MAC and Very dark skin powder/foundation?

Anonymous wrote:

It is obvious that u LOVE MAC and so do I, however I can’t find the right powder.
I like MAC but I think that people with my complexion are always stuck to the NW50 which is not necessarly the right shade. it can turn grey! I think that the darker you are the fiewer are your choices. In my opinion MAc does not have enough color choice for people with very dark skin; not African-Americans with just light skin!!! I might be wrong because when I go on the website, I can see different type of founcations and powders, so which powder and shade would you recommend? I use Black up becoz i get the right coverage, shade and a mat finish; What do you think?
merciiiiiii

eVaDiVa wrote:

Hi Anonymous,

Thank you for your question.
To answer it, MAC does have a lot of shades for darker skin. However, most people, especially African women are just stuck to the studio fix powder where the darkest shade is NW50. This studio fix powder is great for everyday use and its the perfect powder to have a combination of foundation and powder in 1. However, it is not recommended for pictures or as a night makeup especially if you are very dark. The reason is that some of the pigments used in that formula reflects too much the light and that’s why you can see sometimes people that use it and take pictures look like ghosts…lol…
So the solution for you if you really wanna use MAC will be to use their STUDIO TECH foundation or STICK foundation in NW55. The texture of the STICK is creamy so it doesn’t give you the same finish than the studio fix. However, the STUDIO TECH is also creamy but will dry on your face like a powder so it will be about the same than the FIX.
I also LOOOVE  FASHION FAIR foundations for darker skin. You should try them as well. BLACK UP  is indeed a great line and have very good foundations, so if you are happy with them, I would suggest to stick with them and try MAC  or FASHION FAIR just to get something different…
Hope this helped…

XoXo

eVaDiVa

Brandy’s Natural Makeup—Full moon Video—

A while ago, I received a request from one of my favorite Divas Amina to describe Brandy’s look in the “full Moon” video. I totally forgot to do it and only remembered today as I heard the song on the radio.

Indeed, her makeup looks flawless! Brandy is not the cutest girl but she always looks on point (makeup wise at least). I also love this song in particular…

So here is how I will replicate her beautiful natural look:

 

Il y’a quelque  temps,  j’ai reçu une demande d’une de mes divas préférées Amina pour décrire le maquillage de Brandy dans la vidéo  « Full Moon ». J’ai complètement oublié de le faire et je me suis rappelée qu’aujourd’hui comme j’ai entendu  la chanson à la radio.

 

Effectivement, le maquillage est impeccable !  Brandy n’est pas la plus jolie mais elle est toujours présentable(en tout cas pour le maquillage). J’adore aussi cette chanson en particulier..

 

 

Donc voilà comment je vais recréer son beau maquillage naturel :

 

Donc voilà comment je vais recréer son beau maquillage naturel :

 

 

 

ALL MAC UNLESS SPECIFIED

FACE

Foundation: Studio fix liquid NW 45 (or whatever shade you wear)

Powder: I would use very lightly BOBBI BROWN face shimmer brick in Bronze with a buffer brush (MAC# 182)

Blush: Blunt

EYES

Base: Bronze color creme

Eyelid: NEO-SCI FI Time &space (all the way up to the crease)

Eyecrease: Brandy eyes are asian shaped, so she is not wearingany color in her crease

Highlighter: Unecessary for this look. You can always use a concealer a shade lighter than your complexion

Eyeliner: Boot black liquid liner on top and Feline or Blacktrack bottom

Lashes: LANCOME definicils mascara in black

LIPS

Liner: Costa Riche and mahagony inside the lips

Gloss: Revealing

 

 

Tamara Mowry sun-kissed Look

From Koshonna:

Hey Eva,

I’ve been looking all day and I can’t seem to find any celebrity pictures large enough with the green/brown look I wanted to create online. I’m really sorry. I did find a picture of Tamara Mowry and I wanted to know how to create her sun-kissed summer look. I have a MAC bronzer in Golden. At times I feel that it might be either too light or there is not enough sparkle because I don’t see much difference. I’ve thought about getting a melon blush and thought this might give me the look I was going for but I don’t know. I’m around the same color as Tamara and I wear NC45.

Thanks!!!!

Koshonna

 

Many of you have asked me how they could get that sun-kissed look on their face for the summer. The first thing about having a glowy skin like this is making sure that your skin is very healthy and does not have any pimples as shimmer will only accentuate them. Once you have your summer skincare regiment (which I will detail for you in another post), here is how you can achieve Tamara’s look:

ALL MAC UNLESS SPECIFIED

FACE

Foundation: Mix MAC Strobe Cream with MAC liquid mineralized satin finish in a small container and apply the mix as your foundation (be careful if you have oily skin as you may be shiny, this is best used at night)

Blush: Gingerly (on the apple of the cheeks)

Bronzer: If you have Tamara’s complexion, MAC Refined Deeper Bronze (under the apple of your cheeks as a countour). You can add a lil bit on your T-zone as well if you really want that bronzy look. Remember that your foundation is already shimmery…

EYES

Eyebrows: Fill them in very softly with Espresso eyeshadow or if you want a more precise line, use Spiked pencil

Eye base: Cream color base in Bronze

Eyelid: Patina

Eyecrease: Neo Sci-fi Bronzescape ***NEW***

Eyeliner: Fluidline in Black and blactrack pencil

Lashes: Mascara LANCOME Definicils

Highlighter: Shroom

LIPS

Liner: Plum

Lipgloss: Neo Sci-Fi Pink Grapefruit ***NEW***

 

Organizing your make-up

Hello Divas,

One of you asked me if I could share with you how I organize my makeup and post pictures of it…I have to be honest with you and tell you that I have the most unorganized makeup collection you will ever find…LOL. Though, I have been thinking about organizing it and getting a few storing devices from the container store. Procastinating has reared its ugly head again…

Slvrlips from Silver Lips Beauty & Musiq Haven did such a good job with her makeup!!! Make sure you check out her page so you can get ideas on what to do…In the mean time, I vow to be more organized so I can send you pictures of my priceless beautifying “junk”…:-)

XoXo

eVaDiVa

 

M-A-C SPF mineralize foundation loose

Hello cyber-familia! I have not forgotten about you. Life just got in the way of our regularly scheduled meetings…but I missed you all terribly! Let’s talk about beauty shall we?

MAC describes it mineralize SPF  foundation loose as: “A lightweight loose powder foundation that utilizes the power of minerals to provide the skin with a smooth, radiant, natural finish.” Brush it onto your skin for a sophisticated, medium-buildable coverage. “A special mineral complex helps keep skin healthy and nourished while the blend of moisturizers and conditioners in the formula help create a smooth, flawless application. It also provides essential everyday SPF 15 sun protection.”

I tried it 2 weeks ago and absolutely loooooooooooove it!!!!!!! I bought the Dark and the Deep Dark and love the way it feels very light on the skin. You can use it over your regular liquid foundation or just on bare skin (with some moisturizer of course). If you are looking for a light and natural looking foundation for the summer, this is the one AND it protects you from the sun! What more could you ask for, really?!!

XoXo

eVaDiVa

No crease or asian eye makeup???

This tutorial will be very useful if you feel like you do not have an eye crease or have Asian eyes. 

MAC Beauty Powder Blush

 

MAC just came out with a set of 8 different blushes:

• Shy Beauty
• Feeling
• Sweetness
• Joyous
• True Romantic
• Serenely
• Eversun
• Secret Blush 

Picture: Spektra.net

 I like them all because of the pearlized pigments but I honeslty think that most of them are too light for darker complexions. If you are a NW 45 or darker, I would recommend Sweet Romantic or Secret Blush. If you are lighter, they can all work depending of the look you are going for…

Purple eyes…using pigments

I got a new hair cut last week and felt like adorning my eyes done with bright colors…I used a pigment that I bought during my trip to NY last month…Some of you asked me how they could use pigments, so this is right on time!

Pigments are a loose form of high pigmented eyeshadows. They can be very messy if you do not know how to use them but here are a few hints:

• Use a flat brush like MAC # 242
• Appy a base first on the lid(otherwise it will not stay on). My favorite are the cream color base or the MAC eye paint.
• Put a little bit of powder on the lid of the jar and work from there.
• Apply the powder using your 242 brush by dabbing and gently putting pressure on your lid to make sure that the color pops out. Add more color if you feel like it is not bright enough. Remember that the eye color base you use can significantly enhance the final color, so the brighter the eye color base, the brighter the pigment color.

I am using on this picture:

FACE

Foundation: Mineralize Satin Finish liquid NW 45

Powder: Mineralize skinfinish natural Deep Dark

Blush: Slave to love and Raizin

EYES

Eyebrows: my usual spiked mixed with some show-off brow set

Eye base: Cream color base Full Fuchsia

Eyelid: Pigment Cool Pink

Crease: Trax and Nocturnelle

Crease outer corner: Beauty Marked

Highlighter: Concealer NW 35 and a touch of Vanilla Pigment eyeshadow

Eyeliner: Blacktrack and Smolder

Lashes: Mac # 7 (my lashes look dusty because I “smartly” decided to apply more of the pigment eyeshadow after putting them on…never do this as all the pigment will fall on your lashes…always use your mascara when you are sure that you are done with your eyeshadow)

LIPS

Velvettela lipliner with Florabundance lipgloss (make sure you blend the liner with the lipgloss to avoid that horrible dark line around your lips…)

Silver smokey eyes

At the request of one of my beloved readers, I am detailing the eye makeup I was wearing at the “Makeup, stilletos, Martinis & Chocolates” party.

Eyebrows: Spiked pencil and show-off brow gel

Eye base: Shell cream color base

Eyelid lower part: electra

Crease: Knight Divine

Crease outer corner: Carbon

Highlighter: Concealer select moisture cover NW 35

Eyeliner: Blacktrack and smolder

Eyelashes: MAC #33

 

Flawless Dark Skin

I came accross this tutorial and thought I should share it with you. The makeup artist does a very good job explaining how to apply concealer and powder. This will be particularly helpful if you want to achieve flawless skin that does not look shiny. I don’t know anything about the line she is using (MARK) but I can assure you will get the same result with MAC. For concelaers and powders, check my post under the category “answers to your questions”

Keiuana, I will be writing a post to recommend natural eye colors for dark complexion…