you use too much it can have the opposite effect and you can end up looking greasy/shiny.

Finding the right foundation match is like instinct to me now, but the tried and tested way if you’re looking for the perfect foundation for your skin tone is to test a little bit of the foundation down the jaw line, and check it in natural light – if the foundation is the correct match, it should almost sink into your skin as if it weren’t there. I also mix every foundation I use – in my kit, I carry maybe 4 or 5 different types/brands of foundation at a time using different ones depending on the look/model, but I only carry 2 or 3 colours in each foundation – a light, a dark and maybe a medium. I mix the shades according to the face, and for yellow/pink skin tones I’ll use yellow/red colour adjustors if it isn’t a perfect match already. This is true for me in real life also. I will buy two shades of my foundation of choice. The process starts with me finding a perfect match for my skin tone, then I’ll buy the same foundation a few shades lighter and then another a few shades darker, and mix them together every day. This is a particularly good idea for me because I wear fake tan, so just after I have it done my skin will obviously be darker – if I haven’t tanned for a while, I can mix a paler shade.

anyway, after the moisturiser, foundation/highlighter (a great example of which is benefit’s high beam), I lightly powdered the t zone using Make Up For Ever HD powder, as under hot studio lights, dewy skin can quickly look greasy. I avoid powdering where I can on photoshoots, but for real life I’d say a high quality non-cakey powder is paramount.

Next came blusher, and for Marita I used NARS orgasm blush – a firm favourite of make-up artists all over, and particularly those here at MAF!

Marita’s eyebrows are shaped, set and filled in using ELF’s clear mascara/brow gel and Smashbox’s brow techs.

On the eyes she has a nude shimmer powder eyeshadow. I used one from my Kevyn Aucoin compact (compact #2 in his range) but as it’s not available in the UK, I thought I’d mention that Bobbi brown makes some amazing nude palettes which are a must have for any make-up bag. then, for liner I wet my liner brush and used a pure black eyeshadow as I didn’t want the really harsh black lines which liquid and gel liners can give for this shoot (although I do love a good gel eyeliner!) and finished it off with two coats of make-up forever’s new mascara, smokey lash.

This is the final result, to see the rest of the article and images, check out a copy of balance life magazine (the October issue)

Thanks to:

Cheryl at Balance Life magazine

Phil Drinkwater photography

Marita Oakes at Nemesis Agency

by Cassie Steward

www.cassiemakeup.com

When Hannah booked me to do her wedding makeup and told me that she wanted a Burlesque style, I was very excited. While I love natural looking bridal makeup, it’s always nice when a bride wants something slightly ‘out of the box’ for her makeup and gives me a chance to get a little bit creative.

Hannah was having an intimate weekday wedding at a small country venue but wanted her dress, makeup and hair to have the real ‘wow’ factor. Hannah had her dress made abroad and was wearing a birdcage veil to go with her stylish side ponytail which was created by my friend Melanie Garney.

The Burlesque look is a classic style made famous by Dita Von Teese and looks fantastic on someone with dark hair and pale skin like Hannah.

I began by prepping Hannah’s slightly oily skin with Laura Mercier Oil Free primer. The skin for this look is quite porcelain and I used Chanel Matt Lumiere Foundation in shade 05 as a base. This is a great foundation for oily skin as it creates a smooth canvas for the rest of your makeup and will withstand any heat or tears. I disguised any blemishes with Mac Studio Sculpt concealer in NC15 and then set the whole face with Mac Blot Powder in Light.

The eyes are quite neutral with this look as the real focus is on the Hollywood red lip so the eyeshadow is kept very matte and clean. I prepped Hannah’s eyelids with Mac Paintpot in ‘Painterly’ as a base. I love the paintpots as they give an even finish to the eye area and stop any shadow from creasing. Next I used Mac Vanilla shadow all over the eye up to the browbone. To give definition to the socket area I used Mac eyeshadow in ‘Rich Flesh’ using a 226 brush and blending down to the outer lash line. I curled Hannah’s lashes with Shu Uemura lash curlers (the Mercedes of lash curlers and well worth the £19 they cost!) and applied one coat of Diorshow Waterproof Blackout mascara. I wanted the lashes to look 1950’s Hollywood so I went for false lashes style 7 from Mac. These were applied and then Bobbi Brown gel liner in Black Ink was applied along the top lash line only to give that sweeping cat eye effect. As a final touch to the eyes, I filled in Hannah’s brows using the darkest shade from my Chanel brow compact.

I didn’t want too much colour on the skin, so I opted for Bobbi Brown matt blush in ‘Desert Rose’ along the cheekbones just to give a little bit of colour, with a little bit of Nars Copacabana highlighter on the top of the cheekbones to add slight shimmer.

The main focus of this look is the red lip and after prepping Hannah’s lips with a little foundation, I outlined the whole lip area with Mac lipliner in Cherry. I then filled in the colour with Bobbi Brown red lip colour, blot with a tissue and repeated the colour application. A little dot of Mac clear lipglass was added to the centre of the lower lip to give the illusion of fullness and that completed the look. The red lips are quite high maintenance so I gave Hannah a little pot of her lipstick to touch up with later on in the day.

A real showstopping bride!

Rochelle O’Brien

www.Rochelleobrien.com

Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Since my student days, when my next door neighbour in my halls of residence had an abundance of Clinique on her dressing table, I’ve been a fan of those lovely pink boxes with their cream and green floral design on them.

I grew up learning the art of makeup at my Mum’s knee with roller ball lip glosses, peel of face masks and eyeshadow designed to show up under black lights… oh the shame at the memory!  So to discover these little boxes of magic was like arriving in Aladdin’s Cave!

Since that day in 1992, I’ve been a fan ever since.  Clinique is famed for their classic suit all colours.  You really can’t go wrong when you go there to buy makeup, there’s something for everyone, and even if you don’t know what you want or need, you can rarely go wrong, it’s almost fool proof!

When I got married in 2002, it didn’t occur to me to use anything other than my old faithful Clinique products, for comfort as much as anything, and it certainly didn’t occur to me to use anyone else to do my makeup, so with a shameless opportunity to walk down my own memory lane, I thought I’d share my own wedding day makeup with you.

Sadly, with ever changing times, some favourite products are no longer available, but they are always replaced with something equally good, if not better, so I’ll let you in on what I used back then, but also on which products you could recreate it with too.

I wanted a silky smooth base, so I prepared my skin first with blotting sheets to take off the excess oil and smoothed over superbalanced foundation.  I didn’t want anything to reflect in the photographers flash, and although all Clinique foundations are excellent, (they are, in my opinion, the best range and the best colours available), some of them do contain light reflective properties which can flash back under a camera flash, so when you’re buying, do check with the counter staff as to which products might do this.

Not desperately keen on concealers under my eyes, an extra layer of the foundation was all that was needed to cover up a slight dark circle showing under my eyes.  Early to bed was my mantra the week before my wedding…

To get my eye-makeup to last all day, I had to call on my touch base for eyes in Canvas.  My personal trick is to set this with powder before applying eyeshadow.  I know it’s not how it’s supposed to be used, but I find I get a good 16 hours of perfectly placed eyeshadow if I do this.

I set everything with blended face powder.  I feel this is one of the softest and silkiest powders on the market.  I still have exactly the same colour in my kit as I have done since I made that first purchase back in ’92.  Transparency 08.  It buffs down really well for even the palest skins, and whilst not suitable really for women of colour, it will work on a tanned face if you apply a very light dusting.  For a new makeup artist looking to build a kit on a budget, make sure that this is one of your first purchases, you’ll find that you will only need one or two other colours to sit alongside it.

Eyes, my favourite feature!  I don’t do ‘natural’ makeup. I can’t really ever remember a time when I did.  I have always worn very dark eye makeup, and always dark lips.  Yes, I know that breaks all the ‘rules’, but I don’t believe in rules in makeup though.  If you like the look in the mirror, then so what!

At the time, my favourite colour was Spice Twice, a duo of soft buttery cream with a rich spicy brown, but it was just about to be discontinued, so rather than risk running out before my wedding day, I started to wear Two to Tango, a duo of pale baby pink and rusty brown.  Sadly you can’t get this anymore, but Teddy Bear, Choco-latte and Spicy are quads that I would use now to recreate the look.

Back to the wedding… Applied in the classic pale-on-the-brow and dark-on-the-lid, this wasn’t enough for me, I needed more!  Using quick eyes in double coffee, the smudge-shadow end, I created a crease in my socket.   I don’t have a natural socket line, so I created my own.  Over the top of that, and just a bit onto my lash line, I used the smudge-shadow end of quick eyes in Black!  I love these pencils, I’m so pleased that they are such a steady part of Clinique’s makeup line; I think I might just be lost without them.  Forget contouring cheekbones, what about contouring eyes where no natural shadow line exists!  Easy with these!

Finished with the brown quick eyes liner under my eyes, smudged a little more, and set with naturally glossy black mascara, it was onto the cheeks.

My favourite had always been Sugar Plum and I used to use it on the apples of my cheeks and a little around my jaw line, it’s gone, but the Blushing Blush in Smouldering Plum is a really good replacement, with even better longevity.  It lasts really well, if you apply a heavy cheek, buff it well into your skin, let it settle and then dust over again, leaving you with a really natural rosy glow.  That healthy look as though you’ve just gone for a brisk walk or light jog.  Healthy, not Aunt Sally!

In those days, I’d have lined my lips with posy apple, but that lip liner range has gone now, but it’s been replaced by the particularly brilliant defining liner range.  Personally, I never match liner to lipstick, I always match to my lips or a to a clients lips.  There’s nothing worse than faded lipstick with a hard, obvious, line left.  Matching a liner to your natural lip colour is a far better option, particularly if you then fill your lips in with the pencil too.  Makes a much better base for the lipstick to sit on, therefore making it last even longer.  And these definer liners are very long lasting aswell, giving around 6 hours of life before they start wearing away, albeit quite gently actually.

My signature lip colour has been Black Lily since about 1995 when I received one in a goody bag.  I fell in love with it on sight.  Unfortunately, it’s never been released in the UK and at the time I had to rely on friends visiting America to stockpile it for me.  Because it was a colour so very precious to me, I didn’t dare use it professionally.  What if a client fell in love with it too, but was unable to get it?  Not a great idea.  The day that Clinique released their Almost lipstick in Black Honey was a great day!

Although I used Black Lily on my wedding day, a sheer, but rich blackcurrant shade, I’ve always made sure to have a Black honey to hand aswell.  I’m currently down to my last half of a Black Lily left, with no way of getting more, but Black Honey is just as brilliant a colour.  Less blackcurrant and more black cherry, it has a redder undertone, but because it’s an ‘almost’ lipstick, it straddles the line of gloss and lipstick particularly neatly.  The glossy element means that it can be applied thinly, even pressed in with a finger tip, like a balm for a real bee-stung lip, or if you look to the lipstick side of it, it can be layered for a most sophisticated rich red look.

I had to finish off with a slick of gloss though.  No wedding makeup could be completed without kissable glossy lips, so I reached for my long last gloss in Juicy Apple.  I call this your-lips-but-better.  It looks very vibrantly red in the tube, but it actually just adds oomph to your own natural lip colour if you wear it alone, or over the top of a lipstick, it really adds an edge.

There are some that say you shouldn’t wear gloss on your wedding day, it apparently is meant to stick to your veil if you wear it over your face.  From experience, I haven’t got a clue about other brands, I don’t wear a veil on a regular basis, but what I can say is that on my wedding day, in the wind and rain, my veil did flap in my face quite a lot, but it certainly didn’t stick to my gloss.  Why?  Well Clinique glosses just aren’t sticky!  Some aren’t keen on the smell.  Probably because there isn’t any smell, and most glosses on the market are sold on colour name and scent and that’s what we’re used to.  Why bother?  Doesn’t make it any better, just makes you want to eat your own lips.

So that was me, in 2002, pre children, pre wrinkles, pre digital photography(!), pre photoshop, pre many things!  And as a professional makeup artist, I use a great number of different products and different ranges, but sometimes you just need a comfort blanket to hand, and for me, on my wedding day, Clinique was that.

With that in mind, when my brother got married in 2008 and his wife-to-be asked me to do her makeup, I could see a Clinique-girl in her too.  So with a mini breakdown, this is my sister in law Angela on her wedding day, 12 months ago next week!

Blotting sheets and pore minimiser for a primed base.

Superbalanced foundation in 01 petal

All about eyes concealer in 03 light petal, mixed with the foundation to get a perfect match.

Touch base for eyes in Canvas 10

Blended face powder in transparency 08

Eyes are made up using the vanilla shade and soft sand from the Teddy Bear quad on her brow, with colour surge single in slate buffed well into her lid to create a very soft soft grey wash.  The shadow end of quick eyes in black along her lash line, with brush on cream liner in true black applied in a really fine thin line along her top lashes.  Finished underneath with a wet line of the slate eyeshadow and slicked over with high impact mascara.

Cheeks are dusted with Fresh bloom all over colour in Posy.

Lips are lined and filled with Berry Nude defining liner and glossed over with a custom blend of mystic and tenderheart to create the perfect gloss for her.

So there you are.  2 Clinique bridal faces.  One from back ‘then’ a little over 7 years ago, and 1 from 12 months ago.  One dark and chocolatey, one light and smoky.

Timeless makeup, long lasting makeup, soft and gentle makeup.

www.Clinique.co.uk

by Rochelle O’Brien

www.RochelleObrien.com

Jo had a December wedding and wanted a sultry smokey look for her big day.

I prepped Jo’s skin with Laura Mercier hydrating primer to even out skin tone and fill in any fine lines, popping a bit of Carmex lip balm on to prep the lips too.  Chanel Pro Lumiere foundation in No. 20 was buffed into her skin with a Mac foundation brush, a little bit of Bobbi Brown concealer was used where needed and lightly set with Mac pressed blot powder

The eyes were the focus of this look and to begin, I used a thin layer of Mac ‘Graphito’ paint all over the lid.   On top of that, I pressed in Mac ‘Carbon’ eyeshadow to deepen the colour and added the same shadow underneath the lower lash line to give definition.  For a little bit of sparkle, I used Chanel single eyeshadow in ‘Platinum’ around the inner corner of the eye and tear duct. 

A little bit of Mac ‘Vanilla’ eyeshadow was used on the browbone to highlight and Bobbi Brown gel liner in ‘Black Ink’ was used along the top lash line.  This is a staple in my kit as it’s completely waterproof once set and doesn’t budge – essential if you’re prone to a few waterworks on the big day!  For maximum smudge proof lashes, I used Diorshow Blackout Waterproof mascara on top and bottom lashes.  I lightly filled in Jo’s eyebrows using the Chanel brow powder compact.

Jo’s cheeks were given a natural flush with Bobbi Brown powder blush in ‘Desert Rose’ and a little bit ‘of Mac Mineralize Skinfinish in ‘Petticoat’ on top of that.  I highlighted Jo’s cheekbones with some Benefit High Beam for subtle shimmer.

Jo wanted very pale lips to go with this look and I used a Shu Uemura lip pencil in nude to lightly outline the lips.  Finally, we topped it off with some Benefit Her Glossiness lip gloss in ‘Life on the A List’ and we’re ready to go!

by Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Claire’s face was evened out using MAC Studio Fix Fluid, and set with Fix + Spray.

her eyes were prepped with Shadestick in Beige and then metal powder in Gold was pressed all over her eyes, from lash to brow, sweeping it under her lower lashes, and creating a gentle ‘waterfall’ in the inner corner, going downwards.

A fine, thin layer of black liquidlast liner was applied to her upper lashes, and powerpoint pencil in Phone Number was drawn into the inner rim of her lower lashes.

I chose not to use mascara, wanting the focus to be on her eyeshadow colour, so I used carbon eyeshadow as brow powder to frame her eyes and then used the same powder as a contouring agent in the sockets of her cheekbones, buffed down and dusted over with loose powder.

I lined and filled her lips with a gold eyepencil, and then pressed more gold metal pigment into her lips, making a true golden goddess!

by Sam Donald

www.SamDonald.com

Victoria had a natural tan to her skin, but I smoothed it out with a very light cover of MAC select fluid foundation to giver her an even colour.

After priming her eyes with clinique touch base and setting her base with Benefit’s Bluff Dust powder, I set to work on creating a natural soft look to her face.

I applied a layer of MAC llama eyeshadow as a blending base, then dusted on a layer of Estee Lauder ‘Rose Confetti’ eyeshadow onto her mobile lid.  I wanted to create definition to her socket line, so I gently blended in a soft grey pigment by MAC, Soft Washed,  to her outer lashline and buffed it up towards her socket until it was almost invisible, but enough to enhance her lashes and create an illusion of a contour to her eyes.

Her lashes are beautifully long naturally, but I lengthened them with Lancome Fatale mascara after applying a very fine line along her top lashes with MAC liquidlast liner on the edge of a flat definer brush.  Using black liner extremely close to the upper lashes creates the illusion of thicker longer lashes, but without the need for false lashes!

I wanted to create an invisible frame to Victoria’s eyes, so I selected a Christian Dior waterproof eyeliner in Brun.  This particular liner is perfect for creating a barely-there line, or for adding real depth of colour, in Victoria’s case, I didn’t want it to look like she had eyeliner on, just naturally lined eyes, so I gently filled the gaps between her lashes with the liner, to create an optical illusion !

Her cheeks have been dusted with Smashbox Fusion Softlights in Intermix, using all 5 colours blended together and then applied lightly over her upper cheekbones, and stronger over her apples and under her cheekbones.

Her lips were lined and filled in with Dior lipliner in Biege Natural, and glossed over with Clinique RSVPink glosswear for lips!