This image was taken the first time I worked with Olivia a few months ago. I’d always admired how great her makeup looks on the red carpet, and always thought she was one of the most beautiful actresses around. Olivia definitely knows how she looks her best – from the shape of the eyeshadow, to the angle of the eyeliner, and the placement of contour and cheek color. She shared with me that she’s worked with a fantastic makeup artist in Los Angeles for many years, and from the pictures she’s shown me from the events where she’s done her own makeup, it’s obvious that she, herself, seriously knows how to paint her own face – and put on false eyelashes better than anyone else I’ve ever known!

Before I tell you how to recreate this makeup look for yourself, I want to share with you this story:

Recently I arrived at Olivia’s hotel room to do her makeup for a TV show appearance. Before taking a seat in front of me, she reached into her purse and pulled out small bag containing a bottle of nail polish and a bottle of polish remover she’d just picked up at Whole Foods.  I was so excited (as only a green makeup artist can be) by what I saw.  Of all the options she had between the equally as close in proximity drug store, mainstream grocery store, and beauty supply shop, she made it a point to spend her dollars on nail products that are made by companies that have made a concerted effort to be as toxin-free as possible. The color was a killer shade of red, and the remover worked extremely well to remove the polish she started out wearing.  It’s the little purchases like this that say a lot. Companies that attempt to do better for the environment and for their consumers need our support.

Just one more reason why I’m so stoked to work with Olivia. Plus she personally makes the rounds to say thank you, and shakes the hand of every single person that had even the smallest roll on whatever photo or video shoot she’s working on. Who does that?! Olivia does, and it makes everyone feel *so* good.

Okay, back to telling you how you can make your own face glowy and bronzed:

FACE:

• I favored a really dewy complexion for this glowy look. I started with a tiny bit of La Bella Figura’s Rainforest Hydration Treatment and thoroughly massaged it into her face and neck. A little goes a long way to intensely hydrating skin. I waited about 20 minutes until it had fully absorbed to begin perfecting her skin, which works out well since I always start with eye makeup first.
• Once I finished her eyes, I used Vapour Organic Beauty’s Atmosphere Luminous Foundation Stick, applied with a small foundation brush, and worked it into the areas in need, patting it into place with a damp – but not at all wet to the touch – beauty blender sponge.
• I started building the bronzed glow by first laying down a layer of cream highlighter from RMS beauty (living luminizer) on the areas of her face that I wanted to reflect the most light in front of the paparazzi: the bridge of her nose, her cheekbones and her cupids bow.
• It wasn’t until I was nearly finished with the rest of her makeup, that I went back and mixed two colorful shades of Vapour cream cheek stick color in Torch and Courtesean  on my small, fluffy brush, and swirled them around the apples of her cheeks, just to give a brightness to her face.
• Then I went to work with my favorite Dr. Hauschka powder bronzer, placing it onto her skin with a large, fluffy, super soft powder brush. The trick when powdering on top of cream is to make sure the cream has set as much as it can, and then place the powder color on top with a large brush. If you buff it too much you run the risk of smearing the cream below and creating streaks.
• To finish her cheeks, I went back with a matte brown bronzer called Mauna Lao, from Alima Pure to add more definition to her cheekbones, and I softly placed the powder underneath them with a small eyeshadow blender brush, to really make them pop.

ON HER EYES:

• I love Kjaer Weis’ eyeshadows and use them all the time. Here I placed ‘Charmed’ under her eye, and then over her entire lid, blending it upwards for a sheer application from crease to brow. Then I used my same Dr. Hauschka’s matte bronzer with a fluffy eyeshadow blending brush to create a little depth in her crease, particularly towards the outer edge.
• It’s no secret that I love some serious lashes, so I curled the heck out of hers, and then applied 400 coats of covergirl lash blast, in very black (and a few individual fake lashes from Ardell for a little extra depth)
• I filled in her brows with a deep brown brow pencil

ON HER LIPS

• I used my favorite layering technique (some say I layer too much, making it impossible to afford to recreate what I’ve done, but I think it’s important to have a full lip wardrobe, and fun to make your own color), starting with a layer of Ilia’s Come Undone nude crayon, and topped it with Burt’s Bees Lip Gloss in Ocean Sunrise, and finally, tapped a bit of Burt’s Bees Lip Shine in Wink onto the middle of her bottom lip.

Et voila.

Thanks to Glamour magazine for calling Oliva’s look out in July’s issue as a beautiful way to bronze!

Just look at that face! Gorgeous!

Every year the iconic designer, Diane Von Furstenberg, throws an awards event to provide recipients with the exposure and resources needed to extend their critical efforts on behalf of women’s causes. Four individuals are honored who have displayed leadership, strength, and courage in their commitment to their causes, and this year, the beautiful Olivia Wilde was a presenter. I’m always happy to get clients ready for a red carpet event, but when it’s for a cause that’s so near and dear to my heart, it makes it all the better for me.

When I got to Olivia’s apartment about two hours before she had to leave for the event, she showed me the gorgeous black pants suit she and her stylists had chosen, and said: “I don’t know, I was thinking we should play up my eyes”.  On my way to her place I’d been looking at photos of her from previous red carpet events -which I do before meeting with every client – to see which looks I liked her in the most. Olivia usually goes for a dramatic black liquid cat-eye or a rounded, very intense dark smokey eye, and in the moment she said “let’s play up my eyes”, what felt like 500 images of fun things I could do flooded my head. As her hairstylist began running mousse through her hair, I stood staring at the shadows and liners I’d laid out on her dining room table, trying to decide which colors to swirl around her eyes, and in what shape.

I knew I needed a minute to come to a decision, so I did what I usually do, and started with a face oil massage to get her circulation going, and to zone out on her face while she had her eyes closed. Within seconds it came to me, and I saw the completed look in my head, even before the oil had time to absorb.

The glowing skin is ultimately courtesy of Olivia’s genes, of course, but I also always give a lot of credit to the base layer of hydration I lay down before I draw and paint on the skin, and in this case, Lina Hanson Global Face Serum made for a truly glowing-from-within look. Plus, the aromatherapy this oil provides to my clients (and to me) during the face massage has made it a mainstay in my kit (and my medicine chest). The scent is incredible, and the viscosity is perfect.

As for her beautiful eyes: I used three simple products:

1. a pale, sheer shimmery slate gray,
2. a medium dark matte smokey graphite gray, and
3. a black creamy eyeliner.

First I mapped out the overall shape I wanted using the pale gray. On top of that I precisely placed the medium/dark matte gray along the crease and outward, extending slightly up from the outer corner of her eye, and then I blended the hell out of it so there would be no apparent edge between the two shades. Then I went in with a black liner and thoroughly applied it on the inner rim of top and bottom lid, as well as dotted in between lashes. To complete the look I smudged it into the lash line on both bottom and top lid using a smudge brush.

I really love how this look turned out… and it’s just like I saw it in my head during the face oil massage!

One final note: since everyone always wants to know the answers to these two questions about my clients,  I will tell you: Olivia is incredibly nice, and super beautiful in person without a lick of makeup.