This is the season that I would normally be doing boudoir makeup, and booking brides for the summer. However, because we are still in Covid times, I am going to walk you through a boudoir look, to give you an example of something you could do at home.
Boudoir, in general tends to be a little bit different than a bridal look, because you do tend to be a little bit more sexy. This is where you are playing up that inner confidence!! That's one of the reasons I love doing boudoir makeup. You get to see these women transform themselves, it basically becomes people who feel so confident with themselves, they're so excited to do these pictures. It's so empowering to be a part of that with these women!
Boudoir is really about the confidence that you exude when you feel like your best self. So I encourage doing things that you enjoy and make your feel good about yourself.
Start by using a little bit of moisturizer, this is one of those occasions where you probably would want your skin to have a little bit more of a dewy finish, not a matte finish. So, proper skincare, proper nutrition and proper hydration are the most essential parts of good skincare.
Boudoir should give you bedroom feels, so you want to be glowing and flushed.
Because we're looking for that dewy look, I'm going to use a radiance primer. So we have a JLo glow! So less matte, more radiance, and I'm going to put it everywhere.
When applying with makeup, I always start with my foundation. I know there's different ways to do it, but for me, I'm a complexion girl. I feel like the rest doesn't matter if your skin's not looking great. Great looking skin is 100% of your great photo. The foundation I'm using is a buildable one, So if you do have any areas where you want a little more coverage can go back over.
Next, I am going to do a little bit of a light dusting powder just to set it, but not too much, because again, we do want to keep that radiant finish.
To give the face more dimension I am going to start with a little bit of bronzer. I like to be able to have a little bit of a sun kissed glow. So, I always like to round and soften the forehead and hairline. Keep sweeping down and add bronzer under the cheek bones, and along the jaw line. Almost like a 3 shape from the forehead down.
I'm going to move on to some blush. Now again, this is where I would probably choose a little bit more of a brighter pink color for a boudoir look because you do want those flushed cheeks. If you're anything like me, you're probably used to having a super red face. So when it's gone, you're kind of like oh, I need my color back. I would just put a little bit of highlight to add a little more radiance and glow to this look. Highlight would be applied on the upper cheek bone, the tip of the nose, and you could do a light dusting on the cupids bow of the upper lip.
Next, I'm going to put on a little bit of eyeshadow primer as well just because I like that to have time to dry so it's not not sitting too too wet on the eyelids. So while that dries, I'm going to shape my brows because I like having the eyes framed to start. Short strokes in the same direction as the hair grows to fill in any volume you'd like. A clear gel is great as a finishing step and do add dimension to the brows.
I have decided to use some pinks for this look because again, I like my pinks! I am still going to go a little bit of a deeper pink. I'm going to use the slightly more dark pinks so that you get a sultry look without going quite so dark as the black. I started with a lighter color all over the lid and then I'm just kind of building it up to build up the intensity where I want it. Then for me because I have a smaller eyelid, I am doing my crease a little bit higher to raise the eye and so that you actually see the colour. Then I'm going to add a little bit of a dark plum color just to start smoking it out.
All right, the fun thing about a smoky eye is, you can do it with almost any colour. It just depends on kind of what your theme is or what you your colour tones are as to what looks best. I love these dark purpley, Burgundy colors. They are great for making blue eyes pop. They're also great because they don't have quite the depth or the harshness of black but still give the same feel to the look. Then if I wanted more of the other colors to show up again, I could just go back in and put a little bit more pink. I'm going to go back in with a little bit of shimmer and just build up that from the inner eye to centre area. The other area that's nice to do that is just kind of under the brow because that just kind of cleans up that area and gives you a nice clean line.
I am going to do a little bit of a liquid liner on this look. And I am also going to do lashes. While holding your liquid liner to the side press the liner into the lash line, then join together all sections to your desired liner thickness. I recommend doing lash primer next and then mascara.
My lashes have been pre measured and pre cut so I don't have to do that today, I can just pop them right on. I love this duo lash glue with the wand. I find then you're able to put just enough on the lash band, that you don't have to wait forever for it to dry and adhere the way you need it to. Once lashes are applied, you can see that automatically it makes the look a little bit more fun with a little flirty lashes.
*if you need my lash tutorial you can find it here
I am now going to add a little bit of lip color. I've chosen a fuchsia pink, because it's more towards the red, which is kind of where you feel that sexiness. I know we haven't been wearing lip colors, right? Because why? Why are we wearing them under the mask, but can I tell you right now how hydrating This feels like this feels so good on my lips. so creamy, it just kind of is giving all of that nourishment.
So there would be kind of what I would do for makeup. If I was doing a boudoir shoot.