Romantic Valentine’s Day Makeup

The key to romantic makeup is to enhance your natural features and not “over do” it.

Face

• Primer: I love a good primer. Laura Mercier’s Radiance Primer is my favorite. I’ve heard wonderful things about Benefits Porefessional primer. If you’re looking for a great affordable option, NYX has a fantastic primer.
• Foundation: I like lighter weight foundations like Bare Mineral’s Complexion Rescue and L’Oreal True Match. If you’re looking for something mattifying, try Maybelline’s Fit Me Foundation or Make Up For Ever HD Foundation. I always apply my foundation with my fingers or a beauty blender.
• Concealer: I’ve raved before about Amazing Cosmetic’s concealer! It’s like a little best kept secret of the beauty world. Hands down, it’s the best concealer I’ve ever come across. I also like Maybelline’s Fit Me Concealer.
• Bronzer: The key is to get a bronzer with no shimmer. Otherwise, it will make your face and contour look muddy. Benefit’s Hoola Bronzer has always been a winner. I also like Bobbi Brown’s bronzer.
• Blush: I love a great pinky blush for a more romantic look. Clinique’s Color Pop blushes have fantastic pigmentation. I also like this palette by Makeup Revolution because it offers lots of options for mixing and matching blushes!
• Highlight: Obviously, the highlighter by Becca has been popular for a reason. I really love the softer highlight this Laura Mercier highlighting powder offers. For more subdued romantic looks, I focus the highlighter on my cheekbones, tip of my nose, cupid’s bow, and eyebrows. I lightly dab it on with my fingers so it’s not too intense.

Eyes

• All over the lid: This eye shadow in “Soba” is perfect. I use a fluffy brush and blend the color all over my lid for a base color, concentrating especially in my crease.
• Crease: I begin with a light brown color (like this shadow in “Soft Brown”) and work it all through my crease. I then went in with a redder brown (like this shadow in “Texture”) and blended it in my crease and slightly upwards.
• Outer corner: For added definition, I concentrated a dark brown pigment (like this shadow in “Embark”) on my outer corners and blended it. Always be sure to blend this part as harsh lines can really throw off your look.
• Lid: On my lid, I used a sparkly pink shadow (like this shadow in “Pink Venus”. I wet a flat eye shadow brush and packed the color in starting from my inner corner and working towards the middle. I blended the shadow in the middle to make the whole look seamless.
• Inner corner: I popped a little highlighter into my inner corner to open up my eyes. You can use the highlight that you used on your face or you can use a pretty cream-colored eyeshadow (like this shadow in “Dazzlelight”).
• Eyeliner: I used a brown, creamy eyeliner. I find that brown gets the job done without being too harsh and still looking natural. I started at the center of my eye and followed the contour of my lash line to my outer corner. By not dragging the eyeliner all the way to the inner corner, it makes your eyes look bigger. On my bottom lash line, I smudged a shimmery chocolate color. Be sure to take your time blending out your liner on your bottom lashes for a smokier look!
• Eyebrow highlight: I used the same highlight I used on my inner corner and concentrated the highlight under the arch of my brows.
• Eyebrows: Using an angled brush and a dark eye shadow, I slightly outlined and filled in my brows. The key to great brows is to follow your natural brow and to use a color the matches the roots of your hair.
• Lashes: I put on two coats of Maybelline’s mascara. I also like the Better Than Sex Mascara from Too Faced. This one from Clinique is an amazing all-in-one mascara. I focused on making little back-and-forth movements while applying and concentrated most of the mascara to the outer corner of my lashes to get a more fanned out look.

Lips

• Lip liner: I like to use a nude color lip liner. Not only is it versatile, but it also helps your lips look plumper and makes your lipstick stay put. I like this one from Clinique.
• Lipstick: I’m wearing Dior’s lipstick in 047 “Miss”. Other great pinks include MAC’s matte lipstick in Pink Pigeon, Charlotte Tilbury’s lipstick in Coachella Coral, and L’Oreal’s lipstick in I Pink You’re Cute.

Get the makeup look!

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