Subtly Sexy, Step by Step

A subtly sexy polished makeup look shouldn’t cost a fortune or take all morning to achieve. I’ ve put together this easy to replicate makeup look using a mix of drugstore finds and makeup that I always keep in my kit. Gorgeous Kelly Gray, an accomplished model and upcoming actress, graciously agreed to be the model for this step by step tutorial.

Kelly before with a light application of Makeup Forever HD foundation in 120,
starting in the center of her face and lightly blending outwards.

Using a highlighter, Watt’s up! from Benefit, her cheekbones, down the center of her nose and her cupid’s bow were highlighted.
A cream blush ( Stila convertible color in peony) was applied first with a brush but then blended with fingers. ( you can use only fingers it works just as well.)

Using Revlon’s color stay eyeshadow palette in Sun Swept , the light shimmery pink shade was applied all over the lids and blended towards the brow bone. ( this palette has colors very similar to the Dior palette called Earth Reflection which I love and keep in my kit)
The darkest color was lightly used in the crease to add dimension. For Kelly I also traced a bit of the darkest shadow color under her eye as well. This is up to you and your eye shape. Since we don’t see a lot of her lid I chose to add a bit underneath. The lightest color in the palette was lightly dusted along the brow bone and in the inner corner of the eyes.

Using L’oreal gel eyeliner in black a thin line was traced along the lash line. With eyeliner the most important trick is to get as close to the lash line as possible. This gel eyeliner is very smooth to apply and practically fool-proof. Go slowly using small strokes which you can blend over to make a smooth line. Here the eyeliner was pulled up to make a subtle cat eye. Look straight in the mirror and make a small dot where you want the eyeliner to end and then go back and connect it to the line you already traced.
Her eyelashes were curled with the Shu Uemura eyelash curler and L’Oreal’s voluminous masacara in blackest black was applied.
For lips , Kate Moss for Rimmel in shade 113, a sexy pale mouth shade was applied straight from the bullet, topped with a bit of gloss, Beige Songe from Dior.

Kelly liked the look so much she decided to do a new selfie.

Thanks so much to my collaborators !

Allana Wesley – White for her beautiful photography and beautiful Kelly for modelling.

You can see more work from Allana at http://www.allanawesleywhite.com
Kelly can be see in the opening scene of Joel Hayley Osment’s new movie coming out at Sundance next year. She is represented by MC2.