Makeup made easy with six simple tips from a great make-up artist
Who better to ask?!
There are make-up artists, and then there’s Val Garland. You may not know him by name, but you will know his work; Mario Testino, Kate Moss, Lady Gaga, Alexander McQueen, countless fashion weeks. You name it, he’s done it. There are very few faces in the fashion and film industry that have not been painted by this make-up guru.
She is also L’Oréal Paris’ make-up director – helping to develop products, as well as her boundary-pushing artistry. She says her aim when designing beauty images is to create something.I would like to hang it on my wall.’
In celebration of the release of his book. certified (which is out now and would make a great Christmas gift for fashion lovers), we sat down with her and asked her to share some of her knowledge with us.
Here are her tricks that make makeup so easy:
The Feline Flick
‘Always check your liner down in the mirror. For complete newbies, you want to start with your jerky. The best way to sort out your look is to take a pencil, or a business card or some tape, and go from the corner of your nose to the corner of your eye, and that will give you a nice diagonal. Draw a small tick along that line. I like to use a felt tip pen to do my eyeliner – it’s pretty fool proof. Then, draw another line from the top of the tick to the center of the eye. Fill in that negative space next. Then draw a thin line from the inner eye to meet the center. Then the secret is to match the other eye with the same angle. Each person can have one eye great, and one not so great. So always look at your not-so-big vision first.’
highlighter
‘If you want that high-shine glow, you want a powder highlighter that’s not going to budge. If you want something more subtle instead, the L’Oréal Paris Glow Drops are great. You take a small drop of it and apply it to the high points of your face using a fluffy brush. If you’re really afraid of highlighter and looking too shiny, once you’ve done your base, take a little moisturizer and tap it in with your fingers.’
L’Oreal Paris Mon Amour Liquid Highlighting Drops, £6.95 Great look
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concealer
‘When you have big bags under your eyes, you want to draw attention away from them. Many people make a mistake by choosing a lighter shade of concealer, hoping that it will hide the bags. But always it shows the area only gray. So the secret to hiding the good under eye area is to use a peachy concealer, because the eye bags are greenish-blue so you want to bring back the red a bit. Use it first, and then place your base on top. Concealer placement is also very important. Instead of applying concealer right next to your lash line, you should apply it further below the socket line. You’re using concealer to reflect light into the eyes.’
lipstick
‘Applying lipstick is very easy. I think lipsticks today are so amazing that you can go straight from the bullet. You can soften the look by going over it with your fingers, so there’s no harsh line. What I sometimes do with models is just put lipstick on the bottom lip, and then ask them to press their lips together, and then you’re halfway there.’
eyeshadow
‘It totally depends on what kind of effect you want to achieve, but I think if you’re unsure of how to apply eyeshadow the best way is with a soft eyeliner or a creamy one. Using an eyeshadow pencil and buffing it out. This way you have easier buffing of the cream, and then it will set and not move. And you’re done.’
the rain
‘Everyone should curl their eyelashes. Everyone.’
