All Made Up // Mermaid Beauty

Let’s take a quick jaunt down memory lane, shall we.

As a child I was obsessed with Ariel and The Little Mermaid. OBSESSED. I was positive that I sounded EXACTLY like Ariel when I sang which further convinced me that I was probably an actual mermaid. You know, because I thought they are real.

Leave it to Paige to allow me to indulge in that fantasy as a near 30 year old woman. Inspired by the shimmer of clear, sparkling water, mermaid beauty is all about beachy babes with soft translucent colours and a touch of mystique. There is nothing more fun than taking beauty inspiration from mystical creatures.

Here is what we used to turn Alyssa into a land mermaid.

1 // Obviously, mermaids have beach waves in their hair. Using a 3/4" iron wrap your hair around a curling iron or rod, and keep waves loose by not wrapping the bottom 1.5in. Loosen the waves up by rubbing your fingers through the hair while working in a healthy dose of shine spray.

2 // I gave Alyssa a retro inspired roll using the top third of the front of her hair. After curling it all away from the face, the section will wrap easily around your fingers when you brush it forward. I pinned it in place with a few bobby pins.

3 // Skip the scales for some well positioned bobby pins. These super shiny silver ones almost make up for not having a fin.

4 // Living underwater would surely give a gal a healthy dose of glow. On well moisturised skin, buff a silicone based foundation into the skin. I love Face Atelier’s liquid foundation because it is D-E-W-Y. Skip the setting powder. When was the last time you saw a matte mermaid?!

5 // Embrace pastels and keep the colour concentrated to one facial feature. I layered a light pink blush with a bit o’ shimmer on the top of the cheekbones blended up towards the temple.

6 // HIGHLIGHT! Loose powders are great for a mermaid shimmer. I used Glisten from OCC to highlight the tops of the cheeks, across the lid, down the nose and above and below the lip line.

7 // Mermaids do more than shimmer though. They glow and sparkle. I used Elizabeth Arden’s 8 Hour Cream on the lips and Lit’s loose glitter in Cher across the cheekbones and lids. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: always use cosmetic grade glitter my friends.

‘All Made Up’ is a blog feature hosted by hair and makeup artist extraordinaire, Ashley Readings. We work with Ashley on most of our lookbook shoots and other creative projects, and this new collaboration is the perfect way to offer our readers exclusive beauty tips and behind-the-scenes content. Plus, we like any excuse to dress up and have our hair and make up done!

[photos: paige boersma]