The Classic bridal beauty look is for the Bride who loves Old Hollywood glamour…and who of course, wants to say “I do” with a good red lip!  Here’s how to get the look:

i).  a good red lipstick
The lips are clearly the focal point of this bridal beauty look.  There are soooo many good reds out there, but how do you choose the one that’s right for you?  Generally, a blue-based red looks great on cool-toned beauties, and also suits a wider range of skin tones as it makes teeth look whiter and brightens the skin, i.e. MAC Ruby Woo.  An orange-based red looks great on those with warm undertones, i.e. NARS Jungle Red.  For deeper skin tones, brown-based reds or cranberry reds look stunning.  If you’re set on wearing red lips for your wedding day, the key is to experiment with different red lipsticks to find the right shade, tone and texture for you.

Speaking of texture, now that you’ve figured out the colour, what about finish?  I prefer a satin or creme texture, as it’s less drying to the lips and easier for a bride to touch up on her own later.  If you want just a hint of red, try a red in gloss, sheer or stain.  For the most modern take on this classic look, skip the gloss and stick to a matte or semi-matte finish for the lips.  You can work with the red lipstick you already have and add an instant matte finish to it by dusting a light layer of translucent powder over the lips (See this post here for more how-to).

You’ll know you’ve found the right red when you’re comfortable and confident wearing it.  (Otherwise, one of the other Bridal Beauty looks may be for you!).

ii).  a matching red lipliner
Red lips can get messy fast; keep your colour in check by using a matching lipliner.  A lipliner is a must, especially if you plan to draw outside of your natural lipline.  Use the liner to also fill the rest of your lips and it doubles as a base for your lipstick, making it last longer and helping to prevent feathering around the lips (a must for those photo close-ups!)

c.  understated eyes
It’s a general rule of thumb and really dependent on the person, but to keep this look bridal and ‘fresh’, balance out a red lip look by keeping your eye make-up to a minimum so the lips and the eyes aren’t competing with each other for attention.  You can see the difference in Rihanna’s two looks below, with her lighter eye + red lip combo in the left photo versus her smoky eye + red lip combo on the right:

It’s worth noting that a dramatic eye and red lip combo will look less intense on women with deeper skin tones.  If you’re a bride with a wedding dress that is colourful/cultural (i.e. Asian bridal wear), the double drama make-up combo will also appear less intense (versus when wearing a white gown).

Aneta’s look below is also more dramatic eyes + red lips:

Overall, the look you decide on is really dependent on the statement you want to make.  I love both looks equally, but I’m a make-up artist so I love being able to do both natural and  dramatic looks! ;)

For a minimal eye make-up look (like artistrhi bride Samantha below), accentuate the eyes with a thin line of liquid liner, and flick the ends for a slight cat-eye.  I love Stila’s Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Liner because it lives up to its name and does just that.  And on a day like you’re wedding day, waterproof and long-lasting = one less thing to worry about and that’s tops in my books!  If you’re new to liquid liner, fear not!  It’s not as daunting as may seem.  Use your pencil eyeliner first and draw a thin line along the top lashline, and then simply trace over it with your liquid liner for a pro-quality like finish.

I know we’re talking minimal eye make-up here, but don’t forget the brows!  Never forget the brows.  Good brows are an essential for any professional and polished bridal make-up look…and when done right, they’re another key component of that make-up that you can’t see that I’m such a huge fan of.

Fill in your brows where necessary using Maybelline’s Define-A-Brow Brow Pencil, a twist-up pencil that is super user-friendly.  The tiny nib of Define-A-Brow gives you more control, so you don’t draw on brows that are too strong (i.e. the look here is defined, not drag).  Use a light-hand to draw feathery strokes in the direction of brow hair growth and say hello to well-defined arches!

d.  bronzer is your friend
Red lips (or any saturated, high voltage colour!) tend to draw the ‘colour’ out of your face, making you look and feel paler than usual.  To balance this out, add some bronzer, blending well and concentrating on the cheekbones and temples.  Bronzer can double as a contour – just stay away from anything with too much shimmer.  NARS Laguna, a beautiful true bronze shade with a hint of gold shimmer, is the perfect option to warm up your skin.

So that’s literally quite a mouthful about how to get the red lip Classic bridal beauty look!  Now tell me, will you be saying yes to this look? :)

The Romantic bridal look is all about the make-up that you can’t see.
This is one of those make-up looks that takes a little more work than appears…the highly coveted ‘natural’ look is usually never that natural – it takes several products, plenty of blending and work!

When brides request this look, I focus on perfecting skin with the usual routine of moisturizer, primer, foundation and concealer.  (I won’t get into detail on that in these posts, because goodness knows I can spend forever talking about beauty-related info!!  Did I even mention contouring and highlighting?  See I could go on and on!  All that stuff is on the blog somewhere).

Anyway, I digress.  Back to our romantic bridal beauty – these tips will help you nail the look with ease:

1.  using eyeshadow primer
Marcelle has a really impressive set of long-lasting cream eyeshadows.  Their Velvety Eyeshadow + Primer cream eyeshadows are crease-proof and come in different shades to add a hint of colour to the eyes.  Wear it alone, or layer your shadows over top to extend the lifetime of your eye make-up application.  I love the slight shimmer and brightening effect of the colour Primer Rose (and have actually been using this on a daily basis).  The subtle shimmer effect adds dimension to the eyes, which is great for enhancing the lids in the 2D-flatness of photos.  Just don’t overdo the shimmer/glitter.  Please. Just.  Don’t.
Side note:  Marcelle products are available at your drugstore.  I know that’s always a bonus to brides that are trying to manage their bridal budgets!
Double Bonus:  These eyeshadows are long-wearing and will take you well into the night of your Big Day, and yes even through tears, sweat + oily lids.  Heck yes!

2.  tightlining
Adding eyeliner to the inner rims (the waterlines) of the eyes defines the eyes and also makes lashes look fuller…and it does all that without looking like a visible drawn line of eyeliner.  Use Laura Mercier’s Tightline Cake Eye Liner and Tightline Activator together to make the cake liner water resistant (and last against the tears that are characteristic of a wedding day!).

I know applying eyeliner to the inner rims of the eyes can be intimidating, but Laura Mercier’s Flat Eyeliner brush makes the process easy.  Honestly.  Using the brush, start at the outer corner of the eye and just press the cake liner + activator combo into the waterline, take a blinking break, and then move your brush inward towards the nose and press again.  Repeat until you reach the inner corner and do the same on the other eye.  The key here is that you don’t have to do one continuous line – think of it as a dotting method.  Your eyes will thank you (especially for the blinking breaks!).

3.  neutral tones
NARS Blush in Douceur is a neutral dirty pink that looks more like a soft contour, than pink.  I love that it adds definition to the cheeks without giving too much obvious colour.  MAC’s Blush in Cubic (not pictured above) has a similar effect.
For lips, it depends on the natural pigment of your own lips, but pretty pink shades like Hue and Angel by MAC work well for the soft Romantic look.  If these turn out too light for a bride’s liking, I usually add a peachy pink gloss atop to warm up and also deepen the shade (try MAC’s Cremesheen Glass in Richer, Lusher or Laura Mercier’s Lip Glace in Bellini).

Sooo….did you say “yes” to this look?

CREDITS:
Photo of Roda byTherese De Jesus (www.artiese.ca)

It’s well into that time of the year…wedding season! :) As you’re going through the motions of planning, here are some make-up options (celeb inspired and real-people wearable!) to consider as you narrow in on your Big Day look:

Choose a Romantic look if you’re a natural beauty (a.k.a make-up minimalist day-to-day). A Romantic look is best for the bride who really wants to ‘look like herself’, with flawless skin and barely there make-up.
Celeb Inspiration: Fresh colours like pinks and peaches highlight Jessica Biel’s natural beauty, without looking overdone.

Opt for Classic if you’re drawn to old screen sirens and if shows like Mad Men are at the top of your must-watch list. A classic red lip look is usually best for ladies that already wear bolder colours on the lips (in other words, the wedding day is not necessarily the best time to try something new and ‘too’ outside of your comfort zone!).
Celeb Inspiration: Rihanna is one of those celebs that I consider a colour chameleon, but I especially love the timeless look of red lips on her. Red lips suit a vintage-themed bride well.

If you’re after a bridal look that’s kicked up a notch but not too intense, then a Sultry look is all you. Emphasis here is on the eyes with several shades of neutral toned eyeshadows blended for a subtle smoky effect.
Celeb Inspiration: Kiera Knightley’s smoky eyes are more subtle than dramatic by using shades of taupe, espresso and grey rather than basic black, which can be more harsh.

Finally, if being a superstar bride is your wedding vision, then a Glam look will have you red-carpet / aisle-ready! Opt for this look if you’re ok with intense make-up (I fit into this heavy-handed category), and likely if you’re already used to wearing a significant amount of make-up on a daily basis.  (Again, the wedding day isn’t always the best day to try something totally new!).
Celeb Inspiration: Jennifer Lopez (another beauty chameleon!) and her überglam smoky eyes. Similar to the previous look, the eyes are the focus here again, but it’s no holding back on the glam factor – with plenty of black eyeshadow (well-blended of course), layers of mascara and false lashes. Pair bold eyes with a neutral pink beige lip to keep the intensity focused on the eyes.

Whatever bridal style you choose, be sure to test-run it first.  Arrange to do a trial with your make-up artist…or if you’re pulling a Kate Middleton and doing your own make-up, do a couple of practice runs and take photos so that you can evaluate the final look. I always suggest to my brides to co-ordinate their bridal trial make-up with something like their engagement shoot, so they can see how the make-up looks on-camera and through the lens (and editing style) of their wedding photographer. With that, you can gauge whether to up or step down the intensity for the Big Day before you commit to the look.  After all, next to matrimony, your make-up look and the photos you’ll have to remember the day are a serious commitment, right?!

Stay tuned for more tips + product recommendations on how to get these bridal beauty looks… :)

Exploring our dark sides (and finally updating my portfolio!)…with Sam Assam and Quinn at Peggi Lepage models.
One of my fave images from the shoot isn’t necessarily the best shot for showing the make-up…go figure!   But I love this one…
See the images in full-res at rhiaamio.com
Make-up + Hair: Rhia Amio (http://www.rhiaamio.com)
Photography: Sam Assam (http://samassam.blogspot.ca/)

This sleek vid sums up the beauty + fashion fun that is Toronto Fashion Week with Maybelline! Until next season!

World MasterCard Fashion Week- Day 2, Toronto. from Patrick Biller on Vimeo.
Special thanks to Patrick Biller for the link (and facetime!). :)

Check out this ET Canada video profiling the gorgeous + inspiring ladies of The Coveteur.  The profile also gives you a glimpse into the fun world of Toronto Fashion Week with Maybelline Canada (and I make an appearance doing what I love in about 1:40 in the video!).

The Coveteur is an amazing success story because of Stephanie’s + Erin’s vision, plus keen eye for style + design. I always love seeing Canadians making it big, doing it big!  …and The Coveteur definitely is it.

Have you added The Coveteur blog to your favourites yet?!

Fashion Week starts today and I’m so pumped to be working with the Maybelline team again bringing beauty touch-ups to the fashion masses!  Here are my fave Maybelline beauty picks for surviving the week’s jam-packed schedule.

1.  Define-A-Brow Eyebrow Pencil
Good brows are like that amazing pair of shoes that go with everything…in other words, a must-have!  Luckily, the days of over-tweezed, pencil-thin brows are long behind us.  But if you’re like me and your over-worked brows do need a little bit of TLC – don’t worry – getting good brows is super easy with this user-friendly brow pencil!  The tiny nib of Define-A-Brow allows you to easily draw on fine strokes to mimic eyebrow hairs, while never distributing too much product. Bonus:  no sharpener needed, Define-A-Brow is self-sharpening so just roll it up for more.

2.  Eyestudio Master Precise Liner
Fine lines are easy to achieve with this amazing Master Precise Liner – the 0.04 mm tip is the ultimate in liquid liner precision.  I’m a liquid liner girl all the way mainly because of its uber-lasting ability – I literally don’t have to worry about it all day until I have to take it off at night!  Any make-up product that means one less thing to touch up throughout the day always wins points in my beauty book!

3.  VolumExpress  Rocket Mascara
With VolumExpress Rocket Mascara, only a couple of coats are needed for a serious blast-off towards volume.  Even the tiniest of lash hairs get maximum volume treatment with the rubber micro bristles of the brush.  Love, love. Coat, coat.

4.  Instant Age Rewind Concealer
The two C’s:  Concealer along with coffee is a definite daily morning routine during Fashion Week.  Fortunately with Instant Age Rewind Concealer, no one will know how much sleep you (and I) might be lacking.  For my unruly dark circles (…which is a combo of genetics, probably too much caffeine and a schedule that lacks in sleep), I like to first apply Brightener (60) for a highlighting effect that counteracts the underlying blue tones of my circles.  I top that off with Medium (30), a shade lighter than my skin tone, to blend it all in….and nobody’s the wiser!

5.  Baby Lips
Not only is Baby Lips a moisturizing lip balm, it can act as a highlighter and a brow-keeper – talk about multi-tasking! Grace Lee, make-up master and Key Make-up Artist for Maybelline, has been known to mix clear Baby Lips (Quenched) with a bit of white eyeshadow to create a dewy highlighting effect that looks glowy on the runway. Clear baby lips also works to keep unruly brows in check (for you lucky ones that have full brows!!).

6.  Color Whisper
As much as I love bright lips, matte lips, dark lips…and as much as those are all the trend right now – these all scream high-maintenance to me. I much rather prefer comfortable colour on my larger lips…and that way I don’t have to worry about it smearing or getting on to my teeth, etc. Enter Color Whisper – a gel-based lip colour that’s super-soft and moisturizing on the lips. The colour is more sheer, but interacts beautifully with your own lip tone. I love it’s kissable-like texture – not too goopy, just perfect not-too-made-up lips. With twenty shades to choose from, there’s definitely bound to be one colour that catches your eye…or if you’re like me, there’s in fact three that have caught mine:  Mocha Muse, Pin Up Peach and Lust for Blush. ;)

There’s definitely many, many more Maybelline loves that I can mention here, but really I’d run out of room (and out of your attention) before I got through all of them…AND I should probably get some sleep in anticipation of this week.  Here’s a thought:  why not come experience the products in person with a touch-up?!  I’ll be there with…with coffee + concealer in tow!

For more details on Fashion Week, visit the official site World Mastercard Fashion Week or follow WMC on Twitter: @WMCFashionWeek

Colourful eyes can be tricky to pull off for everyday, but what better way to incorporate Pantone’s Colour of the Year – Emerald – than to rock it for some St. Patty’s Day festivities this weekend?  Here’s the how-to:

1.  First, prep the lids with a green-coloured cream eyeshadow, like Maybelline’s Colour Tattoo in Edgy Emerald ($9 CAD).  Applying a cream eyeshadow in a matching colour to your eyeshadow provides opaque intensity and increases the staying power of your eyeshadow.

2.  Line the eyes, and the inner top and inner bottom lash lines with a smudgy black liner.  A black liner anchors this colourful look and gives depth, while making eyelashes look fuller and eye whites look brighter.  With its easy-to-blend consistency, L’oreal’s Extra Intense Liquid Pencil ($10 CAD) provides the intensity of a gel liner, but easily blends for a quick smoky eye.

3.  Pat a vivid green eyeshadow on the lids and blend the outer edges with a fluff brush so that there’s no harsh line of where the colour stops and starts.  Inglot’s #475 eyeshadow is a gorgeous true green with Pot of Gold flecks that will flatter most skin tones.

4.  Use a moss green eyeliner, like NARS Kyoto ($25 CAD), to accent below the eyes.  Rather than the usual basic black, a touch of dark green here adds interest to your colourful eye.

Will you be going green this weekend?  :)

Rose Leslie – Ygritte of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Make-up/Hair by Rhia Amio. Photo courtesy of thegate.ca

Rose Leslie of HBO’s Game of Thrones was in Toronto last week to promote the highly anticipated season three of the hit show along with the launch of an international GoT exhibition (making its first stop in our great city!).

I had the absolute pleasure of working with Rose doing her make-up/hair as she worked the press circuit. Rose had two fully stacked days of media interviews, which I think is really a testament to how well-received and adored Game of Thrones is.  Rose herself said she knew the show was huge, but didn’t realize the scope of how huge it was until she started doing all the international press interviews and seeing the response from media and fans across the globe.  Rose is as endearing in person as she is in all the interviews…and even when our call time for make-up/hair was 5:30am!  I also picked up new terms like ‘numpty’ and ‘brill’ – English slang for ‘idiot’ and ‘brilliant/cool’.  I could honestly listen to her accent all day!

I am a huge fan of the show to say the least (the season premiere on March 31st can’t come soon enough!), so I was trying not to geek out half the time that I was working with her.  She was gracious and obliged my geek-out request for a photo…the second photo pretty much sums up my couple of days with her…a wonderful blur – filled with good times and laughs!!  I love what I do.

The lovely Rose Leslie and I

This pretty much sums up the two days of make-up/hair awesomeness with Rose…

Here’s more from Rose’s two days in Toronto:

Rose doing a radio interview at Kiss 92.5 Toronto Radio

Gorgeous Rose – such a media darling!

Rose Leslie as Ygritte on HBO’s Game of Thrones. Winter is coming(!)

Winter is coming! Are you as excited about the season premiere of Game of Thrones as I am?!

More with Game of Thrones (and more failed attempts at trying not to geek out):
Make-up + Hair for Michelle Fairley – Catelyn Stark of Game of Thrones
Grooming for Kit Harington – Jon Snow of Game of Thrones

I love this technique – it probably stems from my childhood obsession with first colouring using pencil crayons, and then going over that with matching markers for a more vivid and shiny effect.  To this day, I love mixing textures…and when it comes to eye make-up, I’m always more a fan of a ‘painterly‘ effect on the lids.  Rather than just straight up eyeshadow, I like to apply layers of cream AND powder eyeshadow to dress up the eyes. Yes, that means a couple of added steps, but the results – brilliant pay-off and increased longevity – are totally worth it.

For an ultra intense and longer-lasting smoky eye, use a matching cream shadow beneath your powder eyeshadow – even Pat McGrath, Make-up Master of the Universe (yes, I love her!), tweets so!  The layering effect makes the colour of your shadow more vivid, stays true in harsh lighting and appears more intense on-camera (rather than regular powder shadow alone) .  If you’re up for the intensity, here’s how to get the look:1.  First, apply your cream eyeshadow atop the eyelid, either using your ring finger or a cream shadow brush (Bobbi Brown’s Cream Shadow brush, $36 CAD, pictured above).  Apply enough so that you can see the cream shadow – use a patting motion to easily build up this layer of creamy colour.

The Look for Less:  Cream eyeshadows are available at numerous pricepoints so you don’t have to break the bank to get this designer-approved look.  Splurge with tried and tested Make-up Forever Aqua Creams, $26 CAD, or at nearly one-third the cost Cover Girl’s Smoky Shadow Blast, at $9 CAD is a real deal with it’s double-ended doses of colour.    

2.  Next, with your powder eyeshadow (or eyeshadow pigment like MAC Pigment, $25 CAD, pictured above), use a flat eyeshadow brush to layer it atop the cream eyeshadow layer.

Note:  If you are using pigment – be careful as it can get messy fast.  With pigment, apply using a brush and start with small amounts – you need less product to produce a concentrated effect.  When using pressed shadows, I often like using just my fingers rather than a brush to apply.  The lesson:  Be your own artist and use what tools you prefer – whatever you opt for, the key is to blend!

3.  Soften the edges of colour with a clean fluff brush so that there are no harsh lines of where the colour application starts and stops.  Painterly, right?

Rhia’s tip:  I usually do my eye make-up and eyebrows first – since I tend to focus most of my efforts (and products!) on these areas of the face.  With a smoky eye, I find it best to do the rest of your make-up AFTER your eyeshadow application, particularly face make-up.  That way you can easily erase any little bits of eyeshadow that have strayed without having to redo your foundation and concealer. How’s that for some beauty insider information?!

Proceed with your usual make-up routine (and don’t neglect under your eyes and defining your brows!).  Good eye make-up doesn’t stop just at a well-blended eyeshadow application.

The Finished Look:  Runway-ready opaque smoky eyes that are show-stopping.

Eye definitely spy many double-takes coming your way. ;)