The Art of Make-Up; Or, How To Become Lady GaGa or Snow White

The other night I became weirdly fascinated by a series of YouTube tutorials by artist Michelle Phan that showed people how to use makeup to create cool effects or look like  Lady GaGa, Snow White, Barbie, Sailor Moon (below) or a vampire. Then I watched Phan's videos about using makeup to create exotic-looking effects, such as a sunset or the northern lights (left).

The thing is, I don't even use makeup very often. I don't have the patience for it, and although my skin isn't that great, I always feel like it gets much, much worse if I use makeup for any length of time. Yes, I probably should wear war paint. I just don't.

And I'm not going to, even after sitting through all of Phan's work.

However! The tutorials are weirdly fascinating. Did you know, for example, that you should use primer before putting on eyeshadow? It helps hold the shadow in place and keeps it lasting longer. Did you know that using white eyeliner opens up your eyes and makes them look larger? Did you know that having thicker, bushier eyebrows makes you look younger, and thin eyebrows make you look older?

I didn't.

Then again, I didn't even know there was such a thing as liquid eyeliner, let alone when to use liquid eyeliner as opposed to the normal stuff.

I'm not likely to go to a masquerade party or transform myself into a vampire or anime character any time soon, but Michelle Phan's tutorials are lots of fun to watch and for someone as ignorant as I am about the artistry of makeup, they're also very educational. Go ahead, take a look.

Posted by: Kari Lucin, Daily Globe on 12/07/2009 at 5:00 AM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: video, barbie, entertainment, lady gaga, links, makeup, michelle phan, sailor moon, snow white, vampires, youtube