Making the Contoured Face Trend look fresh, not chiseled:

March 25, 2020 ~ Emmie Reve ~ 1 Comment

The contouring makeup trend is upon us, and has been for a while…the only thing is the aesthetic is rather angular, high impact and not soft or natural. For those unfamiliar with the trend, contouring is a foundation application that uses different shades of foundation on the face to create low lights and highlights blended together to give an illusion of depth and dimension. It’s a visual trick. Light surfaces move forward and dark surfaces recede back. It’s actually an illusion to create, the appearance of high cheekbones, an eyelid crease or skinnier cheeks…

My problem with contouring is that it looks painted, unnatural and is based on fooling the beholder, instead of accentuating the natural beauty one’s face already has. It is about following the beauty standards that pointier noses are prettier, or shallow cheeks are better, and that roundness is not. Rounded features I find are youthful, cute and joyful. These features can be desirable things…

I have stayed away from the contouring trend thus long, only recently adopting a more modified version of contouring. No bronzer, and no high contrast lines that need blending. Just airy bliss. I started using a highlighter to make my face glow a bit more, to look more awake and to accentuate what I already have. For me, this is the perfect compromise…looking bright-eyed and bushy tailed, but not overly harsh or made up.

How I use highlighting daily:

After moisturizing, I apply my favourite foundation. These days I’m loving the Revlon Photo Ready Color Stay foundation with an spf of 20. It gives me added protection from UV rays, while still giving me a creamy, barely there coverage..
Here’s where it gets fun. Add in a highlighting pen, crayon or cream. Any brand will do as long as it is lighter in shade to your real skin tone. There needs to be a reasonable difference in shade between the highlighter and foundation. Too light and it looks unnatural, but too close and it looks like nothing…
As I mentioned in the steps the best places to highlight: the nose bridge, the forehead, the corner of the eyes, the bags under the eyes, and the cheekbones. Oh, also the cupid’s bow on top of the lips.
I gently draw the lighter color onto my face. Must hit areas: the cheek bones, the crease at the bottom of any eye puffiness, the corner of the eyes, a small triangle on the forehead, the ridge of the nose, my cupids’ bow above my lips, and last but not least a round spot on my chin.
The magic happens when I blend the makeup shades by dabbing a blending sponge on the edges of the highlighted spaces to create a blurred effect. Once all blended, I dust lightly with ;face powder to set and all looks beautiful!
I then apply my eye makeup as usual and end with 2 generous coats of my current favorite mascara…

I feel this leaves me with a dewy, flawless glow on my face that just looks natural as if I was born with it…and not trying to fool the onlooker. Because at the end of the day, makeup is supposed to make me look better, but not like somebody else.

The finished product. Don’t I look alive but not too chiseled? That’s what we want!

6 Easy Make-up Tips to keep you looking Fresh this Summer

May 3, 2018 ~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

So, in Toronto, as with a lot of places in North America, spring really came late, but suddenly, with our last snow storm just only 2 weeks ago!! How can we recover so fast to be able to be ready and enjoy this burst of sunshine and mild temps now that May is finally here? My make-up these days is lighter, with less layers, andless ink; my motto as always been less is more. I want to use less make-up products these days, because my eyes have been kind of puffy lately, and I’m not about to outline they are with tonnes of black liner…But I still like a made-up face when possible, and here are some easy, breezy tricks to make it look like you are effortlessly gorgeous:

Nothing says spring like a terrarium with succulents! With it some of my current cosmetic arsenals…

Top Summer make-up hacks

Follow a full face make up with a blot with a kleenex tissue: This one is so important! Because in the summer, we are usually using either a foundation with SPF, or a separate SPF, and the layers of protection gets kind of oily and thick. Reduce the look of wearing a “make-up mask” by blotting with a soft tissue all over the face after applying your full make-up. The tissue catches loose pigment and excess oils that sit on top of your face, the thing that causes you to look “made up” and unnatural. I find a kleenex is better than blotting paper since it’s texture can pick up loose make-up too, and not just oil.
Wear an SPF! I can’t say this enough, and it’s really just because in the late Spring, the sun is actually at it’s closest to the earth, but without the heat to signal it’s penetrating our skin! UV rays from the sun is linked to skin cancer and also sunspots, wrinkles, and skin aging. So be sure to use SPF during the spring and summer!
Use the right foundation color: I know in Asia, the trend is to be lighter, and here in NA, it’s to be darker tan…but my advice is to match your actual skin color. There is never going to be a color more flattering than getting the exact shade and tone of the face. Don’t pretend to be a porcelain princess or, a tanned surfer girl, because matching your true skin color will make you look like yourself, and more natural. Even if it means mixing two shades to get it right, as I currently do…
Hair Trends: When it comes to hair lightening, any level lighter than brown hair (bronde to platinum) looks best with dark roots, 1-2 inches. Having uniform color from root to tip looks very artificial for some reason, even though having roots is a sure fire sign of colored hair. But for some reason, darker roots give your face and hair more dimension and drama, and also makes lightened hair look even lighter. Be sure to soften the root line so that where the roots end doesn’t look like a harsh line. A skilled hair stylist will know how to do this if you don’t!
Add a shimmer to your bottom lid: For those of you with puffy eyes, and small bags underneath them like I do these days, will appreciate this tip. Shimmery bright shadow on the bottom helps brighten and take attention away from bags by bring up the visual focus. For those who don’t use shadow on the bottom lid; always use a shadow there, even if it is a nude color. It keeps your eye make-up from smudging when you blink all day and when moisture from your eyes touches your top eye make-up.
Avoid heavy mascara: Did you ever wonder why you don’t have the fluttery lashes you see in all the make-up ads when you put on mascara? Sometimes my lashes just look inky and heavy after mascara application. My quick remedy for this is to take a clean finger tip and just dab and push up on the lash right after mascara application. This will wipe off any clumps and naturally separate lashes, while evening the mascara application and keeping it light and wispy. Another bonus? It helps prevent smudging or flaking from occurring later in the day since it also removes excess black on over painted lashes. A must do.

So ya, these are my tricks I’m using to keep fresh this summer, do you agree with them? If so, you can enjoy wearing make-up this spring without looking over done, made up and weighed down. Hopefully these tips work for you and feel free to share your own tips in the comments section below!

Some basic, but important Tips for Make-up Beginners

April 22, 2018June 15, 2018 ~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

First: A Throwback of my Past Make-up How-to’s:

I write a lot of articles about different make-up looks, whether it be a natural or vampy look, or valentines’ day flirty eyes; I have fun expressing unique make-up applications. Here a few of my escapades with make-up and color:

This is from my article on how to do be-witching eye make-up! *check it out here.*

Very dark lined cat eyes for a fashion forward winter holiday look. *Article here:*

An 80’s electric eyeshadow look for a bold statement. *Article here*

What works for New Make-up Wearers?

My make-up looks are certainly fun if you want to change up your daily routine, but what about people who want to start wearing make-up and are intimidated by all the complicated/trendy tutorial out there? I think the best make-up looks enhance your facial features simply, and doesn’t change or hide them. Like making your eyes look brighter with a shiny shadow, or making your skin creamier with a bb cream… In essence, make-up is basically playing up what you have naturally, and it shouldn’t feel odd or awkward. It’s a fun form of self expression, and one of my favorite ways to show off. Here are some basic suggestions I want to give beginners who are starting to wear make-up.

Tip # 1: No substitute for Good skin

Before putting on make-up, one needs to take care of the skin. Cleanse, exfoliate, moisturize, and use an antioxidant nightly on your skin. When you have healthy skin, make-up can actually do it’s job properly. Check out my line of natural skincare to learn more.

Tip # 2: Use an SPF or SPF loaded foundation

The sun is not your friend. UV rays and ultra violet light from the sun IS what causes premature aging and wrinkling, so wear a sun screen under the make-up. If that is too heavy of a base, find a foundation with higher than 15 SPF to help protect your skin from harmful rays at the same time as giving you coverage.

Step 3: Level of coverage in Foundation:

Be honest about the level of coverage you want. There are three levels of coverage: Light coverage is a tinted moisturizer, with no powder, medium is a light foundation/bb set with a bit of powder, and full coverage is a heavy foundation and concealer set with powder. I tend to like a medium coverage for day to day, since that often means I can skip concealer for minor uneven tones. But if you want the flawless skin look, you will have to go for full coverage. All options are fine, but choose the one that you want, not the one that you think you should want. Just because you have been make-up shy all your life doesn’t mean you can’t have the flawless full coverage look. Be willing to experiment to find what works for you!

Step 4: Definition of the face:

Using a foundation will mute all your other features. Your eyes will look smaller after foundation application, your mouth will be colorless, your eyebrows non existent. Your cheeks without color. So this is the time to add back definition.The more products you use, the more defined your features become. My minimum staples for definition are eyebrow color, eye lid color, mascara and blush. If you want extra definition, you can add an eyeliner, liquid or pencil, contouring/bronzer, lipstick, false lashes…etc. But again be honest with the level of definition you want!

The Bottom Line:

I feel that when starting to wear make-up for beautifying effects, it’s really important to be honest with yourself and how much coverage/definition you want to present to the world. Take the time to figure out what level of “made-up you really want”. And just like when wearing fashion, you want to have fun while expressing yourself with your make-up looks! Having a positive attitude and a willingness to try new things will get you farther in anything, any day!

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: