Geek Chic - Makeup for Girls with Glasses

Hey Beauties

Two weeks back I got fitted with new frames and ... they're so lush (big cheesy smile) and that's why this post is all about how to do MAKEUP for GIRLS with GLASSES, and be Geek Chic. 

I'm near sighted with a high script and have been wearing spectacles since I was about 2. Growing up I was so horribly self conscious about them, that as soon as I was able to, I switched to contact lenses and its really, only recently that I've allowed myself to 'accept' that its actually cool to wear glasses in public. Hurrah!

Thing is, my near sighted high script means that my eyes look a lot smaller which is eeeeeeeeeek!!!!!!!! a huge NO NO, so I do what I can to minimise the effect. If you're far sighted then it's likely that you have the opposite issue - your eye look bigger.

And that brings us to these tips which I've been obsessing about, and now want to share with you.

EYES
Focus on your eyes. Pretty self explanatory right? But really, it really is all about the eyes. For us myopic girls, the whole exercise is a desperate attempt to make our eyes appear bigger to counterbalance the effect of our high script lenses. 

Anyhoo, here's what I do once I've applied my foundation, and done a bit of highlight and contouring;

Undereye 

 
Invest in a good undereye concealer. It is without equal your most essential makeup purchase, and your best friend when wearing glasses. 

Gently pat on undereye concealer and set with translucent powder. Very important especially in the hot summer months when your concealer's melting off your face within minutes. 

Highlight the area under your eye to brighten your face. I highlight in a triangular shape that extends along the sides of my nose to the edge of my eye.

Eyelid
Keep things simple here and use a shimmery (NOT glittery) eye shadow in natural shades such as nudes, champagne, soft golds or bronze. 

Glittery, bold coloured lids (bright greens, blues, pinks etc.) will compete with your frames and could have you looking like you stepped out of the 70s ... which depending on where you're at, may or may not be a good thing?

Top Lash Line 

Black gel or liquid liner against your top lash line ending in a cat eye does wonders for opening up your eyes, and making them appear bigger and wider. 

Also don't feel like you need to keep your gel liner super super thin. With glasses I tend to double the width of my gel liner. I'm not talking Amy Winehouse wide, but enough to be noticeable.
 
Rule of thumb - the thicker your frame, the thicker your gel liner.

Water Line

Line your waterline with a white or champagne eyeliner to make your eyes appear larger in an instant. I use a champagne liner as white's a bit too stark on me. 

(p.s. I am in love with my champagne eyeliner. I use it for any number of things - to conceal blemishes, brighten the inner corner of my eye, highlight the bridge of my nose, and the bow of my lips. One word - Miracle Worker)

Lower Lash Line
Line the outer three quarters of your lower lash line with a dark eyeliner - navy, burgundy and brown eyeliners favour everyone and are less harsh than black.

Lashes
Mascara and lots of it. Two coats if you please, on both your top and bottom lashes and ... you're looking for all the world like a deer caught in headlights. Precisely the look we're going for!

Aaaand Eyes are done, lets move on to;

EYEBROWS 

Eyebrows help frame your face, so observe their natural shape, weed out any stray hairs, fill them in where needed and keep them clean. 

CHEEKS

Add some fresh youthful prettiness to your face with a peach or rosy pop of blush onto the apples of your cheeks.

LIPS

 
Glasses, especially the bold, larger framed ones in fashion right now, can make you look a little top heavy as they draw all attention to the upper part of your face. Restore the balance with a gorgeous bold lip. Think exciting reds, bright pinks or kissable corals. mwah!


So these are what works for me, and I hope that you find some of them useful. I've come to really love my glasses, high script and all, and find them such a fun accessory with which to change up my look. Especially now that I know how to get the most out of them. Yayyy glasses!

Let me know what you think, whether any of these worked for you, and oh! please drop me any other glasses makeup tips. I'd love to have them.

kiss kiss 
Amiena


 

 





 

Cousinly Love

Meet my cousin Mariam Omar, beautiful inside and out. Such a huge heart, generous to a fault with a laugh so infectious, I invariably find myself  doubled over with giggles, tears streaming down my face within 10 minutes of her walking in the door.

So Tuesday happened and Mariam popped in for a visit. We got playing with my potions, lotions and makeupy stuff, and oh my goodness, I got the opportunity to show her how to let that blessed inner beauty she's filled with, shine out for all the world to see.

Best part of the experience? Seeing her eyes go wide and the incredulous expression on her face when she saw the result...  priceless.

Xxx
Amiena

Step by Step guide to Highlighting and Contouring

Hey Lovelies!

Okay so you know how everyone thinks that highlighting and contouring is hard? Well ... that's just plain not true. You could do it with your eyes closed!

Honestly it's super simple and once you have the right products (you only need 3 - a Foundation about 3 shades darker than your skin colour/ Bronzer, a Highlighter & a Blush) then this must-know makeup technique becomes a walk in the park. Seriously, if I can do it, then you definitely can too.

See the diagram below? All you have to do is follow it and apply the products as shown. It's as simple as that... sort of like colouring by numbers!

STEP 1: Apply your dark foundation/ bronzer to the brown areas;

STEP 2: Next apply your highlighter (I dab it on with my fingers) to all the yellow areas;

STEP 3: Then apply your blush to the pink bits.

Finally get out your big fluffy blending brush and BLEND BLEND BLEND!

Honestly, this (the blending, that is) is THE most important step when it comes to highlighting and contouring. You need to keep blending until you can't see any lines or where one colour starts or the other stops.

And watch those sculpted cheekbones emerge.

Look at you ... you're a Brazilian goddess!

So....what do you think? Think you can do it? You KNOW you can! Go on, get sculpting and have fun with it.

Until next time, Love ya lovelies!

xxx

Amiena

Subscribe if you found this helpful, or drop me a comment and let me know how you're getting on with it. Xxx

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas !

Oh my! With Halloween done and the stores already dressed up in baubles and tinsel, I swear it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

I become crazily excited getting Harris' gifts that I almost pass out with pleasure. Just as good is squirreling them away in the dark recesses of my cupboards, then snatching stealthy hours to wrap and set them out for when he wakes on on Christmas morning... it's the best BEST thing ever! 

Added to that, my guilty pleasure: Christmas songs and Chris Rea's husky voice on repeat with Driving Home for Christmas ... .

What's the 1 thing you love most about Christmas? And what's your favourite Christmas song?

Happy Halloween with Darth Vadar

Halloween came to Little Hands Montessori with lots of spooky shenanigans on Friday 31 October.

Harris (Darth Vadar) and his motley crew of vampires, bats, ladybugs, fairies, princesses, skeletons, pirates, Bob the Builder and all manner of ghoulish characters celebrated the occasion with great gusto and lots of sugary sweet tric-a-treating.

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Makeup on the Run - under 3 minutes!!!

How to go from Blah to Bombshell in just 3 minutes, using just 3 drugstore products.

 

It’s 8am and you’ve got to be at work in exactly 30 minutes and instead you’re staring at a tired bare face sorely in need of makeup.
What to do?! EEEEEKKK!

Right! Take a deep breath and stay calm. Help is at hand (I think)

I’m going to let you in on what I do. It’s not perfect by any means and I cheat a bit by doubling up on one of the products but hey, it gets the job done, and all in under 3 minutes!

 STEP 1.

 

Using my Garnier BB Cream (Combination to Oily Skin) in colour - medium

I draw a ‘triangle’ under each eye and BLEND.

Dab a dot on each eyelid and BLEND.

Dab another dot on my upper lip and BLEND.

(I only use BB Cream on my problem areas i.e. undereye circles, eyelid, upper lip)

 STEP 2.

 

Using my Yardley Supermoist Lipstick in Cranberry Crème

I slick some on my lips.

Draw little x’s on the apple of each cheek and BLEND for a natural blush.

 STEP 3.

Using my Loreal Volume Million Lashes Excess Mascara

I liberally coat my lashes. 

 Then just a quick fluff of my hair, and VOILA I’m ready to step out! 

All in under 3 minutes!

If you dont want it then you better TAKE THE RING OFF IT

5 months since my divorce … and I’m still wearing my engagement ring.

The wedding band’s long ago been chucked to some long forgotten drawer. That happened almost two years back when we first separated and honestly I don’t know where it is. About the same time, I moved my engagement ring to my right hand and it’s stayed there. All well and good …

BUT … we’ve been divorced for 5 months and … It’s. Still. There.

And lately I’ve been wondering about that.

Here’s what started all the wondering. A couple of weeks back I got sucked into having a smokey eye done at one of those pop-up makeup kiosks in Cavendish Square. My cheeky makeup artist when surveying her handiwork at the end of my makeover said, ‘baby, hubby gonna luuuurve you tonight!’. Straightaway I said ‘I’m not married, I’m divorced’.

To which my paragon of wisdom, planting her talons on her skinny-ass hips says, “why you still wearing his ring hmm?!” and I sputtered out something along the lines of ‘cos I can, it’s mine and I still think its really pretty.’ Well she fixed me with an eye something awful and pursing her nude glossed lips said “long’s you wearing dat ring baby, you pushin all dem good men away.” And … well … I couldn’t think of a single comeback, so I just laughed it off and quickly got us onto a safer topic.

But see I am still wearing the ring. And for the life of me… I don’t really know why. Do I want him back? No. Do I still love him? No. If there was a chance in hell at a reunion, would I still want to be married to him? Heck no.   

… so what’s the holdup?