Lauren Conrad: Signature Look With an Emphasis on Eye Highlighter

By now you know that Lauren Conrad and I love a contoured face; I do this by "pushing" features inward to create depth by applying a darker color foundation and bronzer in the hollows of her cheeks, temples, along her hairline and under her jawbone. But lately we've taken it one step further by "pulling" other features forward, using a highlighter under her eyes, above her cheekbones and above her brows. It should be subtle and undetectable (hint: BLEND BLEND BLEND!), but you'll see how it really draws the attention to her best feature, her eyes. While promoting her second NY Times Bestselling novel Sweet Little Lies this month, I used the technique for extra drama on her appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live (watch the video clip below), for her last book signing in Los Angeles and her appearance on Good Day NY (see clip below).





Here's how to replicate it yourself. Basically, picture yourself skiing with goggles on and getting too much sun, when you remove the goggles, that's the area above and below your eyes that you want to lighten with the highlighter. Starting on a clean face that has been moisturized and primed, first correct any under-eye dark circles with your favorite concealer. Then, using mark cosmetics Get Bright Hook Up Highlighter (I used the shade "Light" on Lauren), apply the pearly liquid highlighter under your eyes, starting at your nose then working outward. You can use the applicator wand or use the wand to scoop out enough product into the palm of your hand (about 3 or 4 scoops) then apply it with an egg-shaped blending sponge, using the pointed end of the sponge to dab it to the desired areas (this really presses the product into the skin). But unlike under-eye concealer, you don't want to only cover directly under your eyes, instead you want to increase the area down to above your cheekbone, all the way from your nose to the beginning of your temples. Then again on about a half-inch above your brows, starting at the outer corner above your left brow then dabbing all the way across to the outer corner above your right brow.



Next apply foundation to your whole face, reaching the perimeters of the highlighted area, but not covering it. To be more precise in your foundation application, use a sponge or foundation brush, then blend with your fingers. Then contour your face as described in my posts on Lauren's Seventeen Magazine Cover Look and Lessons in Contouring. Finally, set with powder if needed, but leave the highlighted area untouched. Try it, email me pics and I'll post them! xoxo



All photos and video courtesy of ABC, My Fox 10, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Day NY, WireImage and Mark Cosmetics.

Lauren Conrad's Seventeen Magazine March 2010 Cover Make-up Look

For Lauren Conrad's Seventeen Magazine cover look, I wanted to create her trademark California Glow, even though we shot it in November. So I used a foundation color one shade deeper than her skin tone, which can be tricky since it doesn't match, so I made sure to shade in her neck, chest and even her arms as well. I used mark cosmetics Speedway Foundation Stick in Honey with their Foundation Brush for her face then a large sponge everywhere else to save time by covering more area. Because Lauren doesn't like to wear eye shadow, I used the Speedway stick on her eyelids as well. Now that I made her face into a blank canvas, I had to go back and create dimension, so I contoured the hollows of her cheeks, temples, at the hairline and underneath her jawline with Speedway in Golden, a slightly darker shade than Honey. TIP: to find where your cheekbones are (mine didn't come in until I was 26!), suck in your cheeks like a fish, then contour slightly below where the bones protrude.
Next I used mark Just Pinched Instant Blush Tint in Peachy, a brand new color that they sent us that is amazing but not out just yet (sorry!). I applied it with mark's foundation brush on the apples of Lauren's cheeks. TIP: to find exactly where your apples are, simply smile in the mirror and they look like little cherries!



Now that all the cream work was finished, I powdered her entire face with mark Mattenificent Oil-Absorbing Powder in Golden Honey using a mark Powder Brush. Then I contoured and blushed the same areas again, this time using powder formulations. For the hollows of the cheeks, jawline, temples and along the hairline, I used mark Bronze Pro Bronzing Powder in Pro Golden with their Angled Contour Face Brush for better precision. I used mark Good Glowing Mosaic Blush in Chica on the apples of her cheeks with my favorite Kabuki Brush.



Of course then we lined her signature cat eyes with mark Get In Line Hook Up Waterproof Liquid Liner in Painted Black. If you have trouble or are intimidated, a great technique is to start with drawing the wing first by imagining a line from the corner of your lashline to the end of your eyebrow, then use that angle to start building your wing with small brushstrokes. Then go back and line your lashline starting at the inner corner. I followed with two coats of mark Make It Big Lash Plumping Mascara in Raven.



Finally I coated her lips with mark Dew Drenched Moisturlicious Lip Color in Mist followed by mark Juice Gems in Juicy HoneyDew.











All photos courtesy of Seventeen Magazine and mark Cosmetics.