Since spring is in the air, it is time to renew your make-up palette. Re-think pink and mauve; opt for pastel shades to enhance your eyes, lips and cheeks. Guerlain shows the way with great textures and colours of the season
STEP 1
Idea is... to have superb skin, like the one top models flaunt on the glossy pages of fashion magazines - it's within any girl's reach. It is all a simple question of opting for the perfect skincare regime which will suit your skin best.
So you use... Pure Dew Cleansing Foam Gel. (Michelle has a normal-to-combination skin). This water-based cleanser guarantees deep skin cleansing without causing any dryness.
Used morning and/or night, it clarifies and soothes the skin while eliminating grime and make-up. Wonderfully refreshed and clean, your face feels healthy, radiant, definitely soft.
Next, Purifying Iris Toner comes in handy. This astringent toner, with its low alcohol content, purifies and balances the skin, leaving it with a matte finish.
Hydramythic Stick is applied next, all over the face except on the T-zone. This high-power moisture-provider melts into the skin which is replenished and is visibly more glowing.
Now, the T-zone is treated with Issimat T-Zone Matifying Secret. Oil-free and ultra lightweight, this powdery fluid mattifies shiny areas while tightening the pores. Plus, the bonus is that it can be dabbed over make-up during the day for touch-ups at your convenience.
STEP 2
So you use... Corrective Concealer SPF 12 Clair No. 1. Apply it with the tip of your finger or with a clean lip brush for professional and non "caked-up" effect. It can also be used as an under-eye make-up base to unify the skin tone around the eye zone before you start applying eyeshadow.
This is followed by Ultra-Fluid Foundation Oil Free SPF 15, Beige Naturel. If the chalk-like finish is what scares you, this liquid foundation is for you! Apply with your finger tips, all over the face or simply wherever you need your complexion to be unified, evening it out as if you were wearing no base at all.
STEP 3
Idea is... to get a perfectly even, flawless grain of the skin with a velvet-like aspect. So you use... Les Voilettes Loose Powder for the Face, 'Ambree'. Who said that matte is dead? On the contrary, and this applies to any season.
With this loose face powder, you can play up or down any colour of previously-applied foundation to impart a soft and flattering cast to your skin, day or night.
To apply, make sure you pad, not wipe; this will enable you to set your make-up properly without dislodging the foundation.
STEP 4
Idea is ... to contour eyes. So you use... Eye Pencil, Bronze Noir, No 7. Apply it in a rather thick line to neatly frame the almond shape of your eye, at the very edge of both the upper and lower fringes of lashes. Smudge the line a bit for accentuated drama and emphasise the sparkle in the eyes.
Follow this with Eyebrow Pencil Blond No 1. An absolute must for colour definition which should always be conferred to the brows. This shade is ideal for blonde or highlighted hair.
STEP 5
The idea is... to define eyes further. So you use... Radiant Colour Single Eyeshadow, Jaune d'Or No. 44 and Mauve Acier No. 63. Applying these silky smooth textures of these single shadows is a breeze! Begin with the darkest tinge first.
Following a "V" shape, like a bracket showing at the outer zone of the eye, dab a fairly good amount of the mauve shade.
Smudge it on the outer corner of the upper lid, starting off from the centre, and extending the blending outwards. Stop slightly above the socket of the eye and also approximately by the middle section of the eye.
Then it is the turn of the fashionable mango yellow eyeshdow to "open up" the look, placing it on the inner corner of the eye. That's all there is to it!
STEP 6
The idea is... to intensify eyes further. So you use... Enticing Eyes Mascara Violet Reflets No. 50. Guerlain gives intensity to your eye make-up this spring without relying on the conventional black or brown colours. This mascara leaves your lashes fuller, longer and curled. Make sure you wiggle the brush from roots to tips; a single layer is good enough to get a luscious effect.
STEP 7
The idea is... to get a luscious mouth. So you use... Lip Liner Pencil Sienna No. 1. This shade matches all rosy to bluish pink "lippies" and it is also a smart way to keep your lipstick put all day. Follow that with Guerlain's Sheer and Shine Lipstick No 363, a pale Parma mauve. For extra creativity and audacity, apply a thin layer of your mauve eyeshadow on top.
STEP 8
The idea is... to blush! So you use... Radiant Blush Rose Nuance No. 245. Start right underneath the cheek bone and work your way up to the temple, then slightly get back towards the end of the brows.
Remember, the golden rule of blush-on application is that round and upwards gesture, not that rigid, straight line! One good last thing to do is to gently "caress" the entire eye make-up with
whatever is left of your blusher on the brush.
EVENING TRANSFORMATION
The idea is... to turn day make-up into an evening look. So you use.. For the eyes: Radiant Colour Single Eyeshadow Corail Feu No. 45 and Poudre d'Azur No. 12.
Turning a day make-up into an evening look does not necessarily mean going for darker colours or overloading your eyes with more of the same day-time shades.
Just add two extra tones of eyeshadows to play with on the different corners of your eye. The powder-blue tinge makes a sumptuous highlighter right on the arcade of the eye, underneath the end tail of the brow.
As for the appetising papaya-like orange shade, it gives depth and sensuality to your eyes when you apply it right at the inner corner of the eye, close to the start of the nose and the inner end of your eyebrow. I told you: Fast and easy!
For the lips: Lip Liner Pencil Brun Chocolate and plastic lips with Sheer and Shine Lipstick No 345. Finally, a generous helping of Meteorites Ultra Sheer Lip Gloss.
Make-up, text, clothes and jewellery: Francois Desroches
Hairdresser: Ahmed Shirin, Kacy's Salon, Sheraton Jumeirah Beach Hotel
