The Art of Makeup by lebec

How could I have worn makeup for 23 years and not known that the way I was wearing my eyeshadow was all wrong for my eye shape? How could I have poured over fashion magazines for a lifetime and not know that my cheekbones needed highlighting, not contouring? How come after being a mom who works late into the night on the computer, I never wear concealer? All these questions were answered for me by lebec at my makeup lesson/consultation.

I told you what a great woman, mom and business owner lebec is. Now I want to share what an amazing makeup artist she is! I learned so much and I highly encourage you to contact her for your own personal consultation (more on that later)!

lebec asked me to come with a clean face, bring all my skincare and makeup to the consultation. The first portion of the consultation, lebec got to know me, my routine and products. She told me that before she started her own line of cosmetics, she sampled everything available on the beauty aisles! She asked a ton of questions from many women to find out what they liked about the products and why they bought certain products. She did her research so I felt very confident that when she told me a product was or wasn’t worth my money, I believed her. I was happy to discover that she uses the same eye makeup remover on her professional makeup counter as I do!

lebec’s highest recommendation for skincare for me was to switch to a Cleansing Oil by Shu Uemura. She has used it for years and has found it to be a product she can’t live without! It’s on my list for sure!

When questioning me about my makeup routine, lebec asked if my makeup fades into my skin after a period of time. YES! How did she know? My number one gripe is my eyeshadow being non-existent by 2 PM. Now, I do like neutral mattes (or at least I thought I did!) but I do want my morning efforts to show throughout the day, otherwise why get up to do it?

lebec explained that applying makeup is all about highlighting and contouring to enhance your best features. At this point, lebec had me empty out my makeup bag. I filled the counter top! She patiently took each one of my colors, including powder, shadow and blush and swabbed a sample on the back of my hand. As we sat through this process I saw the changes occur. Some colors brightened, some disappeared, some looked as they did at application. lebec explained that my body chemistry/heat is responsible for the changes. Also, the quality of the pigment in the powder played a role. Some of the least expensive colors were the first to fade away (remember my questioning if more expensive color was worth it? Well, it is). This experiment served as a lesson to me that explained why a lipstick looks so very different on me than my step-daughter even though we are both fair, blue-eyed chicks! I even notice that some days a lipstick looks different on me than it did the day before. Do you get that? Body chemistry and heat, baby!

My most challenging features, when it comes to makeup, are my eyes. I have a large lid/brow area, partly due to plucking ( I used to have big brows!), partly due to bone structure. I am happy to report that lebec said my bone structure is well balanced! However, I have deep set eyes. Wow! Never heard that one before! I never considered my eyes deep set, I just considered my face “bony”. My cheek bones are high, emphasizing the hollowness below my eyes and then there is that brow bone. I guess I do have deep set eyes. lebec’s focus for the application was how to bring my eyes out.

I told you in my last post that lebec taught me how to use the cosmetics I already owned, filling in with what I didn’t have from her line of outstanding cosmetics. We worked with my primer, foundation and powder. We used her concealer/highlighter pencil around my eyes. (Can I just say that product alone is really, really great?! A full review tomorrow!). When we got to my eyes, she discussed eyeshadow primer. Occasionally I will use foundation on my lids to help set the powder but not often. No, I needed an eyeshadow primer. It too is amazing. I wore it last night to the Bruce Springsteen concert I attended (yes, 2 concerts in 4 days…I’m tired!). I still had great looking shadow when I got home many hours later. I’ve found my secret to great eye makeup!

Now that my eyes were ready to apply color, we sorted through the colors that work for me. We used eyeshadows from Revlon, Sonia Kashuk and L’oreal. lebec demonstrated on one eye, I copied on the other. She told me that one of the most common mistakes women make in makeup application is using too much. A little goes a long way. Because I have large lid area, I am not to wear shadow in the crease. I am to create the illusion of my crease being higher.

I was always frustrated with this very thing. When learning to apply shadow, what do most guides tell you? 1. all over color 2. color in crease and along lash line 3. highlight brow bone. Okay….for me, step 3 left me looking like all I had was brow bone.

My new routine:

• dab, not swipe or brush on, a light shadow at my brow line and center of lid above the pupil

• carry a darker color across my eye above the crease, as far out as my eye goes, not farther (meaning if I held a pencil straight up and down next to the corner of my eye, that is where I need to stop color). Again, dab not brush on. When product is in place, blend.

• apply liner in the form of eyeshadow powder mixed with lebec cosmetic’s eyeliner sealer. This formula goes on super smooth with a very small brush. She told me to tickle my lashes, meaning get it right next to the lashes, for the best look. Top and bottom lash line. We applied two layers of colors for fun and to demonstrate how a gray can cancel the redness that appeared in the purple shade we used. lebec recommended I never used liner pencil again as it is too thick of a line for my eye. Great advice but that is going to be a hard habit to break!

• mascara. I love my tarte lights! camera! lashes! mascara. It makes my lashes appear thick and long. When lebec got done with me, I swear I’ve never seen my eyes look so open and huge! Her “secret” is to apply the mascara first to the top of the lashes then to the underside. She also applied it to my lower lashes. She only dipped the wand once which again proves less is more. I would have dipped several times in that single application!

My application process was improved with the use of really fabulous mini brushes from lebec cosmetics. lebec insists that proper, quality brushes are extremely important to application. I thought I had decent brushes but learned that they were too thick and wide for my eye makeup application.

Obviously, the session was about more than my eyes. But in order to keep you from being here all day reading, I’ll stop with the eyes.

I want to encourage you to contact lebec to do a face chart for you. You don’t have to live in Southern California to experience her talents! She can give you a consultation and design a color chart for you from a jpeg image of your face. She also offers custom blended product to fit your needs! It’s really worth your time and money to invest in someone who can teach you how to apply makeup to fit your needs. lebec listens. lebec cares. lebec rocks! Contact her!

Still a very natural look but with color and proper placement!

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