Beginners: Flattering Makeup For Asians (East Asian)

Hi everyone. I decided to do a new series for Beginners to makeup. So all of my dear friends from Blogger, you're probably going to find this series fairly redundant and boring as you probably know a lot more than me about makeup. But to those of you who are new to makeup, this new series addresses helpful (I hope you will find them helpful) tips and tutorials for makeup and skincare.

Today's beginners post focuses on makeup that is flattering on Asian skintones. Asian in the UK refers mostly to South Asians such as Indians, but this post refers to East Asians such as myself.

The picture above is of Lin Chi-ling portraying legendary beauty Xiao Qiao in the film Red Cliff. Her makeup consists of pink cheeks with pinky red lips, which I find extremely flattering on Asian women.

I did not even begin to try and look like Lin Chi-ling, but here is a look I did using blue-based pink cheeks and plum/red-pink lips. I may do a look in the future where I try to replicate her makeup.

I have left out foundation for this look (as they seriously irritate my skin! I know, how sad), but for those of you who prefer a little coverage, a tinted moisturiser or light BB cream is great for flawless healthy looking skin. A favourite tip of mine is 'less is more'. Start with a light layer and build on it if necessary. That way you would not end up with too thick a layer of base makeup.

Cream coloured eyeshadow on the upper lids helps to brighten the eyes. I used the cream shade from the Revlon Glam Eyes in Orion.

Curl lashes with a good eyelash curler (I highly recommend Shu Uemura's, or my new favourite - Koji no. 71) and a quick flick of lengthening mascara for the appearance of fluttery long lashes. I used Clarins Instant Definition Mascara.

For those wanting to give the appearance of even bigger eyes, a nude eyeliner at the waterline of the bottom lid does a great job of subtly opening up the eyes. I used Dolce & Gabbana The Eyeliner in Nude.

I find blue-based, cool toned light pink blush really flattering on Asian skin, especially on fair Asian skintones. I love Nars Blush in Gaiety (applied with a light hand). I've seen numerous pictures of this blush on blogs and this blush varies from vibrant medium pink to a brightening light pink on different skin tones.

For those with fair skin and wanting a paler, less vibrant, less blue based blush, Illamasqua Katie is a great choice.

I find plum-based pinks on lips very flattering, and love the new Bourjois Smile Enhancing Gloss in 04. Since this gloss has teeth whitener on one end, it further flatters the face by whitening the smile. For a subtler look, I applied this gloss onto my lips and smudged it slightly with my finger to blend the colour with my natural lip colour.

Lip stains provide equally flattering lip colour. I am in love with berry or cherry red stains which gives that 'just been kissed' lips, as well as brightening up the whole complexion.

The look below is exactly the same, except I have swapped the lip colour for a cherry red stain. I used one from the Korean brand Baviphat.

Berry/cherry lip tints instantly lifts the complexion, for a brighter, healthy look (great for days when you feel your complexion looks a little dull or if you didn't get much sleep the night before).

Quick Look: Half-Baked and Harlot

Today's look features golden brown shadow and violet pink cheeks and lips and was used using only 4 products.

I used my favourite Shiseido Integrate Gracy's Eyebrow Pencil on my brows.

For eyeshadow, I used Half-Baked from my new Urban Decay Naked 2 palette (courtesy of Riya). Half-Baked is a gorgeous golden brown. To focus attention on the eyeshadow, I went with fairly subtle eyeliner. I tightlined my eyes with Pixi's Endless Silky Eye Pen in Black Cocoa.

On my lips and cheeks I used Beauté Liqui-Gel Stain in Harlot. Harlot is a vibrant violet pink, so I sheered out the stain slightly for a less vibrant look.

A non-makeup product I used today was my new Caudalie Soleil Divin. I've been using La Roche Posay Anthelios XL for years, and was looking for something different which looked less shiny on the skin. So far I'm very impressed with this sunscreen. It does make my skin look a little fairer, but doesn't leave a 'white-cast' look. It has a semi-matte finish whilst giving my skin a terrific radiant glow. I like that it's oxybenzone free whilst giving my skin great sun protection.

Cherry Blossom FOTD III

... Using Nars Gaiety.

To continue my annual tradition of spring Cherry Blossom inspired FOTDs, today's look uses a lot of pinks.

I used pink shades of my cheeks, lips and even a little on my eyes.

Products Used

Face:

RMK Creamy Polished Base in 01

Nars Blush in Gaiety

Nars Gaiety is my latest purchase. I've been trying to resist this blush for the last month, but finally caved and bought it. I'm glad I did as it's a beautiful blue-based light pink. It's matte in the pan, but has a subtle glow once on the cheeks. I love the high quality of Nars blushers.

Eyes:

Shiseido Integrate Gracy Brow Pencil in 963

Lavshuca Eyeshadow PK-1

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Caviar

I used the light beige and pink shades from the Lavshuca palette that the lovely Riya sent me. I really love the shades in this palette, such lovely soft colours.

Lips:

Guerlain Rouge Automatique in 161

Lastly, I used Guerlain's Rouge Automatique in (aptly named) Cherry Blossom on my lips to complete my very pink, spring Cherry Blossom inspired look.

Look: Natural FOTD using Nars Lhasa, and my Pear and Honey Cake

Here's a look I did recently using natural looking shades of makeup.

I don't normally wear base makeup, but for this look I'm using Liz Earle's tinted moisturiser. I have small sample of it and was giving it a try. I'll write a review on it soon.

Nars Lhasa is a recent purchase. I've seen some beautiful swatches of the eyeshadow in various beauty blogs and just had to purchase it. Lhasa is a smokey lavender brown-grey.

Products Used:

Liz Earle Sheer Skin Tint in 01 (sample-not pictured)

Becca Beach Tint in Fig

Shiseido Integrate Gracy Brow Pencil

Clarins Instant Definition Mascara

Nars Eyeshadow in Lhasa

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black

Mac Patisserie

I love Becca Beach Tints. This shade in Fig is a pretty and subtle nude pink which looks great on both cheeks and lips (for this look I am just using it on my cheeks).

Here's a picture of the Pear & Honey cake that I baked recently. I had some friends over for our weekly mahjong session and thought I would bake them a cake while my husband cooked them Hainanese Chicken Rice. As you can tell from my poor craftsmanship, I made the crystallized decoration myself. The cake consists of 3 layers with cream cheese and honey icing.

Look: Using Naked 2 Palette and Topshop Magical Lip Tint

Hi everyone. Today's look included using the amazing Naked 2 palette that the lovely Riya sent me. This palette is a true joy to use as I'm truly spoilt for choices of shades!

I also used my new Topshop Magical Lip Tint to complete this look.

Group photo of the products used:

Urban Decay Naked 2 palette
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black
Shiseido Integrate Gracy Eyebrown Pencil in 963
Clarins Instant Definition Mascara (not pictured)
Edward Bess Blush Imperiale in Soft Orchid
Topshop Magical Lip Tint in Crystal

The shades I chose for today's look are Bootycall (one of my faves, a gorgeous creamy pale beige)...

...and YDK, a stunning brown bronze with metallic shimmer.

I used Bootycall all over my upper eyelids, and YDK near the lashline.

I chose pink shades (as usual) for my cheeks and lips.

The Topshop Magical Lip Tint is from their new Sisters of the New Moon collection. The tint reacts with the skin to create a unique shade. Too fun to resist.

The product itself looks like something a child would enjoy looking at. All pink and sparkly.

Thankfully only a couple of the sparkles transferred onto the lips. On my lips the tint turned a fairly bright pink (slightly darker and brighter in real life than in this pic).

I hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! Mine is not terribly exciting. Am on some sort of diet to try and lose the extra pounds that have crept up on me this winter!

Look: Using Pixiglow Tint and Paul & Joe Minou

Hi everyone, here's a look I did using two products I've posted about recently; Paul & Joe's Blusher Stick in Minou and the Pixiglow Magic Tink Tint.

Both products came out fairly light and pink on me. I probably won't use them together next time as together they wash out my complexion slightly. It really doesn't help that i'm wearing light coloured clothes too. I've been looking a bit pale these wintery months, so I don't think I can get away with light lip AND cheek colours.

I have got to say though, the Paul & Joe blush is so cute. Here's a pic of it taken from my recent post. I really love the pretty pink shade too.

A pic of the products used in today's look. I forgot to include the eyeliner.

Products Used:

Shiseido Integrate Gracy Eyebrow Pencil in 963

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black (not shown)

Clarins Instant Definition Mascara

Paul & Joe Blusher Stick in Minou 002

St. Tropez Skin Illuminator in Rose (as highlighter in cheekbones)

Pikiglow Magic Tink Tint

Hope you have a great week ahead! I'll finish with a couple of pictures of a water village in Sabah taken on our travels.

Winter Face of the Day: Take 2

Hi everyone, hope you had a great first month to the New Year and to those who celebrate Chinese New Year (and actually also to those who don't!) - I hope you had a wonderful New Year with joyful festivities.

To those who remember my previously failed Winter FOTD, here is a second attempt at showing you the Nars Multiple in G-Spot on my cheeks. This is a better representation of its true shade on my cheeks.

I decided to wear my winter hat (usually reserved for skiing/ mountain hiking activities) to make this look a little more appropriate for winter!

Products Used:

Face: Nars Multiple in G-Spot

Eyes: Castle dew Shot Eyes in GD240

Laura Mercier Cake Liner in Black Ebony

Lips: YSL Rouge Pur Couture Golden Lustre in 111

The Castledew eyeshadow palette was given to me by the lovely Riya. I used the 1st and 3rd shades on my lids.

I must apologise for my baggy eyes and weird lashes. I haven't been able to sleep properly for ages and it's been getting worse this past week so my eyes look really puffy at the moment. The weird lashes are from sleeping with an eye mask, causing me to have lashes that point straight up. The plus point is that at least they look curly!

Winter FOTD (fail)

Hello everyone! Thanks so much for your kind words in my previous post. Here's hoping that things will look up for me in 2012!

I had a look back at my previous FOTDs and realised they all look a bit the same. So today I tried a different look.. I wanted to create a wintery 'just in from the cold' look, but it ended up looking the same..again!

That's my husband making himself a snack in the backgroud.

I decided to post this look up anyway, and try the wintery look again another time.

Products Used:

Shiseido Integrate Eyebrow Pencil

Bobbi Brown Gel liner in Black

Nars Multiple in G-Spot

Dr. Hauschka Lipgloss in 04

The obscenely named multiple is a new acquisition from Nars' Holiday 2011 Collection.

It looks like quite a dark rouge in the stick, but on the skin it looks more subtle. It gives the skin that lovely rosy cheeks look. Due to poor lighting, the shade is not to obvious on my skin. So I'll do another FOTD for you featuring this multiple.

The multiple swatched on my arm in 2 different lighting conditions to give you a better idea of the colour: