International makeup artist Lake Sanu alongside fashion and beauty content creators Lisa Jemide and Sasha Ellese showed us how to makeup like a pro, even when you have little to no time.
If you missed the virtual Black Skin Decoded event, brought to us by the Black Skin Directory, Glamour magazine and IL Makiage makeup, rewind to the beginning of our beauty mini-series for a skincare lesson before switching over to eye care and cosmetic surgery.
In this last edition of our Black Skin Decoded highlights, Melan rewinds to this beauty masterclass, where celebrity MUA Lake demonstrated how to wear a bold metallic green eyeshadow, Lisa showed off her everyday glam face and new mum Sasha, did an everyday makeup look for us time-poor, busy women.
What’s the key to your makeup looking beat?
Lisa Jemide (LJ) – The key to a flawless face is prepping the skin so I used IL Makiage Poreless Base Smoothing Primer. I’ve got quite obvious pores and oily skin, so I found this really worked for me. Before you go in with a primer, it’s really important to moisturise your skin to make sure it’s ready for makeup because the key to good makeup is good skin. [Lisa uses Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Cream]
How do you shape eyeshadow?
Lake Sanu (LS) – When I do my eyeshadow looks, I really like to define my crease so taking a fluffy brush, I go into the shade and will press it over my eye. A really good way to get good colour pay-off is to pat the product in a semicircle shape. I know a lot of people like to do the windshield wiper motion, but I don’t feel you get the colour pay-off you want and sometimes, you might not get the shape so I prefer to press it on in the shape I’m after. Then I tap off the excess and start buffing the edges to make sure they’re nice and diffused. I like to take it up into the nose contour as well so there’s no harsh lines. Some people think the less product you use with a smokey eye, the safer it is, but I definitely think when you go in with a brown – whether it’s a couple shades darker than you or much darker than you – as long as you connect that brown into your nose contour, go into the brow and across your eyelid and then wing it out to your temple, it will always look natural.
Products used:
IL Makiage Color Boss Eyeshadow quad in Trendsetter
Mac 217S Blending Brush to apply and blend
Looking for a more natural contour? Use bronzer instead
Sasha Ellese (SE) – I live for bronzers. I’m naturally very pale so bronzers always help to give me extra colour. I’m also someone who absolutely loves colour when it comes to makeup – I love blushes, bronzers, highlighters – all of it. Then I go in with the IL Makiage Mineral Baked Blush. This is quite pigmented so you don’t need too much. I then use a brown liner to softly line my lips. I always line my lips even with a natural makeup look because I have small lips, so it gives me some definition. I go with a slightly darker brown than my own lips to make sure they stand out.
Products used:
IL Makiage Mineral Baked Bronzer
IL Makiage Icon High Volume and Intense Curl Mascara
IL Makiage Perfect Finish Setting Spray
How do you apply metallic eyeshadows?
Metallic eyeshadows I find always work better with your finger, so I just press. The IL Makiage Color Boss is really nice and creamy and because it’s such a buttery texture, it makes it easier to apply with your fingers. The shape you want is a semicircle again. Go back and forth over the edge just to smooth out that line with your finger. Just to be on the safe side though, I’ll go back in with my base brown eyeshadow and stipple that right across the edge to make sure there are no harsh lines.
Products used:
IL Makiage Color Boss quad in Rise and Grind (metallic green)
Do you need a black or brown eyeliner for a smokey eye?
LS – It depends on the colour you’re using. For this metallic green, I’d recommend a black eyeliner but sometimes, if you’re doing a gold smokey eye for example, a brown eyeliner is really beautiful. It doesn’t need to be a black eyeliner to look intense. A brown can look really sultry.
Tired of your blush colour?
LJ – I use the Mineral Baked Blush in Isla Bonita which is a gorgeous pink shade. Usually for someone of a darker complexion, people suggest using an orange blush to warm the skin. While I do love that, I absolutely love a pink in a cool tone on my skin. I only slightly smile to apply. If you smile too much, you’ll end up with the blush being too high. This blush has specs of shimmer in it so it’s not a completely matte blush, which I appreciate.
Written by Vicky Gayle – Follow her: @vi_gayle
