5 Elements of a GREAT Makeover....and this one is TWICE as nice!

I was filing some digital images from recent weeks and couldn't stop staring at these two transformations...stunning 17 year old bridesmaids who are twins!  I love before and afters as much as you do, and we all know we love the after...but why?  What elements make an "after" so eye catching?  Check out the before/afters, and then I'll give you a breakdown of what you're seeing and why it works:

 

In my opinion, here's why these makeovers work...

 

1. The Makeup is age/occasion/personal style appropriate.  They're 17, so they want to look pretty for their friend's wedding, but a super heavy (shall we say, tarty?) look just wouldn't be right on either girl.  The style of makeup you choose should fit your age, your coloring, your style, the occasion....all of the above.  This makeup does!  Incidentally, this look would work on nearly any age....it's a classically pretty look and that never goes out of style.

 

2. Skin still looks like skin! Breakouts and discoloration are minimized without creating a heavy look.  I used highly pigmented products applied in sheer layers to cover what needed to be covered without it looking like a coat of paint!  It's smoother and perfected, but it still looks like skin...not plastic or like they are covered in 3 inches of makeup.  It doesn't feel heavy either, which is important too. You can still see their freckles poking through!  Love that....

 

3. The colors are right/ no harsh lines - Soft pinks and plums look heavenly on brown eyed brunettes!  Everything is blended down well, the lip and cheek color emulates a natural flush and the eye makeup makes their brown eyes really stand out.  Black liner and black mascara (plus false lashes for pop!) work on everyone...everything else is in muted shades with nothing harsh and no unblended lines.

 

4. Brows!  These girls both have really thick strong brows!  I tweezed to clean up the shape, brushed them up and filled in a bit with brow pomade to highlight them.  Notice I didn't tweeze them down or change their shape too much?  Their natural strong brows work beautifully to frame their faces, it just needed a bit of polishing to look perfect.  Totally reshaping them into a different shape would look unnatural and unbalanced. (That's a whole 'nother topic, I could go on all day about brows!)

 

5. They still look like THEMSELVES.  Unless it's an artistic and stylized shoot, that's always my goal!  I want to bring out your natural good looks and polish them up...not make you look like you're dressed as a Halloween character or celeb wannabe.  The comfortable, warm smiles and sparkle in their eyes says it all...the LOVED how they looked!  Pretty, polished, perfect.

 

Here's a pic of them dressed and ready to go, along with another set of twins (different family) who served as adorable flower girls!

 

Every makeover is different and brings different goals with it....sometimes it's about covering skin issues, sometimes it's about making eyes pop, softening a strong jaw line.  When I'm doing editorial work or photo shoots, all bets are off and I might be totally packing on product, changing your face shape, and indeed making you look like a totally different person...but that's a whole different scenario, and not the way to go for weddings, special occasions and everyday situations.  Trends come and go, but classic, fresh and pretty NEVER go out of style and that's what these two examples are all about!  To me, these 5 elements are what make the ultimate makeover, because in the end, the before/after is about looking like the very best version of yourself. Or, in this case, looking a bit like your gorgeous twin sister....; )

 

 

(Makeup by Jennifer Trotter of Lip Service Makeup, Hair by Renn Traylor and Nikki Lasley)