Legs for Days! How to Fake Long Legs with Makeup: Makeup Artists’ Technique

 Makeup artists are not only responsible for a model’s or celebrity’s face but sometimes her body too, so knowing how to give the illusion of long, toned legs is crucial, even for six foot tall supermodels.   These techniques are not the sole domain of the leggy set but are easy enough to make anyone’s legs appear longer, leaner, and more like you spend the balance of your day working out.  It just takes a little prep time and a bit of practice, but it can be really worth it if you are attending an event, having photos taken, or just want to make your friends wonder how you fit in all those workouts when you wear shorts to weekend brunch. 

Preparation is everything to achieving the best look so take time to get your skin ready.  First exfoliate your legs in the shower and follow up with a moisturizer while your skin is still a slightly damp to lock in the hydration.  If you are really pale-skinned and like a bit of color on a regular basis, try Jergen’s Natural Glow Instant Sun Sunless Tanning Mousse which is quick-drying and self-adjusting, every few days. 

After prepping your skin, apply Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs, either in lotion form, or in a spray, which is best if you spray it first on your hands and then rub it into your legs.  It won’t come off on your clothes, dries quickly, and gives a streak-free realistic glow that never appears orange.  You can build up the depth of the color by applying more product, but remember that your leg color should match your arms, neck, face, and décolletage or you will give yourself away immediately.

Next use a cream highlighter product down the front center of your legs but don’t highlight the knee.  Do the same down the back of your legs if you are dexterous enough to reach that area.  Makeup artists for celebrities and models all swear by PRTTY Peaushun Skin Tight Body Lotion which comes in five shades and is genius at giving a slimming effect to the legs.

To give definition, just as you would contour your face, you can contour the outline of your muscles on your legs.  Don’t be heavy-handed or you will look like you are wearing vertical stripes – not a good look.  Use a Body Blender sponge to apply a product such as Say Hello To Sexy Legs Body Contour Stick, by tensing your leg muscles and darkening the area along the edges of the muscle areas on both sides of your thighs and calves. 

Finally, wear heels in a color close to your skin color to lengthen the appearance of your legs without breaking the visual lines.  Legs for days!

#how to fake long legs with makeup  #body contouring  #body contouring makeup  #illusion of long legs  #PRTTY Peaushun  #body makeup

  

Model Crush Monday – Bella Hadid!

Bella Hadid is having a banner year!  In 2016 Bella has been declared Model of the Year by GQ Magazine, become the new face of Dior Cosmetics, and appears on cover after cover, not to mention on countless runways.  A spill on the runway at the Michael Kors Spring 2017 show from which she bounced up gracefully, smiled and continued on her way owning it, has done nothing to slow her down, and has in fact made her national and international news – not all press is bad press!

California-raised Bella, who first appeared on the radar alongside her mother Yolanda Foster of the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, signed with IMG Models in 2014, joining her big sister Gigi Hadid at the star-making agency.  Since then she has walked the runways of Tom Ford, Chanel couture, Givenchy, Miu Miu, Jeremy Scott, Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, Bottega Veneta, Ralph Lauren, Balmain, Versace, Fendi, Dior, and others.  Along with Dior Cosmetics, Bella also landed campaigns for Calvin Klein, Stuart Weitzman, Balmain, and Givenchy.

Bella is racking up covers and editorial spreads worldwide, for Jalouse, Vogue, Love Magazine, Allure, Harper’s Bazaar, Pop, Glamour, and CR Fashion Book. With 6.4 Million followers on Instagram watching her move from red carpets, to the beaches of Malibu, studios to runways, she is setting some serious records on social media after only two years into her stratospheric modeling career.

Bella’s Instagram: @bellahadid

#Bella Hadid  #Gigi and Bella  #Bella Hadid runway spill  #Bella Hadid new face of Dior Cosmetics  #Bella Hadid for Calvin Klein  #GQ Model and the Year 

Quirky Beauty - The New Faces of Modeling

We are so used to the blank stares on the lengthy line of fashion’s runways as the model clones parade by without any hint of individuality or even the slightest suggestion of sensuality or femininity.  To be honest, it has not in any way been the fault of the models, but rather demanded by designers and brands to keep the focus on the fashion rather than the models.  This has been the trend for over a decade and just like fashion, trends ebb and flow, and finally the pendulum is swinging in the opposite direction, to the “cult of personality” which gave rise to the supermodels in its first round in the early nineties.  And we couldn’t welcome it more.  

Runway models before that era were called mannequins for good reason: they were not meant to be distinct in any way, but to be thin, elegant, and basically a walking dress form.  This trend was repeated in the early part of this century as a counterpoint to the supermodels who became oftentimes as relevant and influential as the designers and brands themselves.  The models were so indistinct that celebrities took over many of the magazine fashion editorials, covers, and campaigns.  Agencies have been full of these seemingly interchangeable models that were so void of any individuality that these women could never have built a career standing out from the pack.  The rise of social media and “influence” is having such an enormous impact on the industry as a whole that the model-clone trend is crashing and disappearing.  Brands now hire models based on their social media influence and personal style, and the only way she can build a huge personal following is by embracing her uniqueness and being a larger-than-life personality. 

Scouts hunt far and wide for different, often un-definable beauty, looks that break with  traditional ideas of beauty, and sometimes models without any seemingly normal perception of “beauty” at all, but who rank high on the influence scale.  Agents and scouts are actively encouraging models to be more than just a clotheshorse, as it broadens their appeal and social influence if they have other skills, talents and abilities.  Acting, singing, music, athletics, surfing, dj-ing, cooking, blogging, designing, dancing, being genetically or ethnically ambiguous, all add to a model’s potential for wide appeal.  Just like club kids, indie actors and musicians inspired designers like Marc Jacobs in the early nineties, doing something while modeling on the side is a valid part of a model’s personal brand-building, which is essential in a successful career.  What was in the past a distraction is now considered an asset.  Not only does it open the doors of the fashion world to a more inclusive, exciting, creative section of the population, it is infinitely more appealing to a wider audience as it reflects the world around us, and not some other-worldly ideal. 

Everyone now cultivates their own brand on their social media, creating their visual identity, defining what fashion means to them, and its place in their lives.  Quirky models who are unique, ethnically ambiguous, extremely tall, or not so tall at all, are racking up mileage on fashion runways and in campaigns.  Dreads, afros, super wide-set eyes, large noses, androgynous, gap-toothed, and long-faced models are having an impact, and allowing us to look at fashion from another perspective, not only on the runway but in editorials and campaigns as well.  

We always think that fashion sets the trends and is a step ahead of the curve in its edicts and dictates, but now the industry is being influenced.  Just like the rest of us. 

#models and social media #quirky models  #quirky beauty  #new models #new faces  #changing beauty standards  #cult of personality