Saturday, February 20, 2010

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.

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Amy Nadine
Growing up in a political family in DC, Amy Nadine spent her childhood campaigning door-to-door and stuffing envelopes. But by 12, she already had subscriptions to Vogue & ELLE, and you could always find her on every bus with either her nose deep in the pages of beauty & fashion, or doing mini make-over’s on all the staff members. Since then, she has worked on Lauren Conrad, Krysten Ritter, Whitney Port, Jessica Stroup, Shenae Grimes, Shannon Doherty and AnnaLynne McCord, Jordin Sparks, George Clooney, Hugh Jackman, Denzel Washington, Patrick Dempsey, Khloe Kardashian & Jack Johnson, among others. Her work has appeared in Harper’s Bazaar, Cosmopolitan, InStyle, Seventeen, Glamour, ELLE Girl and Fitness, to name a few. In 2009 she developed two lip glosses for Mark Cosmetics after doing Lauren Conrad’s beauty campaigns for the brand. Amy Nadine is known for her intuitive ability to define and accentuate the natural beauty of every face she touches. She prides herself in being an expert in her field, always studying color trends, cosmetics formulations… anything & everything make-up-related, and pinches herself daily that she’s having a career out of one of her greatest passions.
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Amy Nadine

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