looks of the day - quick looks for concerts!

Today was another cloudy/rainy day so unfortunately I haven't been able to get any clear photos in natural light. But I felt like doing this simple look anyway! This was also requested by my friend Meg, who is going to a Frank Turner concert soon.

This look is a lot simpler than it might look because you don't want to be fussing for hours over your makeup to go see a concert only to have it melt down your face. I have to confess that I haven't honestly been to many concerts that weren't orchestral in nature. (I'm weird, I know.) I've only ever been to a youtube performers concert to see Starkid, and a handful of Company of Thieves concerts. We performed spontaneously at one of them and were asked to perform with them at another, so that was one of the best experiences of my life.

With minimal concert-going experience, I know that venues can get crowded and it's not always the sort of place you want to wear a full face of makeup to. A red lip and a smoky eye are simple ways to make your makeup stand out and look edgy without requiring a lot of work. I did two variations of this look: one where the lip is the focus, and one where the eyes are.

I won't be doing a full tutorial written out for the two looks, but I will say how I achieved the looks. The face products stayed the same between the two looks and were as follows:

FACE
Benefit boi-ing concealer in 01
Benefit Fake-Up Concealer in 01 Light
Under eyes - PIXI Beauty Correction Concentrate + Benefit Fake-Up Concealer in 01 Light

You don't need any foundation, and if you can get away with no concealer, I'd suggest it. If you need coverage all over your face, tinted moisturiser is your best option. Since we're going with a red lip, you want to neutralise any redness on the face or the lips will make you seem ruddy. I have rosacea, so a concealer was absolutely required to cover up the red patches on my cheeks.

LOOK ONE

The picture doesn't do the lipstick justice! This was a very simple look, even if it doesn't look like it--red lipstick makes everything look glamourous. I lightly filled in my brows with a brow pencil before taking a charcoal gray eyeshadow and patting it over my lids. There isn't a need to bring the colour up past the crease of the eyelid! I also used a taupe/grey eyeliner on my upper lash line and the outer third of my lower lash line, but that isn't necessary, either.

You don't have to stick to grey, either! I would advise against going any darker, but you can try any neutral shade--gold would be really gorgeous. Stay away from bright colours or jewel tones, though, or it'll compete too much with your lips.

The main focus of this variation is the lips. I used a matte balm pencil and just applied the colour all over my lips. If you want something that lasts longer (especially if you'll be eating and/or drinking, though I still wouldn't advise wearing lip colour through a meal since oils will break down the pigment) you could try lining and filling the lips with a lip pencil and topping it with a lipstick, blotting with a single ply of tissue, patting some translucent powder on, and then applying another layer of lipstick. OR try something like Stila's liquid lipstick, which applies like a lip gloss but dries down to a matte finish and stays put.

BROWS
Benefit Instant Brow Pencil in Deep

EYES
Lid - bareMinerals loose eyeshadow in k.i.t. (matte medium charcoal gray)
Liner - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Desperation (deep taupe to gray matte)

LIPS
Revlon Colorburst Matte Balm in 250 Standout

LOOK TWO

This look was more focused on the smoky eye. At a concert, you don't want to worry about your eye makeup melting down your face or getting smudged, and a smoky eye is the perfect solution! The more it smudges, the more rock-and-roll you look, so you don't even need to check yourself in a mirror every few hours.

To get this look, all I did was take a black eye pencil and draw a thick line above my lashes. No need to be precise--you're going to smudge this out with a cotton swab so it doesn't need to be perfect. After smudging, take that gray eyeshadow and apply it on your lid up past the crease, as well as along the lower lash line. This is a simple smoky eye that only gets better as the night goes on and if it creases or smudges, just take a finger and run it over your lid and move on! I did put on a coat of mascara, which helps to emphasise the smoky feel.

Don't be afraid to try another colour, either! Since you're playing up the eyes, you can do a smoky eye with any colour you'd like. Emerald or eggplant would look amazing, or bronze or navy. Really, anything goes!

Since the look is heavy on the eyes, you want to balance it out by filling in your brows. I had the pencil on from the first look, but I put some powder over them to give them more definition and topped them off with a tinted brow gel.

Apply a tinted balm to the lips. I apparently don't have anything that is red but sheer, so I had to improvise by mixing a balm pencil with some rose salve. You can apply the same balm to the cheeks for a little colour and shine, but if you're going to be moving around or in a large crowd, you'll get a natural flush so you can skip that step.

BROWS
Benefit Instant Brow Pencil in Deep
Anastasia Beverly Hills Beauty Express brow kit in Brunette
Anastasia Beverly Hills Tinted Brow Gel in Granite

EYES
Lid - bareMinerals loose eyeshadow in k.i.t. (matte medium charcoal grey)
Liner - Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Perversion (deepest matte black)
Lashes - Maybelline Volum' Express the Mega Plush mascara in Blackest Black

LIPS
Clinique Chubby Stick Intense Lip Colour Balm in Mightiest Maraschino + C.O. Bigelow Rose Salve