beauties on fire

 

#beautiesonfire it’s classic beauty time…

 

So we have our first #beautiesonfire theme and I am seriously excited because it’s classic beauty. The first thing that popped into my head when I heard that our theme for week one was classic beauty was noir era film stars, the leading ladies of yesteryear, if you like. And so, I decided that for my link up post I would focus on creating a classic makeup look inspired by the greats of the noir era – Audrey Hepburn, Hedy Lamarr, Grace Kelly, and Elizabeth Taylor.

 

audrey

 

What I love about the noir-era makeup is how natural it looks, apart from the bold lips, of course. And like Audrey Hepburn says, it’s not all about the makeup, if you’re beautiful on the inside that’s what counts – “Makeup can only make you look pretty on the outside but it doesn’t help if you’re ugly on the inside. Unless you eat the makeup.”

 

I picked Grace Kelly to be my inspiration

 

 

After a lot of reading up on noir era makeup and browsing picture after picture, I decided to recreate that iconic look that the greats, like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, were famous for. The actual photo I used was one of Grace Kelly – pictured below. This was the main inspiration behind my look. The reason I picked her was because Grace Kelly had eyebrows that fortunately are shaped like mine – long and triangular, just like the natural shape of my own brows. (I thought this would make it easier to create my look.)

 

How I recreated her look (& what I used to do it)…

 

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Primer and foundation – I started off by applying Benefit That Gal Brightening Face Primer and then topped it with Clinique Chubby in the Nude. I chose these base products as Grace Kelly always looked naturally beautiful and these two items are great for creating a natural look.

 

Pressed powder – Once I’d applied my base, I then dusted Makeup Revolution Pressed Powder in Translucent onto my skin. This mattified my skin, creating the flawless finish that Grace Kelly was known for.

 

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Blush – For the blush, I used Smashbox Soft Lights Duo as the blush is the perfect rosy-hue for recreating Grace Kelly’s iconic look. I swept a small amount of this from just below my eye to the middle of my cheek.

 

Highlighter – Next, I used the other half of Smashbox Soft Lights Duo – the highlighter, to subtly highlight along my nose and under my eyes.

 

Eyebrow pencil – Luckily, my eyebrows are naturally the shape of Grace Kelly’s brows, so all I needed to do was carefully fill them in. I purposely used more eyebrow pencil than usual, to create a darker and more dramatic look. For this, I used Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in Dark Brown.

 

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Eyeliner – This was the part I struggled most with as I can’t, for the life of me, create a cat eye. So instead, I softly lined my lower waterline and then smudged kohl eyeliner along my top lash line. My eyes weren’t spot on, I’ll admit, but I tried to make them look as suitable as possible.

 

Mascara – I love how beautiful Grace Kelly’s eyes always looked, especially her dark lashes. To recreate this, I used No7 Stay Perfect Mascara. It gave my lashes a lovely dark colour while still creating a natural look, which I loved.

 

Lipstick – I finished the look with a bright, bold lip. My lipstick of choice was Rimmel London Lasting Finish Lipstick in Tantrum.

 

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So there you have it, my classic beauty look. Next week’s #beautiesonfire post is all about summer beauty – I am super excited about this, so make sure to check back next Friday to see what post I’ve put together. Fancy joining the #beautiesonfire link up? Everyone and anyone’s welcome, so why not check out the rules and join the fun?