As cheesy and commercialised as it may be, I love Valentine's Day. It's an excuse to unleash the romantic sap within me and pamper myself, my significant other or my friends. For makeup, you could easily go for the classic red lip, but as I sported that in my New Year's makeup, I decided to, this time, bypass it's timelessness in favour of something a little more virtuous. As what increasingly seems to be the default setting in my life, this look is incredibly easy, so read more for the tutorial!
I've angled this look for a dinner date/romantic night out scenario and I think men, in general, appreciate a low-maintenance, natural and unintimidating makeup, so my focus is flawless skin and bright eyes, whilst still capturing an essence of 'barely there'. The word I'm aiming for, for Valentine's, is pretty!
On with the look!
Firstly, skin prep, and for maximally hydrated skin, I turn to Laneige. The night before, I use their Sleeping Pack which means I wake up with gorgeous skin, no effort. Then after cleansing, I pop on their Skin Refiner and Water Bank Essence, 2 truly fab products which you can also trial in this 4-piece kit.
My tippity top tip for this look, and something I've been doing in general lately, is to apply 2 drops of rosehip oil (this is the one I like, much cheaper than other brands) right before applying makeup. It doesn't make my skin at all greasy but leaves the most beautiful natural glow and makes my base apply extra smoothly.
And for that base I'm using Armani's Luminous Silk, I like to mix it with Olay's CC cream (review here) to sheer it out. I go for Laura Mercier's concealer to hide any blemishes, and a mixture of MAC's Studiofinish and Collection's Illuminating Touch under the eyes. I finish up with 17's fabulous little contour palette (review here); a light sweeping of both shades all over and the darker shade through the backs of my cheeks, and a bit all over..!
Skin done, onto eyes. I take the ashy brown shade from the HD Brow palette through my brows and the light shade all over the lid. The warm brown gets smudged messily into the lash line and I go in with this gorgeous Rituals palette (the amber colour) in the centre of the eyelid for some highlight. I then line with my favourite ever liner and smudge the navy from my No7 trio along the line. MAC's Chromographic liner goes in the waterline for a more open look. Curl lashes, Chanel mascara and a couple of my fave individual lashes for fluttery, separated lashes!
Skin and eyes done, onto lips! I love Collection's Deluxe lippy in Charleston, it's such a gorgeous pinky-brown nude, completely moisturising and slick, but I wanted to make it a little more pink, so popped on MAC's Anticipation liner to pep things up.
And voila! A look for Valentine's to enhance your natural beauty; fresh, hydrated skin with a beautiful inner glow, fluttery and defined eyes, and a natural, pretty lip.
I hope you liked this look!
Let me know what makeup you'll be wearing for Valentine's!
Social Icons