Lower the Red Flags!

Yeah, that's right! Lower!

So let's be honest, my face shape changes throughout the year with the slighest gain or loss of weight. I notice this most with blush because I put on blush automatically and all of a sudden -- it doesn't look good in THAT spot anymore! So I experiment. A little higher, more to the side, closer to the eyes, lower...

And looking at these pictures makes me want to try going lower. See what happens. It certainly makes her skin glow...in a sophisticated, adult way. NOT like a kewpie doll.

This would probably be easiest to pull off with a cream blush or a
sheer cheek stain. Cheek stains can be tricky, so if you want,
dipping a finger in water before using the stain
makes everything even sheerer and goof-proof.
Plus, you can lightly blend foundation over some
spots that you got a little too enthusiastic with color.

Best Bare-Bones Ever

Here's a pretty, subtle way to wear eyeshadow. Just put a light shimmery shadow on your brow bone, and spread it to the inner corners of your eyes, and all the way around the temples back to the outer corners so it creates a sort of halo around your eyes. Make sure to blend it really well. Makes you look angelic, wide-awake, and make-up free.

Yeah, it's mom-recommended.

Silver lines

What's more festive than shine, glitter, bling? I like how fun and happy-go-lucky the silver liner under the eyes look. It's a little (okay, maybe a lot) more in-your-face than shiny silver liner above your eyes, but I like it! C'mon, it's a party! You gotta be a little crazy!

(OK, and the shine under your eyes? Makes them look way bigger and more awake.)

WIN-WIN-WIN.

Holiday Party

Model Liu Wen is the only asian model to grace Victoria's Secret runway this year, so she's well worth watching for tips and trends! And yes, in this case I'm a little biased as I've clearly been in love with undereye-shadow this season...but look how she shows two different ways to pull it off: one is edgy and vampy (clubbing time anyone?) and the other is sophisticated yet sexy.

Love how the sheer wash of shadow balances out the sexiness of the dark liner.

Copper Eyeshadow

Love how everything looks so lush and pink. Good for a first date look...not that I'm thinking about first dates...ok fine...just a few...

She didn't do anything complicated with the contouring, just kept the colors gold and glowing. Simple and lovely.

Fall Makeup: Bright Lips, Big City

Ahhhhh. Finally. Today, today is the beginning of fall. The air is finally getting crisp and that awful shimmering heat is gone. Yay! Fall is my favorite season because you can wear coats and jackets and tights and boots without shivering all the time. Plus, you can actually wear makeup during the fall because most things you put on in the summer, you put on knowing it will slide off of you in exactly 1.35 hours.

So! Fall. What's the best way to celebrate? Bright lipstick and bare skin and eyes? But...but...that's summer makeup! That's the bare-bones makeup we've been lamenting all season.

Well, so I've gotten attached to bare-bones.

And honestly, with all the navy, browns, blacks, tweeds, and plaids
going around...WE NEED COLOR! We need shocking color!

Because for me, fall is and will be associated with songs like this:

"Well the sun rose/
So many colors, it nearly broke my heart/
It worked me over like a work of art/
And I was part of all that."
(Dar Williams)

I started college in the fall. And that was when my true musical eduation started...when I started to truly fall in love with songs. The leaves crunching, the lives lived more intensely, the colors...That is what fall is about.

Fast Makeup

What do you do when you wake up
30 minutes late?

Wear sunglasses!

Fall Makeup: Marilyn Monroe

Wait! That's not Marilyn! Where's the blond lusciousness? The giggle? The famous hip wiggles? And why isn't her skirt flying up from a subway breeze?

Well giggles are a little outdated for today's "fierce" girls, (and what asian girl looks good blonde?) but the signature make up look may still work. Afterall, who doesn't love false eyelashes? Red lips? Sparkly white shadow?

OK, to be honest, this look is a little too...DONE UP...for me to wear without feeling rather self-conscious. Below are steps to simplify and tone down the look for everyday, but really, the fastest way to tone it down is to leave the eyebrows natural and kind of sparse.

Also, the sparkly white shadow works best on women with pale skin.
If you have darker skin, you need to go with a darker shade. Basically,
the shadow should be a slightly paler, sparklier version of your skin color.

To make this more natural:

1)Draw a thicker line with the liquid eyeliner that creates a half-circle around the eyes, even when the eyes are open.
2)Draw a thin line of sparkly eyeshadow all along the edge of the liner. Artists always juxtapose a sliver of extreme light next to the darkest shadow for maximum effect and that is what you are doing.
3) Blend, blend, blend the sparkly shadow so it eventually disappears into your eyes and you don't have the distorted eyes from far away.
4) When letting false eyelashes dry, put your fingers under them so they dry at a steep upward angle. Don't worry. It'll naturally fall into a prettily raised angle as gravity and the weight of your eyelids bring it down.

How to Take a Good Picture

This is a great shot of model Han Jin. She has rather quirky features, and sometimes makeup artists slap on too much shiny eyeshadow, distorting her features even further...but as long as the picture is taken from a lower angle... she looks great! (Or, just tilt your head back so it WILL be from a low angle)

If you are Asian, DON'T have people take pictures from above you. And don't tilt your head down -- that erases all definition, and makes your face look half-melted. Tilt it back so you are slightly looking down your nose because that will create definition in your nose and cheeks. Plus, your eyes look WAY bigger AND sultrier because they are half-closed and you can see all that lovely eyeshadow you took the trouble to put on.

In fact, I was looking for a picture of a model posed with her head down,
just to prove my point...and was not able to find any. Smart girls.
They know what's good for them!

Fall Makeup: Nude, with Bronzer

"Jack...I want you to paint me wearing this.."
"OK..."
"...wearing ONLY this."


So maybe this isn't as shocking as Kate Winslet in Titanic, but going bare always seems to get me a lot of attention.

When I was a teacher in Korea, there were a few times when I overslept and would have to waltz into class without makeup. And by makeup I mean only eyeshadow. I put on foundation, blush and concealer before I put on my clothes.
"TEEEEEEACHER! Oh, TEACHER! NO MAKEUP TODAY! Bare-face!" came little under-age shrieks.
"Children, this is nude makeup," I would explain grandly.
"...Nude? What is...nude, teacher?"
"...ummm....

...it's when things are plain and they haven't been used or painted or disguised yet."
"Oh. That's boring."

But it got your attention, didn't it, little kids?

This look really depends on pretty much fabulous, flawless skin so I usually don't INTENTIONALLY try this out unless I've been having a series of stress-free days with plenty of sleep and the requisiste amount of fluids and hardly any candy. So yeah, hardly ever.

But the best way to pull it off is to mix foundation with a drop of moisterizer so it really sinks into your skin. Use cream bronzer on cheeks, temples, and eyes. Yes, eyes! It sounds insane (but I like insane)(I heard it as a tip from Jay on America's Next Top Model so of course it's insane) but bronzer around the eyes really works to make your eyes pop. Dab on a tiny bit of cream blush and then dust mineral translucent powder over everything to set it and add that polished sheen.

Make sure the powder has a yellow tinge, otherwise,
you end up looking like a Kabuki Dancer
and there goes your "nude" look.

Fall Makeup: Lip Stain

I love this lip-stain look for the fall! Super-shiny lipstick can be too holiday, too fancy sometimes, but the lip stain looks strong yet still a bit casual. The color here is beautiful.

In real life, I don't see very many girls wear strong lipstick in California, because whatever you say, for me, bright lipstick is a cold-weather move. Also, bright lipstick is a sign of a polished girl who knows how to deal with getting it on your teeth, your wine glass, your boyfriend's shirt...
And let's face it, California is not into polish. This is where beachy-bed-head (not just unbrushed hair, but really messy unbrushed hair straight from beach) was invented.

But really, looking at all the runway pictures, few things are prettier than a bare face with a strong mouth, especially if you have the asian pout.
And stains are really the way to rock this look if you want something
that's fairly no-fuss. So I'm gonna go shopping for stains today
and try my hand at being more polished...

Half-Gold, Half Black Smokey Eye

This looks so much better when your face is tilted up and your nose is in the air. So rock this look when you plan on being the too-good-for-your-broke-ass hottie for the evening.
(and hey, don't we all like to play that once in awhile!)

Under-Eye Shadow

So lately, this has been my favorite make-up look. Drawing in the precise line under my eyes with the liquid liner is something that alas, my hands are far too shaky for. Plus, the softer, smudgy eyeshadow under the eyes wears away very nicely after a couple hours. I love it because I don't look too
...SMOLDERING TEMPTRESS...
but it still adds some sizzle and makes your eyes look pretty intense.

I guess the nice thing about not working for the government anymore
is that I CAN wear make up like this without raising eyebrows...

Under-eye eyeliner

Lately, I've really been getting into under-eye eyeliner. I know, I know, sometimes it looks really bad (trust me, it's the fastest way to make my mom cringe)...but when it's done right, it looks pretty awesome!

Check out the way it's done here: using a liquid line, a thin line drawn under the eyes, past the corners. It's drawn neatly from the middle of the eye and makes the eyes look wider apart. The nice thing about drawing something under the eye is that if you don't have a crease ... like the average asian girl ... then nobody can see eyeliner drawn above your eyes unless you are closing them.

And let's face it, going around with your eyes closed all the time is not the safest way to live. :)

So Voila! The solution is to draw the line under your eyes, and it still creates
a much stronger widening and emphasizing effect then when drawn on top
...because people can actually see it on you.
Even when your eyes are open.

Half Moon

OK so yes, this could be better blended.

However, I think the shape of the shadow makes her eyes look very pretty. It emphasizes the roundness, instead of making the eyes look really slanty and small.
The key to this look is the way the curve of eyeshadow is extended past the corner of the eyes, instead of staying neatly within in. It makes the eye look much larger and rounder over all.

Soft Smoky Grey

Smoky eyes done with simple gradiation, and straight up to brows.

I like how soft and sweet this manages to look. If you use a soft enough grey,

this can definitely be worn during the day...and I really love my daytime

smoky eye looks. Plus, see how pretty it looks from far away! A lot of Asian

makeup looks good up close but wierd from far away....or it looks fantastic

from a distance and makes you run screaming in terror up close. This is a great

compromise. The excellent blending of colors really makes the difference.

Soft Smoky Bronze

Soft fawn shadow,blended rectangularly over eyelids.

OK, I really love Hye Park. Du Juan is absolutely gorgeous, but the girl
is a little too beautiful for me to draw much inspiration from.
She probably looks good after driving for 20 hours, with no shower in days,
and extreme humidity.
Hye, on the other hand, probably doesn't.
And THANK GOD for that!
She is beautiful but normal enough for girls to relate to.
And, she actually has the crease-less eyes that most Asian girls complain about.
All the makeup advice for Asian girls out there
(even in the books about makeup for Asian girls)
is always, always shown on girls with creases...
so I gently disregard it.

Sorry, ma'am, but that REALLY doesn't work for me.

Smoky Eye with Gold

.

The touch of gold in the center makes this one pop.

Au Natural

Nothing looks as good as white liner and pink cheeks from up close!

Brows: Hye Park

...The key to being a good spy is all in the eyebrows?

Fall Makeup: Purple

I guess the second photo is my warning: don't take this look too literally.

But notice how the purple shadow on top is balanced with black on bottom.

Runway to Reality

As much as I like the runway for inspiration,
I always have to remember to catch myself:
it's meant to be seen from far, FAR away.

Fall Makeup: Gold Shadow

This would look best on the fair-skinned girls.
Both use gold and grey, but the color placement is reversed.

Fall Makeup: Yellow Shadow

Brows: Du Juan

Conclusion: Screw fancy eyeshadow tricks, we should all play around
with our eyebrows more!
Asian make up advice focuses so much on eye shadow
...but you should really be milking the fact that
you have sparse eyebrows.