I recently glammed the beautiful Nadine Velazquez from the hit show My Name is Earl, and wanted to share the look with you. I get a lot of letters from women of color asking me how to implement bright eye shadow colors like blues, pinks, greens, and purples into their makeup regime. The thing to remember is that makeup colors look different on varying skin tones, but luckily there are some simple things you can do to control this and really make color pop. The first step is getting the right product. Make sure to choose your favorite eyeshadow colors in highly-pigmented formulas for richer color against darker and warmer skin tones.
he next step is applying a dark base cream shadow on the eyes to add depth and build a base for color application. In creating a look like I did on Nadine, I used a deep blue cream shadow and then applied a wash of bright blue color over it. This gives the appearance of a rich blue eye. For someone who has a pale complexion, this particular bright blue will pop by itself, but to create the same effect for medium to darker skin tones, the dark base is essential.
This is a really amazing and versitile look for women of all colors who want to create an alternative to a dark smokey eye and add a pop of color. If you like blue, you can use what I used on Nadine, but if blue is not your thing than you can achieve the same look using deep green or purple. Don’t forget, just because it’s winter doesn’t mean we can’t wear bright makeup. You can even add some glitter like I did. The idea is to explore, have fun, and see where this look takes you!
Skin:
I started by prepping Nadine’s skin with a moisturizer and concealer. I then evened out her complexion with a liquid foundation and applied a bronzing spray and powder. Then I applied a powder blush to the apples of her cheeks and a touch of shimmer to the tops of her cheekbones, center of the nose, and into the neck. You can use a powder spray, bronzer or whatever finishing products you like. Use all or just one to set the look for a flawless finish.
Eyes:
Groom and define brows with powder shadow and brow pencil. Set with a brow gel. Line the entire eye with black eye pencil, moving slightly wider on the outer edges of the eye. Apply dark cream shadow as a base on your entire eyelid, blending around to the bottom of the eye underneath the bottom lash line to create a dark smokey eye. Lightly dampen a fluffy eye shadow blending brush with water. Use the damp brush to pick up the loose pigment shadow, blending a bit on the back of your hand to create a wash of color. Then apply it right over your dark cream shadow base, softly blending the color around the edges. Then, add a lighter shadow to the inside corner of eye near the tear duct and a touch under the brow bone. This should be a paler shade of the focal color you are using, just stay in the same color family. I used a pale blue on Nadine, enhanced with a shimmery silver. Curl and coat lashes with black mascara and add a faux strip lash for added drama. To achieve Nadine’s look, it is important to use subtle glitter for a dazzling not Showgirl effect. Using the fluffy brush that you used for pigment shadow, re-dip in water and pick up a touch of glitter. Dab on your hand or a tissue to blot, and carefully wash over the center of the eyelid in one glittery stroke. You can also add a touch to the inside corner of the eye. For this look I like glitter to be barely there – blue with just some sparkle to it. You can always add more.
Lips:
Define lip with nude lipliner. Apply lipstick and top with a shimmery peach gloss. For you girls with thinner lips, a good trick is to apply gloss to the center of the lip for a fuller, sexy pout.
