When it comes to our fashion shoots, the hair and makeup can be just as important as the clothing in creating the final "look." For the March fashion shoot, we took inspiration from one of Pantone's chosen Colors of the Year – Serenity (a tranquil, powdery blue) and played with all shades of blue. Artist Elizabeth Chang used Yaby Cosmetics makeup and Bumble and bumble hair products to create the look and shares how she did it all below.
When Veronica told me the theme was "Shades of Serenity" (aka “Blue on Blue on Blue”), I was thrilled because blue eye shadow has gotten a bad reputation from the 80s and 90s causing women in 2016 to shy away from it. I hope to showcase some fun ways to reintegrate blues into your makeup wardrobe.
For makeup, I chose to use Yaby Cosmetics, a Toronto-based artistry brand with high color pay off, coupled with practical packaging (Yaby is available in California through a retailer here!). I get asked all the time where I get these little eye shadows from, so I like introducing this brand to my private clients because of the option and convenience to customize your own palette and mix colors, which is great for travel. An artistry brand also means they have shades and products for all skin colors and types –– and also adventurous colors!
For a flawless base with semi-matte texture, I used Yaby Liquid Foundation in Buff & Ivory and concealers in Apricot and Buff to conceal any under eye darkness. Before setting the foundation with translucent powder, I like to use face color first so it adheres on top of the still-wet foundation. Based on the blue-on-blue outfits, I picked a blue-based soft pink blush (BL034) from the Blush Out Loud palette, and used the Light (PF901) and Dark (PF090) from the Highlight Palette to lightly highlight and contour for definition. I kept a light hand because the focus was around the eye makeup, and I didn’t want to take the focus away. The lip colors are from the Goddess Palette LC011 mixed with a touch of LC003 for the blue-pink seen on the cover and throughout the spread. The reddish brow powders BP006 and BP005 complemented the model’s red hair. For folks with red hair, these are actually my go-to brow powders.
The eye shadow colors are a mix of Pearl Paints (satiny/pearly finishes) and blues and grays from the Dramatically Neutral Palette. Used in our story as a highlight color, is Seashell ES192, the hero color is the most gorgeous Butterfly Blue PP066, Summer Night PP036, Baby Blue PP024, Emerald Sea PP002, So Navy ES473, Spring Garden PP025, Psych Cat PP071 and Aged Denim ES600. We started with soft, natural and wearable blue shadows, and eventually built up towards the cover look, which is a runway-inspired, fun look.
For more definition and color intensity, simply wet your eye shadow brush with a bit of water, dip into the eye shadow, then apply with a small pencil brush – I did that with the Emerald Green color, and used it along the bottom lash line for a soft but punchy definition. To step it up a notch, I scraped the eye shadows to a palette with a mascara wand and mixed it with a mixing medium, Make Up For Ever Aqua Seal, to create a long lasting cream eye shadow texture, and applied it with a stamping motion to create the uneven color patterns for the cover look.
Before applying heat to the hair, I used Hairdresser’s Invisible Oil/Heat protective primer by Bumble and bumble. If you’ve read my previous Get the Cover Look posts, you may be familiar with the following tried and true products: fullform mousse, does it all hairspray, and creme contour from bumble and bumble. I applied the mousse and then blow dried it in the hair before wrapping 1 inch sections around a C-curve flat iron to give the hair an easy, uneven curl pattern for that “California” look. The hair products chosen assists in keeping the volume and hold for the duration of the photo shoot. The small amount of the creme contour helps to create the piecey look!
