A Makeup Artist’s Guide To Taking Your Look From Day To Night

There’s plenty going on in Hong Kong to keep us busy, so we often end up going out to drinks or to an event straight from the office (leaving little or no time to freshen up our makeup). But there are plenty of time saving techniques you can try, to easily update your look. So to help and inspire you, I enlisted the help of some members of Team Sassy, to demonstrate how to work with your office makeup to create some fun variations for the evening. The majority of products I used were what was already in the girls’ makeup bags, but I did add in one or two of my own where needed. Here are my tips for day to night makeup.

Elle

Elle loves makeup and has a pretty impressive collection! She’s a huge fan of Charlotte Tilbury products (just like me!) so I used her products to recreate a fresh and romantic rose gold look, which made her blue eyes pop beautifully.

Top Tips:

• If you have blue or green eyes like Elle, go for shades of gold and rose gold. I promise it will work a treat. Charlotte Tilbury’s The Vintage Vamp Luxury Palette is perfect!
• If you want to create a medium to smokey eye, but are scared to go too dark, then I suggest applying the darker colour horizontally along the eye. So apply your first base colour all over your lid area (only up to your socket line, don’t go all the way up to the brow, that’s a big no-no) and then apply a smokier dark shade along the lash line. Think of it as if you are adding a very thick top liner (that way there is no blending involved).
• With lips you can go either way and choose something soft and neutral in a pink/brown tone, or go all out with a bright pink lippy (like I did on Elle)! Don’t be shy, if you don’t like it, you can always take it off.

Sam

Sam wears very little makeup during the day, especially throughout Hong Kong’s humid summer. If she’s going out in the evening, the only addition she makes to her makeup is to use a bold lipstick. This instantly gives more life to her look, with no fuss. So to stick to Sam’s relaxed routine but achieve instant glam, I paired a bold lip and a simple black lived-in eyeliner.

Top Tips:

• If you have trouble drawing on a top liner and it looks uneven, you can easily touch it up using an eyeshadow in the same colour. Once you’ve drawn your line, load your brush up with the eyeshadow (I use my KTK Smudger Brush as it’s perfect for this job) and use it to smudge the shadow along the top edge of your liner. It gives a more lived-in effect and smooths out the bumpy line. You still have the liner effect but you don’t have to start all over again!
• If you’re using a bold or bright lipstick, once you have applied it, remove any mistakes with a cotton bud and then run your concealer brush (ideally with remnants of concealer on it) along the outer edge of your lips. This will help to clean up any smudges and define and perfect the line of your lippy.
• Seal your makeup with a finishing spray so it stays all night (or until you actually want to take it off!). My favourite setting sprays come from MAC and Urban Decay.

Read more: A Makeup Artist’s Guide To Keeping Your Look Fresh In The HK Heat

April

April was excited to see what I could create with her makeup bag of goodies. As you can tell she has beautiful skin so I didn’t want to overdo her evening look. I spotted a glitter liner and decided to only add a touch of colour to the top of her eyes, so I chose my favourite eyeliner to create this fun but chic look.

Top Tips:

• If you don’t want to make too much fuss when it comes to your eyes but you want to create something striking, add a colourful top liner. It’s easy, effective and looks amazing! KIKO has some amazing, affordable liners.
• If you’re feeling a little more courageous or are planning a big night out, then adding a gel glitter to your lower lash line is effective and fun. Apply under the lashes and not on the waterline.
• Even though the eyes are bright, you don’t necessarily have to go for a light lipstick, you really can be creative and wear whatever colour you fancy (whether that’s bold, dark, bright or nude). Makeup is a fun expression so don’t feel like you have to stick to so many rules!

Mansha

Mansha has beautiful almond eyes so I really wanted to make her eyes stand out. Her “go to” evening makeup is usually quite heavy and bold, so I jumped at the opportunity to choose a vibrant blue shadow (which also matched her top) to create a very glam look.

Top Tips:

• When using dark or bright colours, ensure the edges are nicely blended so they don’t look too harsh. To achieve this I always use a blending brush to soften the edges.
• Use one shadow only, don’t try to overcomplicate things when you’re working with bright or dark colours. This not only saves you time, but also makes a dramatic statement. I popped a highlighter in the inner corner of the eyes to add some extra dimension.
• To balance the eyes and take the heat off the blue being so loud, I added a top black liner (if you aren’t keen on black, try a dark brown). This really brought the look together and defined the eyes even more.

Hopefully these tips and tricks will help and inspire you next time you go out. Above all, don’t forget to have fun with your makeup and enjoy experimenting!