Celeb-a-Like – Alicia Key’s Makeup in Smoky Silver

ALICIA KEYS wore a very stunning look to the American Music Awards this weekend with a lavish lashes, silvery smoky eyes, and flawless skin. Keys’ skin is absolutely flawless and the finish is matte (in fact, it looks like velvet to us), so we recommend MAC’s Studio Fix Fluid or Make Up Forever’s Mat+ Velvet liquid foundation as a great product to give you light to medium coverage with a matte finish. Use a concealer brush like the 194 to apply dabs of foundation to your cheeks, nose, chin, and forehead. Spritz a blush or buffer brush like the 129, 150, or 182 with water (Fix+ if you have it) and blend out the dabs of foundation to even out the coverage. By dampening your brush with just a touch of water, you can use less foundation and achieve better coverage; less foundation means less chance of looking like you’re wearing it. Contour cheeks with an appropriate color that’s only a shade or two darker than your normal skintone (lighter skintones will love MAC’s Strada blush, deeper skintones should try MAC’s Harmony blush; even darker foundations can be used as contour color). Mauvey-pink cheeks give Keys a nice flush, but something subdued and easy on the eyes. Try NARS Sin blush as a great powder blush to give you those lovely hued cheeks Highlight with MAC Dancing Light loose beauty powder on the tops of cheeks to achieve a bit of glow.

Smoky silver eyes with lots of bright silver open up Keys’ eyes and make them pop. Try MAC’s Silver Fog pigment all over lid with the 239 brush. Make sure to use MAC’s water-based mixing medium–just a touch, a drop or two, onto your brush before picking up the pigment to ensure this look will last you all night and into the next morning long! If you don’t have a PRO store handy, you can make a homemade version with one part water to three parts glycerin (found in the first aid aisle of most drugstores, it is a liquid). Take a touch of MAC Carbon eyeshadow onto your 239 brush and apply on the outer lid and just lightly in the outer crease as well to add depth and dimension to the eye. With the 266 angled brush, apply MAC Blacktrack fluidline along upper lash line and create a cat eye. A cat eye is essentially winged out eyeliner that extends past your natural lash lines. You’re almost lining the angled portion as if the bottom lash line would keep extending upwards, but you’re faux-ing the effect. With the 219 brush, use MAC’s Silver Ring eyeshadow to line the lower lash line to really open up eyes. Be sure to line lower water line with Blacktrack as well–make sure whatever you use to line water line is as close to being waterproof, smudge-proof, etc. as possible otherwise risk it moving or smudging later on. Adorn your newly dolled up eyes with MAC #6 lashes for full, dramatic lashes; add mascara to upper lashes for additional fullness, as well as lower lashes for completeness.

Keys’ lips are a lovely shade of pink that matches her cheeks almost perfectly. Her natural-looking pucker can be replicated using MAC’s Angel lipstick with MAC’s Oyster Girl lipglass for added sheen. If opting for liner, try MAC’s Pink Treat cremestick liner for a precise, but gentle liner. Smile and just look confident–that’s beautiful!