The MUA trick that makes sheer gloss pop

Last weekend I did something I’ve never done before… I took a picture with me to the NARS counter and said, “I want to recreate this look.” The thing is, it wasn’t anything particularly complicated. It was a smoky, smudgy eye that didn’t require any purchases, but the pale pink glossy lip (shown above) was eluding me. With all of my lipsticks, lip glosses and lip pencils, I simply didn’t have the products necessary to recreate it—and believe me I tried.

So with my magazine tear-out in hand, the makeup artist made a beeline for a specific lipstick, gloss and liner and went to work. When she finally handed me the mirror, all I said was, “No.” It was too purple, too opaque and too far off from what I wanted. Back to the drawing board…

I emphasized that I was really looking for more gloss than color, and she went back to the lip display as she explained that I have naturally dark lips, so I couldn’t achieve the look in the photo with a swipe of gloss alone. After taking one more look at my picture I practically saw a lightbulb go off… She approached me with a tube of Radiant Creamy Concealer (which I naturally already own) and started dabbing it on my lips with a sponge to neutralize the pigment in my lips. She then applied a thick layer of the Lip Gloss in “Istria” and handed the mirror over again and BOOM—exactly what I was looking for with no lipstick, no lip liner, no brush and practically no effort.

Thrilled with the fact that I was able to get the look with just one product, I bopped home with my trusty photo and got to work on my eyes. See, sometimes less truly is more when it comes to makeup (not counting the 20+ other products it took to get my skin and eyes just right).