Let’s talk Oscar make-up

There are two classic looks that are seen all over the red carpet– my favorite, the smokey eye with a soft nude lip, and the other, a bold lip color with soft shadows.   One thing that is the same in both looks– a strong eye liner.  The purpose of eyeliner is to make your eye lashes look thicker.  The thicker your lashes are, the more defined your eyes look.  Think of eyeliner as an extension of your lashes– your lashes are so thick that they are casting a shadow on your eyelid–which is your eyeliner.  For this reason, eyeliner should be a darker color such as black, dark brown, deep plum, or navy– unless you are going to an 80’s party you should never wear aqua blue eye liner.   This year at the Oscars Gwyneth and JLo are sporting the smokey eye, nude lip– their eyes are definitely the focus and their lips are a soft natural lip color.

Angelina and Michelle have a stronger lip and more natural eye color making their lips the focus.  Their eyes are still defined by a strong eyeliner, mascara and neutral shadows, but their lips are what pop.  Pink and red lips made a huge fashion statement on the red carpet this year.

You never want to have a strong lip color and colorful eye shadow at the same time, because then you loose a focal point and all you see is makeup.  In this photo Kelly Osbourne’s lips are competing with her purple hair and green dress and eye shadow.  She’s worked so hard to loose weight– her figure looks great, now all she needs is to pick one feature to stand out with color instead of three.