The Nakeds

I recently acquired a foreign boyfriend. American. The out-doorsy Texan kind. An absolutely wonderful man- generous, kind, caring and ever so patient. Surprisingly also the sort of man that I can trust to accompany me into a Sephora, and know he won't complain too much about spending a week camping in there, comparing hand swatches and debating quality and prices with me. I'm not the only one girls, we all know the struggle...

Anyhoo, on his trip over to South Africa, he asked if he could bring anything over for me from the great land of the free. Naturally I put in an order to break the bank as we rarely have this sort of opportunity offered to us artists over here at the forgotten end of the planet.

Yes, my man went cosmetics shopping for me, *gasp* babysat my eye shadows for over 30 hours of flight time, and I can now claim to be the proud owner of not one, not two, but THREE Urban Decay Naked palettes straight from Sephora. My days of YouTube and Insta-envy are over. Well, for now.

Urban Decay Naked 1,2,3

Having never tried the brand or an original product, I wasn't sure how to decide between the 3. 

I did a TON of research on which was the most versatile palette. Now I can tell for myself, and I feel an obligation to let the world know that the Naked 2 is the one to get if one must make a choice. As a make-up artist in a country with the most diverse skin tones, cultures, tastes and textures in the world, I can see the value in this particular range of shades. I also love the very black shade in this one, it's a strong pigment. Tease is a good matte crease colour, and Snakebite pigment is superb- it shows up a lot darker than it looks in the palette.

Naked 2

You'll notice there's a colour missing in  my Naked 2. The little metal containers had not been stuck to the palette container properly and it fell out as I opened it. Ironically it's the only one that has broken, and the shade is called BUSTED. 

If you have the extra cash and have blue or green eyes, get the Naked 3. The shades in 3 will make those eyes POP like crazy. .

Naked 3

Naked 1 is super for natural girls who love a basic, easy to wear look. I especially love Darkhorse, Naked and Buck. Virgin is a great brow bone highlighter.

I love these palettes for bridal looks, everyday wear and evening wear. The lasting power of the pigments is not as good as some professional products I am used to, but I think they are definitely worth having in your personal make-up kit.

Below is a look I created with the Buck, Tease and black shades on Monica, one of my lovely brides, and then a look on myself using BUSTED which is of course no longer part of my collection. ;)

xoxo B xoxo

Contouring the Masses.

Contouring. The play on light. You can make your face look thinner, nose look narrower, chin look more shapely. Its magic really. Made famous by celebs like Kim Kardashian, we all want to know the secret. The tutorials are all over instagram and pinterest, but it seems so time consuming! It is.

The truth is that real make-up artists (I mean the kind that make a living out of putting make-up on people's faces other than their own) can, but rarely do contour to the extent that these online artists do. Some clients need or want it and I have covered the techniques in my workshops but honestly, its not necessary. 

We artists generally use these techniques for what's known in the industry as "corrective make-up". Someone has a seriously wide face, manly features, skew nose or a receded chin then sure, it's used. Not for every day or even photographic make-up looks is it used to the nth degree- as shown on the artist youtube videos. So please ladies, don't sweat over trying to master the art. Its a fad and the chances are your face is perfectly fine the way it is.

If, however, you want to try the technique in a quick and plausible way, here is a quick cheat-it method.

Golden Rule : Remember that dark recedes the area visually and light brings the area forward. 

1.Dust a matt/ shimmer-free bronzer along the hollows of your cheeks, temples and sides of your nose. I run this shade along the hairline on the forehead too if this is a large area.

 Add some to your cleavage if you want weapons of mass distraction.

2.Dust a highlight coloured shimmer with a different brush on your upper cheekbones toward the temple, bridge of your nose and lips including your cupid's bow. Also add some to the brow bone (under the eyebrows) and inner eye corners ONLY if your eyes aren't far apart! 

I don't bother with the chin unless it's recessed as most people actually feel their chins are too prominent already.

Add some highlight to your collar bones.

Make sure it's light and well blended all over!

Done!

If you struggle with finding the right shades, try for something in a couple of shades darker than your own skin tone- not too orange -and a highlighter that's not too white.

Practice, practice practice!

xoxo B xoxo

Dare to Bair

Thank you's in abundance to Amber for writing such a wonderful article on me in her super successful blog! If you're into fashion, beauty or anything fab, do yourself a favor and check out her site! She really has an eye for style and there is tons of news on brands and trends. Rumor has it that even top international designers are keeping tabs on her page. ;) http://www.daretoblair.co.za/best-face-forward-40/