Last week I dashed over to Paris to attend an amazing party that celebrated the launch of the Alber Elbaz for Lancome makeup range. You can read my post about the makeup here – I called the post Lancome in Lanvin’s Clothing, which I thought was incredibly witty at the time! I filmed my day in Paris and called the video Follow Me to Paris, which is less witty but rather more enticing, don’t you think? I know that you can’t actually follow me to Paris, as it’s already happened, but…y’know. Next time I’ll give you more warning and we can do a convoy. (The AMR Fun Day Out in Paris?)

I was lucky enough to have Lancome’s UK Makeup Artist Ambassador on hand to do my makeup for the party – afterwards he ran off to do Gemma Arterton’s up in her hotel room! Alex created the sexiest bronzed eye for my red carpet look – lots of dark liner winged out at the corners and then an amazing golden highlight in the centre of the lids. He was so well-prepared – check out my face chart that he created beforehand:

It’s like a watercolour painting! When he said he’d do a face chart, I honestly expected one of those print-outs with the lips and eyes coloured in. I can see why Alex prepares these for his celebrity clients – it’s one thing seeing a face chart, but quite another seeing the proposed makeup on your actual face! He didn’t go quite so heavy on the cheeks, but the eyes were just gorgeous.

I’ve included a step-by-step in the video below – it shows how Alex created the bronze smokey eye and if you pause on each step, you can get a good idea of what’s been added and the tools that Alex used. I found it very interesting that he mapped out the eye before starting to use shadows and liner – he worked out where he wanted the winged liner to end and how far up he wanted the shadow to go and then he got to work with the brushes. Not a bad method to adopt, surely? Using a lighter shadow just to sketch in the general shape of the smokey eye?

Alex then used Lancome’s Hypnose Palette in ST3 (see here) to create the smokey eye. He used all of the shades in the palette to create depth in the socket line and highlights on the centre of the eyelids and then he used black and brown eyeliners to add definition along the lashline.

The Hypnose palettes from Lancome come with really handy instructions for creating different “types” of eye – I really like this painting-by-numbers idea. I think I’ve mentioned that before. Sometimes it’s too overwhelming just to sit there and try to create an eye look – if you have something to copy then it makes things much easier. You just need to follow the general application order that the instructions suggest and then remember to blend everything together really well. (OK, so it’s not quite that easy, but you catch my drift. It’s easier to follow a guide than to start from scratch!)

Alex kept my skin very clean and radiant with a touch of bronzer beneath the cheekbones and then a nude gloss on my lips. Perfect. You can see the step-by-step in the video below or if you’re reading on an email then please click here. The dress I’m wearing is by Herve Leger (naughty purchase last year) and the bag and shoes are by LK Bennett. It was a very lively party as you’ll probably glean from the film – lots of champagne, cannons firing glitter and dancing girls with huge feather headdresses. And Gemma Arterton, who looked fabulous – my new film star heroine, for sure.

Stills photos on red carpet by Jason Lloyd Evans

Makeup by Alex Babsky
On the eyes:
Lancôme Hypnose Eye shadow Palette ST3 (used all the colours in this palette, and a couple wet too for intensity)
Lancôme Le Crayon Kohl in brown and black
Lancôme Hypnose Star mascara (limited edition Alber Elbaz collection)
All on FeelUnique with free delivery here: http://tidd.ly/9e5a1c28