Celebrity Beauty: Leona Lewis' makeup in "Bleeding Love"

I would be really surprised if you have not heard yet of Leona Lewis. She is amazingly talented and her powerful voice is spellbinding. Leona was discovered due to the British reality talent show The X Factor (similar to American Idol) which she successfully won.

Her current hit "Bleeding Love" has been leading the charts and is so often shown on MTV - I think I know it by heart. Having watched it so often I've had a chance to admire her amazing look in this video over and over again. She is beautiful – no question about that. But her makeup is just magical. Whenever I would see the video, I would think to myself: whoever created this makeup is a genius. So, finally, I decided to find out who is responsible.

Leona’s makeup artist is Jane Bradley. According to Jane’s blog, she first did Leona’s makeup in September/October 2007 and has been “almost permanently attached to Leona” since. Currently, Jane does Leona's makeup for all the numerous events she attends daily (and Leona has a lot as she is promoting her debut album and is taking the entertainment industry by storm). Jane also flew to LA to do Leona’s makeup in the "Bleeding Love" video.

Leona’s look in "Bleeding Love" has made some noise among beauty addicts worldwide and, of course, among beauty bloggers. There have also been a couple videos on YouTube in which people attempted to recreate her makeup in that video. Not only the makeup is gorgeous, but also the dress she is wearing is breathtaking. Just in case you were wondering, it is a Dolce and Gabbana creation worth £100.000=$200.000.
This crystal-encrusted forty pound dress is from Dolce and Gabbana collection Fall 2007.

Going back to Leona’s makeup in "Bleeding Love"… I decided not to post the YouTube videos here as, to my big regret, each of them has some kind of a presentation flaw – like a noisy cartoon in the background for example. I am not the one to give directions on creating a smoky eye as I am just trying to master it myself. I also tend to wear more subtle makeup so this look is new for me. However, I thought it would be fun to look into the details of this amazing makeup by Jane Bradley. So I took a closer look at Leona’s makeup and did a couple screen shots.


As you can see from the photos above – it is a dramatic smoky eye done in very dark (almost black) green shades. Dark green eye shadow, the base of Leona’s smoky eye, is applied with a bit of a tick on the outer eye corners. Light silver shadow goes right under the eyebrow to lift it up. I think there is also a golden highlight in the center of an upper eyelid. Finishing touches include fake eye lashes and a black eyeliner applied along the upper eye lashes.

I decided to give this smoldering eye a try myself. It was a very quick experiment and I am not claiming that I did recreate Leona’s look.
I used:
L’Oreal eye shadow in black: 163 Smoke;

Essence’s shadow in sparkling green: Jungle Queen 22,




Lancome’s silver eye shadow in 316 Pierre de Lune,




Chanel’s Liquid Eyeliner in black,




Estee Lauder’s Magna Scopic Mascara.





I did not have an eye shadow in the exact dark green but it appeared to be no problem at all.
Here is what I did:

applied L’Oreal shadow in black, then over it a shadow in sparkling green to achieve the extremely dark green shade. I liked the final color and how you can control the intensity of green and black shades by layering and blending. It took me some courage to really go faaaar beyond my outer eye corner. Not sure I achieved that upward tick – need some training here. To blend the eyeshadow well and to create a smoky transition I used a brush and my finger (which is always a reliable tool).

applied some shadow along the lower eye line and made sure there was a nice transition between the upper and the lower eye lids(along the outer corner).

applied a metallic-silver shadow under the eyebrow. Silver should be quite subtle not to stand out.

achieved a bit of a more highlight with a tiny touch of white shadow right under the eyebrow in the outer corner.

finished up with an eyeliner along the upper eye lid.

curled eyelashes and applied mascara.

did eye brows. This look needs prominent eye brows to be balanced. Since my usual eyebrow corrector allows just a touch of colour, here I had to use an eye pencil in dark brown.

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Beauty Trends: Makeup Trends Spring 2008 - Eyes

All the recent beauty magazines are reporting what makeup trends are in for spring/summer 2008. On some looks they definitely agree, and on some they don’t. So I decided to take a closer look myself. In this post, I am looking at eye makeup trends. It seems that everyone agrees on white-silver-grey trend for this spring as well as shimmer golden colors. Other spring/summer looks seem to be inspired by either by classical spring colors (pastel green, blue, pink, violet) or an exotic garden/flower (bright yellow, orange, lime green and coral) as well as colours of the sea (various shades of blue, turquoise)

GOLDEN EYE SHADOWS - a Golden Goddess

Golden shimmer eye shadows have been featured in many-many shows (Zac
Posen, Versace, Bottega Veneta, YSL etc.).
Two looks stand out:
*using just one color golden (Bottega Veneta) or
*creating a glamorous smoky eye in golden-bronze shades (Versace).
I really lke the latter which looks glamorous and is ideal for an evening out!

Dsquared took “golden look” to another level and did a dramatic glamorous golden-black eye. I find this one absolutely beautiful and sexy but would never ever try it out or even dare to pull it off (well, at least not this season). Similar but less intense and less golden is Gucci’s makeup for spring 2008. This looks doable!

WHITE-SILVER-GREY EYE SHADOWS - an Ice Queen

I have no idea why icy eyes became a trend for spring/summer 2008. I personally am tired of the cold winter and am ready for the warm sun that will melt away any trace of cold! However I do find this look nice and easy to do. Once again, there are two looks in white and silver:
*first, more natural one-color for a day
and
*second, more intense (Chanel) or a smoky eye in silver-grey (Georgio Armani) for the nigh.
I especially like the smoky variant by Georgio Armany. Am not so fond of Chanel’s grey variant…

SPRING AND EXOTIC COLORS – a Spring Fairy or an Exotic Bird


Light pinks and violets, blue and various pastels make a great classic spring look for 2008. Note, blue eyeliner is a hot trend this season as seen at Narciso Rodrigues, Blugirl and Diane von Furstenberg.

An unexpected combination of two colours like blue and yellow-green (Karl Lagerfeld) or green and bright coral (Ashley Isham) creates an association with an exotic flower or an exotic bird.

SHIMMER AND GLITTER - a Sparkling Star


Metalic eyeshadows, shimmer and glitter are also (unseasonally) popular this spring/summer 2008. Colours: silver, violet, purple, golden, pink, green.

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Beauty Trends: Makeup Trends Spring 2008 - Lips

In terms of color, there are two definite trends for lips this spring/summer: subtle pink and bold red.

As far as the texture goes, the trend is towards matte. As I read in Elle UK March 2008, there is an opinion that matte lips “look modern”.

THINK PINK

Pink shades are mostly very subtle and range from very natural sheer glossy pink that is hardly there to a richer (but not too bright) pink shade.

There is also an interesting look of porcelain pink lips which at times, look almost white.

BOLD REDS

This spring/summer you can feel free to experiment with different shades of red.
Various reds have been favored by makeup artists for spring/summer 2008:
* Warm reds as seen at Elie Saab
* Pillar box red as seen at Daks
* Orange red as seen at Bottega Veneta
* Neon red as seen at Temperley


*Special attention shoul be given to wine reds (see above) of matte and glossy textures as seen at Dolce & Gabbana and House of Holand

BLINDING NEON

Another trend that stood out was neon red or neon orange-red lips and even neon pink as seen at Louis Vuiton.

Makeup artists recommend this spring not to do nude lips but to make a bold statement with your lip color… unless you go with the pink trend, of course.

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Beauty Trend: Makeup Trends Spring-Summer 2008 - Skin

Very Natural and Matte
The trend for skin this season is a matte natural look, very often without any blush. So just stock up on blotting paper and matte powder for this season.

Pink Blulsh

If you like to use a blush, pink color is the trend for this season as seen at Valentino, Giles and Issey Miyake. I liked a tip I read at Elle UK March 2008: “For a flush of colour, mix a cream blusher with moisturizer and blend in the middle of the cheeks” – makeup artist Charlotte Tilbury.

Glowing Skin

While matte natural looking skin is in, there still were a lot of glowing skin looks at spring-summer shows. To create a sheen highlighter is applied to temples, nose and cheekbones as seen at Zac Posen, Georgio Armani, Mathew Williamson and other shows.

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Beauty Trends: Spring-Summer 2008 Look with New Spring Makeup Collections

There are several new and exciting makeup collections for spring-summer 2008 that you can use to get beautiful spring-summer looks.

Get the Look Inspired by Makeup at Dries Van Noten, Michael Kors, and Karl Lagerfeld Spring 2008 Shows: Spring and Exotic Colors

Clarins launched spring-summer collection 2008 called FIZZ. As I understand from the video on Clarins site (and the name), the inspiration for Clarins spring 2008 look came from soap bubbles :-) … you know, all the various colors you see reflected in a bubble… To me, however, colors of Clarins spring collection give an association with a yummy exotic fruit. Think… papayas, pine apples, melons and figs.
Clarins Spring 2008 eye shadows come in mono-packaging and include: Sunny Yellow, Sweet Melon, Gold Leaf, and Sweet Lilac. Actually only 2 colors appear to be new Sweet Lilac and Sunny Yellow. Just as Clarins promises, the shadows are ultra-smooth and blend beautifully.
Two new lip glosses that come in Clarins’ spring 2008 collection are Lilac and Toffee.
New Eyeliner: liquid eyeliner in Chocolate Brown
New Eye Pencil: Copper


With Clarins’ new makeup collection you can do looks inspired by Dries Van Noten, Michael Kors, and Karl Lagerfeld (in the latter case, colors will be completely different though, but the idea/style remains the same).
Clarins makeup seems to be a good fit to do Michael Kors look for spring 2008 (see the photo): Sweet Melon goes under an eye brow and Sweet Lilac- in the middle of an eyelid. The only thing missing is a blue eyeliner.

Tip: you can achieve tones of various intensity by layering Sunny Yellow, Sweet Melon, Gold Leaf. For example, for a more intense golden shade try layering Sunny Yellow and Golden Leaf!

Get the Look Inspired by Makeup Seen at Sonya Rykiel, YSL, Karl Lagerfeld Spring 2008 Shows: Add Some Glitter and Sparkle

The texture of Clarins eyeshadows is matte, so if you want to have a bit more metallic texture and some glitter, like makeup at Karl Lagerfeld’s and Sonya Rykiel’s shows, go for the gorgeous Shiseido’s spring-summer 2008 collection. I tried it out – it has wonderful sparkle! Not so intense as at Sonya Rykiel’s though.

Shiseido’s new collection colors are, in my opinion, beautiful. But again, just like Clarins’, Shiseido’s eye shadows come in mono-packaging.

Eye shadows have a moussey texture and come in the following colors: Languid Lagoon, Rose Tulle, Lemon Sugar, Clover Dew.

Four new Shiseido lipsticks are all in warm shades, shimmery, and not bright. Even though shimmering lips don’t seem to be extremely popular this season, colors are gorgeous and just classical: Cheerful Pink, Spring Violet, Pale Coral, Summer Sunset.
Another new Shiseido spring product is tinted powder Multi-Shade Enhancer:
*Terracota Glow for a bronzed skin look with golden shades for a golden glow.
*Sunset Glow for a warm summer pink tone.
With Shiseido collection, you can do a Karl Lagerfeld inspired look. For example,
try Languid Lagoon on the upper lid and Clover Dew or Rose Tulle on the lower. Also just a single color will look great. Single color eye is a hot trend this spring-summer.

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Beauty Trends: Makeup in Pink Spring-Summer 2008

There is quite a choice of spring 2008 makeup collections to do a look in pink.
New collections from Dior, Bobbi Brown, and Guerlain have great products for pink cheeks, pink lips and pink eyelids.

DIOR Spring-Summer 2008


Dior’s two new looks for Spring 2008 are in pastel pink/violet flower tones and are called “Bloom in Dior”.

Dior Spring 2008 Must-Have: Limited Edition Dior Flower Blossom-Floral Illuminating Powders for face. The powder contains five shades and can be used as a corrector/illuminator for complexion, blush and eye shadows.

Other products used for Dior’s Spring 2008 Look include:
Skin:
*Dior Powder Shimmer for a glowing skin
Eyes:
*5-color eye shadow palettes that are available
-with a more matte but silky finish – 5 Colors (check out Spring Bouquet 470 palette or choose for a more intense look Stylish Move)
-in a glittery “ultra-wet” texture - 5 Colors Iridescent in with a touch of violet (the palette name Pink May 909 speaks for itself)
-Diorshow Mascara
Lips:
*Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Reflect 457 (Pink Liberty) or Dior Addict Ultra-Gloss Reflect 127 (Beige Velvet)
You can see more details and a video at Dior’s site.

GUERLAIN Spring-Summer 2008


For a more dramatic look you can use a new spring 2008 palette from Guerlain. Guerlain Spring 2008 collection includes:
*Limited Edition (see the photo):
- Ombre Eclat Fleur de Feu eyeshadow
- KISSKISS Stick Gloss Fleur de Feu (raspberry pink lipstick)

BOBBI BROWN Spring-Summer 2008



Bobbi Brown developed limited edition palettes in pink for two looks: Pink Raspberry look and Pink Satin Look for spring-summer 2008 (see photos)

*Pink Raspberry palette includes:
-Navajo and Fog Eye Shadows;
-Pink Raspberry Blush;
-Raspberry and Blue Raspberry Lip Sheers

*Pink Satin Collection includes:
- Metallic Palette with the latest velvety, shimmering shadows: Navajo Metallic Eye Shadow, Hot Stone Metallic Eye Shadow, Pink Ice Metallic Eye Shadow
- Lip Gloss Palette with three shimmer shades in pink: Spring Blossom Shimmer Lip Gloss, Posey Shimmer Lip Gloss, Pastel Ink Lip Gloss
- Mini Brush and Palette Case with three mini brushes: Blush, Eye Shadow, and Lip Brush (with protective cap).

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Beauty and Makeup: Concealer Overview, Application and Tricks

When I was looking for a good concealer, I did not have time to look into what actually makeup artists recommend and what application tricks they are using. So in this post I will mention the concealers I tried out and share some YouTube vids I found useful. A couple videos are by makeup artists and one is a show episode from Tyra Banks where she gives tips based on her experience as a model.

Concelaers/Highlighters I've tried:

So I've tried concealers from Bobbi Brown's Creamy Concealer Kit (available with loose powder), MAC (comes in a small container with a brush applicator), L'Oreal (comes in a pen with a brush applicator),Bourjouis(pen-brush), Laura Mercier's Undercover (combines Secret Camouflage & Secret Concealer in one compact), Dior's Skin Flash (comes in a pen-brush applicator), Helena Rubinstein’s Magic Concealer (comes in a tube without an applicator).
Now I am using

Highlighter - YSL's Touche Eclat (i think it is Luminous Ivory but they have no number on the pen so I need to make sure),

Concealer - Elizabeth Arden's Flawless Finish Concealer (Anti-Cernes)# 02 Medium



and am experimenting with a

concealer palette by Catrice that includes light salmon, green, beige tones.



Concealer Color and Application Technique:

First of all, what only experts don’t recommend! Some swear by yellow concealer tones, others, by salmon tones, some recommend to set concealer in with a powder, others don’t. Everybody has their own technique I guess.

In terms of the color choice, makeup artist Eve Perl made it clear once and for all. It should be salmon color! Sharing some makeup tips in her video, Eve said: “Think about it for minute, if you mix yellow with blue, what do you get? Green. That’s how we get these racoony undereyes…” Well, out of my experience, I think pink tones do help to neutralize dark under eye shades but I don't think concealer has to be intense salmon color. The light ivory tone with a touch of pink in YSL Concealer works for me excellent. See the video below.

I have not come accross many salmon colored concealers. But check Laura Mcier's Undercover.

In the next video a makeup artist applies concealer on the inner corner lower lid, of the eye (not completely over the whole lower lid) and a bit of it on the outer corner. As she says, "everybody has a bit of the red eye" on the outer corner of the eye. I tried this technique and I like it a lot - it does open up your eyes and make them look brighter.

In the next video below a makeup artist addresses the problem of a concealer creeping into fine lines and looking so obvious that you actually look better without it! So she recommeds to apply it only in the inner corner where the darkness is most intense and set it with a loose powder. She claims the loose powder will prevent concealer from getting into the lines.
As I have mentioned above, applying concealer only in the inner corner works great for me. However, I don't really think setting it with a powder makes a huge difference (at least what I noticed). I believe, it still mostly depends on the consistency of the concealer if it will eventually get into the fine lines and accentuate them or not. If you want to apply concealer to the whole undereye circle area, choose a very light texture. When I have very intense dark circles, I apply Elizabeth Arden's Flawless Finish Concealer (that has quite thick texture) close to the inner corner and then tap a bit of YSL on top and all over the circle. So the bottom line is that I would recommend using high coverage (thicker type) concealer when the circles are really-really intense and only on the inner part of the eye. See 2 videos below.

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Sisley Gentle Eye and Lip Make-up Remover

Product Tag Line:

Perfectly cleansed eyes and lips, with gentleness and respect.

Product Profile in short:
(as described on Sisley Website)
•Dissolves makeup quickly and thoroughly
•Does not dry out skin
•Instantly provides a feeling of freshness and comfort

Promise:
Removes make-up thoroughly without making skin dry
“Particularly suitable for sensitive, fragile eyes and contact-lens wearers”

What’s Inside:
•Matricaria, Cornflower, Gardenia, Orange Blossom.

Close-up on Active Ingredients:
Water
Citrus Aurantium Dulcis- Orange flower extract, also contained in Sisley’s Eye and Lip Contour Cream
PEG-7 Glyceryl Cocoate – nonionic surfactant (very mild), derived from coconut.
Gardenias Florida Extract – used in cosmetics to impart fragrance and as an antioxidant
Butylene Glycol - humectant (attracts moisture to the skin)
PEG-40 Glyceryl Cocoate - conditioning, cleansing agent derived from coconut
Propylene Glycol - emollient, hydrating agent
Chamomilla Rewcutita (Matricaria) Extract – provides gentle soothing, healing, anti-inflamatory effect
Centaurea Cyanus Flower Extract – Cornflower extract, very often used in products for the skin around the eye, has soothing qualities, beneficial for sensitive skin. In addition, provides gentle stimulating and effective moisturizing, refreshing effect
Panthenol - the provitamin of B5, humectant, emollient and moisturizer, panthenol is able to penetrate into deep skin layers, provide essential moisture and a plumping effect. Panthenol is used to treat/releave minor various skin disorders and irritations
Sodium Coceth Sulfate-mild surfactant
Phenoxyethanol – has multipleuses as antiseptic, antibacterial, fixative in perfumes etc.
…

As always in Sisley products, a couple parabens at the end are used as preservatives.

Experience

Texture: light liquid with no oil additives
Smell: Very very light and natural, I believe, I did not find perfume in the ingredient list

This is another product from Sisley that I just love! It removes makeup easily and effectively and is simply a pleasure to use it. Just as Sisley promises, Gentle Eye and Lip Make-up Remover gives you an instant refreshing feeling and eyes feel comfortable, soothes and clean! I love that it doesn’t contain oil and your skin doesn’t feel oily or sticky after using. Niiicccccee!

However, what is not mentioned on Sisley’s website is that Gentle Eye and Lip Make-up Remover is not suitable for water resistant makeup. my own observation is that it works just fine with “long-lasting” products. When I was buying this product, the sales girl explained that Sisley promotes philosophy of balanced healthy skin and waterproof makeup is not at all healthy for your skin. I agree and use waterproof mascara VERY seldom.

Price Tag:
about $ 50-55

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Beauty and Makeup: ArtDeco Eyeshadow Eye Designer # 50

I think I found the best (for now) eyeshadow tone to create Leona Lewis “Bleeding Love” look! It is Long-Lasting Eyeshadow powder by ArtDeco # 50 in the Eye Designer line (photo above: on the left #50 on the right #49). To use this shadow you have to buy a special applicator as well– see the photo.
ArtDeco, founded in 1985, is a Germany company that manufactures skin care and makeup products.
ArtDeco is available in more than 50 countries in Europe as well as in Brazil, South and Middle America and some other lands.
www.artdeco.de



Color:
#50 - I love the color! Hard to describe it though – it is something like dark earth color with green/brown tones. It also has tiny gold sparkles. Ladies who have green eyes (and Leona does) will be amazed by how this shadow brings out the green color of your eyes without actually looking green…

Applicator:
Love the applicator. On one end it is rounded - which is good for blending (or blending in another color), on the other end is pointed for more accurate targeted application. You can use the pointed end to apply shadow close to eyelashes and in the inner corner. Found this applicator very convenient for doing both a dramatic eye and a more reserved eye makeup.

Texture:
Smooth and silky. Easy to apply and correct mistakes. However you won’t get VERY intensive color. For a more dramatic look I use eyeliner pencil under the shadow and a liquid eyeliner over it. I also noticed that if you apply a lot of ArtDeco shadow to achieve maximum intensity, it becomes hard to blend in another shade. The shadow kind of gets wiped away by the next tone I am trying to blend in. And you do need to blend in case you want to create a smoky eye. (Sorry, but the color looks a bit different in the photo)

Lasting Time and Smudginess:
It does last. I should say it will easily last the whole night out or a day in the office but with some touch ups, the color will fade a bit but eyes will still look made up. It stays in place but it leaves an imprint on the upper lead.

Bottom Line:
I really like the color, how it makes my eyes stand out and how it brings out the green of my eyes. Even though this eye shadow has some room for improvement (e.g.: I wish it had better blending properties), I already bought another refill #50 and another applicator with a golden shadow.

Price:
Applicator approximately 20$
Refill approximately 10$

PS: ArtDeco has a perfect Eyeliner Soft Kajal Liner 86 to match Eye Designer Eyeshadow # 50. It is very soft and easy to apply - like it a lot!

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Beauty Buzz: New Makeup Autumn 2008 Part 1

In this post: Chanel and Lancome
Chanel

Autumn 2008 Chanel style is very gold and... very Chanel.

Image: Chanel.com

The man behind the idea -Peter Phillips, Chanel's Creative Director for Makeup, was inspired by Mademoiselle Chanel's appartment "a unique place with golden covered walls and warm tones"

I love this new makeup collection!

Lancome
Lancome takes inspiration for Autumn 2008 look in India.

Image: Lancome-usa.com

Some other launches from Lancome include limited edition palette called Lotus Splendor which contains two shades of eye shadow and two shades of lipstick

Image: Lancome.de

Also, check out this nail polish!

Image: Lancome.fr

I’ve never seen anything like this before. It is Lancome’s innovation – the texture and applicator are patented. This nail polish comes in a glass jar and is in the form of a cream! I could find it only on the French and German
Lancome site.

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