Soft pink lips, a touch of blush, fierce wings and vampy lip colours, this year’s Oscars bought an array of makeup looks from natural elegance to rock chic ready... …but our favourite look of the night was adorned by the lovely Emma Stone who opted for monochromatic makeup, one of the biggest makeup trends of 2018.For those not familiar with the term, monochromatic makeup simply refers to a look which uses one colour in multiple areas of the face, in this instance eyes and cheeks and lips.We cannot get enough of her peachy lid and cheek combo and the best part is it’s easy to pull off, and, we are going to show you how!OSCARS: Monochromatic Makeup Look Prep your skin Choose a base and shade that best complements your skin tone. In Emma’s case we’d use the Mineral Foundation Powder in Nude. Apply all over face using a powder brush. Choose your colour scheme Decide on the colour you want to use for the monochromatic look, then include multiple shades of that colour for all of your features. Colours that work great are reds, pinks, bronzes and oranges. Build your eyes Take your blush, Baked Blush in Tulip, and using a blending brush, blend all over eye lid up through the crease and to just under the brow bone. Then apply Mineral Shadow Tourmaline to the inner corners of the eyes and beneath the brow bone, blend out the edges. Using a flat definer brush also apply the Mineral Matte Shadow in Tourmaline along the lower lash lines. Next take Mineral Matte Shadow in Terra Peach and wet it to create more intense colour. Apply to outer corners of eyes.Using a flat definer brush apply Mineral Matte Shadow in Indigo to the upper lash line. Next take the Superwear Gel Liner in Baroque and apply along the lower lash lines and smudge out with a small tapered blending brush.Finish with two coast of Lush Mascara in Black to both the upper and lower lashes. Apply your blush Using a blush brush, apply Baked Blush in Tulip (same blush applied initially to eyes) to the apples of your cheeks and sweep upward into hairline. Layer your lips Complete the look with a lip shade that will compliment the blush colour chosen as well as complete the monochromatic look. Try Moisture Crème Lipstick in Peach. Finish with Pucker-Up Lipgloss in Air Kiss.Follow these five simple steps and you’ll be channelling Emma Stone in next to no time! Monochromatic looks are an easy way to look flawless and sophisticated without too much effort!

Remember the days of youth when you could cover your blemishes, slap on some mascara and gloss, a little makeup and look “done”? Why on earth did so many of us waste that opportunity to embrace natural beauty?The irony is that many of us 40+’s now find ourselves using a lot less makeup believing everything should to be soft and muted. Mature women are featured in makeup videos and made up like soft focus grandmas! Enough!Makeup for the mature (I prefer to call it Youth Enhancing Makeup) is not about hiding behind multi layers of pastels, it’s about two things; defying gravity and redefining the features.And while makeup does not guarantee a more youthful appearance; some of the most common makeup mistakes can actually age you!Mistake No 1: OVERLY PAINTED BROWSYes, we need brows to look youthful; they frame the eyes and lift the face. Many of us tweezed our brows to thin lines in the 80’s only to find they never grew back. However, harsh, red toned brows (for some reason many brow pencils are red toned?) make us look hard and older. The goal is to create natural looking thicker brows like the ones we used to have. Opt for taupe colour brow products instead of warm browns; these will frame your eyes beautifully without taking over your face. Apply the brow product in soft stokes to create the illusion of natural hair.We recommend ELES Brow Blenders, the soft pencil is easily used to fill in the gaps and then simply brush through the brows to soften the effect.Mistake No 2: COOL SKIN BASEMany foundations and BB Creams come in warm and cool tones. Opt for warmer tones that help counteract complexion pinkness that comes with thinning of the skin and exposure of fine capillaries. Warmer tones also conceal shadows better which means you need less concealer.We recommend ELES BB Cream, it’s packed with nature’s anti-ageing actives and leaves the skin glowing.Mistake No 3: WRONG CONCEALER AND WRONG COLOURAs we mature and the face loses its youthful “plumpness” shadows appear; under the eyes, around the nose, at the corners of the mouth etc. It’s tempting to reach for a heavy duty, ultra-light shade concealer to hide these dark areas. The problem is that they just make the dark shadows look grey as opposed to concealing them. Opt instead for peachy toned, lightweight concealers that won’t cake on the skin and counteract the blue in the shadows.We recommend ELES Dual Action Concealer, this is like 8 hours sleep in a tube!Mistake No 4: EYE MAKEUP THAT MAKES THE EYES DROOPAs the upper lid of the eye is crepe paper thin it tends to droop as we age and the upper crease of the eye becomes obscured, therefore the eyeshadow on the upper eyelid also becomes obscured. If you are extremely skilled at applying makeup you can fake the crease with exacting eye shadow application. However many of us don’t have the time or inclination on a daily basis to fuss with this, so apply a dark fine line through the upper lashes and a softer brighter eyeliner beneath the lashes instead. This “lifts” the eyes making them appear younger, then simply apply a warm shade of brown on the eyelids with the eyes open to ensure you can actually see the shadow. This method is quick and easy! Finally apply two coats of mascara to the upper lashes only to help conceal the eyelid that has dropped. Remember; Darker on top, light below. Shimmer shades under the lower lashes brighten the eyes and give a more youthful look.We recommend ELES Superwear Gel Eyeliner, its soft and easy to blend out and once set won’t transfer to the lids.Mistake No 5: COOL BLUSHSimple, use warm coral and peachy shades, which always look more vibrant on the skin rather than cold pink/mauve shades. This will also make the iris of your eyes more vibrant!We recommend ELES Baked Blush in Bouquet, it’s natural and warm and suits almost everyone.Mistake No 6: COLD FROSTED LIPSTICKAs we lose volume in our lips fine lines not only appear around the lips but on the lips themselves. Frosted lip colours enhance these lines. Instead, opt for cream lipstick that makes the lips look fuller and smoother, many of these contain moisturising molecules that plump the lips and keep them hydrated longer.We recommend ELES Colour Balm in Nude, its super hydrating, lasts for hours and looks like perfectly coloured natural lips.Follow these steps and you’ll create a youthful, flattering makeup that re-defines the features which is always more effective than trying to hide flaws!See this example of makeup mistakes on the left and correct application on the right and you be the judge, which one looks better?