When I was 16 I loved posting in and reading makeup forums and blogs; I did my makeup everyday and always got compliments from the girls at the MAC counter. Makeup was just something I loved, and I loved experimenting with colours, shapes, application, etc. to the point where many my friends in undergrad would ask me to do their makeup whenever we were going out.

But something changed as I got older. I started wearing less makeup, didn’t check out the new collections when they were released and, eventually, I stopped wearing makeup.

Last weekend I decided to play about and give makeup a go, see if I still had the skills. Here’s what I came up with for The Apple Cart Festival…

BE WARNED: This is a very, very long post. Please let me know if you make it to the end and if you’d like me to post more looks – I know that not everyone comes here for beauty tips!

Products

Face

• MAC Studio moisture tint in medium dark
• MAC mineralize skinfinish natural in medium plus (MSF)
• MAC select moisturecover in NW25
• MAC blusher in Melba
• ColourWorks bronzer

Eyes

• MAC paint pot in Bare Study
• MAC eye shadow in Rice Paper
• MAC eye shadow in Swimming
• MAC eye shadow in Club
• MAC eye shadow in Humid
• MAC eye shadow in Aquadisiac
• MAC eye shadow in Club
• Rimmel glam’eyes professional liquid liner
• Glam Crystals gel liner in Le Freak
• Cover Girl LashBlast Volume mascara in Very Black

Lips

• Smiths Rosebud Salve
• MAC lipstick in So Chaud

Brushes

• MAC 182 Buffer Brush
• MAC 168 Large Angled Contour Brush
• MAC 129 Powder/Blush Brush
• MAC 239 – Eye Shader Brush
• MAC 219 – Pencil Brush
• MAC 252 – Large Shader Brush

Application

Note: I apply a fair amount of makeup with my hands so I tend to wash them between steps; this is not noted in the instructions, so please wash them liberally. 😉

Face

I always start with the tinted moisturiser all over. I use about the size of a dime (or a 20p coin for my English friends!) and apply with my hands, easy peasy like. Then I use the concealer under my eyes and rub it in with my ring fingers so I apply the least amount of pressure.

Then I dust the MSF over my cheeks, nose and chin with the 182 Buffer Brush; I make sure to avoid my forehead with the powder because it’s hidden by my fringe and this helps prevent breakouts. (If you’ve got fringe – aka “bangs” in the USA – you’ll know what I mean about the breakouts!)

Finally I dust the bronzer on with the 168 brush by sucking my cheeks in – I only put it in the hollow parts, gliding from my mouth up to my cheek bone. I use the blusher with the 129, brushing in light circles over the apples of my cheeks while smiling. Using the bronzer/blusher this way I hope to accentuate my cheekbones (darkening the hollows with the bronzer) while making my cheeks look just a bit rounder with the blusher.

Eyes

Time to use my hands again!

I dip my ring fingers into the Bare Study paint pot and lightly rub it across my eyelids until I’ve got an even amount across the lid and up to the brow. This works as a base for the eye shadow so it stays on longer.

Next I use the 219 to apply Humid to my crease. (I like doing the darker colours first so I can blend the lighter colours into them.) I do this with my eyes mostly open and gently go back and forth till there’s a good even line. (I tend to let the brush run over my natural eyeball curve so I can feel that it’s going on in a good line shape.)

Then I grab the 239 and generously apply Club to the whole of the lid without going atop the line I drew with Humid; I continue to work the shape/colour blending in the next few steps.

I pick up the 219 again, dip it in Aquadisiac and blend it into Humid and Club along the crease line, but only near the inner part of the eye. Now I dip the 219 in Swimming and repeat, only this time on the outer corner of the crease.

Next I take the 252 and use it to apply Rice Paper to the skin just below the brow and softening the crease line I originally drew with Humid. (I like to re-work the crease line a little here, just touching up the blending to make sure it all looks even.) Once that’s done I dab a tiny bit of Rice Paper to my inner tear duct, just to make my eyes look a teeny-weeny bit larger.

Finally; I apply the Rimmel liner to the top lash line and Glam Crystals to the outer third of the bottom lash line underneath the water line. (I tend to keep the Rimmel thinner on the inner part of my eye, slightly increasing the thickness towards the outer corner.) Because I like to drag the liner out just past where my eye ends I make sure both the top and bottom liners meet.

Then I apply mascara to both the top and bottom lashes. (Tip: I like to look down while I apply mascara to up upper lashes, just to encourage a curl without using a curler.)

Now take the 182 (with no powder on!) and clean up any eye shadow fall out that’s happened.

Nearly done…

Lips

This is definitely the easiest part. Ready?

Using my finger I smother them with Smith’s Rosebud Salve. Then I put on a layer of So Chaud and do a quick finger pop. Not sure what that is? Leesha (aka XSparkage) talks it through in this video from her YouTube channel: