Vintage pinup girl

Taking a suggestion from a reader (and please do send in any requests!), I made my very first attempt at a pin-up girl look today. I’ve never thought of myself as the type that could pull that vixen-inspired look off, but I totally did! Thanks to Ashley’s pin-up girl request, I got to feel super sexy all day long. Unfortunately, I had a lot of stuff to get done around the house today, but kept getting distracted by mirrors! What other suggestions or requests do you have for a look?

I think there are four important parts to this vintage look:

1. super perfect skin with a really matte finish
2. bright red lips
3. smokin’ hot winged eyeliner
4. dark, perfectly shaped eyebrows

To achieve this look, I made sure my skin was really well concealed, using Benefit’s erase paste (that stuff is magic, I swear), then doing my regular foundation routine, and finishing it off with tons of finishing powder – Bare Escentuals mineral veil, to be exact.  Next, I took a dark brown shadow to fill in and shape my brows. Generally, I tend to just fill them in and set them with a gel, but today I changed the shape a bit – accentuating the arch and elongating the end.

For the eyes, the trick is to use an eyeshadow that is a shade or two lighter than your skin tone. I’m actually not sure what category Spellbound falls in (matte, glimmer, or glimpse), but if I were to do this look again (which I totally will), I would choose a shadow with more of a matte finish. In the crease, use a matte medium brown, and line with a gel liner in black. I already have long lashes, so I don’t own any false lashes. If I did, though, I would have put them on for this look – at least on the outer half of the eye.

Clockwise from left: Night Owl, Buxom Leatherette Lashliner, Spellbound, Retro

Ecotools eyeshadow brush, full-edged liner, pencil brush, eyeliner brush

On the eyes:

• Original Prime Time Eyelid Primer
• Spellbound applied generously all over lid from lashes to brow, using Ecotools eyeshadow brush
• Night Owl blended into crease, using Ecotools brush
• Night Owl lightly applied under lower lashes with pencil brush
• Spellbound lightly applied under inner lower lashes with pencil brush
• Retro blended very lightly into outer corner, using Ecotools brush
• Buxom Leatherette lashliner applied along top lashes using full-edged liner brush, winged out at sides, then cleaned up and pointed with the eyeliner brush
• Big Tease mascara

On the lips:

• Concentrating on making a full, round shape to the lips, apply lipliner in Natural all around lips and then blended in
• Pretty Amazing lipcolor in Strength

On the face:

• Original Prime Time
• Benefit Erase Paste to conceal uneven skin tone and undereye circles
• Original foundation in Fairly Medium, mixed with Bisque to lighten it
• Lots of mineral veil for a soft, matte look
• Miracle blush applied only to apples of cheeks
• Beauty mark applied using eyeliner brush and Buxom Suede lashliner