OK! Magazine Gucci Jewelry Beauty Shoot - "How to" Makeup for Beauty shoots

Last month I had the privilege of collaborating with OK! Magazine Middle East sporting Gucci's new collection of jewelry, shot by the amazing Candy Kennedy and modeled by the beautiful Militza from Bareface (who had just arrived from London - a fresh face to keep your eye on).


DESIGNING THE LOOK FOR THE SHOOT

The look and feel of the shoot was intended to be "traditionally elegant, simple yet beautiful and clean for a strong yet soft woman". I wanted to bring out the incredible jewelry with the makeup and support its statement of bold brave elegance by creating a symbioses between the makeup and the jewelry.
When designing looks for shoots I generally receive a brief from the Fashion / Beauty Editor of the Magazine, in this case the lovely Melanie Penny, Fashion & Beauty Director of OK! Middle East. She had sourced images of bronzed beauties which she showed me about a week before along with a short brief explaining that she and her client were seeking a golden look.

Whilst for Makeup Artists published beauty shoots are such an honor, it's really important to not get carried away trying to show off your talent. Always keep in mind that, unless you have been hired to sell makeup products, the look you have designed must support the product you are advertising, meaning every decision you make must add to the client selling the specified product.
So, yeah, it would have been great to go stronger on the blush or add a fantastic looking lip colour, but would it have helped sell the jewelry any better ... probably not, most likely it would have overpowered any other elements in the shot.


TIPS & TRICKS FOR BEAUTY SHOOT MAKEUP

Doing beauty shoots (i.e. close-ups of the face) demands great attention to detail from the Makeup Artist. There is no room for error, if your line is not straight - it's not straight, it's there for everyone to see "up-close" - your ugly crooked line with your name printed on the same page ;)
When I do makeup for beauty shoots, I always take 3-5 minutes at the end of the makeup session to double check all makeup elements. During this time I polish and perfect.


Here are a couple of things I check just before the model starts shooting:

- under eye coverage sufficient
- symmetry of all elements (lips, eyes, brows, blusher, lashes)
- straight eyeliner on top of eye
- coverage of waterline liner, making sure inside corner of eye is clean of any residue
- highlighting polish (bridge of nose, arch of brow, above brow, innner corner of the eye, cupid bow, top of cheekbones, around the mouth)

Now that you know some of the "beauty makeup" tricks - make this look your own!
Here is how:

FACE

(1) Prime your skin with "Prep + Prime Skin Base Visage" from Mac (you need this to help your foundation adhere to your face and increase its longevity).

(2) Use Chanel's "Vitaluminiere" foundation (in your skin color), which is a coverage building foundation and powder (to set the foundation) with Makeup Forever's translucent "HD Powder". Don't skip the powdering step, it is vital to prolong the life of your foundation on your skin.
For this photoshoot I used "RCMA" creme foundation on Militza, a highly pigmented full coverage foundation created for the sole use of photography makeup, which was designed by a group of Professional Makeup Artist in LA. Unfortunately it is not available in the UAE.

(3) Add colour to your face using Mac's blusher in "Peaches" on the apples of your cheeks blending up/backwards and "Coppertone" blusher to contour just below your cheekbone (no further inwards than the outer corner of your eye).

(4) Finish with my all-time favorite Dior Bronze Collagen Activ in "Amber" by applying only little where the sun would naturally tan your face (forehead, chin, cheekbones). I always use the "Bobbi Brown Face Bronzer" brush for this kind of bronzing to guarantee a natural finish. Do not sweep it over the nose unless you are going for a slightly clown-like appearance.

EYES

(1) Use Illamasqua's Liqid Metal in "Solstice" (available at Bloomingdale's Illamasqua counter in Dubai Mall) all over the lid and blend out and upwards. Apply the same underneath the eye - from the outer to the inner corner. You are doing this to create a base which will later intensify your eyeshadow colours and increase the longevity of your eye makeup.

(2) Then take a metallic warm golden eyeshadow (I used Inglot AMC shine 27) and apply all over the lid, take the same golden eyeshadow and apply underneath from your inner corner 1/2 down towards the outer corner. Now intensify the crease of your eye with a metallic brown (Inglot AMC shine 42 was my choice). Blend well in circular motions to make sure you have no harsh lines.

(3) Take the same metallic brown eyeshadow and apply underneath your eye from the outer corner 2/3 inwards towards your inner corner.

(4) Take Bobbi Brown's liquid gel liner in "jet black" and draw a beautifully shaped line just above your lashes.

(5) Using DUO eyelash adhesive (available at Mac) apply your stunning new lashes from Girls Aloud's Cheryl (available at Carrefour and Spinneys Al Wasl) to open up your eyes, making sure to avoid a droopy eye by placing the lashes close to the inner corner of your eye. If you feel they are giving your eye a sad expression, cut off a little from the inner corner of the fake lash until you feel that the lashes are giving your eye an upward movement at the outer corner.

(6) Line your eyes' waterline top and bottom with Mac's amazing kohl liner "Smolder".

LIPS

(1) In this case I only used a lipliner and a clear lipgloss to keep the focus on the eyes and allow the jewelry to take centre stage. Choose either Mac's "Subculture" or "Spice" as your nude lipliner and fill in the entire lip. For this shoot I used "Subculture" because it just about matched Militza's natural lip color.

Et Voila ... off you go sporting your new fabulous jewelry looking gorgeous! Easy!