Sixth Post: A Glowing Highlight

How-to to Achieve a Bright, Beaming, and Balanced Face

Along with contouring, highlighting has been a very popular trend lately in the beauty community. However, Lauren Conrad has been using this beauty trick for years. She describes highlighting as "this brightens up eyes (I [Conrad] sometimes do this instead of using under-eye concealer) and it makes your cheeks pop" (Conrad 142).Highlighting goes hand in hand with contouring as they create dimension to the face. These two have very similar steps in application.


Since contouring reduces things on your face, highlighting accentuates them. Conrad describes highlighters as: "some highlighters add just a hint of brightness while others bring an appealing shimmer to your face" (Conrad 142). I used the first of the two types of highlighters to add brightness.


First, use the correct tools and product(s). Like when contouring, this step is essential in ensuring the finished product turns out how you want it to. I recommend using two brushes. First I have a smaller one for applying the initial product. This brush is flat and about a medium sized concealer brush. The second brush is any one to blend, I used a more dense fluffy face brush. You could use a makeup sponge as substitute for the second brush. Any concealer or foundation that is around three shades lighter than your natural skin tone will work for this technique.

These are the two brushes that I used in these photos. The concealer I used is from the Viseart concealer palette that is available at Sephora.


Next, apply the product to areas of the face. The most common areas are under the eyes in a triangle like shape, the center of the forehead, down the bridge of the nose, and occasionally the chin and upper lip. In order to balance out the face I always recommend highlighting not just one area, but at least two. This will ensure the highlighting is as "natural" as possible.

Under the left eye has no product and under the right eye has unblended product. The contrast between the highlight shade and my mother's skin tone can be seen in this photo.

This is what the entire face looks like when concealer is initially applied and not blended out. In this case, I used it as both an under-eye concealer as well as a face brightener, as Conrad mentioned she likes to do.


Finally, blend out the concealer with the second brush. Blending out the product well will help it blend into the skin and the rest of the makeup look as best as it can. There's no technique for blending as it's not necessary for the placement of the color to be as precise, like when contouring. Just keeping it in the general area where it was first applied is my general rule.

This is what the highlight looks like all blended in. It looks a bit harsh, but my mother wasn't wearing any eye makeup or blush to balance the look out although she does have contour and eyebrows on. Once all the makeup is applied on the face, the highlight is an almost subtle piece of the look that adds dimension. I always recommend setting the areas highlighted with any type of powder to make sure it doesn't crease or move throughout the day.


Highlighting is one of my favorite techniques that is flattering on pretty much everyone. Do you think highlighting is worth all the hype? Why or why not? Leave a comment and let me know!


Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.

Fifth Post: Camera Ready Contour

How-to Create Enviable Cheekbones

Contouring is all the rage right now in the beauty industry. Lauren Conrad says about contouring: "If you've ever taken an introductory painting class, the same principles apply here. Adding shadows makes things look farther away" (Conrad 142). The concept of contouring is to slim down parts of your face to make it look more defined and structured. Common areas to contour are the cheekbones, forehead, nose, sometimes the chin and jawline. Conrad says, "for subtle contouring, use bronzer; for more staying power, use a foundation that's three shades darker than your usual foundation" (Conrad 142). In these photos I used concealer from a concealer palette as the cream contour instead of foundation for a more dramatic outcome.


1.) Have the right tools.
Using the proper brushes for this technique will make or break your finished look. I recommend using a smaller slightly fluffy brush to initially apply the contour color and then any time of bigger synthetic brush or sponge to blend it in.

These are the brushes that I used. This concealer palette has four shades that I would use to contour various skin tones. I used the darkest one in the far right hand bottom corner on my mother. This palette is available at Sephora and is by the brand Viseart. Any deeper concealer or foundation shade will work.

My mother with no contour on.


2. Apply the color.
Next is the application. Use the smaller of the two brushes and create a line from the middle of the ear starting at the hairline. Have the person suck their cheekbones in and make pursed lips if you can't find the right spot to contour. The correct placement is different on everyone, but is very important to find. My favorite rule of thumb is once you get under the pupil, drag the brush down vertically to create that sucked in cheekbone look. When using a cream contour you want to keep in mind how it's going to blend, so I always create about a two inch section (vertically) of the color. If the product was applied in one skinny line it would be harder to blend out and look "natural."

This is what the product looks like after applying it with the smaller of the two brushes. I applied it on her cheekbones, a little on the nose to balance out the face, and only a small amount on the temples because my mother's forehead is fairly small. For a normal or larger sized forehead, I recommend using more product than I did for her. As you can see in the photo, I used a pretty minimal amount.

It looks harsh when initially applied, but it will blend in seamlessly.


3. Blend!!!
Blending well is the biggest key in making contour look flawless. Although it's a more dramatic makeup technique, you never want to be able to see where the lines stop and start.

Here I am about to start blending the product out with the bigger of the two brushes. No additional product is added to the clean brush. I like to blend side-to-side instead of up and down so the placement of the color doesn't change but it still gets blended. If the contour goes too high or low on the cheekbones, it won't have the best outcome. For the nose, blend up and down again so the areas that have product doesn't change. For the forehead, just make sure the color doesn't migrate too far into the forehead.

This is what the contour looks like blended out. I added a little bit of additional cool-toned bronzer to further carve out the cheekbones and ensure that the contour showed up in the photo. Adding blush to the apples of the cheeks and on top of the contour (which I didn't do in these photos) will make the contour look less harsh on the face.


This is clearly a very dramatic makeup technique that I would only do on special occasions, not on a daily basis. It's fun to do and when done correctly the results are beautiful.




Happy contouring!




What are your thoughts on the whole contouring trend? Comment and let me know!

Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.

Fourth Post: Your Best Brows

Steps for Achieving Polished Brows

In her how-to book, Lauren Conrad says filled in eyebrows "add instant polish, fills in any spare patches, and only takes a few seconds to do" (Conrad 101). I completely agree with her statement as eyebrows complete any look ranging from natural to dramatic. I followed Conrad's two steps and added my own additional one to achieve a natural everyday brow that's still defined, but not overly so. These steps apply to both a brow powder or a brow pencil. I used an eyebrow pencil in these photos.


First, Conrad says to "don't go any darker than your own brow color, since the goal here is not to change the shade but simply to correct any imperfections" (Conrad 101). My mother has black hair and fairly sparse black eyebrows, so I used a very dark brown almost black eyebrow pencil but made sure to use very light pressure on her.

Here is a swatch of the color of the brow pencil against her hair and eyebrows, as well as what my mother's natural eyebrows look like before adding any product to them.


Next, fill in the brows! When using a brow pencil, apply the product in short hair-like strokes to mimic real brow hairs and to be as natural as possible. This is possible to do with a brow powder and brush too. It's very easy to accidentally apply too much product, so working slowly will increase your control over the pencil. "Always follow the direction of natural hair growth. Stand about a foot away from the mirror so you can get some perspective on the whole operation" (Conrad 101). Following the natural hair growth direction helps with making the brows look natural and not drawn on. Being further away from a mirror mainly applies to when doing your own brows, but it is a very useful tip.

Applying the product into the brows following their natural growth.

A comparison between a filled in brow (right) and an untouched brow (left). The right brow is more defined and full.


Lastly, this is my personal step that I always like to do. Brushing through the brows with a spoolie brush (which looks like a mascara wand with no product on it) takes out any gathering of the product in one area and smoothes the brows out one more time. As mentioned before, it's easy to accidentally overdue your brows with both a pencil or powder, so I find this step to be essential.

Brushing through the brows with a spoolie.

The finished eyebrows after doing completing all three steps!!

What's your favorite secret tip for filling in eyebrows? Comment and let me know!

Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.

Third Post: Flawless Concealer

Lauren Conrad swears by using under eye concealer stating: "this offers a big assist to your foundation in completely evening out your skin tone and addressing problem areas" (Conrad 87). For me, concealing the under eyes to hide dark circles is one of the best makeup tips.

Conrad says to "dab on concealer with either your fingertip or a brush" (Conrad 87). I opted for a brush to maximize the coverage and apply as much product as possible.

After setting with powder as instructed, this is the difference between the concealer under one eye (right eye) and no concealer (left eye). Applied correctly, concealer makes a big difference.

After concealing and setting both under eyes this is the result! What are your favorite under eye concealer tips?

Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.

Lauren Conrad's Book of Beauty: The Everyday Girl's Beauty Guide (First Post)

I have selected Lauren Conrad's Book of Beauty for my IRP Quarter 2 project. Reality TV star, author, and fashion expert Lauren Conrad is known for her classic down-to-earth makeup and hair style. Conrad shares favorite tips and looks in this step-by-step beauty guide. Conrad offers her favorite personal tips for makeup, hair, and nails. This interests me as I want to do something in the beauty industry for my future career.

Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.

Second Post: Steps to Perfect Everyday Waves

Steps to Perfect Everyday Waves

Have you been trying to achieve the beautiful effortless waves that every celebrity seems to be wearing lately? Performing these five key steps are the basics for nailing this easy, girl-next-door hair every time. 

The products and tools you use are very important while doing any hair looks. Conrad has an entire section dedicated to these (170). These are the products that I used:

(L-R): Hair clips, blow-drier, Macadamia Nut Healing Oil Treatment (hair oil), 1" Hot Tools curling iron (a curling iron with a  clip is needed for this look-no curling wands), a comb, flexible hold hairspray, and heat protectant.


Hair is freshly clean and blow-dried with heat protectant applied

STEP 1: Always starting with dry, freshly blown out hair will give the best results. Any blow drier will perform this task and properly prepare your hair for the curling process. Spraying a heat protectant on your hair before blow-drying as well as after (before curling) will save your hair from

dryness and breakage later on, especially if you are planning on doing this hair routine everyday.

STEP 2: Section hair into three separate section using hair clips. Separate the majority of hair into a right and left section and then gather the hair at the crown of the head and clip that section separately. This will maximize volume and ensure that hair is out of the way when not being curled. This may seem like an extra step, but it will actually speed up the process by taking out the guess work of finding sections of hair to curl.

STEP 3: Start curling! Using the 1" curling iron, take 1" wide sections of hair and curl hair until about halfway of three-quarters of the way up. Not curling to the root helps the curls look more effortless and undone. Hold the hair on the barrel for five to ten seconds depending on the thickness of your hair and the temperature of the curling iron. (Note: in order to get the windblown looking waves, always curl away from your face as shown in the photo above).

Hair right after being curled

Gently combing curl out to make it appear as more of a wave instead of a tighter curl

STEP 4: After releasing the curl, gently comb it out to create the desired wavy texture. Repeat steps three and four throughout the three sections. Combing your strands out right after they come from the hot barrel ensure that they will set as a wave.

The finished waves

As Lauren Conrad mentions, you should "comb the entire side to find a pattern" (180). The waves should lay in a sort of pattern create a smooth and flawless finish.

STEP 5:  Finish off the look with a shine serum or oil and hairspray locks with a flexible hold hairspray. The shine serum or oil adds life back into the hair and the flexible hold hairspray allows curls to fall a little bit while still maintaining the shape of the wave. A key note from Conrad is: "You want the curls to remain soft, so don't overspray" (180).

The finished look!

Hopefully these steps will help you achieve Lauren's famous everyday hair. Doing this hairstyle will become easier and faster as you practice it more and more. Now you can create effortless waves quickly and on your own!

This is one of my favorite looks in the book. What step changed your hair life and why? 

Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.