Makeup Tutorial: Girls’ Night Out

An unforgettable, amazing night with your girls by your side calls for unforgettable and amazing makeup to match the occasion. I’ve got just the recipe written out for you guys to have the perfect makeup for your girls’ night out, AND it’s not going to cost you a fortune. It can’t get better than that, am I right?

To start off any makeup look, you always want to start with a blank canvas. Wash off any extra makeup you still have on from the day. Now, I always apply concealer and foundation just because I feel that it evens out my skin tone and makes for a smooth surface to work with. I’ve read varying websites on which to apply first, and honestly, it seems to be more of a preference choice. If you apply foundation first, you’ll notice that you don’t need as much concealer. If you apply concealer first, you might end up wiping it all off when you apply your foundation IF you don’t give it time to set. I’ve never had any issues applying concealer before foundation, but that’s just me.

Following that comes the contouring. I always like starting with a little bit of bronzer on the sides of my nose, temple, under the jawbone, and right below the cheekbone. You know where your cheeks come in when you pucker your face up like a fish? Yeah, right there! That’s where you want to apply the bronzer; it’ll help add shape and depth to your face. After that, I apply highlighter ON my jawline, the tops of my cheekbones and under eyes, right above and below the eyebrows, on the forehead, and right down the middle of your face, so along the nose, cupid’s bow, and chin. I know it sounds like a lot when it’s listed out in text, but if you look up “contour guide”, you’ll find tons of pictures that can help show you in a visual format.

To finish off the face, add a little blush right on the apple of your cheeks, starting one finger-width away from your nose and going along your cheeks right back to your hairline. I personally don’t like my contouring to be too shimmery or prominent, but I know of friends that love contouring and make the bronzer much darker, or the lines more stark. Oh, I almost forgot! Never forget to blend all the lines of your makeup together, that can make the difference between a pro and a beginner.

Following that, I always define the eyebrows next after already highlighting above and below them. I like to add a bit of a ‘point’ near the ends, but everyone’s eyebrows are different, so choose a color and shape that works for you.

Now, this is where it gets REALLY fun; the eyes. If I’m running late, eye shadow is usually the makeup I first leave out of my routine, but ONLY because I have so much fun with it and am too much of a perfectionist. Now, you’ll learn that as a not-even-sixteen year old, I don’t have very much money which means I have LOTS of cheap makeup. It may not look as professional as the celebrities you see in magazines or the YouTube stars with over a million Instagram followers, but I’d say that it can still get the job done no problem.

For this look, I went for a gray scale color scheme to match my outfit. I started with a white shimmer in the corner of my eyes to make them look a little wider and brighter. You’ll see that some of the eye shadow has fallen down below my eyes; that can be avoided by either doing the eye makeup before face makeup, or gently brushing it away with a clean makeup brush. However, a little eye shadow right underneath the eyes can sometimes make the eye makeup look even more complete and full. Keep in mind, a lot of it is preference, don’t ever forget that!

Next, I used a light gray eye shadow next to the white shimmer. I gradually added darker and darker shades of gray as I work out from the inner eye, finishing off with an almost black shimmer on my outer eyelid. Now, I love this trick I found a few years ago and now it’s all I use. Grab an old plastic or paper card, I suggest business cards or thick paper coupons that you really won’t use in the future. Line up the edge of the card with the corner of your outer eye and the tip of your eyebrow (maybe a little higher up on your brow if they extend far down). Apply the eye shadow on the outer eye, brushing it along the edge of the card; this makes a well-defined line and gives you an idea for where your eyeliner should go.

After the eye shadow, I swept a thin line of black liquid eyeliner along my eyelid and lash line, going from the inside out. I then did the same with my waterline, this time extending the eyeliner out from the eye. Following that step, connect the eyeliner to your upper lid eyeliner to complete the cat eye look. Apply some voluminous and lengthening mascara, and voila! Your eyes are finished.

NOTE: The last eye picture was taken AFTER my night out when I got back, and I’ll admit, I was surprised at how well my eye shadow stayed on!

If you choose to go with the lipstick route, pick a color that really pops against your gray scale eye shadow. I chose to keep it a bit more casual with clear lip gloss, giving me just the shimmer I need to feel glamorous with my girls! Don’t forget to set all your makeup with either a setting spray or setting powder so it doesn’t start washing off halfway through the night!

If you have any questions on where I buy my makeup, how much it costs, or the tools I use to apply it, don’t hesitate to comment below, I’d love to hear from you guys! I hope you have a fun time with your girls, and I KNOW you’ll look fabulous doing it. Have an amazing night!

Kisses,

Kay