Makeup Your Own Rules!

 By B. Lee Cash

Everyday beauty is worth celebrating. Sometimes your mood or your outfit dictates you put on a different face. "If a girl is going to walk on the wild side and go for a new look, makeup can give her that freedom -- it's transformational," says Gabriella Francis, a Hollywood-based makeup artist who works on film, television and DVD special features. "You can break the rules with makeup because you can create illusions, like if you have rounder eyes, you can put on your eyeliner a certain way and achieve almond eyes."  After a few hours in session with Gabriella as she created three hot makeup styles, Style Sessions learned (and shows you!) how easy it is to totally transform your look.

Rule-Breaking Look: '60s Mod

• Eyebrows Take an angled eyebrow shaper brush and swipe your brow shadow in a shade that is slightly lighter than your own eyebrow. If your eyebrow is blonde, go slightly darker brown. "It should be a taupe-like color with a neutral base," says Gabriella. "You don't want the eyebrows to have a red cast to them."
  
  Start from your inner brow, and work your way out in one smooth sweep. This shadow line should add definition to the brow, pronouncing the brow longer, even if just by a fraction of an inch. "Longer eyebrows make eyes look bigger, and the icon of this look is Twiggy, who had huge eyes," Gabriella says. Fill in any sparse areas. If your eyebrows are unruly, you can use a brow gel to set them.

• Eyes Start with the upper brow bone, and apply a matte white eye shadow. Cover the whole lid with this color beginning from the upper brow bone, but not on the crease. For the crease, take a dark gray eye shadow. With a natural-hair shadow brush, start from the outside corner of your eye crease and work your way in with a smooth stroke of color. The shadow should create a look that pulls the eye forward. Blend gently with your finger.
  
  Next, with a liquid liner in black, apply on top and bottom. "Apply it in three steps," says Gabriella. "The biggest mistake women make is they try to apply in one swoop."
  
  Top eyelash line: Start from the inner corner and draw one short line to the middle of the eyelid right at the eyelash line. Step two is a second line from the outer corner of the eye which you'll bring it in to meet that first line. Step three is to add that little point in the outer corner.
  
  Bottom eyelash line: "You can do this in one sweep of liner," says Gabriella. Start from the inner corner of the eye and draw the liner along the eyelash line to almost meet the point of the top line, but don't connect them. Garbriella adds: "Add an additional line of white eyeliner pencil to the inner bottom eyelid to really make the eyes pop."

• Lashes Curl your top lashes with an eyelash curler to open the eye. Apply three coats of black mascara, top and bottom.  Gabriella says: "Don't hold back on the mascara here!"

• Cheeks "Cotton candy pink and light tangerine orange are really hot for this look," says Gabriella. Apply blush to the apple of the cheek. Keep it closer to the front of the face, not so much on the sides. "On a scale of one to ten, the application would be about a three," advises Gabriella. "Anything heavier gets more into a '70s look."

• Lips Lips should match the blush color, preferably in a matte. "The mod look didn't go for glitter, gloss, shine," says Gabriella.

Style Sessions Total Look: A mod look is hot with knee-high boots, tights and short, straight-cut skirts. Hair would be best in a high, smooth ponytail with side-swept bangs.

Rule-Breaking Look: '80s Punk

• Eyes "What are the boldest colors in your makeup bag?" asks Gabriella. "Color wins! For this look, I like the Paris Hilton-inspired blue '80s look.">
  
  Start on the upper brow, and brush with a natural, neutral, or white shadow to highlight the area. The blue shadow should be swept on the eyelid from the inside. "It's important to really blend the blue shadow and the upper brow highlight shadow together," advises Gabriella. "Once you have applied the blue, take your eyebrow brush and rub it on a towel or tissue to remove the color. Take your clean brush and use it for blending."
  
  Style Sessions Tip: When you're using a bright color, it usually takes a couple coats to create the bold look you want. You don't want any soft spots in the color or an obvious line where the blue shadow stops and starts.
  
  With blue shadow, black liner looks best, used minimally on the upper lash line. With liquid or pencil liner, draw a thin line close to the lashes. Next, take a bright blue liner on the inner rim of the lower lid. Curl lashes with a eyelash curler and apply black mascara liberally.

• Lips and Cheeks "For '80s, I think pinks are pretty with blue shadows," says Gabriella. "Frosted lipsticks are great with this look because the '80s were very shiny. So try a frosted pink or a mauve or medium-toned berry. Dab a little on your cheeks and rub it in for blush.

Style Sessions Total Look: Big hair? You bet! Blow out your hair using a diffuser for maximum volume. And don't be afraid of your old friend mousse. Wear a shirt in stripes, maybe a cuff bracelet and your favorite going-out jeans. Duran Duran soundtrack is optional.

Rule-Breaking Look: Rock 'n' Roll Forever

• Eyebrows Accent your eyebrows lightly with a color that's slightly darker than your natural color. "This eye is a heavier, darker eye, so you don't want the brows to disappear but you also don't want an equally heavy brow because it overwhelms the face," advises Gabriella.

• Eyes  Start by highlighting the upper brow bone in a neutral or white shadow. Apply a frosted, dark gray shadow on the lid only. Apply a couple layers of this color. Clean the brush, and then take that clean brush and blend the gray with the highlighting shadow on the upper brow.
  
  Next, take a soft black eyeliner pencil, and apply on the top and the bottom lids close to the lashes. Take a clean, soft, angled shadow brush and carefully run that brush along the black line to blend these hard lines. "The blended lower liner and upper liner should meet each other in the outer corner of the eye," says Gabriella. Apply a black liner on the inner rim. She adds: "If you want to really smoke up that lower lash line, you can add some of your grey smoky shadow over that bottom black line." Curl eyelashes and apply at least two coats of black mascara.

• Lips and Cheeks Be sparing with the blush, and the lips should be in a more natural color. Gloss is optional. "On a nude lip, it's important to start with a matching lip liner," says Gabriella. "This way your lips are neutral but they aren't disappearing into your skin -- you need that slight definition."

Style Sessions Total Look: Hair rocks with a one-day dirty look in loose curls -- like you just woke up and still look fabulous. Pair with your favorite tight jeans, boots, and a fitted t-shirt. Work it out!