Shadowing Practice: Everything a Pro Makeup Artist Taught Me (2026 Edition) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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I learned how to do makeup over 10 years ago and my makeup techniques are pretty outdated.
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So today I booked a personal makeup lesson at one of Vietnam's top makeup academies.
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Vietnamese makeup artists have seriously been stepping up their game and I wanted to learn what actually works now, not what I did in 2015.
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My trainer today is Gwyn from He Won Makeup Academy.
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The artists here have worked on celebrities, influencers, and they have done some pretty amazing transformations.
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Today, she's going to be teaching me on one side of my face
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and I'll be doing the other side step by step so that I can actually learn the techniques properly.
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We've got two looks planned.
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Look number one is a red lip glam.
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It's very clean, very polished.
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Look number two is a cool toned, sparkly, more editorial look.
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Let's get started.
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Now, I've already applied my skincare.
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I just did toner and moisturizer.
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So Gwyn is going to apply primer.
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How much will it be?
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She applies the Bobbi Brown Face Base.
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She massages that in with her fingers using circular motions.
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She told me to really focus on dry areas like the under eyes, the corner of the mouth and the sides of the nose.
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These are the areas that we tend to see creasing first.
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So it's really important to prep them well.
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Now, for those of you who have oily skin, you want to use less of this product and more of this next step she's going to show me.
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This is how I will wash my hands.
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Instead of spraying a setting spray all over my face like I usually do, she shows me a different technique.
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She sprays the setting spray into her hand and then gently presses that onto my skin using her fingers.
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What this does is smooth out those rough dry areas
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and really hydrates it so that the foundation lasts longer and it prevents creasing.
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When I touch my face after, it felt so smooth.
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She says that Makeup Forever setting spray works best for this technique.
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I will pull it straight and pull it straight down like this
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and the cream will be pressed on the face of the face For foundation, she's using a flat brush to spread out the product evenly onto my skin and then after she's done with each section,
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she's going to blend it out with a large sponge just to remove any brush strokes
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The area is to open the nose, I forget to use a little bit of the nose, but I'll cut it off.
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It's on the nose.
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The area is not too much to touch the nose.
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I'm going to use the nose.
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Yes, I'm going to use the nose.
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But I'll use the nose to touch the nose.
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For concealer, she gets me to look down and she focuses it on my dark circles.
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So she pops a little bit of concealer and then uses that sponge she used before, folds it in half and taps it onto the area.
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She works in the same spot for a while, then blends upward towards my lash line.
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Take the most of the area to keep the eye on the top.
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Next step is brightening and it's a game changer.
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She's using a liquid brightener here with a pinky undertone.
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Now, this is for brightness, not coverage, so it's different from concealer.
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She applies it to my T-zone across my forehead and my nose bridge, then pats
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and blends it with the same sponge she used before she
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also maps out the area in the center of my face avoiding my smile lines
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because that area can crease instead she maps out the sides of my nostrils corner of my mouth
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and a little bit on my chin to brighten these areas
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and make it look fuller she continues to brighten underneath my
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cheekbones this is the area i would normally contour she explained
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the reason for doing this is to add volume to my face
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because as you get older your face starts to hollow out so you want I want to add that fullness back in.
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This is going to help me look more youthful.
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And I know it's an extra step, but guys, look at my face.
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It looks more plump, fresh and youthful.
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I just like to use the contour.
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But now I feel it's a bit of a bit of a bit.
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Oh, how the trends have changed because back then it was all about sharp contouring.
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Now it's more about soft fullness and brightness.
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Here she's using cream contour around my forehead, towards my hairline.
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She applies it on top of my cheekbone but not going too far inwards.
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Then a light touch along my jawline.
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She's going to blend that out with a dense brush, patting and blending to make sure that there's no harsh lines.
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Then she's going to go back in with a sponge to soften everything a little bit more.
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For my nose, because it's on the longer side, she's going to contour right underneath the tip to visually shorten it.
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And instead of dragging the contour down the sides of my nose, She's going to draw a soft C shape around the brow to shape the bridge.
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To highlight, she's going to use a white cream stick and pop that on the bridge and the tip of my nose.
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When it comes to blending, she always blends the highlight first, then the contour.
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Next is blush.
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So she's using a pinky brown liquid blush.
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This is the viral one I think we've all seen everywhere.
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The placement of the blush for this look is a little bit higher.
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So it's going to go right underneath my eyes towards the outer part
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and she's going to blend that towards the tail of my brow.
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Now she's ready to set everything.
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So she's using a loose powder.
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She loads it away from my face first so it doesn't go everywhere.
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And then she presses the puff onto the lid, swirling it around to distribute the powder evenly before pressing it onto my skin.
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Now she's only doing a very thin layer to keep it thin and not cakey.
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For areas that need a little bit more coverage or that still look a little bit uneven, she's going back in with a pressed powder just on those spots for extra coverage.
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Okay, before we move on to the next makeup step, I need to put you guys on something that has genuinely saved me so much stress whenever I travel.
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You guys know I'm always flying between Vietnam, Australia, Singapore, Korea, and I've tried everything.
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Roaming, random eSIMs, running around the airport trying to find a SIM card.
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It's a mess.
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I recently switched to Nomad eSIM, and honestly, it's been a game changer.
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If you're traveling in 2026, stop relying on airport Wi-Fi or searching for a random sim shop.
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Nomad gives you instant data in over 200 destinations.
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And it's actually affordable.
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Plans start around $1.10 per gigabyte with no hidden fees.
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Big thanks to them for sponsoring today's video.
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To get connected, you just open the app, pick the plan that suits you and install.
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You'll be connected in minutes, even before you land.
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And don't worry if you're new to eSims, Nomad walks you through every step.
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You guys know my whole life is literally online and I have kids.
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So when I'm traveling with them, I literally become the walking hotspot.
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So having reliable data anywhere I go is a non-negotiable.
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I mean, how else will I check your comments?
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If you guys are traveling this year, download the Nomad eSIM app and use my code TINAXN for 20% off.
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Link is in the description.
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Now let's get back to the video.
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Now she's going to layer power products on top of the creams and liquids.
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So first is powder contour just to add a little bit more depth
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Also for highlight she's highlighting the nose and the inner corner of my eyes to make them pop
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She looks like it's a red color.
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And here, she's on the other side.
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I'm going to take a red color.
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Next comes powder blush.
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Then she builds up light layers of highlight to add glow back into my skin.
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She's using a few different products here.
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The Dior palette helps to add a soft glow to the skin.
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Whereas this DaySick palette gives my skin that wet look.
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And she's mixing all four colors together.
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Before setting everything, she shows me this cool pro hack.
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So for the areas that still look a little bit dark or uneven, like my under eyes and around the corner of my mouth,
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she uses a skin tone eyeshadow instead of concealer because we've already powdered everything.
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We don't want to go back in with a cream.
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So the trick is to choose a slightly peachy pink eyeshadow
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that will cancel out the darkness and blend just a touch of this over those areas to smooth everything out.
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Now, this doesn't work with all eyeshadows, I'm afraid.
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So you will need to trial and error this, but the one from this palette, she does recommend.
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The trick is to find something that adds a little bit of coverage, but it has to be very finely milled so it's super smooth and blendable.
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Now she's going to lock it in with Pat McGrath's Skin Fetish.
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This setting spray has a more glassy skin effect.
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Now it's my turn to do the other side.
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There is a lot of steps to get through, but I love that I'm learning new techniques and I get to play with new products.
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I think it's so helpful learning this way, like visually seeing one half of my face done and then working on the other, plus having Gwiden on hand to help me out if I get stuck.
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It just makes such a big difference.
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I love, love the setting spray technique she showed me.
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It's so cool because I have this product and now I have a new way to use it.
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for brows she's going to brush my brows into shape then fill them in with powder
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and she's using the contour shades from the judy doll palette
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so for the tail she's using the darker contour shade
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and for the front part she's using the lighter shade next
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she's going to go in with pencil now this pencil she's going to hold up at a 90 degree angle
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and then flick upwards to create hair like strokes now the
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trick is to be kind of random with your strokes it doesn't have to be uniform
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and she's just filling in any spots that need it next is brow mascara to lighten up my hairs
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then another really cool pro trick she shared is to grab a bit of eyelash glue clear glue
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and use a spoolie to spike up and lift those front hairs
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so that it makes your brows look fuller also
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if the edge of your brows are looking messy instead of
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using concealer she recommends using the skin toned eyeshadow just to soften the edges
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and to make it cleaner then it's my turn
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the brows have definitely evolved a little bit since my makeup
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days back then it was all about defined strong sharp carved out brows
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but now it's softer fuller
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but not loud brows everything's a lot more subtle now we
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can move on to eyes she's going to build my eyes up in very light layers
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so So first she's doing a wash of a pinky brown shadow all over my lid, blending that towards my temples.
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Then she uses a darker shade to emphasize the crease area.
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For the center, she's going to add in a little bit of shimmer and use her fingers to tap that on.
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With that same pinky brown shade, she's going to apply that on my lower lid.
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She's blending that quite far down.
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With a darker brown, she's going to softly line the outer corner of my eyes
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and connect it to the top lash line.
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And just deepen up that outer V.
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For the inner corner, she's gonna line that with a brown shade
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and connect it with the rest of the liner so it looks more soft and natural.
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Now, Gwyn is gonna show me how to achieve a natural looking agyo style.
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You know, that lower eyelid bag trend.
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So this technique is meant to accentuate the lower lid space underneath the eyes to make your eyes look fuller.
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You know when you smile and that area kind of puffs up?
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It just adds that visual weight to your eyes and when it's done correctly, it looks really good.
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So the trick here is to have the darkest part of that contour line line up with your pupil.
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You want to mark that area first, then blend forward and back with what's ever left on your brush.
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You don't want that line to be too harsh, too defined mind
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and don't use a super thin angled brush for this you want something a little bit thicker
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because it'll look more natural and make a softer contour after
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that she's going to go in
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and add a touch of highlight just to the puffy area
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to make it pop a little bit more my turn to
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do the eyes now I'm pretty confident with the upper eye shadow
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because it's so soft
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and natural pretty easy to do very beginner friendly it's the agyo cell that's a little bit more tricky
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moving on to eyeliner she's going to sketch out the line first using eyeshadow
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but she kind of creates her own liquid liner
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so she sprays her brush with a setting spray then dips
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it into the black shadow once she's got my liner mapped
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out she's going to go in with the liquid liner to add sharpness
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and definition you can see she's kept the line more horizontal
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and sort of like downwards
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and that's giving me a longer eye shape I'm ready to curl my lashes now and then she's going to
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cluster lashes underneath my natural lashes she's going to be using four pieces per eye
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and as each piece is drying she gently nudges them upwards
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so that they don't droop afterwards she's going to curl to sandwich those two layers together
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so my natural lashes and the falsies so they curl in one direction
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and with any gaps she's going to fill in with a
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liquid liner for the lower lashes she's going to apply mascara using a small fan brush
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and then also pop on some lower falsies just to really open up my eyes.
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Now this look wouldn't be complete if we didn't have contacts.
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It's an extra step, I know, but it makes such a big difference to this look.
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When it was my turn to line my eyes, I did notice that the way she does it is a little bit lower
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and thicker than how I usually do my liner, but it does make a difference.
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Also, when it came to the lower lashes, I noticed that she applies it a little bit lower than where the natural growth of my lashes are.
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This is going to help create that illusion of a bigger, wider eye.
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To finish off the eyes, she's going to tap on some loose glitter to give my eyes that wet look.
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And then finish off my blush, blending it towards the eyes.
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Now for the star of the show, the bold lip.
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This lip is going to have multiple layers.
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The first layer is concealer.
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So she knocks out the edges of my lips.
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After that, she applies a powder blush all over my lip to create a natural shadow.
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Then she applies a nude matte base all over.
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This is going to help make the red that she's going to apply later not look too harsh.
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The red shade is applied to the center of my lips first.
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And she's going to blend it outwards.
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The trick is to build up the color slowly.
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And as she blends, I notice she's blending over my philtrum and my lower lip to add volume.
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Then she's also going to go back and contour.
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So she's using this blush and contour shade mixed together.
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And she's going over my philtrum and lower lip.
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And that's going to create that faux lip shadow.
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It's interesting because she's not using lip liner for this.
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Also, a great tip she shared is to contour the corner of the lips to lift the corners
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and make it look like you're smiling.
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She's going to continue building up the color with a deeper red and also blending that out.
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You can see she's mapping the lip rather than applying the lipstick everywhere.
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And it's contouring my lip shape.
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Finally, she adds a little bit of gloss just to the center of my lower lip.
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And a touch on my cupid's bow.
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The result?
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The juiciest lips ever.
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Okay, time to lock that makeup in.
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And we can't forget about my neck.
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She's going to apply a touch of tone-up moisturizer so that when we take photos, my neck will match with my face.
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And then she also styles my hair so that the look ties in together.
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Are you ready for the final look?
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Ta-da!
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I'm calling it the modern Asian glam with a juicy, bold lip.
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What do you think?
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I look done up, but I don't look cakey.
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I love it, guys.
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It looks so good in person.
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And I look polished.
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The only thing I'm sad about is that I have to take this off because we're moving on to look number two.
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so sad that i'm not wearing this look out
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because i love it for look number two the base
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and brows stay the same
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but the vibe completely changes this look is all about the eyes
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and blush the blush placement is wider
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and more horizontal across my cheeks she applies it across my nose bridge as well
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and a little bit on my chin the contouring is similar to the previous look
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but the nose contour is going to be different
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so instead of just defining the sides she's going to create a cute button style nose for me
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and she does this by applying it across the tip and just above to break it up and visually shorten my nose.
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Now she's going to add a little bit of liquid blush to my nose and chin.
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I've tried this in the past but I never do it well
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so I always remove it so I'm paying close attention here.
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After that I'm going to set everything with loose powder just like before
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and then also I'm going to apply powder contour over the
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cream products for the nose contour I may have applied it a little bit too high
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so my button nose was looking a little bit off thankfully
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Gwen fixed it she just lowered the contour a little bit
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also I noticed for the highlight bit she kind of drags it across the tip of my nose
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so not just a dot she kind of drags it out
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and you can see it instantly changes the shape like did
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my nose get cuter she also highlights the inner corner of my eyes
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and this is her signature thing she likes to make the
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inner corners really pop now she's going to build up the blush with powder she's using this compact
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that has a rosy pink blush on one side
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and then a blue lavender blush on the other
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so first she mixes the two together
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and blends it over my cheeks What this is doing is brightening up my skin and also adding that rosy color.
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But when she uses the blue on its own, I noticed that it kind of brightens those areas, makes them look fuller.
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Not gonna lie, when I had a go at this, I was a little bit scared because, I mean, when have I ever used a blue blush?
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To my surprise, it was very soft, very natural, not overly pigmented.
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It just brightened my undertone ever so slightly.
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Now it's time to add some glow.
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This Dior palette adds that dewyness to my skin and then this palette creates that wet look.
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She's going to apply it across my skin to give me a soft rounder effect
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and also add some to the high points of my face.
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You can see the highlighter layers really nicely over the blush.
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She's going to set that all in place now.
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Okay, the eyes.
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This is the star of the show.
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I don't usually do cool toned colors and that's why I specifically chose this look.
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So she's starting off with a cool toned blue highlight in the inner corners.
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And she's going to build it up and add the blue highlight on top.
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Then she's going to apply gray all over.
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To add depth, she's using a darker gray on the crease.
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And then blending outwards to elongate my eyes.
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She then layers on a shimmer shade.
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This is like a browny, purpley, iridescent shade.
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I don't know how to describe it.
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But she pats that on and it's giving me sparkle.
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But then she layers this blue sparkly shade on top.
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And now my eyes look a little bit mysterious.
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It looks more multi-dimensional.
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For my lower lid, she's going to use a peachy pink.
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Then she's going to create a darker, softer diffused liner with a gray shadow.
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She's going to connect it up with my inner corner.
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Now she's going to create that agiosa look, contouring my lower lid.
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And then also adding a pinky highlight shade to the protruding bag area.
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my turn to do the other side i'm nervous but i'm also
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so glad that i chose this look for my lesson
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because it's completely out of my comfort zone guys like i would never reach for these colors
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because i wouldn't know what to do with them but it's
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so fun to just have some play time
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and a professional in hand to help me it's seriously reviving my passion for makeup it's crazy
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because I started YouTube with makeup tutorials over a decade ago.
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Like this video if you remember them.
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But then life kind of happened.
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I had kids and that passion kind of got buried away.
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But I think it's time.
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It's time to bring back makeup tutorials.
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I just need to work on a new improved series.
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Let me know if you guys are down to watch that type of content.
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Okay, now we're going to pop on contacts.
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This is a gray pair to complement the cool toned look.
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Now I'm going to curl my lashes and tightline with gel liner.
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And Gwyn is going to show me how to create a cat eye look for my eye shape.
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Instead of creating that flick outwards from my outer corner, she's actually going to extend the liner downwards a little bit first to elongate my eyes.
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And then she's going to flick upwards.
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After that, she's going to apply cluster lashes.
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Here she's using a slightly thicker lash style to complement the bold eye makeup.
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And of course, we can't forget about lower lashes.
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For this look, she's applying the lower lashes all the way.
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After that, she's going to finish the eyes off with some loose glitter.
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For my other eye, she's going to apply a double eyelid tape over my makeup to lift them ever so slightly.
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Usually, I have trouble lining this eye because the crease is a little bit lower.
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So taping them up definitely helps.
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After that, she's moving on to faux beauty spots and freckles.
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For the spots, she creates them with a liquid liner.
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and for the freckles she uses a micro brush dipped in some brown shadow
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that she randomly dots everywhere now this is an editorial look not an everyday look
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so it is a little bit extra
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and i know faux freckles might not be everyone's cup of tea
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but i am definitely vibing with it for lips she's doing
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the same concealing the edges then she uses this blush that almost is like a contour blush.
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She's using that to create the shadow around my top and lower lip, then deepening up so that it looks more realistic.
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Then she's going to build it up with a deeper blush and contour shade.
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Here she's highlighting my philtrum.
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Basically she's giving me a new lip guys.
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She applies a brick red liquid lip shade to the center and diffuses that out so it looks more natural.
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I think it's amazing how she's reshaping my lip without the use of lip liner.
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She's going add a little bit of a nudie gloss
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and then clean up the edges with a powder
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and of course we need extra sparkle
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so this is more of a glitter gloss that's going in
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the center the look is almost complete we just need to set it all
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and are you ready for the reveal this is look number two what do you guys think
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if people didn't know the power of makeup they would think this is some ai filter this makeup is just
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so good guys this is why i'm so in love with vietnam the makeup artist here are on another level.
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If you ever plan a trip here, definitely consider getting your makeup done.
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Also, check out my Vietnam Beauty Guide
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because it has all the good glow-up spots and fashion stores you don't want to miss out on.
349
Inside, there's exclusive deals, plenty of tips and tricks to help you get around, so it'll save you time and money.
350
If you enjoyed this video and want to see more, check out my playlist on screen.
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Subscribe if you're new here and I shall speak to you guys next time.
352
Bye!
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This B2 speaking lesson is built on the video “Everything a Pro Makeup Artist Taught Me”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: eye, nose, lip, contour, makeup. This video has 352 sentences and 4389 words to shadow. The speech runs for 23:32. The speaker talks fast, about 187 words per minute, so expect linked and reduced sounds. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.
Key vocabulary in this video
The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| contour noun | /ˈkɒntɔː/ | An outline, boundary or border, usually of curved shape. |
| blend verb | /blɛnd/ | To mingle; to mix; to unite intimately; to pass or shade insensibly into each other. |
| blush noun | /ˈblʌʃ/ | An act of blushing; a pink or red glow on the face caused by embarrassment, shame, shyness, love, etc. |
| lash noun | /læʃ/ | The thong or braided cord of a whip, with which the blow is given. |
| shade noun | /ʃeɪd/ | Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked. |
| liner noun | /ˈlaɪnɚ/ | A large passenger-carrying ship, especially one on a regular route; an ocean liner. |
| brow noun | /bɹaʊ/ | The bony ridge over the eyes, upon which the eyebrows are located. |
| spray noun | /spɹeɪ/ | A fine, gentle, dispersed mist of liquid. |
| concealer noun | Something that, or someone who, conceals. | |
| crease noun | /kɹiːs/ | A line or mark made by folding or doubling any pliable substance; hence, a similar mark, however produced. |
| palette noun | /ˈpælɪt/ | A thin board on which a painter lays and mixes colours. |
| underneath adverb | /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/ | Below; in a place beneath. |
| lip noun | /lɪp/ | Either of the two fleshy protrusions around the opening of the mouth. |
| brighten verb | /ˈbɹaɪtən/ | To make bright or brighter in color. |
| curl noun | /kɜɹl/ | A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| build up verb | To erect; to construct. | |
| check out verb | To record the departure or withdrawal of someone or something (such as guests, employees, books, etc.). | |
| finish off verb | To finish completely. | |
| go in with verb | To commit to something with; to partner with. | |
| bring back verb | /ˈbɹɪŋ bæk/ | To fetch something. |
| clean up verb | To make an area or a thing clean; to pick up a mess; to tidy. | |
| do up verb | To fasten (a piece of clothing, etc.); to tighten (a nut etc.) | |
| get around verb | To move to the other side of (something, such as an obstruction) by deviating from a direct course or following a curved path. |
Sentences worth repeating
Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:
- We've got two looks planned.
- I'm going to use the nose.
- Yes, I'm going to use the nose.
- I mean, how else will I check your comments?
- Are you ready for the final look?
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | have worked · I've already applied · have changed |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | will be pressed · be connected · is meant |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 58 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, don't, you're. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “th” sounds: underneath /ˌʌndɚˈniθ/, youthful /ˈjuθfəl/
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: blush /ˈblʌʃ/, lash /læʃ/, shade /ʃeɪd/, harsh /ˈhɑɹʃ/, shimmer /ˈʃɪm.ɚ/
- Long words — get the stress right: visually /ˈvɪzju.əli/, horizontal /ˌhoɹəˈzɑn.təl/, editorial /ˌɛdɪˈtɔːɹɪəl/, preposition /ˌpɹɛpəˈzɪʃən/, dimensional /daɪˈmɛn.ʃə.nəl/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like contour, blend, blush.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.