Blair Fowler is a YouTube sensation. With over 122 million views, Blair posts Vlogs about beauty and fashion. She was featured in Seventeen Magazine, has a web based business with her sister and, oh yeah, she is only 17 years old. Aside from admiring her entrepreneurial spirit and warm personality, we think that Blair's openness to experiments with make up is something that every woman can try. We know some of our readers may stop and wonder whether this post is teenager territory. Rest assured, Blair's make up skills and use of color are sophisticated and women of all ages have something to learn. We decided to review one of Blair's looks from a video she shared back in November 2010 from a point of view of a professional make up artist and show our readers how Blair is able to create a look that works well with her facial features and coloring. We hope that you can learn to complement your own best features by learning from this post. Below is the video in question:
In this video, Blair demonstrates that such a wild color as purple can be used in a sophisticated day or evening look.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Let us begin with describing Blair’s facial shape, features and skin undertone. Blair is a brunette, with long-oval face shape, brown, almond shaped eyes, and warm, light to medium skin undertone. She has prominent cheekbones, which are easily emphasized with proper makeup techniques. She does a good job, applying foundation and concealer that match her coloring,conceal all blemishes and even out her skin tone. Her foundation and concealer are well matched to her warm, light to medium skin tone and are blended well all over her face without any streaks or smears.
PURPLE, PURPLE
As noted in our previous article, Eyes That Sparkle, various shades of purple color accentuate green eyes, or bring out any green pigments of the eye color even if it is mostly brown/gray/blue. Blair has naturally brown eyes, but with this purple look, green pigments show through. She uses Bobbi Brown Cream Eyeshadow Orchid
as a base on her eyelids. I would recommend using an eyeshadow primer, especially if you plan to use a cream eyeshadow, so it will keep this oil-based product from creasing and “disappearing” from your skin during the day. Good primers to try are MAC Eye Primer
or Sephora Eye Primer Pot
. When you use a primer, cream or powder eyeshadow pigments will be more accentuated i.e. the color will be juicy and it helps the product stay on your lids longer. Depending on what you already have in your make up collection or decide to buy, following the primer, apply either a cream or dry eyeshadow in pinkish/mauve/purple color family all over the lid in manner that is flattering to your eye shape (more about this topic in a future post!) Following the application of the cream shadow, Blair uses Bobbi Brown Powder Eyeshadow Pink Pearl 
on top of the cream shadow. She then follows up with MAC Eyeshadow Brule
, a powder eyeshadow in a neutral toned shade, to blend the other colors and to use as a highlighter under eyebrows and in the inner corner of your eye. Finally, Blair uses MAC Eyeshadow Beauty Marked
as the darker color in her crease and as a liner. You can create a day look with less intense color or a night look by applying several coats of this shade.
as a base on her eyelids. I would recommend using an eyeshadow primer, especially if you plan to use a cream eyeshadow, so it will keep this oil-based product from creasing and “disappearing” from your skin during the day. Good primers to try are MAC Eye Primer or Sephora Eye Primer Pot. When you use a primer, cream or powder eyeshadow pigments will be more accentuated i.e. the color will be juicy and it helps the product stay on your lids longer. Depending on what you already have in your make up collection or decide to buy, following the primer, apply either a cream or dry eyeshadow in pinkish/mauve/purple color family all over the lid in manner that is flattering to your eye shape (more about this topic in a future post!) Following the application of the cream shadow, Blair uses Bobbi Brown Powder Eyeshadow Pink Pearl on top of the cream shadow. She then follows up with MAC Eyeshadow Brule, a powder eyeshadow in a neutral toned shade, to blend the other colors and to use as a highlighter under eyebrows and in the inner corner of your eye. Finally, Blair uses MAC Eyeshadow Beauty Marked as the darker color in her crease and as a liner. You can create a day look with less intense color or a night look by applying several coats of this shade. 
TO LINE OR NOT TO LINE?
Blair uses this same eyeshadow as a liner to line both of her upper and lower eyelash lines. As you see in the video, she uses an angled brush and sweeps the color outward. On the bottom lash line, she starts with a thick line on the outer corner of her eye and thins it out as it moves inward. Additionally, she uses a darker pencil liner to rim her lower lash line. In my opinion, by rimming your lower lash line with a dark color you create an illusion of narrower eyes but more cat like. If Blair had done the look without rimming her bottom lashes, her eyes would have appeared larger. You can see this right before she applies the pencil liner.
MASCARA - YOUR CHERRY ON TOP
Blair curls and applies mascara on her lashes. I agree that curling your lashes will allow your eyes to look bigger and more open, unless you have naturally curled eyelashes. In this case, you may skip this step.
BALANCE, BALANCE, BALANCE
Blair uses Bobbi Brown Pot Rouge Powder Pink
as a blush and lip color. This color is in the same color category, pinkish purple, as the rest of Blair's make up. She applies her blush right under and at her cheekbone to accentuate the shape. She uses very little on her lips to keep the whole look balanced.
as a blush and lip color. This color is in the same color category, pinkish purple, as the rest of Blair's make up. She applies her blush right under and at her cheekbone to accentuate the shape. She uses very little on her lips to keep the whole look balanced.
The cream based blush is recommended for those of us with dry skin, with few to no blemishes. If it is used on oily/combination skin with acne or uneven skin, it may “disappear” from your skin quiet fast. To fix this problem and to intensify the color for an evening look, I would recommend using a powder blush of a similar color right on top of the cream. Of course, with any look you are creating, do not forget to shape your eyebrows anywhere there are bold spots with a shade that is very close to your natural color. In Blair's case, she carefully selected a warm, deep brown color that matches her dark brown hair and eyebrows.
PURPLE FOR YOU?
Based on our discussions regarding your overall coloring (hair, skin, eyes), purple color works well on brunettes. Additionally, it will work with other hair/skin tones as long as different shades are used. For example, cool skin toned blondes may wear purple shades with a little silver or gold shimmer to them. Red heads with warm skin tones may wear purple shades that have a little gray or brown undertone. And those of us who have a darker skin tone, may wear purple colors that have a darker tint to them. To learn more about your skin tone, review our article Color Wheel Your Face. As always, I recommend experimenting with different shades and seeing what works best for your undertone and life style.
PURPLE FOR YOU?
Based on our discussions regarding your overall coloring (hair, skin, eyes), purple color works well on brunettes. Additionally, it will work with other hair/skin tones as long as different shades are used. For example, cool skin toned blondes may wear purple shades with a little silver or gold shimmer to them. Red heads with warm skin tones may wear purple shades that have a little gray or brown undertone. And those of us who have a darker skin tone, may wear purple colors that have a darker tint to them. To learn more about your skin tone, review our article Color Wheel Your Face. As always, I recommend experimenting with different shades and seeing what works best for your undertone and life style.
When I first heard about using purple in a day look, I was really surprised. Blair's video reminded me of another tutorial that uses purple for a gorgeous evening look:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iQTHThmUZs
Kandee creates a much more intense look and it takes a lot of time and skill, so I liked Blair's technique because it's much more user-friendly. Thanks for sharing this video.