SHEN Makeup Artist Reveals Routine-Changing Tips For A Romantic Valentine's Day Look 💋
Love is the air! Make your Valentine weak in the knees with these essential tips from SHEN’s very own expert makeup artist, Vivian Wang. Her best-kept secrets and favorite products for jaw-dropping romantic makeup looks are guaranteed to turn heads. From bold lips and lashes to delicately winged eyeliner, Vivian tells all for infallible, lustful beauty.
Name: Vivian
Occupation: Makeup Artist at SHEN Beauty
Question. Lips, lips, lips! Whenever someone thinks of Valentine’s Day makeup they imagine a sultry lip look, what do you recommend for extra juicy and kissable lips?
Answer. Make lip care part of your skin care routine! I use Lanolips Lemonaid Scrub to gently exfoliate and Goldfaden Lip Therapy to hydrate and nourish. I do this at the same time as the rest of my skincare to give the lip treatment time to work its magic. For color application, I like to apply a couple of thin layers and blot with a tissue in-between to gradually build up coverage and increase overall wear-time. I also recommend using a lip brush and some Q-tips for an extra precise and controlled application.
Question. What pairs best with a colored lip for eyes? Shimmery? Matte? What is your go-to palette, and why?
Answer. There are so many possibilities — a subtle wash of shimmer, a little smudgy matte liner, and a full glam smokey eye all pair well with a bold lip, depending on what you’re going for and how much time or effort you have/want to spend. The Kosas 10-second Eye Gel or the Westman Atelier Eye Pods are super quick and can both be applied lightly or more heavily to suit your preferences (I like to use my fingers!). The Eyeko Limitless Eyeshadow Palettes can create a huge range of looks with shades already perfectly paired together for you. MOB Beauty allows for more wiggle room with the customizability of their capsule system and has a range of both matte and shimmer shades.
Question. What blush would you recommend for this romantic look?
Answer. The BeautyCounter Cream Blush is super easy to apply and blend with any chosen method — be it a brush, sponge, or even just your fingers! I love that the color payoff is buildable, and that the cream formula appears as though it’s your natural skin, rather than sitting on top of it.
Question. What eyeliner do you recommend, and do you have any tips for a perfect line each time?
Answer. For a sharp winged liner look, the Eyeko Liquid Eyeliner offers both precision and opacity. You could opt for a smokier look with their pencil eyeliner smudged out along the lash line — and for a pop of color, the shade Manifest (a romantic burgundy red) pairs well with any eye color.
Question. What mascara pairs best with a winged eyeliner?
Answer. For a more subtle lash look, my current favorite is the Eyeko Sport Mascara — it’s a waterproof fiber mascara that holds lash curl well (something my lashes can have trouble with). A more dramatic option is Westman Atelier’s Eye Love You Mascara in Le Box- The Shanghai Edition to receive Westman's beautiful Lip Suede Palette Les Rouges.
Question. As a makeup artist, what is a mistake you see people making, and what is a tip you’d love everyone to know?
Answer. The most common “mistakes” I tend to notice usually come down to blending — whether that means you’ve blended too little, too much, too high, or too low. It may seem obvious, but be sure that wherever you apply a product — whether a foundation, concealer, blush, eyeshadow, etc. — that you start where you want the heaviest amount of coverage, and give yourself room to blend. Use circular and/or stippling motions to blend the edges without moving product to areas you don’t want it, and back-and-forth movements to shift a product's area of coverage. Lastly, if you find yourself being a little heavy handed and over-blending (i.e. things start to look “muddy”), try holding your brushes further back on the handle!
Question. Everyone knows good makeup starts with good skin, what are 3 products you recommend for a great base?
Answer. The Irene Forte Helichrysum Toner is really nice for prepping the skin for makeup — the hyaluronic acid hydrates while the lactic acid very gently exfoliates. Also, I’ve been OBSESSED with the Goldfaden Radiance Repair since less than a week after I first started using it (ask literally any one of my coworkers, lol). It has helped my post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation so much that I’ve been using less and less concealer/foundation, though it does wear beautifully under makeup. The Leland Francis twenty-three botanical serum is also fabulous for keeping my skin looking and feeling ultra-radiant throughout the day. Oh, and sunscreen always!
Question. Last question, what perfume do you recommend to complete this romantic look?
Answer. My personal favorites right now are The Nue Co's Functional Fragrance and Heretic’s Dirty Fig.
