Romantic Date Night Makeup: Makeup Tips for Valentine’s Day

I am always trying to perfect my makeup application, and every time I have the opportunity to get a professional makeup job, I find myself asking the makeup artist 101 questions. I always come away with a new trick or product to try.

So you can imagine how thrilled I was to have the opportunity to hang out on Google+ with Sonia Kashuk and pick her brain about anything related to makeup and beauty, focusing particularly on makeup looks for Valentine’s Day this weekend.

I learned some great tips and was reminded of a few others that I’d heard before and forgotten. Here are my favorites.

Makeup Tips from Sonia Kashuk

1. Don’t Over Draw the Lip

Bold lip color is a hot trend for this spring and summer, particularly orange tones. This is a trend I’m excited to try, especially now that I’m armed with Sonia’s expert advice. When it comes to bold lip color, she says not to over-draw the lip. She prefers to keep the line of the lip soft. She says you can use lip liner as a base layer over the entire lip, as that helps your lipstick and/or lip gloss have staying power. But rather than having a sharp line around the edge of the lips, she says it is better to soften the line by smudging it a bit.

2. How to Take Your Makeup From Day to Night

When you want to take your daytime makeup and take it up a notch or three for an evening out, Sonia suggests adding black eye liner, as that really makes the eyes pop.

She also likes to apply a bit of a shimmer to the center of the eyelid. (She advises NOT using shimmer on the brow bone. She likes the surprise of the shimmer on the eyelid.) She says it’s all about the subtle nuances, not dramatic changes.

And she highly recommends false eyelashes to pop the nighttime look.

The other suggestion she made that I like is to go with a nude lip. She says that we often think about a bold red for nighttime but that a nude lip can be just as striking and it allows the eyes to take center stage.

3. Color Trend for Spring

This spring it is all about color. Coral and orange lipstick is the biggest trend, and I’ve already seen this in the fashion magazines. But also color in eye shadow and eye liner is a big trend. Sonia advises combining a bright color with a neutral on the eye so it’s not too much. Try a color on the lid and a neutral in the crease, and then blend, blend, blend.

In addition to hanging out with Sonia and asking her all our burning questions, we were each able to choose a makeup look we wanted to learn how to apply. I chose Romantic Date Night.

Target provided me with a gift card to purchase the makeup I needed to create this look, and here are the steps:

Romantic Date Night Makeup

Step 1: Apply Perfecting Luminous Foundation with a damp Blending Sponge for a radiant, even complexion.

Step 2: With the Chic Luminosity Bronzer/Blush Duo in Glisten, apply bronzer for tone and blush for brightness.

Step 3: Using the Eye Couture in Eye On Neutral Shimmer, sweep shade #7 all over the lid to just beyond the crease, followed by shade #6 just below the crease, blending color seamlessly.

Step 4: Take a Small Eye Shadow Brush and pack on shade #10 along the upper lash line, blending out.

Step 5: Using a Shader Brush place shade #12 directly at the upper lash line, extending the line slightly up at the outer corner. Continue down the lower lash line, keeping color light and smudged.

Step 6: Give your eyes that shut-down stare with Full Drama Eyelashes.

Step 7: Color in lips with Velvety Matte Lip Crayon in Pinky Nude for kissable color that stays put. If you prefer shine, add a bit of Ultra Luxe Lip Gloss in Prettiest Pink on top.

I decided to give it a trial run, and here’s how it turned out!

I didn’t do the false eyelashes. I’ve never applied those myself and I have to admit, they scare me just a bit. Plus my lashes are pretty long already, although the older I get, the thinner they get. Another fantastic benefit of aging.

The eye makeup is subtle, but I like it. Although honestly it doesn’t feel very evening to me. If I was going out, I think I would add some black liquid eye liner. (And concealer!! I usually wear that, but evidently I forgot it this morning.)

I love the lipstick. I used both the lip crayon and the gloss, and I really do feel like it has that subtle romantic date night vibe going on.

Tomorrow night we’re going to celebrate Valentine’s Day here at home with the kids. (My husband and I had a nice dinner out last weekend, and he sent me 2 dozen roses and a box of chocolate just a few weeks ago when I was going through a rough spot, so I’d say he’s off the hook tomorrow! I am planning a nice dinner, and I will definitely be rocking my Romantic Date Night makeup, thanks to Sonia’s expert advice!!