As I promise in my last post (Gothic make-up tips for the summer), I have arranged a post about how to do smokey eyes.
It can be done with all the colours you can think of, but still, the most popular option is black and its closest shade, charcoal. You can go for the dry look or the wet one. I tend to go for the wet look in summer.
I have found two very interesting tutorials which are very similar in technique but with slight changes.
(Pictures with explanations)
http://neeshu.com/Women/Girls-Zone/how-to-make-smoky-eyes-dark-eye-shadow.html
(YouTube video of fellow blogger "TheMakeUpGirl")
http://themakeupgirl.net/2009/01/how-to-all-you-need-for-smokey-eyes/
The main focus is: you apply black paste or paste for eyeliner (picture2, MAC has a wonderful one that I use on its own and as an eyeliner) and powder eyeshadow (to keep it on place and avoid the hideous lines of excess pigment sitting on the wrinkles of your eyelid).
The trick with black eyeshadow is to smudge it softly at the end of the eyelid and on the corners. Otherwise, it would look messy and unfinished. You can achieve this by doing it softly with either a brush or your fingers... or in this tutorials, using a second shade wich is closer to your skintone. It could be brown or a lighter shade such as cream or white and it is applied before the black colour.
As I had already said, I tend to go for the wet smokey look in the summer. Either I use this black paste on its own (which is quite tricky because is not oily, is dry) or I use the "multi-effect" eyeshadow from Manhattan cosmetics. This eyeshadow gets a bit more intense and shinier when you wet it with a bit of water.
What these tutorials don't tell you and I will, because you MUST know this. Keep a tissue (with make-up cleanser) close to you because when you apply the black eyeshadow some bit of the powder will fall on your cheek and once you rub it, you get your skin all smudged in black. What I use to prevent this, is an special brush that you can find everywhere. It is used to apply powder as well, but the good thing is that will sweep the eyeshadow away without staining the skin. It is usually very wide and has the shape of a flat fan.
Here is the kind of post that my followers love to bits: fashion tips! Everytime I do one, it seems like half of the internet stops by to check it out. The visits go through the roof!
One of the main problems of Gothic fashion is that is a winter fashion. For british goths/goth enthusiasts or people who live in Britain, this is not a big problem; as summer doesn't exist here. However, for the rest of the world, specially in the Mediterranean, this becomes a huge huge problem. So, after so many requests, I am starting my new fashion tips series: Gothic fashion for the summer. This post will cover some make-up tips for olive skin, as this is the tricky one, and no-one seems to have bothered with the subject.
During summer, I don't know if this is your case, I cannot wear full make-up because the sweat will sweep it away. Therefore, the old school trick of applying talc or white powder to make you look paler doesn't work anymore. It is time to confront the golden sun-tan your skin is achieving and embrace it. This means, either leave it plain, naked; or use a blush to accentuate it (pastel or deep 80s style strawberry shades)
I am pretty sure, you must be wondering how you can still achieve that "dark" look, then? You can still dramatise your eyes with deep eyeshadows and/or deep make-up. It is not going to look as edgy as it would on a fair skin person. It would look slightly more harmonious as your skin is already dark and any light shades you apply to it, it would absorbe them.
These are the options I can think of:SMOKEY EYES
(deep make-up on the eyes, and that's it - no dark lips, no shade on cheeks). It doesn't have to be always black or grey. You can still achieve amazing dark results with other deep colours such as gold, turquoise or deep blues (I'll do a post about).
However, with the black or grey colours, you can achieve the exact density of pigment you want on your eyes.
You can make it soft so the eyeliner stands more or for a daily look (see picture1) or you can make it properly pitch black (see picture3), however this one is extremely difficult to apply because is incredibly messy. So while I am writing this post I am arranging the next one, which will be about its -several- methods of applying.
DARK FULL MAKE-UP
Because your skin is of an olive shade (due to sun tan or genetically), you can get away with a full make-up look, during the sunny day.
I have broken down this idea in two further options you could go for:
red lips - for a classier look but still looking very vamp (picture2),
dark lips - for an edgier and alternative look. These can be black or any other extremely deep shade of red and purple such as aubergine (picture3).As you can see, both full make-up looks work well with either soft blush or deeper strawberry shade.
Very rarely I find inspiring editorials among the summer issues. Suddenly, everything is just pastels, pinks and bright/neon shades that could easily blind you if you are not careful!
Don't get me wrong, I like pastels and some bright but strong colours such as deep red (my favourite!), deep blues and greens but I am still fond of my black, even in the summer.
This editorial is very interesting, it has all the elements I like: gothic, a bit of fetishism (but not to the point of being pornographic and therefore, might get the ban from Blogger) and with a vintage twist.
It features an unrecognisable Megan Fox as a lady Vamp who is doing dirty tricks to her clone number #2, who is a mannequin.
I love the stylism, is quite summery - if we ignore the fur, unless you are living in Scotland or Iceland - the bob is stylish, simple but still keeps the vintage flair.The make-up is beautiful, although I think it would only work if you are extremely pale. Otherwise, forget about achieving that soft gothic flair with a golden sun-tanned skin-tone. It just wouldn't work. But hey, if you think otherwise, comments are welcome. I do like debates...;)
Here is the link to the full editorial:
http://www.fashionising.com/pictures/p--Interview-magazine-June-July-2010-6759-101620.html
As I promise in my last post (Gothic make-up tips for the summer), I have arranged a post about how to do smokey eyes.
The main focus is: you apply black paste or paste for eyeliner (picture2, MAC has a wonderful one that I use on its own and as an eyeliner) and powder eyeshadow (to keep it on place and avoid the hideous lines of excess pigment sitting on the wrinkles of your eyelid).
What these tutorials don't tell you and I will, because you MUST know this. Keep a tissue (with make-up cleanser) close to you because when you apply the black eyeshadow some bit of the powder will fall on your cheek and once you rub it, you get your skin all smudged in black. What I use to prevent this, is an special brush that you can find everywhere. It is used to apply powder as well, but the good thing is that will sweep the eyeshadow away without staining the skin. It is usually very wide and has the shape of a flat fan.
