One Technique, Endless Opitons

I think makeup should be like cooking - you have a recipe and, while you can tweak the ingredients to your taste, you follow the recipe and you get basically the same results.

Today, I'm giving you the simplest makeup recipe that requires only three ingredients, but yields endless outcomes.

For this eye look, the ingredients are a medium eye shadow, a dark eye shadow, and an eyeliner. As far as tools, a fluffy crease/blending brush and eye shadow brush are all you need, but an angled or smudge brush helps, too.

Here are the steps:

1. Blend the medium shadow into the crease
2. Line the eyes on top and smudge the liner up towards the crease color, then add a little liner on the outer corner of the bottom lash line - smudge towards the inner corner
3. Pat the darker shadow on top of the liner using the eye shadow brush (or your finger!) as well as under the bottom lash line
4. Define the eyes by lining again but just the top lash line
5. Blend the shadows around the edges with the blending brush to make sure there aren't any hard lines, then add mascara and/or faux lashes

That's it! Now it's up to you to get creative. Choose a mix of matte, metallic and/or sparkly shadows, and don't just stay with traditional, neutral eye shadow colors - experiment rosy tones, blues, greens or violets, just make sure the shades aren't super close together. Get even more adventurous by keeping your liner close to the lash line or wing it out like Amy Winehouse. It's up to you!

Here's a step-by-step tutorial for you to follow:

Please give this look a try, and tag me on Instagram @ElectraLane so I can see your awesome work! Please *subscribe* to this blog so you don't miss any more tips or tricks, and I'm looking forward to seeing you again next week.

Friday Flash - Episode 5

It seems like EVERYONE wants to know how to do a brown smokey eye. You're welcome.

Just kidding (kind of).  But really - if you can finger paint, you can do this.  Smudge a brown eye liner on your lash line, then dust on a lighter brown shadow over the liner, from lash line to brow bone.  Finally, take a pale shadow and, starting under your eye brow, blend that color down into the brown shadow (products are listed below the video).

You got this.  Happy weekend!

YouTube

1. Make Up For Ever Radiant Primer
2. Jouer Luminizing Moisture Tint in Golden
3. NARS Matte Multiple in Anguilla
4. La Mer Translucent Powder
5. MAC eye liner in Costa Riche
6. Make Up For Ever Mat Bronze in 40 (as eye shadow)
7. MAC eye shadow in Shroom
8. Black eye shadow pressed into lash line
9. Amazing Cosmetics Amazing Concealer in Light Golden
10. Fill in brows with MAC Brun eye shadow and set with clear brow gel
11. Curl lashes and apply one coat of Estee Lauder's Little Black Primer and one coat of volumizing mascara
12. NARS Laguna Bronzer
13. Make Up For Ever Lift Concealer in 3
14. MAC Omega eye shadow for nose contour
15. Urban Decay All Nigher setting spray
16. Hourglass nude crayon in 3

Friday Flash - Episode 2

For our second Friday Flash, I went with a really dark, strong smokey eye and pale/nude lip.  Check out the video below, and the product list below that.  Happy weekend!

I didn't film this, but I prepped my skin with Murad Invisiblur primer, then applied Bobbi Brown Skin Foundation Stick in Warm Sand 4.5 with my fingers and buffed in Make Up For Ever Pro Finish powder foundation in 140.  I lined my top lash line and bottom water line with MAC eye liner in Smolder and smudged with the e.l.f. Contour eye brush, then topped the liner with Urban Decay Blackout with the same brush, but a clean one.  Next, I blended Brown Script by MAC using the MAC 224 brush into my crease and lower lash line, and feathered the edges with MAC Soft Brown shadow with a clean 224.  I cleaned up the fallout with Almay Makeup Eraser sticks, curled my lashes, and applied one coat of Maybelline Illegal Length mascara in Blackest Black.  Moving on to brows, I used an angle brush to apply MAC eye shadow in Brun, then set with Benefit Speed Brow.  After applying a coat of Maybelline Lash Discovery Water Proof black mascara to the bottom lashes, I concealed with NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer in Custard, using the MAC 130 brush to blend.  I set everything with Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray before applying Kiss Ritzy lashes using the clear Duo Eyelash Glue.  I bronzed my skin with Laguna Bronzer using the Ita brush, both by NARS.  Using a fan brush, I dusted Becca x Jaclyn Hill Shimmering Skin Perfector in Champagne Pop, then lined my lips with MAC Subculture and finished the lip with Armani Beige 100 Rouge d'Armani lipstick.

Friday Flash - Episode 1

Welcome to our first Friday Flash!  This will be a little something fun, very unstructured, and a way to usher in the weekend.  Also, we had two very special guests join us, Clark and Kent Beagle - if you'd like to follow their (mostly lazy) antics, please check them out on Instagram: @thesuperbeagles. Here's the Friday Flash, and the products I used are listed below:

Happy weekend!

Face (not filmed):

Murad Invisblur SPF 30 primer

Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in 6.5

Eyes:

Base - Urban Decay Foxy

Outside corner/bottom lash line - Brown Script, crease - Soft Brown, lid - Amber Lights, corners - Corduroy, all MAC

Liner - top, Smolder, bottom, Coffee, both MAC

Mascaras - Illegal Length and Falsies, both in Blackest Black and by Maybelline

Brows:

Urban Decay Faint eye shadow, MAC clear brow gel

Concealer:

Kevyn Aucoin Sensual Skin Enhancer in 07 and Make Up For Ever Lift Concealer in 3

Bronzer:

Bobbi Brown in Medium

Blush:

NARS Orgasm

Highlight:

Jaclyn Hill x Becca Champagne Pop

Nose Contour:

Urban Decay Faint eye shadow

Lips:

Hourglass nude lip pencils in 3, MAC Subculture liner, Charlotte Tilbury gloss in Blondie

Set:

Spray - Urban Decay All Nighter, Powder - Laura Mercier Brightening

Smoky Eye Cheat

I recently went from my daytime eye – one shadow over the entire eye with a warm brown shadow in the crease – to a nighttime look for a performance by Shaping Sound (If you’re not familiar, Travis Wall (“So You Think You Can Dance”) gathered up his uber-talented buddies and formed an extraordinary dance company.  You can see them in Carrie Underwood’s “Something in the Water” video.). To fake a smoky eye on the fly, all I did was add a MAC pressed pigment  in Deeply Dashing over the lid.  Boom.

And, just because I totally geeked out, here’s me with Travis Wall and Jamie Goodwin.  No big deal…