RECREATING CHARLI XCX’s MAKEUP LOOK – AS SEEN ON VOGUE BEAUTY SECRETS

*DISCLAIMER* I recommend you view this post on a laptop rather than a smartphone or tablet; some of the images are formatted strangely on a smaller screen!xx

In 2020, CHARLI XCX was my most listened to artist of the year on Spotify (I was in her top 0.05% ! ) . I really do admire her music and aesthetic, but I have never once purposely try to incorporate it into my own personal style.

And no it’s not just copying, for no one’s personal style is truly 110% unheard of and original – rather, its an amalgamation of everything they see and love. It draws upon hundreds and thousands of little things that they consume via the media, music and different forms of art. Whether you realise it or not, the way you carry and style yourself has been influenced heavily by all the things you feed your mind with, and everything you surround yourself by. See the phrase “you are what you eat”? Well I believe this can also be expanded to “you are what you consume”. Your interests and all the things you take in is what makes you essentially you – and it is the unique combination of these thousand little factors that allow you to be differentiated from the rest. We are all like sponges – absorbing stuff (these are simply my beliefs and views, so feel free to disagree!).

Anyways, I decided to recreate (or attempt to) the look Charli shared in her Vogue ‘Beauty Secrets’ video (I have added this in at the bottom of the post in case you wanted to give it a watch x). I ended up with a look that’s quite dark with an alluring element to it – and I must say I am in LOVE with the outcome. I know I say this a lot through my blog posts that I’m “in love” or “obsessed”, but I honestly am. I wouldn’t be sharing it with you if I did not feel this way! I’ve always been a fan of this style of makeup but I usually admire it from afar, believing I’m not ‘cool’ enough to pull it off, or skilled enough. However, after watching the video and seeing how effortlessly Charli did hers, I got a bit of confidence and started to think maybe I can do it too.

In the video, Charli XCX shares her intentions behind the look; she wanted to embrace the ‘morning after having the best night out’ face. You know, when you didn’t take off your makeup properly, and your eyes look a bit puffy and dark from all the leftover mascara. She wanted it to seem unintentional and effortless, like you just woke up kind of vibe. To recreate her look, I tried to elevate this concept by turning it into a full face of makeup (rather than keeping it quite minimal like she did), and also got dressed up (stay tuned for my next post 😉).

Apologies for the long intro, I’ll now start my breakdown of the look! I will go in order of what I did first on my face. I began with my eyebrows (as per usual – team eyebrows first!). Although I decided to have a more glam look, I wanted to challenge myself to refrain from using a ton of products, and try being more minimal. I barely used any products for my brows and as a result of this I surprisingly spent a lot less time on them. I decided not to hide my brows away with concealer and I kept them out by lightly filling the ends in. I then used a damp cotton bud to neaten the lines up and take away the excess product around it.

I have never done my eyebrows like this before and I must say I really enjoy how they look. It is nice being able to successfully change up something after having a fixed way of doing it. I know the feathery fluffy laminated look has been in style for quite a while now. I’ve never had a go at it because I always doubted my ability to pull it off. This brow trend is adored by many for a reason, they look lovely and natural! However, despite the fact that this method was quicker (in contrast to the method I usually use) it wasn’t all that easy to do because my brows are wild with a mind of their own – for the first time I had to get them to actually work with me rather than me concealing them up.

I was too scared to use hair spray for my eyebrows like Charli did, so I settled with my go to Clear Brow Gel by Benefit.

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After the eyebrows, I moved onto the most exciting part of the face – the eyes! I did it the exact same way as Charli did – using a black eyeliner pencil heavily on the bottom and top lid, but I squeezed a wet wipe around a cotton bud rather than using an actual makeup remover because I was too scared that it’d take away too much of the product. I like this method because it smudged out nicely and created a nice dark grungy look. For the shape I went for the thick dragged out wing that she did too. This could be achieved with dark eyeshadow, but I feel that for dark skinned girls it is better to use eyeliners – the colours are usually always more intense and pigmented, making them show up easily. I’ve tried to use a dark eyeshadow to create a wing (you know that trendy dragged out eyeshadow look), but it never worked out well for me. Perhaps I need more practice, but for now I am happy to stick to Charli xcx’s method of using a trusty eyeliner pencil.

The alluring element was achieved by adding a touch of brown glitter on top. I wanted my lids to be a little bit warm and have a bit of pizzaz – I felt that heavy black liner on its own would look a little too strong on me. Charli did also go over her lids with eyeshadow to enhance her natural eyelid colour, however because I was going for a bit of a glam vibe, I felt that a glimmering brown would be perfect.

Right before I put makeup on, I did my full skincare routine (masks, exfoliating – the whole works) and my skin looked so radiant and glowy. I didn’t want to plaster my face because my skin was in such a good state. It was for this reason that I stopped myself from going crazy with the base – I simply used a few drops of foundation, and for my highlight I went for a darker shade so it’d match better with my complexion and I wouldn’t have to go in with more foundation to balance it out. If I was to go for a more caked up face then yes, its bright 90s vibe under eyes all the way! I am very pleased with the outcome because I was still able to achieve a subtle glam look despite not using a lot of product.

The last main step I did (last but most definitely not the least) was adding a cream blush to my cheeks! I only started wearing actual blush this year and I can’t believe it took me so long to start. I absolutely love it! There are many different ways to apply blush but I like to dab it in a straight line below my highlight and above my bronzer, and then blend it out with a dry cosmetics sponge. Although I haven’t tried powder blushes, I love cream blushes because they blend out so nicely. This was perfect for the look as it helps to warm up the face and prevents the look from being too intimidating.

Whilst I was a little weary of trying out something out of my comfort zone, the blush was a perfect way to bridge the gap between the full glam looks I’m used to, and this new grungy makeup. Also, I find that blush looks better on me when I do not use a bright highlight underneath my eyes. When I do, the transition from a bright yellow to a burgundy rose colour looks a bit odd; there would be too many colours happening and it’d look like I barely blended my face. However, in this makeup look, the blush appears perfectly under my highlight.

When creating this look I was much more hands on using my fingers and sponges. I barely used actual makeup brushes as I didn’t want a fully perfect polished face because the inspiration look is not like this. There were a few harsh parts and unblended parts on the face, but this was quite intentional to create an impression of being unintentional and effortless. This contributes to the whole edgy I was going for – and I love it (sorry not sorry for saying I love it again!).

To finish the look I applied my fave lipgloss (GETGLOSST in the shade Butterfly Dome) and set my face with the Morphe Continuous Setting Mist.

I really enjoyed switching up my aesthetics and finally trying out a style I have admired for so long. Considering how this is my first attempt of doing so, I must say I am quite proud of myself, but I would not have discovered this look for myself if it wasn’t for Charli XCX sharing her methods on Vogue’s YouTube channel. She shows how you don’t need a bunch of products and tools to create a stunning visual!

Thank you so much for reading! Be sure to watch Charli XCX’s Vogue Beauty Secrets video added at the bottom of the post! Hope to see you again where I speak about the outfit worn in this look!Xx

-XDESFAN

– VIDEO REFERENCE –