the blonde wore black: Festival Season.

The sun is shining & the days are getting hotter. For those of us who love music & partying.. we welcome festival season. Sure, its all about fun & drinking & dancing in the warm weather. However for me, it comes with a big issue-

girls & their make up.

The two main things i have noticed as a make up artist is that at festivals there seems to be 3 kinds of girls.

1) girls that wear zero make up.

2) girls that wear the WRONG make up & end up having the hideous, melting-off-your-face look.

3) The small percentage of girls that seem to nail their festival make up -

YOU GO GIRLS!

You can feel free not to read the rest of this post!

The first two groups - PAY ATTENTION.

I thought i would honor my duty as a make up artist & share some tips & tricks with you to help get you through the day looking FABULOUS.!

SKIN PREP

The best way to start your make up is to get rid of any oil on your skin. You can do this by cleansing or simply using baby wipes.

Its VERY important to get rid of all the oil from your eyelids. Its the part of your face which produces the most oil & is a crucial part of keeping your eye make up in place for the day!

Also, SKIP MOISTURIZING. By moisturizing first, you are just encouraging your foundation to slide right off. (not a good look) The same thing goes for primer, unless you have very dry skin.

If you feel the need to wear moisturizer, just smother your face in it the night before your event! & baby wipe it off in the morning. Baby wipes don't leave your skin feeling tight or dry like cleansing can.

If you have super oily skin, you can by an anti shine primer which helps contain the shine! It's such a great product!

You can buy it at Scotty's make up.

FOUNDATION

For me, i think the most youthful, beautiful look for skin is good coverage, even texture & a healthy glow. For this, a creamy liquid foundation is best. I love MAC face & body foundation. ( only available at the leading stores in each city, for Sydney its the Paddington store) It gives great shine but doesn't seem to drip off oily skin! Its very sheer & natural looking, but its easy to build coverage or add a concealer over the top to hide blemishes. For dry skin creamier products are best. I'm loving Shu Uemura Face Architect at the moment. Its good coverage & has a beautiful texture.

If you want extra shine & shimmer - mix some illuminiser into your foundation.

Tips - Always buy yellow based foundations, concealers & illuminisers. Pink based products make you look slightly sick! As well as pale! & yes there are yellow based foundations that suit those lucky girls with porcelain white skin!

Also, its best not to powder your foundation. Once you powder it you can't reapply concealer over the top without it looking "cakey". If you get shiny, just buy blotting papers to keep with you. MAC have these & so does Scotty's Make up.

Always match your foundation to your chest. There is nothing worse than a dark foundation line between the face & the neck & the chest! Or a pasty face & dark body! Its much better to be all one colour!

CONCEALER

My fave concealer at the moment is Shu Uemura water perfect, water in cake foundation. ( which you can imagine by the name - lasts very well!) Also Shu Uemura's eye correcting pro concealer. Both can be bought in cute little containers that will easily fit into a small festival bag.

Apply the concealer arounf your eyes before you apply your foundation if your going to be doing a heavy eye. If you're going for a natural look on your eyes, just put the concealer over your foundation, & on blemishes that need extra coverage.

BROWS

If you have beautiful, thick brows then all you need to do is hold them in place for the day so you don't get any crazy sticky outy bits of hair! You can do this by spraying an old (CLEAN!!!) mascara wand with hairspray and brushing the hairs into place. If you have uneven or thin brows that need filling in - Model Co Eyebrow Designer Kit is great! It comes with little brushes, a comb & tweezers as well as little stencils to help you get the right shape! If you are experienced with filling your brows in, MAC have great pencils you can use. Just make sure you pick the right colour!

POWDER

The one part of your face which you must powder is your eyelids (loose translucent powder is best), straight after you apply your concealer. Powder them & powder them well! Then you have a perfect base to start your eye make up!

EYES

There are many fun ways to do your eye make up for a festival so i'll just rattle off a few quick tips to help you on your way.

One of the worst things i see on girls at festivals is when their eyeliner is running halfway down their faces. So, instead of using your usual pencil eyeliner, invest in a good gel eyeliner. MAC fluidline is great otherwise, there is an equally good (yet much cheaper) alternative at Scottys. Both come in a variety of colours.

Gel eyeliners are perfect for the inner rim of your eyes & it can last for days. (literally!!)

Only if you wear a white or cream eyeliner in the inside of your eye should you use a pencil, because there won't be much damage to the rest of your make up if it runs!

Mascara is easy. If you tend to get drunk & emotional, or intend on getting wet- buy waterproof mascara. If not, any good black mascara will do the job!

If you have little, skinny eyelashes get a thick & heavy mascara to thicken them up! & if necessary, apply false lashes too! (singles only, its not a good look when eyelashes go wrong!)

If you have long, thick eyelashes - Firstly, you are very blessed. Secondly, there's no need for crazy big lashes so opt for a lightweight mascara that doesn't clump your lashes!

Eyeshadow

Powder eyeshadow or pigment eyeshadow is best for longevity. Cream eye shadows crease within minutes.. if not seconds! MAC have gorgeous pigments with hundreds of colours to choose from! Shu Uemura have great powder eyeshadows & L'Oreal's chrome shine range is quite beautiful as well.

If you usually just do a beautiful 40s cat flick on your eyes then the gel eyeliners i mentioned before are perfect - long lasting & it doesn't crack like some liquid eyeliners!

HIGHLIGHTING

For a bit of extra sparkle in your make up, highlight the inner corners of your eyes, the top of your cheekbones & under the peak in your brow. If you want to go all out you can also highlight straight down the centre of your nose & the cupids bow on your top lip. My favourite product to highlight the cheeks with is MAC Mineralize Skinfinish. In all honesty, i absolutely pile it onto my cheeks. Im a little obsessed. For all other highlighting a nice deep golden shimmer powder for bronzed skin or a lighter bronze for pale skin is perfect. MAC has a great pigment for highlighting, its called 'Melon'. (better for tanned skin)

Tip - Never use white to highlight, it just ends up looking frosty, & well... UGLY.

CHEEKS

Also an easy one.

Powder is better than cream if you want it to last. You can use a beautiful bronzer or a pretty peachy pink colour, depending on your tastes & skin tone. NARS have the two best colours. "Laguna' is the bronze & 'Orgasm' is the peachy pink. Both have gold reflects so if you use either of these you don't have to go so crazy on the highlighting of your cheeks! If you are pale you can still use bronzer, just go lightly!

LIPS

Lucky last.

Just because your going to out running a muck at a festival doesn't mean you have to avoid lipstick. In fact, i encourage it! A bright lipstick is such a hot look for summer! All you need to remember is, dont wipe your mouth with your hands & be careful that your hair doesn't get caught on it & drag fine little coloured lipstick lines across your face. ( yes, it happens)

BYS have some great colours! & they're SUPER cheap.

Alternatively, lip gloss or lip balm is a great way to finish off your make up & its all easy to fit into your bag! Just pick a colour that goes with the rest of your make up - or no colour at all!

Tip - There's no need to wear a lip liner, because let's face it - its probably something your grandmother would suit better!

FINALLY

I find it best when picking what make up to wear, to pick your best feature & make the most of it. Don't try to go OTT with all your features.. (example - if you want to do a heavy eye, don't do bright lips.. & if you want bright lips, don't do a really heavy eye)

I hope all of this information has given you the confidence to doll yourself up for the next festival you attend!

If you stick to what i've said you'll be looking fabulous for longer & the only make up you'll need in your little bag is your pocket size concealer, whatever you want to put on your lips, possibly blotting papers & a little mirror for touch ups!

To finish, here are a few of my favourite & simple to do, make up looks for this season.