Make Up

I saw this outtake of a Maybelline ad featuring stunning model Emily DiDonato (whose hair I once raved about, and still love), and gasped. The look screams “flirty, pretty and romantic”. It inspired me to do a how-to look for this look – and with Valentine’s day around the corner, how perfect would this look be?

Now it might look very natural, but as we all know, “natural” looking makeup sometimes take the most time to do and just as many, if not more products. Still, this is a pretty simple look: there’s no heavy colors or dramatic hues. Instead, the look is soft and fresh – I love it!

• Hair

Hair is soft and feminine with this look, just like the picture on the right. Start off by washing and conditioning hair. Next, blow-dry your hair for some volume (more tips on how to get volume here) and then grab a curling iron, or hair rollers.

Whatever your hair length, try some rollers or a curling iron to add some soft, romantic waves (ala this look on Angelina Jolie). After curling your hair, run your fingers through it to separate your curls, and then set with hairspray.

• Makeup

First and foremost, keep skin clean and matte. Cleanse your skin and load up with moisturizer. Next, apply your foundation, concealer on your under eye circles and blemishes, and then apply a loose powder to set it all.

For your cheeks, apply a soft pink blush on. If you have a luminating/highlight powder, sweep some on top of your cheekbones and decollage for a sexy shimmer.

The eyes are the main focus of this look, so frame those beautiful things with your natural brow shape. Shape your brows the way they are, making sure they aren’t too thin. If they are too thin, fill them in with powder or another brow product of your choice.

Next, keep your eye makeup simple. Apply a wash of shimmer eyeshadow in soft colors such as pinks, peaches or lilacs, whatever you like best. Go easy on the eyeliner (brown instead of black, and only a thin line on your top lash line) because this look is all about the eyelashes. Curl your lashes, apply mascara, and apply clusters of individual false eyelashes (how to apply false eyelashes, here).

Lastly: your lips, the icing of the cake! As you can tell, this lip look is juicy, bright and fresh – obviously to make your date drooling at the thought of kissing you. Apply lip balm, then lipstick and then lipgloss. I have to say, the best colors for this look is candy colors: all shades of pinks. The brighter and cuter, the better!

• Fragrance

A flirty scent is a must! I’ve listed some of my favorites here, but some other romantic, feminine floral scents I’ve tried recently are Ralph Lauren’s Romance Always Yours, YSL’s Parisenne, and Jessica Simpson’s Fancy. (And while we’re on the topic of fragrance, here’s my tip on making your scent last longer.)

• Nails

I’d actually recommend going dark on your nails – it gives your fresh and girly makeup an edge, but if you’re not into that, keep the look going on to your nails with nudes and pastel colors. A soft pastel pink or baby blue would look really cute! If you want to go dark though, you can check out my post: How to: Dark, Glossy Black Nails.

I hope I inspired some candy-colored, soft pretty makeup looks this Valentine’s Day! However, I’d still love to know – do you have any special makeup looks planned? Or is Valentine’s Day just another day for you? Do let me know! … I guess you all can guess what makeup look I’ll do this Valentine’s? :)

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I go back to Denmark almost every Spring (I’m half Danish), and that is a loong 14 hours flight to and fro. As a kid I’d just wear my pajamas and slather on some hotel body lotion all over my face (don’t ever do that, by the way, unless you want serious breakouts) and head to the airport, not caring how disastrous I look. (Isn’t it great being a kid?!)

Now that I’m older, though, I have to look somewhat more presentable, and heading to the hotel and sleeping for 12 hours after the flight is not an option anymore! Here are some beauty tips I’ve gathered over the years, especially if you have business to do after your flight:

• Before boarding

Moisturizing is key. With the dry, stuffy cabin air, skin can itch and worst of all, peel. First and foremost, moisturize your bare face before boarding a flight (I think it should be common sense that you’re not wearing makeup on a long flight, right?). What I like to do is double moisturize – that’s two layers of moisture on the face, and normally that is enough for the next 12 hours.

Next, while getting dressed for your flight, remember to moisturize your body as well. Moisturize your legs, collarbone, neck, and arms before flight. Soothing (and very thick) body lotions such as the famous body butters by The Body Shop can aid to calm and relax before your flight.

… Speaking of relaxing, I like relaxing on the plane now-a-days. In the past I used to sit in fear for 14 hours wondering when the plane was going to crash and I died, but now flights are relaxing. Soothing scents always work best: try spirizing on a lavender or vanilla scent to help calm you down. Close your eyes, breathe in the beautiful scent, and relax.

• On Board

While on the plane, it’s also important to maintain moisturized skin. Of course, our first concern is the skin on our face! It’s vital to up the hydration on the flight. There are many facial moisturizer sprays availble today that you can use to freshen up your face. The most popular one is Moisture Surge Face Spray by Clinique, which is AMAZING. My friend C and I are obsessed about it.

I would also recommend bringing a mini body lotion in your handbag. Hands get insanely dry and so do your legs, which make them dry and itchy, and have this very attractive scale-like appearance. Load up on lotion now and again to banish scally looking skin when you get off the plane!

Next is definitey your lips. Our lips’ skin is very thin and delicate, and is one of the fastest to dry up and can get very, very dry and cracked in the cabin air. I can vouch that my lips get extremely chapped while in the air! It’s best to skip the lipgloss and lipsticks right now and instead go for a moisturizing lip balm. I recommend anything by Rosebud, I currently like the original and the Brambelberry Rose flavor.

Something I’d also recommend but haven’t tried yet are sheet facial masks. I’ve seen a lot of women do this recently, and I’ll have to try it out too. When the lights go off, I’d be walking to the bathroom and see a pool of women before me with their masks on. Jealous! Just apply a sheet mask (in others words, the least messy type of mask) and it’s like heaven. Twenty minutes later, skin is refreshed and plump with moisture, not to mention it’s like having a mini spa experience in the air.

• After the flight

It’s best not to pile on makeup before leaving your flight because it hasn’t been washed in a while, and it will only cause clogged pores and breakouts. The best, really, if you’re concerned about how you look (but really, who gives a hoot – you were on a long flight!), just apply some lip color and slip on a pair of sunglasses and tie your hair up; you’ll look fresher instantly.

Last but not least, and probably pretty obvious, but after long flights I just feel gross… so it’s time for a good scrub! Take a good long shower and then (hopefully) go to bed and get all the rest you need. (Am I the only one who thinks flights, airports and traveling is extremely tiring? For those who want even more tips, this post can help everyone out as well, not just air stewardesses: Skincare and Makeup Tips for Flight Attendants.)

I hope I’ve given you some useful tips for those going on flights! Do you have any beauty regimes while you’re on a flight? And do you even ‘care’ about beauty and your looks when you’re on a flight?

Images: 1, 2.

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