How-to: Using your bold (try purple or blue) eye pencil, line only your lower lashlines and blend it with your finger to soften the line. Dust the apples of your cheeks with pink powder blush. Finish by coating lips with nude gloss.
What she thought:
This look was extremely easy to do. Just a quick application of my usual foundation (Clinique Even Better foundation in 03 Ivory, $24.50), concealer (it Cosmetics Bye Bye Under Eye concealer in Neutral Medium, $24) and mascara (CoverGirl Lashblastfusion mascara, $9.99), then a swipe of light blush, lip gloss and eyeliner. I probably wouldn't wear a liner this bright to work, but it's perfect for happy hour or a party. What's great is you can easily apply the eyeliner without having to re-do any of the makeup you're already wearing -- it won't mess up or change anything, just add an element of fun. And with a good pencil, it literally takes seconds to swipe on and smudge. I could easily do this in the bathroom or car after work. Plus, wearing the liner underneath your eyes creates a stronger statement, and is more unexpected than applying it to your upper lids.
How-to: To make your eyes pop, coat top and bottom lashes with blue mascara. Apply a rosy lipstick shade to your lips then use your finger to tap the lip color along your cheekbones for instant definition.
What she thought:
I really liked how this look plays up your eyes and cheeks. I kept the rest of my face neutral -- just a light dusting of powder (Covergirl TruBlend Pressed Powder, $6.72) and my usual application of shimmery brown eyeshadow (Maybelline New York EyeStudio Wet Eyeshadow in Copper Chic, $6.49) and eyeliner (NYX Eye Pencil in Black, $2.00). I made sure to curl my eyelashes well, since it takes several coats of mascara to make this look work. Two coats of dark blue mascara and another two coats of a lighter blue mascara made for an eye-catching evening look, perfect for a night out with the girls (yet not too over-the-top). And to finish, I swiped on a pinky-nude lipstick and blended it onto my cheeks as Perdis recommended. No blush needed!
We gave celebrity makeup artist and beauty brand founder Napoleon Perdis a challenge: create six gorgeous makeup looks that can be done in four minutes or less. He accepted our challenge, which may not seem like a difficult one, but for a man who spends hours beautifying faces for magazine covers, music videos and the red carpet, it's no small feat. He created beautiful face charts of makeup looks, then Total Beauty editors tried and tested them (while the clock was ticking) in order to prove that they do, in fact, take less than four minutes (and are doable for non-makeup artist types). But before we reveal the looks to you -- and the products you'll need to recreate them, here are a few general makeup tips from Mr. Perdis:
Tip 1: "Not to prime is a crime," says Perdis. He recommends applying primer every day before your makeup to "promote smoother application and longer wear of your makeup," he says.
Tip 2: "Start your [makeup] regimen with at least one coat of mascara," says Perdis. He recommends this because it will instantly wake up your face and you'll often need less makeup to feel pulled-together. You should also finish your look with an additional few swipes.
Tip 3: "The secret to fast and easy makeup is to utilize multi-use products as much as possible," says Perdis. This will save you time and cash.
Tip 4: Don't get caught up in trying to figure out what colors you should wear and instead wear the colors you want to wear. If you wear them confidently you can wear any color.
Now onto the makeup looks -- ladies start your timers �
