By Melina Byrne
RESCU’s resident Recessionista, Melina Byrne, lives for beauty on a budget. So, she was dying to try Napoleon Perdis’ ultra-affordable SET range. And with 11 hot new looks on offer – from Career to Vamp – she was spoiled for choice.
Ready, SET, Go!
I scheduled my N.P. Set makeover to coincide with my wedding anniversary. My aim was to wow my husband, and discover how to create a more dramatic look.
So, ready to escape my make-up rut, I headed to Napoleon Perdis’ store in Paddington, Sydney. And with the help of Fiona, one of Napoleon Perdis’ talented make-up artists, I was guided through three options from their new season looks:
Vamp Set: “The smokey eyes and luscious pout of a drama queen”.
Glam Set: “Red-hot lips, berry eyes and peach cheeks spell glamarama”.
Sleek Set: “A minimalist look with maximalist tendencies when it comes to lashings of mascara”.
Re-Vamp time
In the end, Vamp won out as I’m definitely a drama queen at times and I’ve always wanted to try the smokey eye look. Also, I had Twilight fever at the time (I’m supporting ‘Team Jacob’ for all those who know and love Stephenie Meyer’s cult classic books).
Get the look:
Base
1. First, Fiona primed my face with Pre-Foundation Primer. It is a “beauty building block” that adds moisture to the skin with Soybean Oil.
2. Next, she applied Memory Foundation in Extra Light. This is a tinted moisturiser, which contains Vitamins E and C, plus seaweed extract to keep the skin looking younger (love that!).
3. I was having a ‘bad skin day’, but a few applications of concealer quickly hid my dark circles and blemishes. I was also pleased to discover that this concealer contains Australian Myrtle Oil to heal the skin.
4. Fiona also used a dusting of Pasarella Powder Foundation. This product gave my skin another moisture boost with its added shea butter, so it was silky soft and ready for the next step.
Cheeks
I don’t normally have much colour in my cheeks. So, Fiona gave me a healthy holiday-style glow with the Cruise Blush in Coral. This is a stick blush, which is also enriched with nourishing vitamins.
Now for the exciting part:
The Eyes
1. To create intense smouldering eyes, Fiona started by smudging Eyeliner(Mexico City) over the entire lid. Next, she patted the Grey from Show Loose Dust Duo Russia over the entire lid as well.
2. To create a winged effect through the socket, Fiona used the Burgundy from Show Loose Dust Duo Venezuela and guided the applicator tip into a point towards the temple. She then blended outwards with a blending brush.
3. For added impact, she used the same technique (as above) for the bottom lash lines, and lined inner rims with Eyeliner Paris.
4. As my eye lashes are quite fair, Fiona enhanced them with multiple coats of Pasarella Mascara Black, which contains beeswax to condition the lashes.
5. To lightly highlight my blonde eyebrows, Fiona applied Eyeliner Mexico City to my brows.
Lips
As my eyes were so dramatic, we kept my lips quite subtle. Fiona coated them a dash of sweet-smelling Lip Gloss in Hawaii, a pretty pink colour, which contains nourishing shea butter and avocado oil. Then for a crisp finish line, we used a Lipliner (Miami).
I’ve been Re-Vamped
Now, the Vamp look was complete and I looked like a whole new woman. My husband did a double take when he saw me, but gave me his full approval. Note to self: more ‘vamp’ definitely wouldn’t go astray.
Want to try this look?
If you are a whiz at make-up application, you might want to buy the products yourself and D.I.Y. Or you can book a makeover at Napoleon Perdis. It costs $80 for a full makeover (or $40 for just the eyes), but these costs are redeemable when products are purchased.
Napoleon Perdis also offer one-hour make-up lessons/consultations for $95 (also redeemable.) Contact your nearest store for more info.
Where to buy:
To locate stockists of the NP Sets, go to https://www.npsetcosmetics.com/stores
The Vamp face chart:
