So You Want to Look Like Keira Knightley

source: tomandlorenzo.com

Ladies and gentlemen, we are back in business. Sort of. I still don't wear a lot of makeup when I go out, which is not fun because now that it's so near winter it's exactly the time to slap on a ton and still look "normal."

The good thing is now that Anna Karenina is about to (finally) hit theaters, editorial images of Keira Knightley are popping up all over the Internet. In case you didn't figure out by the sharpness of her cheekbones and jawline, I have a major crush on her. The editorial above was featured in the September issue of Harper's Bazaar UK and as soon as I saw it I told myself I had to recreate it.

I didn't realize how geometric the eyeshadow shape really was until I reviewed the pictures (or perhaps it wasn't on her and that's just how it translates on my Asian eyes. Adaptability = win!). I patted Addiction Fudge onto my eyelid and then blended it out on the crease and slightly toward the inner corner. Afterwards, I shaded the bottom lash line (covering the entire "bag" section) and made sure the shadow connected to a smoked out wing. Make sure to leave the inner corner clean.

Upon closer inspection, I noticed that Keira's upper lash line and waterline were white, so I went over mine with NARS Larger Than Life Santa Monica Boulevard (it wouldn't show up on my waterline since it's immune to makeup, apparently). But that's not all – her makeup artist sneakily tight-lined her upper waterline so the white wouldn't look odd.

... I realize I may be making all this up and it could have just been white eyeshadow. But that's how I achieved my look!

If you click on the source link, you'll see the writer and a large number of commenters harping on Keira for having a constantly open mouth in photo shoots. I don't personally have a problem with this, but I'll say in her defense - didn't they know cheekbones appear sharper when one's mouth is open?

Enjoy!

Products Used:
Face -
Chantecaille Future Skin Foundation in Camomile
Le Métier de Beauté Peau Vierge Correcteur in Light/Medium
Le Métier de Beauté Classic Flawless Finish Powder #1
Chanel Rose Ecrin Blush

Eyes -
Addiction Fudge Eyeshadow
NARS Larger Than Life Santa Monica Boulevard
THREE Flash Performance Eyeliner in Eye On 08
Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara
Shu Uemura Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in Seal Brown

Lips -
Le Métier de Beauté In The Know Bordeaux Lip Creme
Make Up For Ever Lip Pencil #13C

That Brown Smokey Eye

As promised, here's the complete breakdown of the look I wore with Dior Vernis Poison, with complete product list at the bottom of the post.

L-R: GA Eyes to Kill Intense #15, Burberry Eyeshadow in Taupe Brown and Porcelain

By Terry Blush Terrybly Exotic Pink #2

Bobbi Brown 24 Karat Shimmer Brick

This smokey eye is particularly easy to achieve. I applied Burberry Taupe Brown with the LMdB Eye Crease Brush all over my eyelid, blending it outward toward my brow bone, then with my ring finger (use your ring finger when handling sensitive areas because it applies the least pressure!), I patted Giorgio Armani ETK #15 over my eyelid. I applied Porcelain under the brows and blended it into the brow bone. A flick of liner close to the upper lashes and a couple coats of mascara, then I smoked out the lower lash line with Taupe Brown to balance the heavy eye.

For cheeks: Chanel Notorious under cheekbones, By Terry Exotic Pink on apples, and Bobbi Brown 24 Karat Shimmer Brick above cheekbones. A slick of Chanel Troublant on lips.

And that's all there is to it!

Shop The Products:

Face -

Chantecaille Future Skin in Camomile

RMS "Un" Cover Up #22

Chanel Notorious Sculpting Veil for Eyes and Cheeks

By Terry Blush Terrybly Exotic Pink #2

Bobbi Brown 24 Karat Shimmer Brick Compact (new for holiday)

Le Métier de Beauté Blush Brush

Chanel Foundation Brush

Eyes -

Shu Uemura Retractable Eyebrow Pencil in Seal Brown (not available in the US)

Burberry Sheer Eyeshadow in No. 03 Porcelain and No. 07 Taupe Brown

Giorgio Armani Eyes to Kill Intense #15

Le Métier de Beauté Precision Liner in Noir

Guerlain Noir G Mascara

Shu Uemura 20H

Le Métier de Beauté Eye Crease Brush

Shu Uemura Kolinsky Brush 10F

Lips -

Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss Troublant #68

Blushing Apples

As far as yesterday's post was about lips, I wanted to talk about cheeks as well (my friend Tracy nicknamed me Cheekz for good reason). Recently I haven't been doing the "pull into hairline" sort of cheek as much as the "dab at the apples" kind, largely because of my obsession with Robin's (Cobie Smulders) makeup in How I Met Your Mother, but we'll stay on topic for now.

Cheeks: Tarte Exposed

How I do it is I use my LMdB Cheek Brush and pick up a good amount of pigment, then press it onto the apples of my cheeks (remember the first point of contact between brush and skin deposits the greatest amount of pigment). From there, I sort of fluff and blend it out.

Eyes: Chantecaille Rose Gold; Cheeks: Chanel Tempting Beige

Of course, if you want to add a little extra something to the look (and it's daytime and totally not appropriate to be sparkling–you listening, Cullens?), try a non-glittery highlighter. In the pictures above I used Dior Airflash Primer, which works great as an opal highlighter as well. I really need to talk about that one day soon.

Swatches of the products in this post:

L-R: Chanel Tempting Beige, Tarte Exposed, Chantecaille Rose Gold

Chanel Tempting Beige is a lightly browned peach and my go-to peach cheek color. I think I've never been tempted (ha!) by any other peach blush because this one is just perfect for me. Tarte Exposed is a lightly browned muted rose.

Now, on to my current TV obsession. Have you watched How I Met Your Mother? I can't believe I waited this long to jump on that bandwagon (in a way, that's great since I could just smash straight through seven seasons). Every time Robin comes on screen I stare at her makeup because a) she's gorgeous, and b) she's made up very well. Her makeup artist applies her blush the above-mentioned way, and she always looks just the right amount of flushed.

Though not indicative in this picture

Did you know Cobie Smulders was also in the Avengers? I never knew till someone pointed out to me that she was Samuel L. Jackson's hot assistant.

Anyone else has the same ardent fondness for HIMYM? Or browned cheek products? Let's discuss!

Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild Palette

It astonishes me that of all their past palettes, Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild is the only one still available. If anything I would have thought it would be the first to go. I own three Chantecaille seasonal   palettes (the other two are the New Classics palette and Sea Turtle palette) and saw/swatched a few others throughout the years. You quickly see a very clear pattern emerging when looking at the palettes. The colors they use are always neutral and demure, and fall under what we would usually think of as "universal."

Chantecaille's 4-pan palettes usually include a highlight/base shade, a main eye shade, a liner shade, and a cheek shade. Tiger in the Wild contains a shimmering cream, light taupe, deep grape, and pink coral blush.

Below, I applied Tiger in the Wild in the most basic way possible. I applied the highlighter/base shade all over my lids and under the brow bone, then applied the taupe shade on the lid area. With the Shu Uemura 10F brush, I winged out the deep grape liner shade, and used a pointed brush to target the color on the crease. 

I remember way back when I didn't know much about Chantecaille, all I heard was they had great eyeshadows. People raved about its softness and how smooth it felt, how easy it was to blend. I largely agree - Chantecaille shadows definitely feel good on the skin, but sometimes softness isn't a good thing. While easy to apply, I kicked up a lot of excess shadow when dipping my liner brush (usually stiffer than regular eyeshadow brushes) into the grape shade. While it applied beautifully to my upper lash line, I had to clean up the resulting fallout.

I'm aware that I'm nitpicking. After all, the shadows are buttery, the color choices spot on, the design is quite amazing, and the pans are huge. I personally think Tiger in the Wild is Chantecaille's best palette so far.

Chantecaille Tiger in the Wild Palette retails for $78 and is still available on chantecaille.com.