Looking for an evening look that looks like vintage Hollywood with a modern twist? Look no further!


If you didn’t know…. James Bond has a sister. And, if you didn’t know…. I enjoy designing characters on myself to practice my makeup skills, especially for video recordings, as the makeup doesn’t photograph the same. I put the results on my Instagram. * The image was retouched to minimize some of the acne scars that I have on my cheeks.

This look started out when I thought of doing my own version of what Sean Connery’s sister might look like… if they made a movie about her! Connery is my favourite Bond, hands down! There is something so sexy about him, and he seems to laugh at himself all through his performances, as if he always knew he would save the world. 

The overall look was inspired by a post that actress Gillian Anderson made on her Insta of a recent photoshoot. I wanted something similar, a sleek minimal glam with pared back hair. You can see more of the shoot on the photographer’s Instagram.

HERE IS HOW TO GET THE LOOK

EYES
I lined the eyes to get the basic shape with a Chanel shadow stick in 187 Brun Chatain (discontinued), it’s a shimmering taupy- golden-brown, on top and bottom lids. The cat line and the intensity in the lash line were achieved with MAC Blacktrack, it’s made to be smudged and it has a subtle ashy brow colour. I applied it at the lash line and then intensified the outer wing by blending it out. You can use a black eyeshadow if you don’t feel comfortable working with creams. I used MAC eyebrow duo in Readhead to smoke out the edges. I like using eyebrow powders for subtle smoky work… when someone has ashy blonde hair like myself. On the lid, to add a subtle shimmer, use any champagne/gold shimmer that suits your skin-tone, every brand makes one!

BROWS
I slowly blocked up the brows with the contour colours I used to get the the appearance of bushiness. I used also NYX Lift & Snatch pen in Ash Brown, I put most of the bulking strokes on the outer part of the brow and left the inner brow as soft as I could.  It’s my favourite brow product, it’s that good! Thank you, NYX!!!! I finished the brows with Charlotte Tilbury eyebrow gel in Black to bulk up the whole brow as much as I could. The arch makes them more feminine, but you can also go for a boy-brow with a tuxedo or a Jacket. Make sure you work slowly and leave the bottom part of the brow as light as possible, so you don’t end up with sharpie brows!

LIPS
I used a now discontinued colour stick by Byte Beauty in Anise which is a milk chocolate shade. In the center apply a maple beige. I used a Rouge Coco colour by Chanel in Ingenue. For the gloss shade, I mixed a dark purple gloss, a brown gloss and a dark red gloss. I applied a thin layer with a brush, and I used a cotton bud to remove any excess gloss especially on the lip line. Let the gloss settle to make sure you have enough, your lips might absorb–reapply if needed. My lips are naturally mauve, so colours pull redder, if your lips are pale make sure there is enough red in your shades. If your lips are already brown, then apply a slightly darker shade of lipstick or lipliner and finish with a brown and a dark red gloss. If you need to line use the lightest touch and a your lips but better: a visible lip liner will make the lips more vampy.

SKIN
I used custom mix foundations from RCMA, Maq pro and SIan RIchards London to mix all my contours and highlights. For my main base colour, I used The Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturizer By NARS in Alaska.  Blushes are from Illamasqua in Naked rose as well as NARS in Exhibit A (a bright red) that I applied extremely gently on the apple for a glow. Powder contour is from Ben Nye in Neutral.