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).

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.

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!

NEW Nars Velvet Gloss Lip Pencils: New Lover and Baroque

Hi everyone! Hope you are all having a good week!

I was really excited about the lauch of Nars new Velvet Glosss Lip Pencils as I'm a big fan of their Velvet Matte range. These gloss pencils are fairly pricey and cost ~£17.50 each, but since Nars is one of my fave makeup brands, I definitely planned to purchase them when they became available.

They were launched on Feb 1st, and I bought myself 2 shades; New Lover and Baroque.


Baroque on top, New Lover below:



New Lover on the left, Baroque right:



New Lover (left) is described as Strawberry Pink laced with Gold. Baroque is a Bold Raspberry Sorbet.

Here are some lip swatches. First up is New Lover. This is a gorgeous, easy to wear shade. On me, this colour looks a peachy, pinky-red (hard to describe!)

The gold flecks are fairly evident, especially in the pic below. This pic was taken in bright natural sunlight. The bright light washes out the colour of the gloss slightly, but you can see the gold shimmer.

Next up is Baroque. This shade is alot more pigmented then New Lover, and on the lips it's really quite dark. For the pic below, I've applied the pencil really sheerly on my lips more a more suitable day-time look. For some reason, it looks lighter in this pic than it does in real life - must be thst the lighting is too bright.

Below is the gloss 'un-sheered out':

I LOVE these pencils are they give the lips the shine of a gloss, without being over-the-top. They also lack the annoying stickiness of glosses. They feel pretty moisturising on the lips, leaving me with healthy looking, shiney lips.

One thing to note is that these bloss pencils have a soft consistency, much softer than the Velvet Matte Pencils. A light hand is needed when applying them, to prevent them breaking too easilty or wearing down too quickly.

Simple FOTD using Nars Tzarine and Sex Appeal

Hi everyone, here is a FOTD using a couple of products from one of my favourite brands, Nars. The Sex Appeal blush is one of my HG blushers. It gives me a natural looking pale peachy pink flush. The colour is so pale that heavy handed application is needed, and as it's so light it may not show up on darker skintones.

Products used for this FOTD:

Face

Lancome Teint Miracle Concealer, 05 (for highlighting cheeks)

Nars Blush, Sex Appeal

Eyes

Collection 2000 Extreme Liner

Nars Eyeshadow Duo, Tzarine

MAC Opulash Mascara, Bad Bad Black

Lips

Guerlain Rouge G, Gigi (stained on using fingers)

As my skin was feeling extra sensitive, I ditched the use of foundation and instead used a highlighter on my cheeks to give my skin an extra glow.

I find Nars Tzarine such a beautiful colour combination. I used the pale gold shade all over my upper eyelid, then lined my lash line with the blue-grey shade.

I've started using RapidLash enhancing serum on my lashes, and have noticed them growing longer. I'll do a review on the serum after I've used it for a couple of months. So far I've used it for less than 2 weeks.

The Guerlain Rouge G in Gigi is quite a strong fuchsia, so I applied it spareingly using my fingers. Dabbing it on as a lipstain.

Nars Sex Appeal Blush From the Holiday 2010 Collection

I've been looking forward to the release of this blush after reading about it from various blogs. Now that I have it, I'm in love with it..

The Nars Sex Appeal blush is described on their website as a soft peach.

The colour is very light compared to most blushes, so may need quite heavy handed application.

The blush gave a beautiful, innocent-looking, peachy-pink flush to the cheeks. I found it perfect for a natural looking everyday look. I also loved how it gave the cheeks a nice radiant glow.

FOTD with Nars Strawberry Fields

Hi everyone! Here is another FOTD that I've done recently, incorporating Nars lipgloss in Strawberry Fields (my HG lipgloss!)

The products I used for this FOTD are shown below:

Face:

Max Factor Second Skin Foundation

Bobbi Brown Extra Soothing Balm

MAC blush in Peaches

Eyes:

Bare Minerals eyeshadow in Cultured Pearl

Chanel Eyeshadow in Taupe Grise 87

Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black

YSL Volume Effect Faux Cils Mascara

Lips:

Nars Lipstick in Honolulu Honey

Nars Lipgloss in Strawberry Fields

The Max Factor foundation gave a nice sheer coverage. I used the Bobbi Brown balm on my cheeks to add an extremely natural healthy looking glow, with no shimmer.

On my lips, I used Nars Strawberry Fields. To make the colour a little more muted and easy to wear, I teamed it with Nars lipstick in Honolulu Honey - a natural looking beige colour - which I used underneath.

My bird necklace is from Accessorize. I love it so much! It's a really pretty necklace that I can't get enough of wearing.