Beauty Thought Leader: Elise Marquam-Jahns
What first comes to mind when you think of spring?
If you live in a colder climate you know the wonderful sound of icicles crashing from gutters to the ground below or the first time you can drive with your car window rolled down. And those few extra hours of daylight often bring the first budding blossoms, warmer breezes, signs of new life and the wonderful sounds of birds singing their spring songs.
Spring Makeup Refresh:
The start of a new season usually gets us thinking of a revamp or just trying something new—whether in our home décor, our clothes, our makeup or perhaps all three. Spring is the perfect time to give our makeup routine a “refresh,” by brightening things up and embracing a dose of freshness with spring colors. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do in today’s video using some of my favorite spring makeup drugstore favorites.
Before filming the video above I did my skin prep and filled in my eyebrows, so let’s first focus on our eyes. Oh my gosh, there are so many wonderful eyeshadow palettes to choose from. Of course neutral colors are appropriate all year round and Wet and Wild and Colourpop make some great neutral palettes which are excellent, but since spring is the perfect time to brighten things up a bit—and perhaps also tiptoe out of our comfort zone–let’s take a look at some other color options.
The Colourpop Palettes:
Three of the four palettes I’m going to share with you are from Colourpop and these first two are absolute classics in their collection: the “It’s My Pleasure” palette and the “Lilac You a Lot” eyeshadow palette. If you have green or hazel eyes, these pink, purple and plum shades can be especially beautiful since they’re complementary colors on the color wheel to your eye color and if you use complementary eyeshadow colors on your eyes, they’ll also showcase your eyes even more beautifully because they’ll make your eye color really pop.
The third Colourpop eyeshadow palette I want to share with you is a more recent palette called “In The Springs.” If you have blue eyes, warm shades of beiges, browns and terra cotta shades with a hint of orange can be stunning on you. So the shade “Sizzlin” could be a beautiful transition crease eyeshadow color and mixing a dab of the brown color “Chino” with “Palms Away” would be a great way to deepen up the outer crease and lid. The deep blue “Hole in One” shade can be gorgeous as an eyeliner or outer corner accent on brown eyes.
“How can you not think spring when you think of this beautiful coastal town on the French Riviera?”
The Spring Makeup Winner:
But today I’m going to go with the “Summer in St. Tropez” palette from Bh Cosmetics. How can you not think spring when you think of this beautiful coastal town on the French Riviera in southeastern France? This area was long popular with artists, but in the 1960s it began attracting the international “jet set” and remains known for its beaches and nightlife.
I’m going to start by combining a bit of beige and pink for my crease color and then add a touch of blue. I’ll use the dark blue eyeshadow for my eyeliner and then curl my lashes and apply mascara. I’ll apply the same mix of beige and pink that I used earlier under the bottom eyelashes– along with just a small amount of the dark blue on the far outer bottom lash line area.
The Foundation Is Key:
For my foundation, I’ll combine Wet and Wild’s Photo Focus Matte Foundation with Elf’s Halo Glow Liquid Filter to give more of a satin rather than a matte finish to my face. I’ll apply Elf’s “Light Peach” hydrating camo concealer as my color corrector under my eyes and dot on Elf’s hydrating camo concealer in “Light Beige” over it. Then I’ll blot over it with my Maybelline loose Banana Powder.
“I have a cool undertone to my skin, the light cool pink blush shade called “Bubbly” works best for me.”
For contouring, I’ll use Flower Beauty’s “Lowlight” Liquid Contour in the shade “Medium” which has a bit of warmth to it.
And I’m going to also use Flower Beauty products for my blush and highlighter. Since I have a cool undertone to my skin, the light cool pink blush shade called “Bubbly” works best for me. But if you have a warm undertone, the Flower Beauty Blush Bomb shades “Nectar” and “Melon” would be gorgeous on you. And if you have a neutral undertone, “Nectar” would be a great choice or you could mix together a little “Bubbly” with “Nectar” since your undertone can handle the lighter versions of both cool and warm shades. And by the way, if you’re not sure of the undertone of your skin, be sure to check out this video which will help you discover what the undertone of your skin is.
The liquid highlighter color I’m using from Flower Beauty is “Spotlight” which is a white gold, but if you have a neutral or warm undertone the rose gold shade “Gleam” would be gorgeous. Or, if you definitely have a warm undertone the shade “Gilded Bronze” would be lovely.
To deal with my slightly oily T-zone, I’ll use Rimmel’s Stay Matte Powder in “Creamy Natural.”
The Lips Have It:
“Spring is a wonderful time to step out of our comfort zone and experiment “
Next, onto lips. Earlier I applied a little concealer around the edge of my lips, so I’ll next apply Loreal’s Age Perfect lip liner and combine a couple different shades of Wet and Wild’s Silk Finish lipsticks over it: “Light Berry Frost” and “Retro Pink.” For those of you with a neutral or warm undertone, a gorgeous shade in this lipstick would be “Sunset Peach” and “Honolulu Is Calling” is a lovely coral if you have a warm undertone.
And the finishing touch will be my Wet and Wild Color Icon Lipgloss in the shade “Libra.” The shades “Leo” or “Aquarius” would work well for neutral or warm undertones. I also like Sephora’s “Glossed” lipgloss which comes in many different shades. I love the shade “Wild” which is a blue/violet duochrome, but the shades that would look beautiful on warm or neutral undertones are “Yes, Honey”–which is a shimmering light nude–“Chic”– which is a shimmering coral pink–and “Fly” which is a shimmering peach nude.
Spring is a wonderful time to step out of our comfort zone and experiment with some of the beautiful makeup colors that this season brings to mind.
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About the Author:
Elise Marquam-Jahns is a professional, working makeup-artist who is passionate about helping women 45+ get their glow back. In addition to her work as a makeup artist for a major cosmetics line, she founded Boomer and Beyond Beauty. Be sure to check out Elise’s YouTube channel which specifically focuses on makeup tips, techniques, and product reviews for those of us 45+. Don’t forget to subscribe! Elise is also an author and speaker and hosts Normandale Community College’s monthly Learning Well Edge Talk Radio show where she interviews experts in the field of health and wellness. And, if you’d like to receive more inspiration each week, check out my weekly newsletter. To get your copy, just drop me an email at [email protected] to let me know you’d like to receive it.
