Tag: make-up

Some basic, but important Tips for Make-up Beginners

~ 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!

My day to day make-up look. Very minimal: Medium coverage foundation with a light powder, eyebrow definition, thin lined top lid and neutral eye shadows…no lipstick, but a bit of blush! My go to natural look…

I don’t usually write make-up reviews for cosmetic giants, but…

~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

Maybelline doesn’t need my help to sell it’s make-ups. It’s as ubiquitous as all the other make-up giants; that kill the environment, use chemicals and test on animals…Maybelline is no exception. But since this is a make-up journal, I feel inclined to report about how I recently discovered the crazy over performing lipstick that is the Maybelline Super Stay Matte Ink Lipstick line. It’s a semi-new release (within the last year) that has gotten me in a state of fandom over long wear make-ups for my lips…(since that’s really the only place on the face that needs it…since we eat and drink, every hour of the day)

The two best colors from the line, as mentioned by a lot a reviews: Lover (mauve), and Pioneer (classic red)

I come from a philosophy of simple is better, less is more and basically I feel natural always trumps chemicals. That’s why I have a line of gentle handmade cosmetics and perfumes called Dream E available for all. But because I work in the fashion industry as well, I know how important a well painted lip can be and how much it can pull together a fashion look from head to toe. So here I am being hypocritical about my own philosophies by liking super-stay lipsticks; since they probably have more in common with car paint enamel than the traditional wax based lipstick…what to do…

The reason I feel I have this contradiction is because ignorance is bliss. If I think about the chemical gloop that are in super-stay lip color, I would probably cringe…but I am slightly comforted by the fact that once they set, they don’t go anywhere. They become more like clothes that one wears and then takes off at night. The problem I’ve always had with traditional lipsticks were that they were movable, oily and gross, getting on food, coffee cups and clothes. I could feel them on my lips, they felt greasy, slimy. Not to mention they are made with chemical/metal colorants that could make their way into my body eventually. Too gross. But the great thing about a color stay lipstick is that it doesn’t budge, and because of that, I am assuming the chance of it getting into my belly is unlikely? (cross my fingers)

Ok now that I’ve explained my contradiction, what were the general downsides of wearing color stay lipsticks? Flat, unfashionable choice of colors, uneven wear throughout the day, 2 step application of some formulas, drying feel on the lips…the thing with the Super Stay Matte Inks is though that they don’t feel dry on, the wear is even throughout the day with NO retouching at all necessary…and they come in highly pigmented, velvety colors that you virtually paint on once carefully, and forget about it. It is that comfortable and light, that I forget I’m wearing it until I walk past a mirror and see my high fashion lips!  Just like a great eye make-up that you put on once and don’t have to worry about reapplying throughout the day, you can live the busy life you have, while having a high maintenance lip look that nobody knows you didn’t work at!

Here is the mauve color (“Lover”) on my lips. In this photo, it looks a bit muted, but in real life it’s actually deeply pigmented… almost plumy…
And here is the classic red color (“Pioneer”) on my lips. I really like the intense color and matte velvet finish…

The two colors I own from this line is a gorgeous mauve pink called “Lover”, (that started me on this epiphany of how to wear lip color from now on!) and a rich, classic red called “Pioneer” that screams fashion! I was doing a make-up look that was sans lipstick for a few years now, since I couldn’t deal with the gross feel and maintenance required of tradition lipsticks, but with this new long wear formula from Maybelline, I am a fan of colored lips once again! From reading other reviews online, the two colors I have demo-ed in this post are the two best and most popular colors from the Matte Inks line. Which one is your fave?

The Babes of Horror Movies: Make-up Inspiration

~ Emmie Reve ~ Leave a comment

People who know me, knows that I likes me them horror movies! My boyfriend is stuck with the tedious duty of watching them with me and letting me squeeze his hand and burrow my face into his shoulder all the way through every jump scare, freaky monster, and demonic possession out there in this high energy genre of film that is often underrated artistically. Pulling off what is called a “B movie” takes a lot of talent… And I am grateful for this genre for scaring the bejebers out of me. It makes my life seem less scary…

But did you ever notice that horror is loaded with foxy ladies? Let’s dissect my favourite leading ladies of horror and how to possibly achieve some of their gorgeous, babe-alicious make-up and hair looks:

#4 Ana de Armas in Knock Knock

Ana de Armes is a Spanish actress that is just gorgeous, with her big innocent eyes, and cute baby face. Most recently seen in the thriller Knock Knock with Keanu Reeves, I thought she stole the show in her skimpy out fits and cute blondie ways.

Here she is stealing the show in a glamourous sparking body con dress. I love her short blonde hair and black lined eyes.
Here she is stealing the show in a glamourous sparking body con dress. I love her short blonde hair and black lined eyes.
she looks great with less make-up, more than anything else. Recreate by doing neutral eyes paired with a dark magenta lip.
She looks great with neutral eyes.  Recreate by doing neutral eye shadow,paired with a dark magenta lip. Heavy mascacra and false lashes add drama to already big eyes.

#3 Emma Stone in Zombieland

Emma Stone is known for being a Hollywood glamour queen, but before she made it big, she was in a small little horror comedy called Zombieland.  It was so funny, and so fun, and quite scary at times, I loved this movie.  Emma stone was so cute in it, because she really knew how to rock a darker brunette hairstyle that was both edgy and soft at the same time.

I loved Emma Stone's hair in this movie. The side swept bangs and bouncy wavy hair made her darkly lined eyes that much more feminine!
I loved Emma Stone’s hair in this movie. The side swept bangs and bouncy wavy hair made her edgy black lined eyes that much more feminine!

#2 Katrina Bowden in Tucker and Dale Vs. Evil

I loved Katrina’s performance as the damsel in distress and romantic lead in this hilarious horror comedy about college kids going to the backwoods, and learning that hillbillies are not as scary as them preppy young selves.  So funny.  And Katrina was so foxy with her tousled wavy hair, and minimal make up.  I think she is following that trend in South Korea of just rocking really nice dewy skin.

You can't have a B movie without a hot babe of some sort. And Katrina Bowden fits this bill. But her performance was also super funny.
You can’t have a B movie without a hot babe in her knickers. And Katrina Bowden is up to task! But her performance was also super funny.
Nice wavy hair like this can be achieved with a curling iron and rollers. Pair it with little to no make up for Katrina's look.
Nice wavy hair like this can be achieved with a curling iron and rollers. Pair it with little to no make up if you dare for Katrina’s look.

#1 Amber Heard in The Ward

And my number 1 pic has to be Amber Heard who is no stranger to being a siren in horror movies.  She was Mandy Lane in the slasher All the Boys Love Mandy Lane, but I want to focus on her make-up and hair in her lesser known movie The Ward.  This movie has great twists and turns, I do recommend checking it out.  If not for Amber’s strikingly gorgeous look and portrayal of a disheveled young blonde, then for the mysterious intrigue that happens in it, as it is set in a psych ward full of disturb young women.

Amber Heard's character does a lot of worrying in this movie, but look and the simple pastel palette that is used on her eyes and mouth.
Amber Heard’s character does a lot of worrying in this movie, but look at the simple pastel palette that is used on her eyes and mouth, and accentuated eye lashes.  It is a pale, ghostly and drained palette that mirror her state.
It doesn't look like a lot of make-up, but it is. To get this look, you need disheveled hair, dark lined brows, and a neutral lip. I think it is a youthful make-up.
It doesn’t look like a lot of make-up, but it is. To get this look, you need disheveled hair, dark lined brows, and a neutral lip. I think it is a youthful looking make-up.
My attempt at achieving the same look. Pastel eye shadow, with darker lined brows, shadow lined eyes, and fake lashes. finish with pastel lip colour/nude.
My attempt at achieving the same look. Pastel eye shadow, with darker lined brows, softly lined eyes, and fake lashes. finish with pastel lip colour/nude.  Hey I’m not Amber Heard, but I tried!  🙂