Make-up inspiration
For our make-up issue, we asked the six finalists of the Make-up Specialist of the Year category in the Professional Beauty Awards 2016 to talk us through a step-by-step of one of their salon-ready looks. The shortlisted make-up artists all made it to the finals by submitting an entry online, with information about their career and recent projects plus images of their best work. The entries are judged by our panel of established professional MUAs. The six with the highest scores made the shortlist and will soon be battling it out at a live final in London, where they will create a look based on the brief of an on-trend design for spring/summer ’ 16. The winner will finally be revealed at the glittering Professional Beauty Awards ceremony in central London on February 28, 2016. The finalists are currently hard at work getting inspired, researching and planning the look for the final. But in the meantime, we asked them to help other make-up artists and salon therapists get inspired themselves by showing off some of their best, ready-to-wear looks, designed to suit a typical salon client.
Daytime smoky eye
Anne Bowcock created this wearable take on a high-impact smoky eye using metallic nude tones and lots of blending. Bowcock, who is based in Wales and works as a freelance MUA and trainer, wanted the eyes to be framed in a soft haze of colour, complemented by the subtle, sheer lip.
Base: Apply a radiance-boosting primer to help create a strobing effect. Buff foundation into the skin and set with a light dusting of loose powder. Create a soft contour and highlight the tops of the cheeks with a highlighting cream.
Eyes: Smooth on an eyeshadow base to the lids to grab onto colour and stop it from creasing and sliding off. Apply a pearly white shadow all over the lid and a matte, nude shade in the crease. Then blend a gold-flecked chocolate brown with a dark, metallic silver over the outer third of the eyelid. Keep blending to create a softer smoky look. Underneath the lower lash line, blend a matte brown shadow with black eyeliner pencil. To finish, apply mascara and lightly blend a cream highlighter over the brow bone. Slightly define brows with a light powder.
Lips: Line lips with a pink-nude liner and fill in the outer corners, then apply a sheer peach-nude lipstick.
Grown-up glamour
Groomed brows, perfect skin and a beautiful lip are the essence of this understated, elegant look by finalist Pamela Moss, a freelance makeup artist based in Hampshire and London. The eyes are subtly shaded and kept practically bare, letting the standout lip do the talking.
Base: For a perfect, even base moisturise skin well. Conceal under the eyes with a light-reflecting concealer to cover any dark circles. Apply a fullcoverage foundation over a radiance-boosting primer to add a subtle but long-lasting glow. For lightly flushed cheeks, choose a shade of blush that imitates the client’s cheek colour after exercise (or how you’d imagine it to be) and apply just above the apples of the cheeks. Gently sweep outwards and upwards towards the hairline for a modern look.
Eyes: Brush brows upwards into their natural shape with a clean comb and fill any gaps with a brow powder if necessary. Apply a vanilla-coloured shadow over the lid and a slightly darker taupe tone to shade the socket line, diffusing the colour into the base. Finish with a coat of mascara.
Lips: To complete the look, paint on a rich berry toned lipstick using a brush.
Photography: Victoria Baptiste, model: Demi Cornell
Think pink
Winter may be approaching but you can still inject some colour into your clients’ make-up look. This vibrant pink eye and strong brow look by Londonbased make-up artist and lecturer Sita Gill is the perfect combination to pep up any dull day.
Base: Apply a lightweight moisturiser to prepare and hydrate the skin, followed by a lip conditioner. Correct any blemishes using a correcting concealer. Then, using a foundation brush, apply foundation to the skin focusing on key sections, blending out to avoid dragging the skin. Powder the face to set. Shade in hollows of the cheekbones using a matte bronzer, and then shade the sides and bridge of the nose if required. Highlight the top of the cheekbones, bridge of the nose, under the brow bone and the Cupid’s bow with a cream or powder highlighter of your choice. Lastly, apply a peach blusher to the apples of the cheeks.
Eyes: Comb through the brows and use feather-light strokes to fill in any gaps with a dark brow powder. To achieve a fuller brow, comb through again then brush through with a brow gel. Apply a pink shadow across the lid, taking the colour up to the crease line and blending out. Apply the shadow across the lower lash line too. Then, using a white kohl pencil, line the inner rim of the eye. Curl the top and bottom lashes and apply mascara.
Lips: Keep lips simple with a high-shine pink lip gloss.
Photography: Catherine MacKenzie for Getting Married in Northern Ireland magazine
Modern bride
This bridal look by Northern Ireland-based Stacey Kilpatrick is classic and pretty, incorporating pink tones on the cheeks and lips with a background of flawless, porcelain skin to stand the test of flashing cameras on the big day.
Base: Begin by prepping your client’s skin with a hydrating moisturiser. Using a kabuki brush, apply a high-definition foundation, mixing two shades to colour-match perfectly if necessary. Correct any blemishes using concealer. Then blend a soft cream blusher in a rose-pink shade to the apples of the cheeks and blend out along the cheekbone. Set everything using a pressed translucent powder, and then accentuate cheekbones by adding a matte tan bronzer, topped with pearly pink highlighter powder.
Eyes: Start by priming with a neutral cream eyeshadow and follow with a shimmering vanilla-toned shadow on top to highlight. Contour softly in the socket line using a light brown matte shade and add a matte peach to the outer corner. Apply the same tones to the lower lash line and softly add a brown liner to the outer two thirds. Lightly line the upper lashes with a shimmering purple gel liner and apply mascara to top and bottom lashes. For brows, simply shape using a brow powder.
Lips: Line the lips using a nude lip liner followed by a creamy, dusky pink lipstick with a hint of clear gloss in the centre of the bottom lip.
Photography: Khara Pringle
All that glitters
Northern Irish MUA Paddy McGurgan created this luxe gold look on Miss Northern Ireland, Rebekah Shirley. The sharp, defined brows and glittering ombré eye are paired with a plumped, nude lip for a decadent nighttime look.
Base: Begin with a small amount of moisturiser all over the face, avoiding the eye area. Apply a bronze-tinted primer with a shimmer effect over the skin then gently buff a yellow-toned cream pigment under the eye using a fluffy brush to lift and brighten the area. Using a micro fibre foundation brush, buff in a lightweight cream foundation mixed with a little more of the shimmer primer. Next, using a powder brush, set the complexion with a finely milled loose powder. Using a contour brush, contour under the cheek with bronzing powder. On the apples of the cheek use a blusher brush to apply a rosy powder blush, and finally, using the same brush, create a C-section highlight using a champagne-hued shade.
Eyes Start the eyes with matte gold and bronze eyeshadows, blending as transitional colours into the crease. Deepen with a reddish-brown shade to create a more defined crease, and darken the outer corner of the eye with a charcoal shade. Add shimmering gold tones using a baked shadow in pale gold and yellow-gold for a metallic effect. Create a soft, smoky effect under the eye with a waterproof gel liner, softening the edges with the same bronze shadow as before. Line across the lid with a black liquid liner and apply volumising mascara with fanned-out strip lashes to create a fuller false-lash effect. For the brows, use a dark brow powder and sketch through the brow in upward strokes. Apply a concealer under the brow to hide any stray hairs.
Lips: Line lips with a pink liner and apply a creamy nude lipstick over the top. Finish with a high-shine caramel-coloured gloss.
Evening elegance
Sixth finalist Julia Townend created this striking but wearable look at a recent show. Dark brows, a defined smoky eye and paint-box red lip are classically gorgeous, while the healthy flush of the cheeks adds a natural touch. Townend applied false lashes and went heavy on the eyes with classic black and white shadows, blending below the lash line for a deeply smoky finish. Townend is a London-based make-up and body artist working in fashion, theatre, film and TV. She has worked as an educator and developed the BA Hons and HND Specialist Makeup course at West Thames College.
