January brought a creative lull for me. After the chaos that was the holidays, I took some time to slow down and assess what I want out of this year and what I plan to do for it. I feel rested, inspired, and as driven as ever.
Oh, and did I mention that Lava Salon was nominated as one of the top five salons in Charleston for Charleston City Paper’s Best of, along with Charleston Grit in the category of Best Local Interest Blog? 2015 is off to a whirlwind of a start. Get on that voting, ya’ll!
I sat down at my computer last week ready to write and create a unique piece and realized….I had absolutely nothing to write about. I sat in front of my laptop for a few minutes every day and kept saying to myself, “Oh, it’ll come to me, don’t force it.” It finally did when my “50 Shades of Green” smoky eye that I Instagrammed last Monday was a hit.
Creating a well-blended, sultry smoky eye is no easy feat, and you have to have the proper brushes and tools to make it work. Without a pointed blending brush—such as my personal favorite, Jonny Cosmetics 102 brush—you’re going to have a tough time creating a gradient that gives you a sexy smoky eye.
I start with a clean and moisturized face. I prefer to do my shadow before anything else because if I have shadow fallout underneath my eyes, it’s an easy clean up. If you prefer to do your foundation and HAC first, then apply a generous amount of loose powder under the eye for an easy sweep off of fallout.
Sparingly apply Jonny Cosmetics Shadow Magnet all over the lid up to the brow bone, stippling with your ring finger. If you have any imperfections on your lids, such as a scar (like me), put just a little extra on that area to create a smooth surface.
With my 102 blending brush, I chose a natural ash-green shadow for a contour in the crease of my lid. Using a wiper motion, start at the outer corner of the lid and work your way inward. Continue to swirl around the brush with the color until you get your desired amount of blend. This part usually takes a while, so if it doesn’t look right, just keep blending!
Using a flat shadow brush, I applied the matte ash taupe with a hint of moss all over the base of my lid, lightly blending it upward toward the contour color.
For an extra pop of brightness, use the same flat shadow brush to add a seafoam green with a shimmery finish to the inner corners of your eyes, blending toward the middle.
After finishing off my shadow with a swipe of Jonny Cosmetics Cream Dust on my brow bone and Snow White on my upper brow bone, I go about my foundation and HAC routine, then finish off my eyes with a cat eye and HD Mascara in Carbon Black.
Oh, and don’t forget the brows! Nothing can make a sexy look like this appear unpolished like out-of-control brows. (Next tutorial, maybe?)
2015 will be a year of learning for me and, I hope, for a lot of people. I encourage you to step out of your box. Try something you’ve never tried before. Makeup is meant to be played with. It always comes off. If you mess up, wipe it off and start over! Or better yet, take a class. I love to teach one-on-one classes with Lava Salon guests! Most all of the products I use can be purchased at Lava Salon or at Jonnycosmetics.com. Stop by our unique and quirky salon in Avondale and see me sometime!
Xo,
Spencer
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