i’ve said it before and i’ll say it again: while product-obsessed i may be, a makeup artist i am not. thank goodness for a friend like nicole who actually is a makeup artist. who took time out of one very early morning to make me up for a photo shoot with the lovely kate headley. i begged nicole to walk us all through her techniques!

On a sunny morning in Washington DC, pretty girl and product guru Lara Ramos of The Glossarie, came to me to create a natural, everyday, photogenic makeup look. Two makeup junkies in one room meant our pile of products were the tried and true, hall of fame, best-of-the-best.

We started with clean, moisturized skin—so important! Next, I primed her face with Smashbox Photo Finish face primer to create a smooth base for the foundation and applied it with a Real Techniques (RT) pointed foundation brush. Makeup Forever HD foundation gave a flawless finish while avoiding the caked- on look.

To conceal any redness, I pressed Makeup Forever Full Cover concealer over the areas and blended it with a RT detailer brush. Since eyeshadow tends to crease as the day goes on, MAC Painterly paint pot came in handy as a neutral base and eye primer, applied with a Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage brush.  MAC shadow in Orb was dusted over the lid with a NARS tapered shadow brush. To give subtle definition of Lara’s lashline, I tightlined her upper water line with a black gel liner (MAC Fluidline in Black Track) on a pointed eyeliner brush from Laura Mercier. A few swipes of Benefit Bad gal mascara, and her eyes looked fresh yet natural.

To frame the face, Lara’s brows were brushed through with a Sonia Kashuk Spoolie eye brow brush and defined using Anastasia Brow Powder Duo in medium ash/ medium brown.

To add warmth to the skin I used a Laura Mercier powder brush to dust MAC Harmony blush on her temples, cheekbones, and chin, and for an additional pop of color, I swept on MAC Pinch O’ Peach blush. The last and most important step was applying Makeup Forever HD powder on a RT buffing brush to blend all of the layers and create a lasting finish. The result: camera-ready, flawless skin that looked clean and effortless.

nicole, i can’t thank you enough for my mini makeover. you are a total life saver and quite the talented makeup maven. glossarie readers, take note of nicole’s awesome tumblr – you will love her endless array beauty tutorials, tips and tricks!

ps – the voting continues! if i make it through this week in the allure beauty blogger of the year competition, you will get to see my cinematic masterpiece (that’s right – a video, starring MOI!). if that’s not incentive enough, you can also win a rebecca minkoff bag :)

pps – have i told you all that i love you for all of the voting, tweeting, facebook posting, love texts and emails? i will challenge anyone who says that they have a better bunch of readers than me. MWAH!