Taking Your Makeup Routine From Everyday To Extraordinary

I love what I do not just because I get to paint on faces, but because of the different and unique types of people I get to come into contact with.  Yesterday was no exception, as I got to meet a beautiful young lady who has singing talent and pipes like you wouldn't believe!!  I worked with fresh faced 18 year old country rock singer, Emily McCannon of the Emily McCannon Band.  My job was to take her usual everyday makeup routine and ramp it up a bit for her singing gigs so that her features don't fade away when she is on stage.

{Emily's AFTER look.}

{Emily's BEFORE look when she arrived.}

Our goal was to enhance what God gave her and to not completely transform her entire face into someone unnoticeable. She is only 18, so there wasn't going to be any Dancing With The Stars type makeup going on!  We want her fans to recognize her, not her makeup.  Emily also wanted me to show her some simple steps and products she could do on her own before performances.

Here are the easy techniques and products I used on Emily to take her from everyday to EXTRAORDINARY! 

*We only focused on drugstore products as well since she doesn't usually wear much makeup on a daily basis anyway and didn't want to sink a ton of money into pricey makeup products.  Smart girl.*

BROWS.  Hers were super white blonde which faded into her face.  So I added my fave Brow Alert Kit by Sonia Kashuk ($10), in the lightest brown color, to her brow hairs to make them stand out more which in turn framed her eyes more.

SKIN.  She said she never wears anything on her skin at all - lucky duck - so I didn't need to add much to make her 18 year skin flawless.  I applied one layer of L'Oreal True Match foundation ($11) in W2 focusing mainly in the center of the face, then Cover Girl & Olay's Simply Ageless concealer ($10) in #230, right under neath the eyes and around the sides of the nose.  Maybelline's Bouncy Blush in "peach satin" ($6) was added for cheek color.  This was the clincher for brightening up her face I think!

 {Eye makeup BEFORE my additions.}

{Eye makeup AFTER my additions.}

EYES.  This was the only area that she usually wears makeup in, but it was only espresso brown liner and mascara.  So I used what she already had on, and added a layer of matte ivory shadow first all along the eye bed to even out skin tone.  Then I added  L'Oreal Infallible shadow in "bronze taupe," shown here, on top of her liner and blended it upwards towards her crease.  It has just enough shimmer to make those blue eyes pop!  Lastly, I applied an extra coat of black mascara to the upper and lower lashes.

LIPS.  Being a musician with long hair, her first thought was she hates when her hair gets stuck in her lip gloss.  My solution to that problem was to recommend Maybelline's 24 hr stay put lip color ($9) in "Timeless Toffee."  The color wand locks right into the lip and the balm that hydrates the lips is non sticky.  

Emily is no doubt going to be a rising star to watch in the music industry.  It still blows me away that this 18 year old girl has has a voice and stage demeanor of a seasoned veteran!  You can check out a sample of her talent on YouTube HERE.  

What are your best makeup tips or products for ramping up your everyday look??