The Kevyn Aucoin Project: The Innocent

For those of you who don't know who Kevyn Aucoin is - he is one of the most popular makeup artists in history. He died in 2002, but left behind a legacy in books and in beauty. The first book I ever bought about makeup was Kevyn's The Art of Makeup. He really inspired me as a youngin' way back in the day when i used to pluck all my girlfriend's eyebrows at the lunch table in High School and used all my allowance to buy Chanel and Yves Saint Laurent makeup.

As maybe sort of an "homage" to Kevyn I've decided a fun makeup project would be to do all of Kevyn's looks in the "Great Looks" section of the book Making Faces. There are 24 looks i will be re-creating over the next few weeks/months..i dunno. I'll take it as it comes!

I will follow the directions exactly as Kevyn describes them in his book and post my results.

 "Throughout history every culture has had it's icons, those brave and extraordinary souls whose exceptional talent and passion have heplped us find our dreams. These icons have, for the most part, shaped our definition of beauty. From "The Innocent" to "The Temptress", from "The Showgirl" to "The Mimimalist", history has given us so many choices for inspiration." - Kevyn Aucoin

PROJECT 1: The Innocent

1. Kevyn says to first groom the brows and fill in where necessary. Did that with MAC brow powder in blonde

2. Apply shimmery liquid foundation- I used LORAC natural performance foundation in NP2 mixed with Benefit's High Beam shimmer liquid after I concealed with Make Up For Ever Full Coverage Cocealer in Flesh 2 under my eyes and on my pimples.

3. Dot pink cream blush onto apples of the cheek, temples and chin and blend. I used MAC Blushcreme in Posey

4. Apply white iridescent creme shadow on the entire eyelid. I used Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow Quartet in 711 black magic and used the white one.

5. Brush brown creme eyeshadow in the crease and under the eye. I used Revlon Illuminance Creme Shadow Quartet in 720 Moonlit Jewels and used the brown one.

6. Curl lashes and apply black mascara. I used Japonesque precision lash curler and Revlon FabuLash mascara

7. Outline the lips with fleshtoned pencil and soften. I used MAC Spice

8. Apply clear gloss. I used Smith's Rosebud Salve

And here's my results

The resulting look was a very natural "innocent" look indeed. The pic of Tori Amos in Kevyn's book hardly resembles my makeup even though I followed his directions perfectly. This just goes to show you how much photography and lighting can play a part.

Also, in the pic of Tori, it looks like she has on grey eyeshadow, not brown.