The red carpet is filled with beautiful celebrities. From the most famous A-Listers to the barely known celebrity, each and every person that walks down the red carpet is dressed to impress. However, the work to look devastatingly stunning doesn’t end with a beautiful dress. Everything from a celebrity’s hair to their nails must be perfectly tailored and for most women of Hollywood, their makeup must be flawless. If there is a wrinkle or a blemish to cover, celebrity makeup artists go to great lengths to make every imperfection disappear. They coat, apply and reapply a variety of foundations, powders, liners, lipsticks, eye shadows, and mascara to get the perfect red carpet look. But how do they do this? With a whole lot of makeup and even more celebrity makeup secrets that shape, define, highlight, and create a glowing complexion. Here are 8 Celebrity Red Carpet Ready Makeup Secrets.
8. Primer
In order to create the dazzling luster of dewy flawless skin, a thin layer of primer needs to be applied all over the face. Why? Because the miracle of a good primer is its ability to mask large pores, uneven skin tone, blemishes, and even wrinkles. Yes, a good primer will take years off of a persons face by hiding small imperfections. It creates a blank canvas for which foundation, concealer, and powder can be applied over. By starting the makeup application processes with a good primer, less concealer is needed, which keeps the celebrity looking as natural as possible. Also, when the foundation and concealer are applied over primer, they will lay across the thin layer of primer instead of seeping into large pores, fine lines, and wrinkles. Preventing foundation and concealer from penetrating the surface of the skin keeps the celebrity’s skin looking youthful and free of imperfections.
7. Glowing Skin
The first celebrity who made, “the glow” a red carpet necessity was Jennifer Lopez. Then came Cameron Diaz, Charlize Theron, and Drew Barrymore. Today, almost all celebrities who walk the red carpet are sporting “the glow”. However, what is this highly coveted ‘glow’ that celebrities are searching for? It is an allover shine that makes a celebrity appear youthful, healthy, and radiant. How do they get this look? By using skin illuminators.
Illuminators are pearlized creams. This simply means that they are creams which reflect light off the skin. Before a celebrity walks down the red carpet, but after their primer and foundation is applied, a coating of pearl essence is applied over the entire face. Sometimes, the illuminator is even mixed directly into the foundation. With an overall coating of the illuminator, the celebrity’s skin appears glowing and youthful.
6. Sexy Smoky Eyes
The ultimate red carpet look has to be the dark smoky eye. Celebrities add an elegant, yet seductive look to their appearance by overplaying their eyes. To get the perfect smoky eye, a cream concealer is first applied over the eyelid. Then a line of black or grey pencil liner is traced over the top lash line from the inner to the outer corner. The same is done to the lower lash. The liner is then smudged with a cotton swab. Dark powder shadow is brushed over the eyelid and into the crease of the eye. Finally, a shimmering light liner or shadow is added to the inner corner of the eye. To finish the sexy look, a coat of dark mascara is brushed over the eyelashes.
5. Plump Lips
Not all celebrities were born with lips as plump and full as Angelina Jolie. Although, they can make their lips look fuller just by adding a colorless lip balm with shimmer to the skin just above their cupid’s bow (the area just above the center of the upper lip). By highlighting this area, the celebrity is able to immediately create fuller looking lips. A moisturizing lipstick then is applied. By trapping moisture to the lips, rather than allowing them to dry, lips will appear fuller. Finally, the center of the bottom lip is covered in a shimmering gloss, adding sparkle to the lips while drawing attention to the center of the lips.
4. High Cheekbones
Cheekbones that are highlighted as the focal point of the face gives the celebrity a more radiant appearance, but not all celebrities have ultra-high cheekbones. In order to make cheekbones appear higher, a dark bronzer is applied just below the cheekbone. This creates a hollow effect to the cheek. Then, a highlighting powder is applied to the apple of the cheeks and just above the cheekbone. By using a dark color below the cheekbone and a light color above, a subtle contrast is created along the cheek. The distinction in tone defines that cheekbones, making them appear higher and more pronounced.
3. Thin a Large Nose
Celebrities don’t always have perfectly symmetrical features. Occasionally, their nose may appear larger than they would like. So, to create a slimmer nose without resorting to cosmetic surgery, a highlighting trick works wonders. First the usual skin tone foundation is applied to the nose. Then a large streak of highlighter is swiped down the bridge of the nose and then back up. The highlighter is blended slightly and then set with a translucent powder. To add even more dimension to the nasal area, a foundation two shades darker than the celebrity’s skin tone is applied on either side of the bridge of the nose. By creating a highlighted area on the bridge of the nose and darker shades on the sides of the nose, the entire nose appears slimmer.
2. Eyebrows That Appear Lifted
It’s no secret that celebrities are prone to using Botox and fillers, or even going under the knife to keep their faces tight and sculpted. However, there are a few celebrities who have not resorted to such drastic measures and are able to create a higher sculpted brow with just a few swipes of makeup. After primer and a base coat of foundation are applied all over the face, a highlighter is applied in an upside down ‘V’ shape just above the eyebrow. The highlighter is blended and covered with translucent powder. Also, a line of white eye pencil is applied directly under the entire eyebrow. This will immediately define the eyebrow and create a lifted effect above the eye.
1. Long Lashes
Even celebrities need a little help to get their eyelashes looking long and luscious. While some celebrities opt to use eyelash enhancers or eyelash extensions, others simply use false eyelashes to create naturally full eyelashes. To get their lashes to stand out on the red carpet, most celebrities use black false eyelashes. Most often the false eyelashes will need to be trimmed before applied so that they appear as natural as possible. The lashes are then coated with a dark lash glue before they are pressed gently onto the eyelid. To achieve as natural an effect as possible, the false eyelashes are applied as close to the natural eyelashes as possible. After the adhesive glue dries, the false lashes are curled along with the natural eyelashes. Finally, liquid eyeliner is applied over the base of both the lashes to create a unified look.