Valentine Week: Sultry Angel | FOTD, Makeup Look, Tutorial

Valentine Week: Sultry Angel - "Smokey Eye, Nude Lips. A universally captivating look to cast a spell on anyone: soft smokey eyes to entrance and celestial lips to lead astray. This is the ultimate, "most-beautiful" look – everyone looks incredible in it."

Inspiration: Cara Delevingne

Today's makeup look for my Valentine Week Special is inspired by the chic and effortless look of Cara Delevingne (above). I love her all natural look consisting of soft yet defined sultry eyes, bare full brows, a flush of blush, and a nude lip.

 

BASE: Start with great skin, cleansing and toning your face and then applying a good primer.

For this look, I used Laura Mercier's tinted creme moisturizer as a base. This minimizes redness and lines, gives my foundation something to stick to. After that, I applied Smashbox Camera Ready BB cream to achieve a perfect complexion.

EYES: The key to this sultry, sexy yet innocent look is the subtle smoky eyes using softer browns and nudes instead of the more traditional black.

I used Sleek's Limited Edition Arabian Nights Smoke and Shadows Palette - a collection of shimmery nudes and rich, jewel tones that I think is perfect for that smoked out, mysterious effect.

Scheherazade's Tale all over the lids, Aladdin's Lamp on middle lid, Genie on outer V and a bit on the crease.

Scheherazade's Tale all over the lids, Aladdin's Lamp on middle lid, Genie on outer V and a bit on the crease.

Eyebrows were brushed and groomed but otherwise left natural and bare for that easy yet polished brows.

CHEEKS: Add a sweet, pink or coral blush. You don’t want to compete with the smoky eye, so go easy on the blush and lips.

Rimmel's Stay Blushed Liquid Cheek Tint in Sunkissed Cherry adds warmth to the skin without overpowering the face. The cream formula looks natural and don't look too heavy and chalky.

"Sunkissed" Cheeks

LIPS: Finish up with a nude lip. I had three choices for this look: Revlon Mauve It Over, Wet n Wild Bare It All and NYX Soft Matte in Abu Dhabi.

Revlon Mauve It Over, Wet n Wild Bare It All and NYX Soft Matte in Abu Dhabi.

I ultimately chose NYX Abu Dhabi which is a deep pink-beige, more brown than the other two lipsticks. I love the matte, lightweight formula and even application. It's also long-lasting.

Applying NYX Soft Matte Lip Cream in Abu Dhabi

Valentine Week: Sultry Angel

Styling Notes: This low maintenance makeup works best with flawless skin. Let your skin shine by making sure that your skin is properly moisturized. Nude makeup should create dimension to the face without adding too much color, that way your features are emphasized, but not overpowered. This look should go well with a variety of outfits from a sexy, strappy dress to casual jeans and blouse - the most important thing is that you wear what makes you comfortable so that you exude that sexy yet sophisticated air.