From The Straits Times    |

The winged cat eye is one of the most iconic eye makeup looks ever, and yet it’s also one of the toughest to master. First, you have to perfect the wing and get it at the right angle and thickness, then you have to make sure it looks symmetrical on both eyes. We know we’re not the only ones who’ve ended up having to painstakingly remove all of our eye makeup after numerous unsuccessful attempts to get it precisely right.

Thankfully, Chantecaille Global Makeup Artist Fernando Cadavid and makeup artist to the likes of Reese Witherspoon, Jennifer Aniston, Christy Turlington, Angelina Jolie and Kim Kardashian has a solution for all our eyeliner woes. Hint: you will need two different types of eyeliners for this, but trust us, it’s all worth it. Stay tuned to the end for a genius eyeliner hack and the rest of the steps needed to create what Fernando calls the “sexy Spanish flamenco dancer” look.

 

Step 1: Skin prep

Spritz some rosewater toner to prep skin for makeup application. You want to follow up with a non-comedogenic serum and emulsion. Fernando recommends starting in the centre of the face where there is the most redness, working outwards.

One of the focal points of this look is the eyes so you want to brighten and lift the eye area so you get a smooth canvas to work with. Start off by applying a brightening and depuffing eye cream around your entire eye area including your eyelids.

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Apply a thin layer of moisturiser, once again starting from the centre of your face, working outwards.

 

Step 2: Prime

Pat a mattifying primer onto skin to help your makeup to stay intact from day into night, especially if you have oily skin.

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Product used: Chantecaille Anti-pollution Mattifying Cream ($212)

 

Step 3: Conceal

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To prevent any eyeshadow fallout from ruining your base makeup, Fernando recommends starting on your eye makeup first before moving into your foundation. Cover up any discolouration and dark circles around the under eye area and eyelids with a concealer.

 

Step 4: Tightline

Tightlining basically means you’re getting your pencil eyeliner as close to the roots of your lashes as possible and you’re filling the gaps between the lashes.

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It sneakily makes your lashes seem thicker and fuller at the roots while adding subtle definition to the eyes. “You also use less eyeshadow when you tightline,” says Fernando. To tightline, you want to “tilt your head back and look in the mirror so you can access that area more comfortably.”

Product used: Chantecaille Waterproof Eyeliner-Ebony ($45)

 

Step 5: Draft out your cat eye

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If you trace and draft out the shape of your cat eye with a softer powder or pencil liner rather than going in with the liquid or the gel.

One of the trickiest parts of nailing the winged liner is making sure both sides are symmetrical so getting the angle right before you go in with a hard-to-remove product like a liquid or gel liner will make your life so much easier.

 

Step 6: Go over the line you’ve created with a liquid eyeliner

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To get both sides to be perfectly symmetrical, “it’ll take some practice (throw in a prayer!)” and cleaning up with a Q-tip.” With the same Q-tip, smudge out the bottom lash line for added definition.

If you have oily lids and eyeliner tends to smudge on you, set the eyeliner with an eyeshadow of the same colour with an angled brush. You can even use a bronzer in place of an eyeshadow.

Product used: Chantecaille Le Stylo Ultra Slim Brown ($59)

 

Step 7: Foundation

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Blend out the foundation with your fingers to soften and really melt the foundation into the skin to ensure there are no streaks or line.

 

Step 8: Highlight

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If you have acne, acne scars and closed comedones, a sparkly highlighter can accentuate your skin’s uneven texture and make it look worse than it actually is.

So take Fernando’s advice: mix liquid highlighter with foundation so you can get more coverage and a skin-like finish. With a brush, apply your highlighter foundation mixture on the higher planes of your face, on top of the cheekbones and on the nose bridge.

Product used: Chantecaille Luster Anti-Aging Liquid Lumiere ($75)

 

Step 9: Powder

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Apply translucent powder around the perimeter of the face to take down the shine. You want to avoid the centre of the face to retain that luminous glow.

 

Step 10: Contour

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With a foundation shade that is darker than your natural skin colour, pop that in the hollows of your cheekbones to warm up your skin tone and add structure to the face.

 

Step 11: Blush

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Sweep blush onto the apples of the cheeks, over your contour to give your face some colour. Continue to blend for a soft and diffused finish.

Product used: Chantecaille Cheek Shade – Laughter + Coral ($51)

 

Step 12: Eyebrows

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As a rule of thumb, Fernando recommends, “starting light because you can add more if you need, but it’s harder to erase to remove a brow product once it’s on the hairs.” Also, to mimic your natural eyebrow hairs, you don’t want to start from the very beginning of the brows.

 

Step 12: Lips

 

Line and fill your lips with a bronze purple lip liner. If you don’t have one, you can use an eyeliner instead.

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Next. Follow up with an orange red liquid lipstick. Apply concealer on the outer corners of the mouth to make your lipstick pop and prevent the colour from bleeding.

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Products used:

Chantecaille Lip Veil (in Portulaca, Edelberry and Protea) ($80)

 

Step 13: Curl your lashes

Curl your lashes by rolling your mascara wand to get every single lash.

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Product used: Chantecaille Faux Cils Longest Lash Mascara ($123)

And you’re done! Here’s the completed look!

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