Inspiré par le Black Swan

As suggested by the title of my entry, today's makeup is inspired by the film Black Swan. I have not seen the movie... I know... lame... (I'm waiting to see it on Netflix) but I have heard sooo much buzz that I decided to jump on the bandwagon and do a makeup look based on the movie posters. I thought it would be fun to do a wearable evening version and a full on glam version. Here are the two posters, and the look that I did falls somewhere in between the sweet ballerina and the evil ballerina. Click on them to see them up close. Btw, all the photos that I upload here can be zoomed in by a click, which opens up a new page and shows its original size.

Now, I know I look nothing like Natalie Portman (and I should've probably done this look on my friend Gina who gets stopped on the street with requests for autographs), but imagine my Black Swan as the asian or ethnic version ;)) Hope you all like what I did and please let me know your thoughts. Also, PLEASE VOTE IN MY POLL on the right. To see pictures of the starlets, go to my previous blog entry The Nail House and click on the pics to see them up close. Merciiiiiii!!!

bisous,

Maryam Maquillage

THE LOOK: I tried to emulate the eye look of the first poster (sweet), emphasizing on the liner and lashes and adding a slight wing inspired by the second poster (evil). I wanted to keep the look wearable by suggesting the wing rather than imposing it, if you know what I mean :)) Focusing on the skin, I powdered heavier than I typically would, going for that porcelain doll finish. I applied my typical Bare Minerals matte foundation, in light this time, and used a powder puff to press some mineral veil onto the skin to make the face more pale and matte.

THE EYES: The eyes were a bit tricky and it will be even trickier describing the technique lol... (I swear I'll start doing video tutorials as soon as I get a bigger following ;) Anyway, EYES: I started by lining the inner corner of the waterline and half of the waterline (inner half) with a brown eyeliner pencil (see pic). Tip: Never use a kohl pencil for the waterline, it will smear immediately. Use only a waterproof formula. For this look, I applied Urban Decay 24/7 glide-on pencil in whiskey. Love that one!!! I used the same pencil and lined underneath the (outer) other half of the waterline, extending the line to a wing, from the bottom, towards my eyebrow. 

Next, I lined directly in the crease line with the same pencil, making it parallel to the bottom wing I just extended. It's okay if your crease line bends downwards like mine does, just draw the line slightly above. Taking a smudge brush (a dense, short bristled brush) and a matte gray shadow, I smudged out the crease line and the wing. Next, I took a nude shadow in a color that's 2 shades darker than my skin on a dome-shaped fluffy brush and softened the gray shadow using wind-shield wiper motions. I took the same color and applied it directly underneath the inner portion of my eyebrow, on the side of the nose bridge to create a more narrow bridge. You don't have to do this if you have a prominent bridge, but since my is flat, I have to do this step for this look. If you look at the movie posters, the bridge of the nose is very narrow and is highlighted in both photos. I also ran the darker shade along the sides of my nose to slenderize it. Taking a bone white color on a flat brush, I highlighted down the center of my nose as well as between, above and below the eyebrows. With the bone color, I also tried to "erase" some of my eyebrows, particularly the tops of the inner hairs and the arch. Not an easy job for black brows I tell ya...

I applied one coat of black mascara on the bottom lashes and two pairs of eyelashes on the top. I used the same Ardell lashes as I did in my first blog entry, and a pair of half lashes to add to the winged effect, also by Ardell. After applying the lashes, I took my favorite black cream liner by Clinique and lined the top lashline, concealing the lashes and connecting the liner with the bottom wing. For LIPS: I lined my lips with NYX lipliner in Natural and used my finger to apply two lipsticks. I applied Niagara by Nars first and Underplay by MAC right over. In the first Black Swan poster, Natalie's lips are beige with a peachy undertone, perfect for a ballerina and a little difficult to recreate for a makeup artist :)) I think I got it though. P. S. Check out my lashes!!! Fantastique!!! Aren't they??!!

To dramatize the look, I changed the lipstick color to deep wine. Definitely a bit more goth, but still very wearable and would be great for a night out... Since I created this look in the morning, I decided to wear it to go shopping at Trader Joe's and Target. It's funny how dramatic makeup makes me feel like a drama queen. I caught myself giving out the only icy stares... I guess I'm inspired for real. Or maybe I'm just possessed mwa-ha-haaa!!! 

After I came home, I was inspired some more and decided to line the waterlines with a red lipliner, suggesting the RED Swan Eyes. Here's what it looked like... 

Now I can officially go trick-or-tricking :)

or Not...

Without lashes... could work, no?