Edge Of Midnight

Here is a shoot I did recently that was published in Tinsel Tokyo Magazine!
Enjoy :) x

 

Photography: Tijana Lilic
Makeup: Alana Santos
Hair: Abbie Barclay
Styling: Elle Giles
Model: Gabrielle Sullivan @ Viviennes Model Management

Urban Decay NAKED Basics - The forgotten palette

If you're a makeup lover, then no doubt you either know all about the Naked palettes (1,2 & 3) or you've heard about them all over social media. This little mini palette is the Naked Basics, and it is one of my most reached for products in my kit and I feel like it is a little under appreciated in the makeup world.

 

 

As the name states, this palette is truly basic. Though it is the basic colors that EVERYONE can use and benefit from.
The Palette comes with a shimmery highlight, a beige, a slightly more pinky toned beige, light brown, dark brown and black. All the colours are matte except for the first highlight shade.

What I love about it:

1. I love how little the case is and it just makes it so convenient for travel. If you're like me when you're travelling, most of the time you will just be plopping on something quick and head out the door for some adventures, instead of going crazy into a huge makeup routine.


2. Basic everyday shades to use. Whether you just want to sweep a bit of a brown through the crease, plop some highlight in the inner corner of your eyes/brow bone, or do a soft sweep of black along the lash line.. it's all in the one place!

3. Nice pigment (In the swatch picture below you'll see thats with one swipe, though with my skin tone the 2nd and 3rd shade don't quite show up on me. I like to use them more as a base colour).

4. It comes with a mirror - super helpful to check up on your fine self throughout the day.

5. Price- this retails for $44.80AU and I think that is quite a bargain for 6 eyeshadows. Even though they aren't big in size, they last!

What I'm not loving about it:

1. The two beige shades on my skin aren't the best. I've used them on clients before and they go great and as mentioned before it is a good base product, but in terms of pigmentation.. meh.

2. The texture of this product is a little more on the chalky side rather than creamy.

I purchased this little guy over a year ago and took these photos the other day. Considering I use this palette a lot during my work, I'd say its holding up pretty damn well!


You can find the Naked Basics Palette on BeautyBay.com
One of my fav makeup websites!
http://www.beautybay.com/cosmetics/urbandecay/nakedbasicspalette/

Overall I'm a big fan. I think this poor little guy gets so overlooked with the other beautiful 3 naked palettes. Sure, they've got beautiful pinks, and shimmery neutrals but for more everyday wear, sometimes you just have to take it back to the basics.

Alana x

MAC VS Makeup Geek - Mini swatch and review

MAC eyeshadows retail at: $26-$48 AU dollars
Makeup Geek eyeshadows retail at: $5.99 AU dollars

Have I caught your attention with that whopping price difference?

I am a die hard MAC fan. I love most things MAC and as a makeup artist, I find 80% of my kit is made up of these products. When I recommend products to my clients, I'll always be recommending MAC and then I have a little moment where I feel terrible because lets face it, in Australia buying a few of their eyeshadows means sacrificing some of your food shopping until next day pay!

One day I was working on a photo shoot with a few other makeup artists and one of them suggested I have a look at Makeup Geek eyeshadows. I had heard a lot about the brand though I've always a little skeptical of such cheap products but ohhhhh my lord they are so comparable to MAC.

From what I know the CEO and founder of Makeup Geek, Marlena, previously worked for MAC so when she designed the formulation for her eyeshadows she was bang on getting them almost identical to the MAC shadows. But heres the thing, she made them.. better.

Here is a photo of almost identical shades in the MAC range and MUG (Makeup Geek) range side by side.

Top row is Makeup Geek and the shadows from left to right are:

Shimma Shimma, Vanilla Bean, Unexpected and Corrupt.

Bottom row Is MAC and the shadows from left to right are:
Shroom, Brulé, Haux and Carbon.

   

Here are some swatches of the two side by side. Most are almost identical though if you look closely you'll see Makeup Geek has a lot more pigmentation than the MAC shadows. The one that totally blew me away is the black shadows next to each other. That was with just one swipe!!

 

 

In the end it depends on your preference. I know some people who prefer shadows that aren't very pigmented so they can work their way up and have a lighter coverage.

MAC is definitely winning in the colour range department. They have nearly every colour under the sun as where a con of the Makeup Geek products is that the colour range is a little more basic and the choices are limited compared to MAC. 

Both brands shadow pots are magnetic which make them great to plop into a customizable palette. I put mine in Z palettes which you can actually buy from the Makeup Geek website too, or you can get them on their own website at http://zpalette.com/

Have you tried Makeup Geek before? What are your thoughts?
Or are you a be all end all MAC lover?

If you haven't tried MUG before I would definitely recommend it because what do you have to lose?

Where you can find Makeup Geek eyeshadows: https://www.makeupgeek.com/

Where you can find MAC eyeshadows:
Either at counters in your local shopping centre, Myer or online at
http://www.maccosmetics.com.au/

Alana x

How to get ready FAST

S#!t I'm Late!

Did you stay up late last night and watch too many episodes of 'Suits' and sleep in? Hit snooze too many times on the alarm clock?

We all have those mornings where we have somewhere between a good 5 and 15 minutes to get ready and out the door.
I've managed to get this routing down to a fine art as I do love a good sleep in. So here are my fav products to use when you need to get ready FAST!

 

Loreal Lumi Magique Primer:  Now this step isn't a necessity, but it's one of my favourites for when I've had very little sleep and need to give my skin some life! Any kind of illuminating primer will help deceiving people into giving you that 'oh my gosh your skin is glowing' compliment. You're welcome.

Nars Pure Radiant Tinted Moisturiser: Really? You're in a rush and you still want to do a full on foundation routine? No thank you! Find your favourite tinted moisturiser (mine for 2014 has been the Nars one) and slap that baby on. It'll give you just enough coverage, it will add that sunscreen we all need to protect our skin from the nasty sun and give your skin a lively glow. Quick and easy!

Motives Colour Perfection Quad: This is a foundation quad though I like to use it as concealer. It is super high coverage as well as giving you the choice of 4 different shades which is great considering summer is now here and I am starting to not be as fluroescent as I was in winter. I'll use this to add extra coverage to any blemishes that my tinted moisturiser didn't cover as well as getting over those bad boy black eye bags. Unfortunately no, the bags under my eyes are not Prada.

Maybelline Brow Drama Brow Mascara: I am a huge brow lover. I love filling my brows in with a gel pot to give it more of a full on look. Though 90% of the time, I am in a rush and still love the look of well kept, full, thick brows. I was so pleasantly suprised with this product with how it tints the brow, adds thickness and also keeps brows in place ALL day. Winner winner! This product literally takes me less than 1 minute to apply.

Maybelline Full and Soft Waterproof Mascara: Whether I am in a rush or not. This is my mascara of choice everyday. It is the mascara I use on ALL of my clients and the one I recommend to family and friends. Why? Because it is SO cheap (compared to high end mascaras like MAC, NARS etc), so accessible, so easy to apply and gives amazing results fast! Try for yourself and I guarantee you won't be disappointed. I always receive compliments with this baby.

Cedel Dry Shampoo: Well, you didn't want to leave the house looking like an oil slick did you? Life. Saver.


What are your super fast products that you love using when you just don't have the time and need to look presentable?

Alana x

And All That.... Gore

I get SO excited every year when halloween rolls around and you know what? I have never been to one single halloween party! Crazy! Nevertheless, I do love being able to make my clients look like whatever kind of crazy they want for the night. 

Here is a little collection of crazy halloween or just gore-filled makeup looks I've done to get you excited and in the mood. Hopefully one of you will be somewhat inspired by some of these looks and you might even want to give one of them a go on yourself! Go on, be creative!

Makeup: Me
Photography: Mike Robinson

Makeup: Me
Photography: Brodie Butler 

Makeup: Me
Photography: Jason Lei

For any more pics you'd like to see make you go on and head over to my facebook page www.facebook.com/alanasantosmakeupartist
or website: www.alanasantosmakeup.com

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

Alana xx

All That Glitters

I am still alive! I am so sorry I haven't posted much on this blog lately, things have been quite busy but that should be no excuse.

 So here's a few pics of a shoot I did with Alpha Models for Lust Pearls.

The makeup look was very glamorous. Bold red lips with a crisp wing liner, a classic combination you can never go wrong with!

Photographer: Jess Yeah @ Shift Creative
Post: Juliet @ Shift Creative
Pearls: Lust Pearls
Hair & Makeup: Alana Santos
Styling: Sarah C @ Alpha Models

Models: Daisy, Caitlyn, Sophie & Emily @ Alpha Models

Alana xx

Trend: Berry/Plum lips for Autumn

Yes.

It's happening.

If you know me from working with me on photoshoots, the moment someone says "lets do something with the lips." I think.. PLUM! BERRY! DARK! I get a little too excited about it. I have a unhealthy obsession with dark lips but hey, can you blame me? It's a HOT trend. And now that Autumn is upon us (here in Aussie land) there's no excuse not to hop onboard the train to sexy-land!

 In the photo above I've used MAC DIVA lipstick mixed with MAC Nightmoth lip pencil.

I think this is a good step for people who like to wear a red lip but would like to vamp up their look a little and go darker. It can totally transform you.


I personally think this is more a night time look. I like to wear a dark lip with a neutral, softer eye. Nothing too much like a smokey eye. Though if a smokey eye is your thing, go for it girl! Though I like to make it look a little more like "oh this? I just whacked it on in 5 minutes. Took no effort at all"
Nobody needs to know how long it really took you ;)

Another tip to remember when wearing a vampy lip is to go for some subtle contouring and a shade of blush that is more on the bronzed side. Something like MAC Warm Soul (Which is what I'm wearing in the photo) or if you're after something you can buy in the drug stores Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso (this one has a touch of peach in it but nothing too pink).

There are many different shades of dark lipstick you could go. There are berry, plum, wine coloured or even browner toned dark lipsticks such as this one on Camilla Belle:

 Anyway I hope this has somewhat inspired you to take a chance with your makeup and take a trip to the dark side. I doubt you'll regret it!

Alana xx

(I got tired of trying to look nice for a photo so chucked on a panda hat and yeah..)