making faces :: quick change

i knew this would happen. as soon as i started a new job, i was certain that i was going to have to find a way to get myself to work, home from work and out to the caustic lounge in very short order, because there wouldn't be a lot of extra minutes, particularly since i also knew that i'd forget to organise everything for my set the first time.

and, lo, it came to pass. 

this isn't an uncommon problem, of course. we all have times when we want to quickly change from our daytime face to something appropriate for a night out. so when i got up in the morning, i forced myself to think of what to do to ensure that i could make the transition without relying on a magic phone booth. 

the idea for the daytime was to keep everything as minimal and neutral as possible [although, clearly, i was still planning on wearing makeup], so that it could be built-up later on without requiring a cleaning of the facial slate to start from scratch. 

to that end, i stuck to very soft, mostly matte colours that were close to the ones in my natural complexion, but that lent an overall brightness that made me look a little more awake than i normally would. i've listed what i used below, but honestly, you'd want to find something that was close to your own colouring. in my case, i picked a light, slightly peachy base colour and a mauve-taupe shade in my crease and along my lower lash line, in order to give some definition and accentuate the shape of my eyes a little. i went very light on the mascara [for me] and used a softer formula, so that it wouldn't clump up when i added to it later. [not having to remove and reapply mascara is probably the biggest key to saving time here]. 

i used a mac beauty powder on my cheeks, because i just love how the finish is nearly matte, but with a bit of a glow. i'm all in favour of products that make me look like i have a much healthier and more wholesome lifestyle than i really do. 

and for my lips, i donned nars' "mayflower", one of my go-to shades when i'm looking for that "my lips but better" kind of effect. it's interesting, because this shade is a bit warmer than my natural lip colour, which is a cool mauve-pink shade, so it tends to look more natural than when i wear no lipstick at all. 

now, to switch this into a good nighttime look, the idea was to keep most of the elements similar, with one striking difference. i darkened the outer corners of my eyes and applied a shimmery shade to the lids, so that there was a bit more drama going on, but i kept the shades very neutral. as i mentioned, i added a coat of a heavier, darker mascara and some black liner along my upper lash line. 

i kept the soft colour on my cheeks, but i did add a bit of tan-coloured blush to make my cheekbones stand out a little more. again, no huge changes, just augmenting the very simple look i already had going. 

the big change, of course, was in the lip colour. bolder, deeper, more noticeable lips go so well with neutrals and, of course, it takes no time at all to change this. but it gives the whole look a very different effect. i also used a very sparkly shade for this, so that unlike the daytime face, which was mostly matte and satin textures, there were lots of things that could catch the light in the evening. 

total switchover time was just over five minutes, leaving me those precious moments i needed to get some music together so that i could do a reasonable dj impersonation at the caustic lounge. [you can read about that here.]


anyway, here are the details on what i ended up doing...

the base ::
marcelle beauty balm "light/ medium"
lush colour supplement "jackie oates" [night only]
smashbox high definition liquid concealer "fair/ light"
marcelle pressed powder "translucent"

the daytime eyes ::
inglot e/s "352" [peach-cream]
mac e/s "velour"* [brown-mauve]
nars e/s "mekong" [espresso brown with gold shimmer- used along the upper lash line]
makeup forever concealer pencil "light" [used as a liner to brighten the eyes]
smashbox full exposure mascara

the daytime cheeks ::
mac beauty powder blush "her own devices"* [light natural pink]

the daytime lips ::
nars l/s "mayflower" [sheer warm pink]

and into the night...

the nighttime eyes ::

inglot e/s "352"
mac e/s "velour"
[those two were left untouched, i just added to them]
rouge bunny rouge e/s "angelic cockatiels" [shimmery amber-honey]
mac e/s "vainglorious"* [maroon-plum]
nars e/s "mekong"
mac e/s "dazzlelight" [shimmery neutral highlight]
mac powerpoint liner "black swan" [black with silver shimmer]
armani eyes to kill excess mascara

the nighttime cheeks ::
mac beauty powder "her own devices"*
mac blush ombre "springshine"* [neutral tan]

the nighttime lips ::
bobbi brown hi-shimmer lip gloss "black ruby" [sparkly metallic red]

*suggested alternates :: velour = mac quarry [greyer,but close]; her own devices = mac tenderling [pinker, more pigmented]; vainglorious = mac star violet [more purple]; springshine = benefit hoola