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Can’t read my poker face: How to Create a Lady Gaga

Makeup Look

By: Anna Muzio

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garage Glamorous Bursting on the scene in 2009, Lady Gaga has infiltrated popular culture with each zany makeup and fashion risk she takes. From her extreme use of glitter and opaque gothic eyeliner, Lady Gaga has morphed into an artist’s muse, inspiring replication and imitation.

Recreating a Lady Gaga makeup trend adds pizzazz to any bland outfit. As a college student, utilizing the Lady Gaga look during Halloween serves as a classy way to exude confidence and sexiness without wearing a trite nurse or racecar driver costume. Completing this is inexpensive and requires several basic parts, analogous to applying normal, daily makeup. You can transform yourself in three simple steps: priming the area, accentuating the eyes, and polishing the look. Generating the look takes only fifteen minutes and picking colors for eye shadow is easy with the Custom Color Palette feature found in the Design Help section on page 10.

Caution: Love the look of luscious lashes? Always apply mascara after curling eyelashes. Mascara before curling can rip out your eyelashes!

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Glamour Arsenal- Concealer- Foundation- Loose Powder and brush- Blush- Highlighting Pencil- Eyeliner Pencil- Liquid Eyeliner- Mascara- Eyelash Curler- Eye shadow- Glitter Gel- Lip Gloss- Makeup Sponge - Eyelash Curler- Makeup Brushes**

** Not necessary, but extremely helpful! I suggest a set of eye shadow brushes, concealer brush, blush brush, and eyebrow brush to help blend the look together.

Walk Walk Fashioning the Look, Baby

Tools Tools of the Trade: eyebrow comb, loose powder brush, highlighter brush, powder brush, shadow brush, concealer brush, liner brush, eye lash curler, sponge

Fresh Faced: loose powder, blush, foundation, highlighting pencil, concealer

Glitz and Glam: mascara, liquid eyeliner, glitter gel, eye shadow palette, eyeliner

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1. Prime the Area Start with a clean, dry face.

Apply a thin layer of concealer to the under eyes, or any blemishes.

Add four pea sized dollops of foundation to the forehead, cheeks, and chin.

Gently blend makeup utilizing the makeup sponge. Mix the colors thoroughly to prevent the dreaded jaw line of visible makeup.

HINT: Don’t have a concealer brush? Blend under eye concealer using your middle finger. It applies the least amount of pressure to the delicate area.

Apply loose powder over the whole face using a circular motion, analogous to the “wax on wax off” method. Pay attention to blend.

Swirl blush onto the cheeks. To accentuate the apples of the cheeks, smile and apply in a circular motion.

Applying concealer with a brush

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Use the highlighting pencil to add light on the brow bone, inner corner of the eye, and under eye area. Simply draw a line on the desired area and blend with fingers.

Adding highlighter to accentuate the eyes

Smille and buff on blush

Finished face

HINT: Remember, keep blending makeup so no visible borders mark the jaw line.

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2. Accentuate the Eyes Begin by adding the highlighting

shade, or palest shade, of eye shadow over the entire lid. Use the highlighter brush or pointer finger to apply.

Next, add the middle tone of eye shadow just under the brow bone. Apply color from the outside of the lid, moving inward. This deposits the more intense strokes on the outer corners of the eye, giving the illusion of a wide eyed look. Use the shadow brush.

Add the darkest tone to only the outer corners of the eye using the liner brush. Blend all three tones together to create the smoky effect.

Line the top and bottom of the eyes with pencil eyeliner; stay close to the lash line to prevent a harsh effect. Connect the bottom line to the top line in the outer and corner of the eye.

Not satisfied with your color? Always start with lighter tones and build up! Creating shadows comes from careful layering.

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Trace the pencil liner with liquid eyeliner; make sure the liner dries before proceeding. This takes roughly twenty seconds.

HINT: When applying liners, opening your mouth prevents blinking and smudging.

3. Polishing the Look Take the highlighting pencil and trace the

desired shape. Shaky hands? Rulers give a crisp edge. Remember, this can be wild or traditional; experiment and have fun. See Design Help for some advanced ideas.

HINT: If you despise your design, simply take a pea sized drop of foundation on either a finger or sponge and blend the highlighter back into the base of the makeup. Let the new layer dry, and try again.

With the glitter gel, begin to fill in the shape. Take your time to completely cover

Did all of that eye defining deposit color residue on your under eyes? Gently sweep a tissue over the residue to remove it.

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the designated area. To make a bolder, opaque shape, apply 2 coats. Allow for roughly one minute for the design to dry.

HINT: If you desire more glitter and punch, dust loose glitter over the design before it dries. This will give your design even more of a disco ball Lady Gaga effect.

For even more drama, add more colors of glitter gel to the design. See Design Help on page 10 for inspiration.

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Take the eyelash curler and place the prongs between your pointer finger and thumb.

Open your eyes and look forward

Place the curler along your lash line and gently squeeze with your fingers

Remove the tension and release the curler from your lashes

HINT: Never pump the eyelash curler. The repetitive squeezing and releasing motion makes a poor curl. One swift squeeze suffices.

Apply three coats of mascara to the upper and lower lashline. If you crave more drama, add a fourth coat.

HINT: If clumping ensues, use the eyebrow brush to comb out the excess mascara.

Slick on pale pink lip gloss

Congratulations, you completed the Lady Gaga look! Go out, look fierce, and remember, you were born this way, baby!

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Design HelpHere are some design tips and templates to encourage more originality!

Look for Less: Intimidated by the high price of MAC and Urban Decay makeup? Wal-Mart carries a line of Hard Candy cosmetics, analogous to a more affordable Urban Decay. Each product costs under ten dollars and you can find a massive array of glitter, shimmer, and sheen to add to your look! NYC, Wet and Wild, ELF, and Covergirl also give glamour without the designer price tag.

Get Wild Make a blue smoky eye and accentuate

the design with orange and yellow glitter.

Keep the black smoky eye and use variegated colors on the design: start with pink and blend to red and gold.

Utilize any of the below shapes for a twist on the Lady Gaga classic look.

Custom Color Palette

Brown Eyes Pinks, golds, blacks

Blue Eyes Blacks, browns, greys

Green Eyes Plums, purples, blacks

Hazel Eyes Blues, greys, blacks

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