Beauty abounds on September magazine covers!
Am I the only one who is addicted to beauty magazines? I love the covers, the ads, the spreads and the stories. But most of all, I love the beauty sections. Shocking, no? And I think all makeup junkies know: the Fall mags are the best mags!
Let's take a look at the covers for September and see what we can expect for the month.
Elle
It's probably unpatriotic to dislike Jessica Simpson (unless you're Carrie Underwood).
It's probably equally unpatriotic to dislike plaid (um... as a former Catholic schoolgirl, I reserve the right to hate the stuff!).
Well, thanks to Allure I get a lot of both. On the upside, I like some of the jewelry...
Is it me, or in that middle one above does she look ridiculously bored?! Or maybe she took a look at that dress she's wearing!
I have to say, I love this shot from an artistic standpoint!
Jess' makeup is damn-near nude, which is meant to suit her new career as a country singer, I suppose. So here's what's important if you want to cop this look:
1 - The strong, natural brow is one of the keys for this look. To do this yourself, fill in the brows a bit with a matte shadow or brow powder. Brush the brows up a bit, to keep them looking full - use a brow set or hair gel (lightly) to keep them in place.
2 - The natural eye keeps this looking country-fresh. It's not a nude eye- that's too crisp! Want to get the look, as always prep eye first then apply a matte vanilla shadow from lashline to brow. Use either a smudgy matte or creamy (not shimmery or frosty) mid-tone brown pencil or shadow to smudge along the top and bottom lashlines. Make it nice and soft and smudgy! Lots of brown-black mascara finishes the look.
3 - Skin is flawless (try Proactiv?) with a matte foundation. Powder your shiny bits, but not the rest of the face so you don't look overly makeup-y. Then grab your big fluffy brush and matte bronzer (if you're really aiming to mimic this cover look, pic a too-dark shade, otherwise go just a touch darker than your skin shade). Apply generously to cheeks, then sweep around the face from temples and down the jawline. Don't re-dip your brush before dusting it over the forehead, chin and nose.
4 - Jess is wearing a soft, satin pink on the lips. Be careful that your bronzer (Step 3) isn't too orange, or the pink lips will make you look clownish. Think just a touch pinker than your natural lip. Don't go with a matte, which will look way too dusty.
Vogue
God bless Gucci Westman, who did the makeup for this shoot, 'cause otherwise this would have been completely tragic.
I think Keira Knightley is striking, in an icy way. Does that mean she has to pose in her finest 80's wear in front of an iceburg? Or tinfoil tower? Or ... what the hell is that?!?
Luckily most of the other shots in the spread are stunning!
Except this one. What the F*** is that on her head!?
Gucci changes up Keira's makeup a lot in the this photoshoot, which I like. Frankly, I think it looks a bit lazy when the same makeup shows up in tons of shots. At least change the lipstick! And change the lipstick, Gucci does. Keira rocks the strong lip trend throughout, with standouts being this red lip and the dark burgandy.
Try to copy the look (with much respect to Ms. Westman!):
1 - Again we have the strong brow, this time with a slightly lighter-than-brow hair shade of powder. Make sure you refine the brow arch as much as possible, using product to hold it into place if necessary. Where Jessica's brows were meant to be full, Keira's are sculpted perfection.
2 - The skin is satiny: not so matte we can't see light bouncing back, but not "luminous", either. Obliterate flaws with concealer, and make sure there are no circles under the eye - that much liner will make them more pronounced! Cheeks are contoured with a matte shade that looks slightly apricot-tinged. If you can't figure that one out, use a nude matte to contour, then lightly blush the cheek with an apricot or warm peach. Just keep the shimmer to a minimum, if it's there at all!
3 - A gorgeous almost 80's-inspired brown eye. Keeping the eye fully done,
but in shades of brown, we avoid tottering into Nighttime at the Disco.
Pat a skin-toned matte shade from lash to brow as base, making sure to
press it carefully in the arch of the brow to emphasize it. (Tip: if
your brows need a bit of tweaking, try a little bit of concealer over
the arch area before the shadow). Line eyes boldly with a satiny
chocolate brown. Draw the liner out a bit in the "outer v" to elongate
the eye into a nearly cat-eye shape. Smudge liner, and reinforce it
where needed. Take a rich, satin or matte brown and pat it over the
liner, then smudge again. Black-brown or black mascara will finish it
up.
4 - The lips, kid. The lips! First: EXFOLIATE THE LIPS. Otherwise, this look will fall flat faster than you can say "lipliner". Second, pat a touch of a waxy lip balm onto the lips to give it a bit of moisture without compromising grip. Find your shade and apply it with a lip brush. Yes, a lip brush. Don't argue with me! :) Tip: clean up any wobbles or mistakes with your concealer or foundation and a makeup sponge or a Q-tip.
W
Does Kate Hudson need something to eat? Maybe that's why she's passing out in the pictures? Whatevs - she looks amazing!
This is a craaaazzzy look, no? But it's sexy, times 10! I don't know where you're going to rock it, but let me tell you how to cop it...
1 - Brows are again key, but not in the way they were in the last two looks! This time, we want to downplay them. Too much going on all together if the brows were strong. Use a soft and light shade to fill in gaps, then brush them smooth. If necessary, you can try to lighten the brows a bit with a tinted brow gel.
2 - MEOW! Cat eyes! Use an almost-white to fill in the eye from lashline to brow. Then take a soft grey and swish it between the nose and the lid. Use the same color from the outer 1/2 of the lid up and out to make that cat shape. Push a little of the same grey under the lower lashline, too, smudging out and down. Fill-in the lids with a darker grey, then use a fluffy brush to extend this color into the outer cat shape, using small circular motions, to contour. Line eyes, top and bottom, with a black pencil. Reinforce this lining with a gel liner in black. Kate's inner lashlines ("waterlines") are also black. Carefully extend the liner on the inner corner and outer corner to accentuate the cat shape. Lots of black mascara is a must-have for this kitty!
3 - Skin is velvet matte (though I suspect Kate has had some help from an airbrush!). Cheeks are heavily contoured with blush. Sculpt those cheekbones, ladies! Place a lighter pink tone on the high-points of the cheek to flesh-out the glow.
4 - Lips are precise and dark. Again - you ain't gonna get it if you're chapped and dry or if you don't pick up that lip brush! You can try a bit of a darker shade around the lip line and feathered in, either using lip liner or a lipstick. Place a slightly (SLIGHTLY) lighter shade in the center of the lips to enhance fullness. Blend! NOTE: This does NOT give you permission to draw a sharp lip line with a very dark liner, then fill in with a pale lipstick!
Allure
This is one of my favorite mags, and I think Carrie Underwood looks fabulous on the front of it.
And they stole my thunder by giving us instructions on how to imitate Carries look. Damn.
marie claire
Years and years ago, before I knew who Eva Mendes was, I had cut out a photoshoot of her from a magazine. She was wearing a gorgeous orange dress in one shot, and she just looked amazing on each and every page. Her figure, her dancer's poses, her luscious locks. Stunning! (no, I'm not a creepy stalker - I was dieting and posted the picture to help my avoid Ben & Jerry's)
Sadly, now, I won't cross the room to pick up scissors to cut her out of anything. I find some comments she makes to be unnecessarily arrogant. Listen, Eva: you're beautiful, I'll give you that. But you didn't do anything to earn that. That's a fluke of nature. So get over yourself and start doing nice things for other people - and stop telling us how hot you are. It makes you UGLY.
*gets off soapbox*
That said, I don't care for this cover anyway. One: it showcases zero Fall trends. Two: The pose is awkward. Three: the makeup is boring, and so is the hair. Sigh...
To recreate the makeup look: put on some luminizing foundation. Pat on a nearly-nude pinky-tan cream blush. Slick on nude lipstick. Sweep on nude eye shadow. Toss on some mascara. And hope you have the photo retoucher genes to carry it off!
