Blogust Day 20- #TBT Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra

Welcome back to #TBT! Today I'm coming at you with my FINAL instalment of this lovely little series so I'd thought we'd go out with a super iconic look from an uber iconic lady..I am of course talking about Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra.

Who:

Elizabeth Taylor. Actress.

When:

1932-2011

The look:

Defined brows, bold graphic liner, blue shadow.

Works best on:

The daring and bold! 

Okay, so Liz's look isn't exactly what you'd call wearable, but it is inspired by a look that it is believed would have been worn by Cleopatra.

It includes a strong, defined arched brow, blue shadow right the way up the the brow bone and very graphic liner.

As you can see from the picture above, the lips are kept a peachy nude and there is a little bronzer on the cheeks but the main focus here is definitely the eyes!

In order to recreate the look I would suggest the HD Brows palette, first use to powder to strongly define the shape and the make yours brows much darker and fuller looking. I'd finish off the brows with Benefit's Gimme Brow to further fill out those brows. Brow game needs to be strong here girls!

Moving on to the blue shadow, I'd go for a base of the Maybelline 24hr Colour Tattoo in Turquoise Forever all over the lid and right the way up to the brow bone. Then over the top go over with a light layer on translucent powder to keep everything in place.

Finally, the liner! Depending on how pro you feel with your liner you could either go for a gel or a liquid liner, however as the liner is so thick I would suggest going for liquid, as gel can become a little patchy when covering such a large area. Place a piece of tape from the bottom lash line up towards where your brow finishes to give you a guide to work by, when you remove the tape you will have perfectly crisp lines. Line the upper and lower lash line and make your "wing" more triangular than you usually would.

Add a black bob wig, some giant gold earrings and there you have it, Liz Taylor as Cleopatra!

I hope you've enjoyed my #TBT series as part of Blogust, I've really enjoyed looking through iconic looks of the past!

Blogust Day 10- #TBT - Marilyn Monroe

I'm back with another edition of #TBT. This weekend we're looking at one of my all time favourites...

Who:

Marilyn Monroe. Actress, model, singer.

When:

June 1926-August 1962

The look:

Arched brows, red lips, beauty mark.

Works best on:

Everyone!

Marilyn's look is what most people would refer to as a "classic pin up" look. This strongly arched brows, the stamped on red lip and slight winged eyeliner is a totally iconic look that really does suit everyone. It's timeless, it's classic and it's actually beautifully simple to recreate. 

The key aspect of this look is keeping everything else very simple. Three features are being highlighted here; the brows, the lips and the eyes, so don't go in with heavy Kimmy K style contouring and a smokey eye. Just stick to the basics.

The beauty of this is is very wearable to you can rock it day to day or just have it as your go-to look for a night out.

To recreate the look on myself I reach for the Maybelline Master Shape Brow Pencil in Dark Blonde. Now I have much thicker fuller brows than Marilyn so I have to really accentuate my arch and concetrate the coliur there, rather than filling the whole brow- don't go crazy here, you don't want to look like your brows are drawn on- remember they're sisters, not twins. I then go in with the Dior DiorShow Brow Fixing Gel in 541- this is perfect for dark blonde brows. 

Next up is the liner- I start of with a matte shade all over my lids to even everything out and stop creasing. Something like Foxy from Urban Decay is great. I then use the Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner in Black to create the feline flick. You want to keep this quite thin, but really use to flick to elongate the eye.

Finally, the lip. I use the good old Lisa Eldridge trick of using the lipstick to stain the lips and then building up the layers, to create a really long lasting lip. My red of choice is the Rimmel Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipstick in 001. It's the perfect pillar box red and completes the look beautifully.

And there you have it. A classic pin up look, Marilyn Monroe style.

Blogust Day 5- #TBT Edie Sedgwick

Welcome to the very first #TBT post of Blogust. I'll be using these posts to show you iconic looks of the past, talk about the person that made them iconic and show you my recreated version of the iconic the look. Without further ado, let's get into it!

Who:

Edith Minturn "Edie" Segwick. American heiress, model and actress.

When:

April 1943-November 1971

The look:

Good girl gone bad. Mini dresses. Bold prints. Graphic liner.

Works best on:

Almond shaped eyes.

The iconic graphic liner look seen here on Edie is a look that has been replicated on numerous occasions since Edie's time. Whilst it is bold and dramatic, it screams retro sixties, a style that is truly timeless.

The key part to this look, is dramatising one part and one part of the face only. The eyes were hugely dramatised, whilst the complexion and lips were pared down, to add even more drama to the eyes.

The looks consists of a strongly cut crease, heavy liner and lashings of lashes. Note, this is NOT an everyday wearable look, but for the right occasion, it's stunning.

To recreate the look on myself I filled my brows in as usual- from the graphic I was using I could see that Edie's brows had quite a soft shape to them with hardly an arch shape to them at all- just like my own. 

Using Bootycall and Blackout from Urban Decay I created a classic smoky eye, making sure to keep the shake quite almond like, rather than winging it out. I then created the cut crease effect, first of all with an angled brush and some more black shadow, then when I was happy with the shape I went over the line I had created with the Eyeko Skinny Liquid Liner in Black. I then applied heaps of Clinique High Impact Mascara to bulk up my lashes.

On the skin I used a very light hand to apply a little bronzer to carve out my cheek bones. The skin should remain matte for this look. 

I applied just a touch of lipbalm to my lips to finish off- the eyes are the main focus here.

And that's it! I hope you've enjoyed this post, I know it's something a bit different! Stay tuned for the next one...