Fresh Audrey Hepburn Spring Makeup

Happy weekend friends! With a new season comes new makeup inspiration, and my current muse is none other than the lovely Audrey Hepburn. If you looked at my previous Audrey Hepburn post, then you’ll know from those photos alone just how beautifully graceful her makeup looks were. However, if you’re not sold yet, you can just do a Google or Pinterest search to check out the millions of iconic photos of her swirling the internet daily, inspiring young women all over the world in the realms of beauty, fashion, and even attitude. Personally, I particularly appreciate the small switch ups of her makeup style from day time to evening, especially in the 50’s era. Both style’s are chic, but while the evening looks are exclusively dramatic, her day time style has a touch of sweetness in its elegance. 

This spring, I wanted to put my own take on a classic Audrey look, modernizing it a little bit, and freshening it up for spring. For my everyday makeup, I wanted something that was “day time appropriate” (I know this has a different meaning for everyone. I think it’s ever-changing, and should just be what makes you feel confident!), but still chic and photographable. Enter in Audrey Hepburn inspiration and voila! We’ve got ourselves a look. This classic look would be perfect for any dates, photoshoots or upcoming spring trips! Let me break it down for you.

Makeup of the 50’s and 60’s was just a tad more matte than the dewy look that’s so trendy nowadays. While I appreciate the glamour in an all matte or mostly matte look, I like the glow-y look in style, and so does my dry skin. That being said, for spring time I’m freshening up the classic Audrey look by sticking to fresh skin, and every good skin look starts with a good base.

I start out with this face oil from Herbivore. It sinks right into my skin, leaving it hydrated, but not greasy. Next I go in with a mix of these two primers. I use this water-based primer from NYX because of my dry skin, but any primer here will do. I also mix in some of this N07 skin illuminator, and I have to say this stuff is a DREAM. I’ve been obsessed with it for a little over a year now, it has the perfect amount of glow, goes well under and on top of makeup, and is buildable. I’m not sure why the whole world isn’t talking about and obsessing over this product because that is what it deserves. If that ever happens, you heard it here first ladies and gents.

After giving those products some time to absorb into the skin, I move onto foundation. The reason I use this Even Better Glow foundation from Clinique is because it has light reflecting pigments in it, hence the name “glow” because that is exactly what it does for your skin. Have I mentioned I adore this stuff? At this stage I also use concealer to cover dark under eye circles and any blemishes. My concealer of choice is the BareMinerals serum skin concealer. 

Now that we have a flawless glow-y base, let’s move onto the fun! I’m not sure Audrey used bronzer like we do today, but this is a modernized take, and I can’t imagine giving up my love of bronzer. I bronzed up my face and did a slight contour. I start out with cream products and set with powder products for a luminous finish that lasts. For cream bronzer and highlight later on, I use this Tom Ford palette. It blends in seamlessly for a natural look. I then set it with my Physician’s Formula Butter Bronzer, and use my Charlotte Tilbury Film Star Bronze and Glow for a slight contour. Very fitting product if you ask me:) 

I’ve noticed blush on Audrey in most looks that I’ve seen of her, so I’m using this cream blush from Colourpop in the shade “Cruel Intentions” for a flush of pink on the cheeks. It’s a stand out shade so I set it with a more muted powder blush. I used Tarte’s “paaarty” shade. Next, I used the highlight in the Tom Ford palette for a natural glow on the cheek bones and high points of the face. Lastly, I used that powder pictured with the foundation to blur out any harshness for a seamless finish. 

Let’s move onto the most Audrey defining part of this look: the eyes! As previously mentioned, her makeup always looked elegant, and a big part of that is the eye makeup. This style of eye makeup gave her a captivating, yet sweet, doll-like look. If I could summarize the recreation I’m doing here, it would be called day time elegance. It is still very polished, but not overdone. To achieve this, I took inspiration from one of the most iconic Audrey photo’s of all time by Yousuf Karsh. In this photo and a few others I’ve seen, you can see the liner has been softened by either brown shadow or pencil. Because of this, the liner is a little more subdued. It’s different than the typical winged liner or bold cat eye people associate her with, which I think is perfect for this day time recreation. 

To start, I primed my eyes with my concealer and set my entire lid space with the matte cream color from this palette. I then added the matte tan color to my crease for some definition. Staying true to a classic Audrey look, I used the darkest matte brown to give a slight cut crease. I then used the same color and an angled brush to outline the shape of winged liner, and used black liner on top of the brown shadow, and blended to top out the tiniest bit. You still want the liner to be definite. I think this all matte eye look compliments the luminous face base we have going on. It’s all about balance kids.

Now for the finishing touches! I use setting spray for longevity and an extra glow. My pick is this one from Pixi Beauty 🙂

Let’s talk about Audrey’s brows. If you want to attempt those bold, square brows, go for it. If they don’t suit you, that’s perfectly fine too. Personalize this look to you! That’s exactly what I did, I like my brows they way they are, so I did them how I always do with my favorite NYX pencil. And of course some retro sunnies make everything better;)

There few lip options that are standard to an Audrey Hepburn look. Of course there’s the glamorous Old Hollywood red lip, but there’s also pink and peach, which I think are Audrey classics. I chose pink, because I think it ties in with the blush wonderfully and is something I feel comfortable rocking all the time. I think the “1994” shade from Gerard Cosmetics is perfect, as well as “Spring Break” from Sephora’s collection, and this YSL shade.

P.S.

• the book photographed is an easy and charming read about some key components on Audrey’s life attitude. The author, Melissa Hellstern, explains why they’re wise and how you can emulate them. If you want to check it out, you can find it here. 🙂

P.P.S.

– Who knew BÉIS cosmetic bags make a good stand too? As if it weren’t so cute and functional already *sigh*.

With Love,

Jenna