I mean, Kim Kardashian is one of the most beautiful women in existence....maybe not the most talented, but we can't have it all now can we?

Anyway, this is Margaux. She pulls of the Kim look beautifully! I was happy to have such a lovely client to work with!

Kim's signature look consists of a few main focus features:
Smokey eye with lots of lashes- of course
Heavy contouring and highlighting
Nude lip
Flawless skin

There is an insane amount of detail that goes into creating this look, I think I will do a series of detailed posts regarding Kim Kardashian's makeup. In the mean time here is a brief overview..

Skin:
*Any good makeup application starts with a good foundation- skin care. If you take good care of your skin your makeup with look better and wear better throughout the day! Kim's skin is always clear; even when she is photographed without makeup on, there is not a pore or blemish in sight.
*Pick a foundation that is best suited for your skin type and your skin's needs. Whether it's a sheer coverage or full coverage is up to you. Everyone needs something different. Kim wears a very full coverage, but she is also in front of cameras constantly, so keep that in mind when you are shopping for a foundation.
*Choose a concealer that is a few shades lighter than your skin. I like to apply the foundation first, then apply the concealer to all the high planes of the face. This will be your "highlight." There are a ton of videos on the web explaining this technique in depth...
*In order to maintain that strong highlight you will need 2 powders. One for the highlighted areas and one for the rest of the face. For example: Margaux wore an NW20 powder under her eyes, but a NC35 on the rest of her face.
*You can also contour with a cream product, but on Margaux I used powder. Blunt blush is a good choice for medium to deep skin tones, but make sure you start with very little and gradually build it up! The contour cremes from MAC are great if you have a little more time on your hands.
*Kim always adds an extra highlight on top of everything else to add a bit of shimmer to her face. I prefer Cream Colour Base because it adds a luminous look without being glittery. It mimics the texture of dewy skin, which looks more natural but is still noticeable. It also tends to photograph better than powder highlighters.

Eyes:
*Kim has a full brow, but it isn't overly defined or "tattooed" looking. If you already have a full brow just fill in the sparse areas with a little bit of shadow and you're good to go. Margaux is blessed with perfect brows, so I had to do very little work in that area. If your brows are thin and sparse, like my own, try using a pencil to thicken them up a bit. Be sure to use light pressure to avoid having a heavy drawn on look.
*Usually Kim's smokey eyes are in neutral shades like browns, golds, and black. On Margaux I used (from light to dark): Nylon, Saddle, Brown Down, & Carbon. Under her brow I applied Brule as a highlight. We added a clean winged out liner using blacktrack and smudged Smolder Eye Kohl into her lower lash line.
*Kim ALWAYS has on falsies, and usually they are on top and bottom. Margaux went for a more natural approach and we just loaded up on Extreme Dimension Mascara. For Kim style lashes try #36 lashes on top and a few individuals on the lower lashline

Lips:
*A nude pink or peachy shade is key! A few go to colors are: Viva Glam 5, Creme Cup, Modesty, Hue, Viva Glam 2, Pure Zen, Fresh Brew, and High Tea
*If your lips aren't as full as Kim's grab a lip liner that is just a hair darker than your lipstick to give the illusion of fuller lips!
*Don't forget gloss! Kim wears creamy shades with high gloss to show off her full lips!

Keep practicing and you'll have the Kim K. look down in no time!

WOO HOO! Everyone grab some popcorn and get ready to laugh at my first video!


...jk, I didn't even bother talking this time because I have no idea how to edit yet..I figured it would be safer to just keep quiet! Except around the end when I get attacked by a fruit fly.


Products from start to finish:
Painterly Paint Pot
Smolder Eye Kohl
Cinderfella Mineralize Eyeshadow with #239 brush
Copperplate Eyeshadow with #224 brush
Gesso Eyeshadow with #239 brush (I used a separate brush, or you can clean off the original. Make sure you don't use a dirty one or your highlight will be grey looking!)
Fit + your #239 brush and re-apply the Cinderfella shadow
Smolder again
Carbon Eyeshadow with #214 brush
Extreme Dimension Lash

VIOLA! 

From left to right:
1. Prime eyes. I used MAC Painterly Paint Pot. I prefer my finger, but you can also use a synthetic shadow or concealer brush.
2. Apply Bronze eyeshadow all over the lid using a flat shader brush. I always grab the 239 or 242 for this...The more dense the bristles the more color payoff!
3. Using a deep brown, I used Bloodline pigment, and a 219 pencil brush pack the color on to the outer corner of your eye in a sideways V shape. Extend the eyeshadow a little bit further out past your lashes, this lays the groundwork for that elongated cat eye look. Bloodline is a limited edition pigment, but you could also use Smut, Handwritten, Embark, Mystery...any dark matte brown.
4. Sweep a 217 or 224 blending brush all along the crease to blend out the two shades you just applied. Focus on only touching the bristles to the crease area and try not to touch the lid at all! Blend up and out to create a gradient cat eye effect. Don't over blend! Over blending will just muddle all the colors together.
5. Take any small eyeshadow brush and apply a shimmery light color to the inner corners of your eyes. I used Nylon. This lightens the look and makes your eyes look brighter and well rested. If you have naturally wide set eyes you can skip this step.
6. Highlight under the brow bone. I almost always use Vanilla. I prefer a matte highlight, but any light shade will do.
7/8/9. Apply a black eyeliner to the top lashline, water line, and then smudge into the lower lashline with a 214 brush. I used Blacktrack fluidline, but you could also use Smolder or Feline Eye Kohl for a super smudgy smokey effect. You can also wing out your eyeliner to enhance the cat eye effect created with the eyeshadow!
10. Finish with mascara!

TA-DA! Good luck!

We all get in makeup ruts. I constantly find myself grabbing for my "neutrals" palette when I'm in a rush for work and then throughout the day I'm saying "I need to wear more color." Luckily, one of my staff members (THANKS ELISA!) gave me a few homework assignments and made sure to assign me colors I rarely wear. 

12/6/12:
I applied Designer Purple Pearl Glide liner all over the lid as a base - The Pearlglide liners are AMAZING! They are super bright and glittery, and what girl (or queen) doesn't like glitter? You can wear them as an eyeliner, or in my case they make a great base color.
Next, I loaded up a 239 brush with Young Punk mineralize eyeshadow and pressed it into the liner. This shade is equally glittery! The photo just doesn't do it justice! *Note to self: buy a real camera.*
I blended out the crease with Kid eyeshadow, a neutral flesh toned brown. Doing that blended out the purple so you couldn't see any harsh lines. 
My highlight, as always, was Gesso under the brow. And on the inner corners I used Vanilla Pigment.
I finished with Boot Black Liquid Liner and lots of Zoom Lash Mascara!

12/7/12:
I started off by applying Undercurrant Pearl Glide Eyeliner all over my lid and blending out the edges, fading the color upwards past my crease. I've decided I need these in EVERY color!
After that I took Spruce, a crushed metal from our Guilty Passions: Brilliantly Cool holiday kit, and applied it on the inner and outer corners of my eye with a 219 brush.
Using a 239 brush I pressed Old Gold pigment onto the Pearlglide liner on the center of my lid.
To blend out all of the edges I used a 224 brush and applied Kid to the crease.
My brow highlight was Vanilla, and I finished it off with Blacktrack Fluidline and my usual #3 lashes.

Don't be afraid to try new things! Breaking makeup habits and forcing yourself to try new products is the first step towards becoming a successful artist! 

When it comes to makeup "natural" and "neutral" are two classifications that I hear frequently. Although the terms can tie in together and describe a similar look, that is not always the case. Natural makeup defines a look that is essentially nude. Think "no makeup makeup," or "second skin makeup." The color palette includes flesh tones, or colors you would naturally find in the skin without any makeup applied. Focus on highlighting and perfecting the skin to give it a "fresh faced" look.

By definition neutral means "no color." A neutral makeup look could include muted shades of grey, earth tones, flesh tones, and shades from light to dark. Textures can be anything from matte to metallic. Neutral makeup doesn't necessarily need to be soft or light.

Holy guacamole! Found this little gem today online after a customer told me about it...

Face:
Prep & Prime Skin
Prolongwear Concealer & Foundation
Studio Fix Powder
Mineralize Skinfinish in Dark (contour)
Peaches Blush
Too Chic Beauty Powder (highlight)

Eyes:
Painterly Paint Pot, per usual.
Nylon (lid)
Samoa Silk (crease)
Brown Script (crease/corner)
Gesso (Highlight)
Blacktrack & Fascinating Liners
Zoom Lash
#43 lashes

Lips:
Chicory Lip Pencil
Crosswires Lipstick

Face:
Prep & Prime Skin
Studio Sculpt with #188 brush to make it more sheer
Prolongwear Concealer
Mineralize Skinfinish Natural
Nars Laguna Bronzer (contour)
Warm Soul Mineral Blush
Soft and Gentle Mineralize Skinfinish

Eyes:
Painterly Paint Pot
Crystal Avalanche (lid)
Copperplate (crease)
Print & Carbon (corner)
Gesso (highlight)
Blacktrack liner
Zoom Lash
#43 Lashes

Lips:
Honeylove Lipstick
Have to Have it Liner
Luminary Lusterglass

This poor woman braved tropical storm Debby in order to get her makeup done for a family member's wedding! Talk about devoted...

Here's what I used:
Eyes- Brun (eyebrows)
Painterly paint pot
Nylon (lid)
Weathered Prolongwear eyeshadow (crease)
Typographic (outer corner)
Blacktrack (upper and lower lashline and waterline)
Zoom waterfast lash
#36 lashes

Face:
I did a "skin cocktail" by mixing two pumps of Studio Fix Fluid with one pump of Prep and Prime Skin and a few drops of Pink Rebel Lusterdrops. (My lovely coworker Tiffany gave me the idea!)
Prolongwear Concealer (under eyes, down center of nose, forehead, around lips)
Select Sheer pressed powder

Cheeks:
Cubic blush
Give Me Sun mineral bronzer

Lips:
Blankety lipstick
Nice N' Spicy prolongwear liner
Baby Sparks dazzleglass

It may be only June, but fashion week has come and gone and that can only mean one thing: the trends for this fall are hitting the market! Come August you'll start to notice the shift in trends from spring/summer into fall/winter and I can not wait!

The color palette is inspired by cool tones, jewels, sepias, and neutrals. The textures play with metallic against mattes, and the skin is velvety. Lips are red and lashes are barely there. This upcoming season is all about picking a feature and amplifying it, then softly building the rest of your makeup around it. Whether it's a strong brow, geometric liner, or intense contour, this season will put a masculine spin on feminine beauty makeup.

Jewel tones seem to make a comeback every winter, but this season the placement is different. Try mixing up the way you apply your eyeshadow and go outside of the box with where you place color. Mix matte and metallic textures, and skip a brow highlight. Light washes of shadow are leading this season's styles vs. high impact intense color

Red lips are a classic look that you can't go wrong with. The modern spin on this season's red lip is to pair it with a truly nude eye; think "no makeup makeup!" Skip on loading up on the mascara, and if you can't live without it try only applying it to the top lashes. Apply a wine or burgundy colored stain if bright red is too intense!

Graphic eyeliner gets more geometric this season. Instead of a classic winged out liner this look is more about adding structure and architecture to the face. Not quite the classic look of winged eyeliner, this is definitely more of a statement.

Brows are fuller and darker this season. Skip the tweezers and grab some clear brow gel! A fuller brow is youthful, but still strong.

This season's contouring and highlighting has moved on from bronzed and glowy to cool and velvety. Creamier textures in cool browns are replacing warm bronzers, and highlights are less shimmery and more subtle. The look is all about playing with the natural shadows of the face to give depth and shape.

Although runway makeup is beautiful, it isn't the most wearable. Take this season's trends and customize them to fit your lifestyle! Work with products you have, perhaps applying them with a new technique or placing them differently. You'll be surprised with what you end up with! Don't be afraid to be a little messy or make a mistake. Makeup isn't supposed to be perfect and clean.

Howdy y'all! Here's yesterday's makeup of the day. I decided to follow my
previous post with one of my favorite smokey eye combinations.

First, I applied a dark base all over the lid; I used Blitz & Glitz Fluidline from MAC. Then I packed Bronze eyeshadow onto the lid with a shading brush like the 239. Next, I blended Charcoal Brown eyeshadow into the crease with a 217 brush. This step is key because it gives the smokey eye a blended effect. Finish it off with your favorite brow highlight, eyeliner, and and a few coats of mascara!

I contoured my face with a 109 brush and Dark mineral powder. Follow the hollows of your face. The point of this is to play with light and shadow! Wherever your face sinks in is where you want to apply your contour; I.E: under your cheekbones, temples, jawline, etc... On the cheeks I applied Peaches blush, and Pearl cream colour base as a highlight.

For a lip color I chose Freckletone lipstick, Subculture liner, and Orange Tempera gloss.

Best of luck :)