Hello Gorgeous Ones!
Danielle here with a hot new beauty bomb.

Ms. Kelly was recently photographed by Atlanta’s own Derek Blanks (makeup by Saisha Beecham) and Miss Thang is giving face, lips, eyebrows, EVERYTHING, and dare I say she’s doing Tyra proud and is smizing with her eyes? Hot! Do yourselves a favor and click on that pic twice to enlarge and get into Kelly’s fierceness.

Though the mastery of photoshop helped Kelly achieve her flawless face, it’s still a very doable look you can copy at home. Check it out:

1. As I always say, great makeup starts with great skin. Make sure yours is properly cleansed, toned, and moisturized according to your skin type. If you need a little extra help on getting a youthful glow, try LUSH Angels on Bare Skin Cleanser, a gentle exfoliator that helps rid the skin of dead skin cells to reveal gorgeous skin underneath. It does a lot more for the skin that what its appearance might suggest.

2. Next, apply a stick foundation like Becca Stick Foundation on areas where you need it and blend carefully. Stick foundations allow a bit more coverage and are super easy to apply. I love Becca’s line because it was created to give skin that airbrushed “magazine” look providing full coverage but without looking cakey. It also comes in over 25 shades to match anyone from Nicole Kidman to Alek Wek. For the diva on a budget, try Iman Second to None Stick Foundation.

Set your foundation with a loose finishing powder like Becca Fine Loose Finishing Powder. Setting foundation with powder helps the foundation adhere to your skin and Becca’s Fine Loose Finishing Powder will do just that with the added benefit of having your skin look like skin.

3. Create the smoky eye. The most simple way to create a smoky eye is to line your eyes with a black eyeliner pencil and then smudge the line upwards with either a eyeshadow brush like MAC#214, a Q-tip, or the tip of a makeup sponge. Follow with two to three coats of mascara.

To get a bit fancy with it, you’ll need to layer your products for the boldest, longest-lasting smoky eye. Start out by applying an eyeshadow base like MAC Paint all over the eyes. Next apply a matte eyeshadow closest to your skin tone all over the eye. After that layer a shimmery eyeshadow color similar to the matte one just on the lid and on the brow bone. Then take your main smoky color and with a thick eyeshadow brush like MAC#217 apply it in a V shape to the outer corners of the eye and in the crease. Be sure to blend the shadow carefully so that there are no harsh lines where the different colors meet. Then line eyes with black eyeliner. Last, curl lashes and apply a lash primer (if needed) then apply two to three coats of mascara. As with any eye look, if your eyes are small or close-set, do not line all the way into the inner corners with a dark liner or shadow. Doing so will make your eyes appear even smaller and more close-set. Instead line the inner corners with a pale gold or silver liner or shadow.

There are tons of methods of achieving a smoky eye, so you can use my tips above or experiment to find a look you love.

4. Lightly dust a rose colored blush like NARS Blush in Dolce Vita on your cheekbones. We spoke about the importance of blush in this post.

5. To get Kelly’s lip look (which looks great on virtually all skin tones), first line your lips with a dark burgundy lip liner like MAC Lip Pencil in Nightmoth. Now, we’re not talking obvious lip liner from the 90s, simply trace around your natural lip line and fill in your lips with the pencil (like how you would color as a kid). The idea is to leave a base of color that will give you Kelly’s vampy lip look and will also help your lip color last longer. Then apply a sheer burgundy gloss like MAC Lustreglass in Angel Wing (try Black Radiance Radiant Lip Gloss in Blackberry Ice if you’re a diva on a budget).

6. Finish with a few spritzes of MAC Fix+ Spray to set your makeup and add radiance (go ahead and roll that R in radiance like the late great Eartha Kitt).

And you’re done!

~Danielle