We are in the throws of Trinidad & Tobago Carnival 2018! Fetes are ramping up and the debate over the Road March continues. Are you #TeamSavannah or #TeamKingdom?
There are hundreds of thousands of people playing mas this year, so I decided to finally film a Carnival makeup look. I have definitely done looks in the past on my blog, but I have never posted one on YouTube. I decided to get inspiration from the section “Virginia” from The Lost Tribe Carnival “7 Sisters” 2018 offering. A pretty light blue costume with gold accents. I also looked at the makeup looks done at the Lost Tribe launch done by global makeup artist for M.A.C. and one of my faves, Romero Jennings.
Have you ever been moved by nature? Inspired by the beauty of warm weather? Well…that happened to me recently. I love when the calendar changes to spring and the temperatures start to rise. NYC does a great job beautifying the neigbourhoods, replanting trees and grass and planting vividly coloured flowers in hundreds of varieties in the parks. So one day while at lunch, I was awestruck at the gorgeous, bright-coloured varietals of tulips that were dotting the park. They were so stunning! I love tulips and I had never seen many of the different types of tulips. Some were monochromatic, some contained two colours, some were variegated and there were even some that had heavily ruffled petals! Nature is an amazing source for colour inspiration and combinations! It really inspired me to do a spring makeup on my dark skin.
Here is some of what I saw…
This one has monochromatic variegation
This one has duochromatic variegation – red & yellow!
I was inspired by the colour of this particular flower that was pink and orange.
See how it is pink on the outside and orange on the inside of the petals. Image by me.
Also, while at The Makeup Show (you should check out my blog post on that here), I saw a gorgeous pink eye kohl pencil from Black Up Cosmetics and this was ideal for the look! Waterproof in a pretty warm reddish pink colour. I created a simple spring/summer appropriate look. Great with a cute summer dress. Clean, natural skin, bright, but not too bright eyes, and nude lips. I also used two other new products that I was testing out, the new BECCA Shimmering Skin Perfector Luminous Blush and a newly discovered black woman owned lip colour line, that’s vegan called The Lip Bar. I will be doing a separate review on them at a later date.
Image via NARS PR. The look: Creatures of the Wind FS. That hair too!
All info via PR
THE INSPIRATION
“I was inspired by a young Hispanic girl in New York. She’s really confident and likes herself – she doesn’t entertain all the makeup tricks “contour, foundation & powder” she goes straight for a strong lip. This is a sophisticated update on the heavily-lined lip from the 90’s. I played with the color and application on the lips, kept the rest of the face clean and bare, and brushed gloss through her brows to keep it young. It’s beauty with attitude.”
—Mark Carrasquillo for NARS Cosmetics
This Carnival season in Trinidad & Tobago has been a very short one. From the day after Christmas to the Carnival Monday is about 6 weeks! So all the fetes and other cultural events jam up next to each other. Talk about hectic! So this is my Carnival makeup look for 2016.
Usually I take inspiration from a pretty mas costume from one of the bigger mas bands, but this time, I just kinda played it by ear and this is what I came up with!
Carnival 2016
Black and smokey gray rhinestones
Multi coloured and sized rhinestones
I wanted the sequins and rhinestones to be the centre of attention without too much makeup anywhere else. Also I incorporated some strategic highlighting of the skin, minimal foundation and a couple of lip options. There is usually so much going on with your costume – the head piece, beads, feathers etc. that I wanted the look to be super pretty.
Before starting, especially for Carnival, make sure to moisturise and add a really good SPF. The sun is usually blazing and wearing sequins will give you a funky tan if you do not protect your skin. Apply the SPF just before applying your foundation. A foundation that is water-resistant and contains SPF will also help. Finally make reapply sunscreen every couple of hours. This is why I suggest wearing minimal foundation.
Lupita Nyong’o US Vogue October 2015. Makeup by Nick Barose for Lancome and hair by Vernon Francois. Image source Huffington Post
When the first pictures of the October Vogue cover crossed the news feeds, we all collectively gasped and shouted ‘Yaaaaasssssss!’. ‘Yaaaaaaaasssssss!’ Lupita slayed!The look is not overly fancy but super luxurious and I knew instantly I had to recreate the look.Although it is 2015, seeing a woman of colour in on a major magazine cover is still quite uncommon and they often share covers during the same month. So *obviously* , I had to go out and buy it.As I flipped through her spread, I was so impressed! She is not a model, but between the herself, the stylists/artists and who ever organised the shot did a fantastic job! They knew exactly what would look amazing on her! And could we for a moment talk about her skin? Gawd!Like butter! Just proves that amazing skin and skincare should be the focus of your beauty routine.And her hair! Love when she wears a side part and I also love that she is always switching it up.You can totally have short, natural hair and it can be so versatile.
So I selected the picture of Lupita in the gorgeous blue dress by Givenchy by Riccardo Tisci Haute Couture.
The focus of the makeup look was flawless skin and deep aubergine lip, but there was also a hint of green colour surrounding the eyes.It’s a very wearable look, not overworked, not over contoured/highlighted, but is bold and packs a punch!
