Makeup artist to the stars—some of her clients include Julia Roberts, Amanda Seyfried, Julianna Margulies, and more—Genevieve Herr knows what makes or breaks a flawless look. She’s mastered red-carpet glam, magazine cover glam and everything in between, and when we get the opportunity to hear her advice, we take copious notes. Here, the beauty guru shares four top tips to keep your makeup on point this summer, so you can make the perfect post-COVID debut.
Hide blemishes the right way.
“Start on the outside the blemish where it’s really red, instead of inside, and then work your way to the inside with the point of the brush. Then pat it gently to diffuse any borders to lines so it’s well-blended. Most people go right to the top and don’t blend it out and that’s how you see all the imperfections of the blemish.”
It’s time to embrace lipstick again.
Masks are finally coming off and bold lipstick is trending again. Herr was the first person to try Lancôme’s new L’Absolu Rouge Drama Ink—she used it on Amanda Seyfried on the red carpet at the Golden Globes—and loves the formula.
“I love that’s it very liquidy because you can spread it better. I love the tip, too, because when I do makeup, I always like to line the lips with a liner to define them and adjust them if you need to. With this new lipstick, the tip is very pointy, so you can use it as a lip liner first and then blend it into the rest of the lips. With celebrities, sometimes their hair sticks to their lipstick—they always feel very aware that they have lipstick on—but with this lipstick, it feels like wearing nothing. When I used it on Amanda [Seyfried], she said it felt like she had nothing on, and that’s something I love about this one. It also lasts eight hours so you don’t have to reapply it.
To stop lipstick from bleeding, I powder around the mouth a little bit before I apply anything to absorb excess oil, and then I will use a lip liner. I start at the Cupid’s bow and then go to the bottom, and then just connect everything. After I apply the liner, I use a lip brush or my finger to smooth it into the lips, and I always try to choose a liner that it closest to the color of the lips—or lighter than the lip color I’m using—because you don’t want to see the line. Then I apply lipstick and blot it with blotting paper, and then apply another coat in the inside of the lip, not going out to the lip line.”
Try a lash primer.
“When we curl lashes, they tend to fall flat within a couple of minutes, so what I do is curl one eye at a time and then apply the primer—Lancôme Cils Booster has something in it that keeps the lashes curled—and then follow with mascara. That way the lashes stay curled and up. To get a wide-awake look, you need lash primer first. Just like how putting on a primer before you do your makeup is very important, it’s the same with the lashes. If you prime them, your mascara will look better and stay on longer.”
Remember that less is more.
“For the summer, I always think that less is more. Less foundation, or maybe a lighter foundation, or you can thin it out with a moisturizer. Blush is very in now, so a little bit of blush is very pretty and can give the skin a healthy glow. Not much powder: Powder usually creases a bit and can mask the face. It’s better just to powder the T-zone, and use as little as possible. You want to see beautiful, glowing skin.”
