Valentine's Beauty

It’s the celebration of love - and whilst traditionally we think Valentines as love for one another, it’s 2019 so who says we can’t love ourselves?! I always associate Valentine’s beauty with super feminine products, (red lipstick I’m looking at you), so I’m going to outline a few hacks for a romantic look that you can try at home. Whatever your go-to look is this February 14^th, you can incorporate some of the tips below!

The first step to any feminine beauty look is to freshen up the skin. Before you even think about reaching for your makeup bag, give your skin some TLC in preparation. Cleanse your face and then grab your go-to face mask. While your mask is on is a great time to focus on the rest of your body; pop a simple moisturizer or some build up tan for that extra glow. To achieve the natural and dewy look, use a little less foundation than normal (if high coverage, mix it with a little bit of moisturizer) and buff over your face. Go over your foundation with a damp beauty blender to blend some more. Don’t worry, you aren’t doing this just for the fun of it, this extra step will help your foundation melt into your skin giving you a more natural coverage. To keep the look light, avoid contouring too heavily. Instead of cool tones under the cheeks, opt for a light bronzer. Don’t be tempted to keep this to your cheekbones either. Instead, sweep this around the outside of your face to warm your complexion. Heard of the figure of 3? It’s an oldie but a goodie: blend the bronzer over your forehead through your temple, down your cheekbones, back and then round your jaw finishing at your chin. Make sense? This is a fool-proof bronzing technique to give you a very soft and natural contour.

Next, it’s time to use the most feminine feeling beauty product out there – blush! In the past, I’ve glided this over my cheekbones. However, after doing a little research on some of my favourite makeup artists I’ve discovered a new technique which I love! Pop some blush on to your brush (bushy and soft preferably) and tap some on the apples of your cheeks. At the risk of looking slightly odd, smile to your mirror to best place your blush. Now here’s the trick…in a light motion, sweep the excess blush towards your eyes and your temple, giving yourself a youthful flushed look. When I tried this technique on myself I couldn’t believe how natural it looked!