Simple Everyday Brows...

There are two types of people in this world...those who "brow" and those who don't...I love love love doing eyebrows and I'm a great believer in brows framing and therefore shaping your face. Some are blessed with amazing brows and really don't need to do much to them but for most of us mere mortals, they need a bit of help; a bit of taming or filling in.

It's important to have your eyebrows shaped occasionally by a professional as it's incredibly easy to get tweezer happy over time and lose the natural shape. Everyone's eyebrows are different shapes and sizes and quite often need filling in due to the thin eyebrow fashion of the 90's meaning that they just haven't recovered and regrown. Threading is the kindest option (it hurts...a lot yes) as it doesn't affect the skin unlike waxing which can leave the skin sore.

If you've got a good shape, you may just need to fill in the brow but if you need to draw a shape, this guide will hopefully help a little but it does take practice and time to work out what you feel comfortable with.
-The eyebrow should start in line with the inner corner of your eye, hold up a makeup brush or pencil to find this point.
-To find where the eyebrow should end, hold up a makeup brush (or pencil again) and line it up from the corner of your nose to the outer corner of your eye and keep this imaginary line going; that's where your eyebrow should end. It's the most flattering angle and draws the eyes upwards and helps open the face and create feminine and large looking eyes.
-Finding where the arch of the eyebrow should be is the hardest part and you do learn overtime. Again, using the makeup brush trick and looking in the mirror directly ahead of you; line up the makeup brush from the corner of the nose up through the pupil of the eye and up to the brow.

Now time to fill in the shape....as with all makeup there's no right or wrong but just make the best of what you have; start out with less and you can always add more.
There are some great starter kits Benefit Brow Zing, Sleek or HD Eye & Brow Palette.
I keep it simple and just use a brown eyeshadow and a small angled brush, I don't actually like the waxy look that some of the kits give and prefer the brows to look as natural in texture as possible.

You can use a makeup wipe or cotton bud to run around the edges of the brow to tidy them up afterwards. I then use a highlighter beneath to help them look sharp and clean (only if I have time of course!) please please please pick something that doesn't have shimmer in it...unless you're going to an 80's party....then shimmer is fine...
When I'm doing eyebrows professionally and for weddings, there's a little more TLC that goes into this process but for a quick everyday look, I use a quick swipe of YSL Touch Eclat. It's not good in photography but for everyday use, it's precise and and easy to use:

Finishing touches are then completely up to you; I like my brows clean and sharp but I think it's important that they look soft at the start as they would naturally would be. You can keep the brows sharp and precise or really just use a light dusting of powder just to add a bit of colour and definition which may be a good option if your natural hair colour is very fair and you're still getting used to the process.

Again, please don't think that I'm saying it's wrong if you do your makeup another way, there's no right or wrong but this is just the easiest way I've found to do quick and easy everyday eyebrows.

Hope you find it useful! Xx

Vicky Brown Hair and Makeup

www.vicky-brown.co.uk

Quick Trick Smoky Eye!

I recently posted a blog on Autumn/Winter 2014 Makeup Trends and thought I would show you a really quick and easy way to get the big smoky eye look....nothing professional, just a quick and easy cheat! This technique can be used with darker eyeshadow for an evening look or a much lighter colour for daytime but the principles are the same.

The most flattering angle for the wing of eyeshadow is from the corner of the eye up to the outside of the brow; this angle draws the eyes upwards and outwards and makes the eyes look bigger and feline in shape.

Between getting up close to the mirror with one eye shut and reaching over with an eyeshadow brush, it can be really tricky to get this angle perfect on yourself. A foolproof way of holding this angle is to use a stencil; this can be a piece of paper, a receipt, a magazine page or if you find yourself getting a bit cack-handed...use Sellotape! You may want to do this before putting any of your base on if you're worried about making a mistake or the Sellotape (if you're using it!) pulling foundation off.

Selecting the darkest shade for the outer corner of the eye, press the eyeshadow brush upwards towards the browyet stopping before reaching the brow- don't forget you can always add more so start with less.

When the stencil is taken away it leaves the eyeshadow with a perfect angled edge. Choose a second lighter shade of eyeshadow and apply to the middle section of the eye and a third lighter shade still (if you have time!) and apply to the inner corner of the eye and blend the colours together. If you take the eyeshadow too close to the brow you can clean this off with a cotton bud and add a bit of foundation below the brow to make it look fresh again.

It's now completely down to personal preference how to finish the look. I like to keep the edges sharp and crisp for an evening look, however you may wish to soften them with a clean brush or just with your finger tip for a softer daytime look. In the below image I added a little of the dark eyeshadow beneath the eye using a small brush, followed by liquid liner across the top lashes and a coating of black mascara.

I hope you find it useful and if you have any questions or other looks you'd like help with, please give me a shout!

Vicky Brown Hair and Makeup

www.vicky-brown.co.uk

How to Bronze, Blush and Highlight

Confession: I've used to be a blush-a-phobic.

I have rather fair skin but have pink undertones and in moments of extreme heat or freezing temperatures, my cheeks always flush so I could never quite understand why I would want to add more pink! Don't get me wrong; I've known how to use blusher for years. I've been taught how to use it on paper and in practice and I've applied it to clients correctly for years too; but It's only been this year practising makeup for my own wedding that I've finally got it....I really get it! I love bronzer, always have and always will but rather than just coating myself with bronzer in the hope to look tanned and glowing from the non-existent holiday; I now see how blusher, bronzer and highlighter are made to work together.

Excusing the ridiculous faces I've had to pull to demonstrate how to apply it, you can see the difference it adds to skin tone and cheek shape...This is the best and easiest way I've found to teach and demonstrate where to apply bronzer, blush and highlight. Professionally I take a bit more time and use bronzer to contour other areas of the face too but for day-to-day makeup....this is the trick.

Bronzer or contour powder should create the effect of a shadow beneath the cheek bone- think Kate Moss and the hallowed cheeks of the heroin chic look from the 90's! We all have cheek bones... but some are just hiding a little deeper than others so to find where best to apply the bronzer or contour powder you can a) turn your face away from direct light to see where the shadow falls b) pull the silly face that I am doing in the below picture by sucking your cheeks in or c) draw from the centre of your ear down towards the corner of your mouth with the powdered brush.
I use Hula by benefit as it doesn't have any shimmer and is therefore quite natural. You can use bronzer with shimmer in it but it's going to be a little more noticeable.


Once you've mastered bronzer, the blush sits directly above this in a parallel line. Now you don't want streaks of colour so of course you'll need to apply this softly, don't forget that adding more is far easier than taking it all off. Some people apply blusher to the apple of their cheeks- this is when you smile widely and apply the blush to the rounds of the cheek and if this works for you, that's absolutely fine but I just find it a little old fashioned! I use MAC Springsheen or Pink Swoo, both very similar colours but I find they suit my skin tone best. You can use corals, berries or brown shades if these work better for your skin tone.

Highlighter is designed to imitate light and it should be applied to the highest point of the cheek which is pretty much eye socket bone (you can feel this with your fingertips if you're not sure) up to the temple. Highlight can also be used across different areas of the face but again, for day-to-day makeup I don't really have time to do this so best to keep it quick and simple...in-fact I don't always put highlighter on! I'm a fan of Benefit's High Beam or Lancome's powder highlighter.

There's no right or wrong with makeup so if your technique works for you, then that's great but I hope you find this helpful! x

Vicky Brown Hair and Makeup

www.vicky-brown.co.uk