Neutral Smokey Eye and Curly Locks for a Night Out

Hello, my lovely readers! I hope you've had a fabulous weekend! For today's post, I'm going to show you how to achieve a very neutral, natural make up look and how to create curly, luscious locks. Let's get started!

(I wrote this in the order I created this look. 

Feel free to change the order if you're more comfortable with a different routine.)

Hair Prep

This is optional, but I washed my hair before I curled my hair because my hair would have looked pretty nasty if I didn't. I used Suave Professionals: Almond + Shea Butter Shampoo and Conditioner. However, if you curl your hair with two-day old hair, you'll still get excellent results. While my hair was still damp, I put some TRESemmé: Volumizing Mousse through my hair, root to tip, to get a little extra volume in my hair.

Face Prep

I washed my face in the shower using Neutrogena Naturals: Acne Cream Cleanser and Neutrogena Naturals: Acne Foaming Scrub. After my shower, I spritzed some LUSH: Tea Tree Water on my face and neck (this helps to even out the discoloration in my face). Then I moisturized my face with Aveeno Active Naturals: Ultra-Calming Daily Moisturizer. For my lips, I swiped on a layer of LUSH: Mint Julips Lip Scrub to get rid of any dry skin stuck on my lips. Then finish off with Burt's Bees: Beeswax Lip Balm with 

Vitamin E and Peppermint.

Make Up

So... I normally do my hair first, but my hair was still wet so I figured I'd let it dry more while I did my make up. Just as normal, I started off with using Maybelline: Baby Skin Instant Pore Eraser on and around my nose and on my forehead. For foundation, I used my True Match Lumi Healthy Luminous Foundation {Porcelain/Light Ivory}. If you and the girls are planning on taking pictures, try to avoid foundation that has SPF in it because it may leave an unflattering, shiny effect to your face. For concealer, I applied Maybelline: Dream Lumi Touch Highlighting Concealer {Ivory & Buff}. I use Ivory to highlight under my eyes and along the bridge of my nose and I use Buff to cover any blemishes I may have. Finish your face off (for now) with Rimmel: Stay Matte Pressed Powder {001: Transparent}.

Next, I filled in my eye brows with Too Faced Brow Envy Shaping & Defining Kit and applied the brunette shade. Then apply a thin layer of Urban Decay: Eyeshadow Primer Potion {Original} to my eye lids to prep for eyeshadow. If you apply a primer, your shadow is less likely to crease and it will stay in place for much longer. For eyeshadow, I used NYX: The Natural Shadow Palette {TNS 01}. I used the peachy color as a transition color, put the light brown to the right of the peach all over my lid, and put the darkest brown on the outer portion of my lid and in the crease. A tip: you can always apply more of this dark shadow, but it's hard to get rid or hide mistakes. Take your time and don't forget to blend! Finish your eyes with curling your eyelashes and applying mascara. I used Maybelline: The Colossal Cat Eye {Glam Black} on my top lashes and Maybelline: Great Lash BIG {Very Black} on my lower lashes.

Back to the face, I used Too Faced Milk Chocolate Soleil Matte Bronzer {Light/Medium} to contour my face (don't forget to brush across your neck too). For blusher, I used a very understated blush to keep this look very natural. I applied Maybelline: Master Hi-Lighting Blush {10: Nude}. To highlight my cheekbones and brow bone, I used Physician's Formula: Powder Palette Mineral Glow Pearls {Translucent Pearl}. To complete the look, swipe on a  bit of Victoria's Secret: Shiny Kiss Flavored Gloss {Mocktail Hour} for a shiny, yet natural finish.

Ta Da! Make up is complete!

Hair
Now that my hair was finally dried, I sprayed TRESemmé: Thermal Creations Heat Tamer Spray all over my hair to protect it from the heat from my curling iron. I use the Infiniti by Conair Curling Iron {1 inch}. I like 1 inch barrels for my short hair so I can create noticeable curls, but they aren't super tight. If you have longer hair, you may want to try a 1.5-2 inch barrel. 

I begin curling my hair by pulling up the top section of my hair above my head. I work my way from the front of my head to the back of my head. I typically curl away from my face but every few pieces I'll curl towards my face to switch it up. Feel free to do this, just not with the pieces closest to your face. Always curl those parts away from your face. Once you're finished with the bottom section, take another chunk out of your top section and repeat the steps above. Continue to do this until your hair is covered with curls.

Once you've finished curling your hair, don't worry! You won't have to keep the "too perfect" curls in. Let your locks cool for a few minutes, then gently finger comb your hair to separate the curls. I don't recommend using a brush to do this; you might end up with super big, frizzy hair, which is not the look we're going for. Finish this look with a bit of TRESemmé: Tres Two Freeze Hold Hair Spray. To get rid of those frizzy bits close to your part, spray them a bit with your hair spray, then use the bottle to soften them down.

Voila! You're ready to go out with the girls!

 

Where would you wear this look? Let me know in the comments!

xx Amanda
Twitter & Instagram: @amanda_wymore