By Gaynor Alder
I love getting ready for a glamorous event, spending hours in my boudoir, primping and preening whilst I wait for my velcro rollers to set. I pour myself a glass of champers, open my cabinet and look through my make up (which is lovingly lined up like ‘pretty maids all in a row’) and wait for inspiration to sweep over me. Usually, my look is dictated by my mood, but when it comes to a red carpet worthy occasion, I just love to channel a screen siren of yesteryear.
Ava Gardner personified style and sophistication with her striking red lips and porcelain skin. Red lipstick is a guaranteed head turner when making any grand entrance – definitely not a colour for wallflowers. It does however require artful application and vigilant reapplication throughout the day. Be sure to exfoliate your lips before you put it on, and a lip liner is essential to ensure that it doesn’t bleed. As red is such a bold statement, it’s vital you take the time to find the perfect shade. Peeps with cool undertones should look for a blue based red, whilst warm complexions should look for a fire engine red.
When recreating this look, balance the lips with a light neutral eye shadow (a delicate pink works exceptionally well), but don’t hold back with the liquid liner, mascara and nothing screams red carpet better than a set of false eye lashes (the drama darlings, the drama). For a porcelain complexion, exfoliate, moisturise and prime your skin, before applying your foundation. Bloom has a lovely make up base that is infused with lavender, which calms your skin and helps your foundation glide on effortlessly. Follow with a liquid foundation and set with loose powder to make it last all day. You can soften the overall look with a sweep of a pale pink powder blush.
Race day tip from Ava: Be sure to take a compact with you, to maintain your flawless complexion and reapply your lipstick when it inevitably rubs off on your champagne glass.
Key Products:
Bloom Lipstick ($28.00), Bloom Liquid Eye Liner in Jet Black ($25.00) & Bloom Full & Flirty Individual False Eye Lashes ($18.00)
Sophia Loren was a smoldering queen of seduction. If you want her smoky eye, begin by priming your eyes for optimal shadow application and staying power. Apply a medium grey eye shadow on your eyelid and then blend a dark grey almost black into the outer edge of your crease. Follow by highlighting your brow bone with a white or pale grey. Take a liquid liner and a steady hand and line the top eye lid, and if you’re really clever, finish by flicking the line up at the end for a seductive cat eyes look. For those amongst us who find false eye lashes fiddly and downright impossible (especially after a glass of bubbly), Bloom has a fabulous Full & Flirty Waterproof Fake Lash Mascara. 3-D polymers form tiny water resistant tubes around each individual lash, for high impact lashes with maximum volume and dramatic length. With this look being all about the eyes, be sure to balance it with a neutral lip – a light to medium pink tone works fabulously.
Race day tip from Sophia: Flutter your lashes at attractive male punters, whilst feigning inability to read the race book.
Key Products:
Bloom Full & Flirty Waterproof Fake Lash Mascara in Black ($30.00), Bloom Mineral Lipstick in Foxtrot ($28.00) and Bloom Eye Shadows in Slate, Ash & Platinum ($24.00)
Bridget Bardot’s sex kitten looks easily carried Sophia’s smoky eye, but her luscious blonde locks lent themselves equally well to the I’ve just spent a week sunning myself in St Tropez look. This palette is not for the English roses amongst. If you’re anything like myself and don’t tan even after laying in the sun for hours (I basted myself with Reef Coconut Oil in Bali for 10 days when I was 17 and returned only a slightly darker shade of white) use a fake tan on your face. For a radiant base, try a silky soft mineral foundation and contour your cheek area with a bronzer. Choose cream shadows or mineral powders with a subtle shimmer – gold and bronze shadows will make blue eyes sparkle and blending a warm brown in the crease will add extra definition. Perfect your pout with a shimmering gloss.
Bridgets’s race day tip: Don’t be too heavy handed in your quest for a summer glow – sometimes less is more.
Key Products:
Bloom’s Mineral Eye Shadow & Brush Set, Bloom’s Bronzing Powder ($35.00) and Bloom’s Mineral Powder Foundation ($35.00)
Grace Kelly epitomised femininity and timeless elegance. To create her soft and ethereal look, you should start by creating a dewy complexion. Bloom’s Mineral Plus Sheer Mineral Tint easily glides on with a light luminous veil and protects your skin from the sun with SPF15+. Dab on a delicate pink cream blush and highlight your cheekbones with an illuminiser. Apply a soft mid brown cream eye shadow and finish with a barely there shimmering pink gloss.
Race day tip from Grace: Betting on a winner requires the perfect strategy, which comes down to which horse has the prettiest name.
Key Products:
Bloom’s Illuminser ($35.00), Bloom’s Mineral Plus Sheer Mineral Tint ($47.99) and Bloom Lip Gloss in Amour ($24.00)
These movie starlet looks can all be created with Bloom cosmetics. You can also book in for a training session with one of Bloom’s make up experts, to learn how to recreate these looks for yourself at home.
Image credits:
http://women.timesonline.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00567/Fascinator_385x185_567191q.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26807749@N04/2511630738/in/set-72157605179296183/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26807749@N04/2510799261/in/set-72157605179296183/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/26807749@N04/2510729311/in/set-72157605179296183/
