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Before
Here I am in all of my unaltered glory. As you can see from this image, my skin is rather rosey, blotchy with dark rings around my eyes. This is a face in need of a change! While I've been performing for years, and love to play with makeup, I'm always looking for new tips, techniques and products to use to enhance my features.
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Makeover One - Professional Makeup Artist
At Wiggles of the West 2004 Wilfredo, a local stylist and makeup artist set up a mini-salon at the event. I was fortunate to get "done" before he became completely busy, transforming many of the competing dancers and offering advice to girls in need of help. Wilfredo focussed on my eyes, sweeping rich purple color out and away rom the corner of my eyes. His use of eyeliner was much more refined than the heavy dark outlines I've used in the past. I'm also wearing some false eyelashes, that really sweep out the corner edges of my eye. This really adds drama and I love the new look. |
| "Dahhling - You need to do your eye-brows. They frame your eyes and speak to the audience." Wilfredo. |
Eyes by Wilfredo |
| Essential Elements
Eye-Lash Curler
Black Eye-liner Pencil
False Eyelashes
Mascara
Good Makeup Brushes
"Any brand of color will do as long as
it looks simply gorgeous." Wilfredo
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A few of the techniques that Wilfredo used to make this look:
- Heavy duty concealer around the eye reigon to brighten my face and camoflauge my darkish under eye area.
- False eyelashes with a lot of curl. He applied them to my eyes, curled them and then applied several coats of lengthening mascara to glue them to my natural lashes giving me the appearance of very lush lashes on top.
- A clip-on hair fall to add height. My long straight hair was pulled back into a high ponytale. The fall added height which balanced out my face.
- He focussed on my eyes, giving me rather pale lips in comparison. He used a pinky/pruple color with lots of gloss so I had lots of shine.
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This look was soft and lovely with the eyeshadow color plucked from the crown of flowers on my head.
Carla uses MAC color products. They are highly pigmeted and really last!
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Make Over Two - Wedding Makeup by Colors by Carla
Over the summer I had the luxury of having my makeup done by another wonderful makeup artist who is best known in this area for her work with Sirens in Sanity. Carla made me up slightly more glamourous than the other bridal party members, but all-in-all, I was very happy with the results. Though not quite strong enough for performance, I felt radiant and she had some excellent advice.
- Use powder to really seal in your makeup - especially if you perspire heavily. Apply powder with a large loose and soft brush, making sure to brush downwards.
- Add a touch of gloss and a little shimmer on the center of your lower lip to give it a slightly fuller and lush appearance.
- Blend - Blend -Blend. Be sure to blend into your hairline to avoid leaving any lines. When applying eyeshadow, make sure to fully blend to avoid harsh lines between hues.
- When in doubt - blend some more.
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Make Over Three - At Sephora
With a specific goal in mind, I ventured out to Sephora to have a makeup consultant recommend some products for a new look. I made an appointment and went in and told them my goal. I wanted a new eye look that would be good for a belly dance performer. I specified that I'm looking for purple and gold look, lots of glitter and eye-liner and that I needed a heavier application to be dramatic under stage lighting. She also encouraged me to go to the Sephora website where they have a rotating series of articles called Tips & Trends.
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| On my eyes -
English Ideas
Primer
(I am now totally Hooked on this product!)
Bourjois
Multi Shimmer
Loose Eye Shadow
Makeup Forever
Eye Pencil
Black
HOT PRODUCT
Mini Heated
Lash Curler
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Top tips from the Sephora Makeup Artist
- Shop from many different brands. There is no need to stick to any one company. All makeup will interact just fine.
- Use a foundation primer on your eyelids to smooth your lids and create a good surface for eye makeup to stick to.
- Pick one area to focus on - either eyes or lips.
- Liquid eye-liner will flake off of oily eyelids. To prevent this, make sure to apply a base coat of neutral powder over the eye lid.
- Use an eyeliner pencil for a more hip smokey effect. Smudge the edges and work it into your eyeshadow.
- Dot your eye liner pencil BETWEEN your eye lashes to get a very sultry dark look, and to make sparse eye lashes appear thicker and fatter.
- Start with a set of good quality eye-shadows in basics. Black, silver and gold will make a foundation pallete to which you can add a color pulled from your costume.
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Makeup + Tools + Practice = Success
The best way to get the best results is to follow three main principles.
1 - Buy the best quality makeup you can afford.
2 - Invest in good quality tools.
3 - Practice, practice, practice.
If you have a digital camera, take the time to photograph yourself in different makeup. Some dancers like to record their experiments, keep them in a journal, diary or costume file with notes on how the look was created. Noting what products and any special techniques were used will help you to recreate the look.
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Buy the best quality makeup and tools you can afford and
practice until you can use them skillfully.
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And when I'm feeling a little Wild - Out comes my "Fantasy Tigress" Look. Inspired by my kitten Tigger! While every time I do a tiger face is slightly different, the process is the same as for regular makeup, only with orange foundation and a LOT more eyeliner!
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For more information on brushes and other makeup tools, read Makeup Tools. |
