Makeup Tips by Zohn Ho of Estee Lauder

So, have you seen the Blue Dahlia collection by Estee Lauder yet? If you have, were you keen on buying their coveted intense, avant-garde 5-colour eyeshadow pans?

I love colours... I think they sorta translate my mood at the start of the morning. But when it comes to applying eye colours, I find myself always sticking to shades I'm comfortable with... safe, easy to blend and does not make me look either like a panda or raccoon. My current favourite is the smokin' eyes kit from benefit - the base colour is just right to highlight my eyebrow bone area with that hint of pink, the medium tone sets a nice grey shade and I can skip the darkest shade in the kit if I did not want anything too dramatic.

According to Tom Pecheux, EL's Creative Makeup Director, eye makeup makes women look beautiful and feel sensual. It makes the entire face radiant. I guess with proper eye make up, one can look fresh in the morning even after a late night or create a bigger intensity with bolder colours.

And to demonstrate how easy it is to use the eye colours from the new collection, Zohn Ho, EL's Global Premier Makeup Artist came all the way from Hong Kong and charmed us with his graceful touches.

He shared with us that EL didn't just focus on creating intense colours with 4 types of finishing for the eyes but that they had carefully designed the applicator as well. The applicator is sized just right and grabs colours effortlessly so that women will enjoy using them rather than chuck them away straight after purchasing the eyeshadows.

3 looks on 3 different models...

I am no expert in putting on makeup though I've been a constant user for more than 10 years. I guess technology and new gimmicks by makeup brands would always change the way we use makeup and how we should layer them. Meeting Zohn and talking to such a passionate person, I was truly taken in by his tips and tricks, and these are what I can share with you, for you to enjoy making up your face instead of treating it as a routine step-by-step.

1. There are no rules in eye makeup. "Magazines make makeup application difficult!" There is no such thing as putting on the eyeliner last or stuff like that. For smoky eyes, the eyeliner can be applied first to create a deeper intensity or could even be covered by the eyeshadow to give you a subtle blend.
2. Makeup should not look stiff and thick. "Too much makeup dulls the skin. Give the glow back to your skin". One shouldn't layer too much to keep the skin looking dewy and glow naturally. Layer the eye colours according to the shades you require, blend away and apply a mix of ANR + concealer onto the undereyes to eliminate any dark circles and as a final 'glaze' on the entire eyelids to give you a subtle, fresh and glowy look.
3. If the mascara you applied stains your skin, just let it dry and remove it with a cotton tip.
4. The Pure Color Eyeshadows transfers really easily due to the True Vision Technology. Therefore, start with a light stroke and build up the colour if you want to have a stronger shade on your eyelids.
5. Everyone must have Crystal Black, a Pure Color Eyeshadow that can transform any day look to pure sexiness. Of course, sexy, in his description would be for your eye colours to be nicely blended without any obvious lines or borders.

i am happy that EL's Crystal Black is almost similar to the colours I already have in my Benefit Smokin' Eyes kit.

With all these tips, I was still a little concerned on the outstanding teal colour in their blue shade 5-colour eyeshadows and wondered if the colour suit whatever outfit I was wearing. This must sound like a really stupid question because Zohn emphasised on the need for women to stop matching colours to an outfit. We should use colours that we are comfortable with, those that enhance the features of our eyes and not choose colours based on the outfit we're wearing. Hmmm... it's hard to not agree but it's also very difficult to agree since the model he worked on with the blue 5-colour pan wore a blue dress.

I guess it takes a change of mindset when it comes to a change of habit and perception.

I must say, though, that the makeover session with Zohn had truly opened my eyes to how we should do makeup. It's supposed to be simple and in contrast to what many beauty advisors tell you these days, I think we should stop putting on too many layers on our face (unless of course you have an important event that you need to look fresh and the makeup should stay intact). I also learnt to improvise my makeup regime and I've never been more than happy. Of course, on the eyeshadow part, I am still finding it difficult to breakaway from my normal routine but then again, change takes time and I am willing to experiment if it will make my life a little easier.

a nice shot with the makeup guru, Zohn Ho

Anyways, in case you need an inspiration, below are tips by Tom Pecheux on how to do your eye colours, based on their new collection. I think we can use his tips not just for their 5-colour pan but with any other mix that you already have but unsure how to create a special look.

• Shade 4 over entire lid as base. Blend.
• Shade 3 to frame the eye: start at crease, extend above and out to outer corner; define and blend into outer corner; extend down under lower lashes. Blend.
• Shades 5 and 1 blended together. Apply over inner 2/3 of lid.
• Shade 1 as liner along lashline.
• Shade 2 blended over liner at upper lashline. Blend out into outer corner.

Notice how many blends there are in the above tips? ;)

Finish your eye makeup with mascara on your lashes, although if you were to take in Zohn's first tip - there are no rules. He even put on mascara during the early steps. So, do what you feel makes you comfortable and when you make a mistake, just remove with a cotton tip, and blend.

Do you find the tips helpful?

Estee Lauder's Blue Dahlia Collection for Fall 2010 - available in Isetan and Parkson stores.

This, just in this week and I was fortunate to be among the first few to check it out during a media launch. But to tell you the truth, I may have been a little slow in featuring this compared to many other beauty bloggers because this is not new news in the beauty scene ;)

The Blue Dahlia Pure Color is a new collection from Estee Lauder's Fall 2010, inspired by their Creative Makeup Director, Tom Pecheux. Now I won't get too technical with my description of the collection since many of you would probably be more interested to know it's wearability vs. whatever claims they want you to hear.

Their 5-coloured compact for the eyes takes centrestage in this Fall 2010 collection, with 2 intense shades of blue and violet, but you will also be able to search for your favourite shade of single eye colours, shimmery lip glosses, nail colours and lippies that would complement your look.

I had the opportunity to talk to Zohn Ho, Estee Lauder's Global Premier Makeup Artist at the launch, and managed to swipe some of their eyeshadows onto my skin. I must say that I am pretty much delighted at the smoothness and intensity of the colours. In fact, they did rave about their colours' wearability and how accurate the colour would appear on a woman's face as how it looks in its luxurious compact case. I think that must be Pure Color's best selling point.

And, if you're like me who's pretty green in dolling-up your face, I do think you'd be a little overwhelmed by the heavy teal-turquioish colour from one of the 2 5-colour eyeshadow pans. A lot of us may think that the colour may not suit our every day 'clean' or professional look but from the demonstration given by their regional makeup artist, I guess the trick is to blend and layer until you have the desired intensity. From then on, you might see make up and colours in a different perspective especially with the help of reliable '*technologically-advanced' tools such as those from the Pure Color range. That said, I may still not take the risk and would rather buy other colours from the collection because I am no pro, and blending may take ages for my eyes to look good ;)

I shall share with you on the tricks of applying their new colours and useful tips from Zohn in another post but for now, I shall inform you that the collection can only be found in all of Isetan and 3 of Parkson's main stores, priced at RM142 for the 5-coloured eyeshadow, RM75 for their gloss and gloss stick, RM70 for single eyeshadow and RM60 for their nail polish.

Some technical facts you may want to know:

Estee Lauder uses *True Vision Technology to incorporate intense, highly pigmented shades for a saturated colour-rich application. A crystalline laminate polymer intensifies colour clarity and vibrancy which translates in an easy swipe of colour (just one easy stroke) without you having to apply the colour many times in order to get it right.