Boho Festival Look With Vanessa Hudgens
This week I got the opportunity to work with everyone's favorite festival-goer, Vanessa Hudgens! She's appropriately called the 'Queen of Coachella' because she ALWAYS looks stunning and unique in her desert-chic outfits. Every year, the theme of her outfit changes, but she tends to stick to the classic boho-chic look.
Some of Vanessa's iconic Coachella looks.
I look forward to seeing her festival looks every year, but what makes this festival season even more special is that Vanessa actually came out with her own festival-inspired line with Sinful Colors! It's been a dream of mine to work with her since the High School Musical days. Awhile ago, I worked with her for the very first time and let me tell you, I LOVE THIS GIRL! She's so beautiful and more importantly, bubbly and fun. The work she put into this SC x Vanessa collaboration is a perfect reflection of that.
This past week, I was there to grace the goddess' face with her own Sinful Colors collaboration during her SC x Vanessa party. Vanessa knows what styles and vibes she likes, but is always open to trying new things. I love how adventurous she is, and I think this look really captures that! This is what we came up with ...
The Sinful Colors Palatable Pleasures Eyeshadow Palette
The key element of this festival look is definitely this sultry yet bright eye look! I used her SC x Vanessa 'Palatable Pleasures' eyeshadow palette to create a nice sunset-inspired look. I mainly used the shades 'Oh Hey', 'Nude Beach', and 'Euphoric.' Even the shade names in this palette get me in the mood for summer! But to really make this eye look unique, we used Swarovski crystals. It may seem intimidating because of the crystals, but it's actually very do-able! In this post, I'm gonna take you through this eye look step-by-step. Follow along and you'll be on your way to looking like our favorite festival empress in no time.
Step 1: Prime the eyes. If there's one thing you should remember during festival season, it's that you're probably going to be dancing and sweating for like, 12 hours straight. Next to drinking water, creating a base for your makeup is probably THE most important thing you should do. That way your makeup will last all night!
My favorite eye primer to use on my clients is the Dior Backstage Eye Prime. It retails for $28 for 0.21 oz. It's good for evening out the color of your lids before eyeshadow. If your main concern isn't evening out your lids, and you have oily eyelids, the NARS Smudge Proof Eyeshadow Base is one of the only primers I've encountered that will keep your eyeshadow in place, matte, and vibrant all day. It costs $26 for 0.26 oz. If you're tight on your budget, I also love the Urban Decay Primer Potion in Original. It's a little cheaper at $22 for 0.33 oz and does everything a primer should do.
Step 2: Lay a base for your eyeshadow so blending will be easier. Set the primer with some kind of eyeshadow that's close to your skin color or even use a translucent powder.
Step 3: Start with a transition shade in the crease. In this case, I took 'Euphoric' from the palette and blended it all over her eyelid, but not bringing it up too far. Just enough to create a nice gradient into to the eyeshadow.
Step 4: Apply a darker color to the outer V of the eye. I took the 'Oh Hey' shade on a brush and started lightly introducing it with a pointed brush so I could really focus the darker color in the outer V and make it easier to get those colors to blend. Drag that outer V color onto the very outer lower eyelid as well, right up against that lash line. This is what helps create the sultry effect we wanted.
Step 5: Apply a brighter color to the inner eyelid. I took that same 'Nude Beach' shade on a flat shader brush and packed it into the inner eyelid and brought it toward the outer V, but not all the way. You wanna leave some room to blend everything together and add more colors if you need to! Bring that brighter color into the tear duct area and even the lower inner eyelid. This helps create the bright effect and really makes you look more awake.
Step 6: This is easier said then done, but with patience and a light hand, blend everything together. We want our eyes to look like sunsets! Make sure that there are no harsh lines and that everything transitions into each other.
Step 7: Apply your favorite waterproof mascara. We want those lashes to stay perky and visible all day and night, through all the sweat!
Pro tip: If you're feeling bold, go for a colorful mascara. Vanessa's SC Festival collection has 4 different shades of mascara: Fantas-Eyes (metallic copper), Lash Splash (blue), Lashing Out (metallic burgundy), and Scanda-Lash (purple). You can get them all here.
Vanessa's makeup at the 2017 MTV VMA's.
Step 8: My favorite part of this whole look was the Swarovski crystals we placed on Vanessa's lids and inner corners. This isn't the first time we've used Swarovski Crystals on her eyes. We used red crystals at the 2017 VMAs to create that stunning, sparkly red winged liner and she looked so good that I knew we had to reach for the crystals again.
This time, we used pale pink Swarovski's and adhered them to her outer eyelid and inner corners with some strong lash glue and a pair of long tweezers. (We just had these laying around so I don't quite remember the shade or size, but you really could use any color or size. Just keep in mind the space you have on your eyelid!) We created a sort of half-wing with the crystals that elongated her eyes and made them sparkle at the same time. I mean, more than they already do.
My favorite lash glue for this kind of thing is the DUO Brush on Adhesive in Clear. You could always use your normal tube of DUO in clear with a tiny brush. I just find that the brush on adhesive is more convenient!
Vanessa's Bling at the SCVanessa party.
Pro tip: It helps to put a *tiny tiny* bit of glue on your actual tweezer tips so the crystals are easier to pick up. Just be careful to make sure that you don't put enough glue to transfer onto the crystals or else they'll lose their sparkle.
And there you have it! An easy festival eye look that the queen herself has worn. This should inspire you to pick up her new palette and try it out for yourself!
Happy festival-ing! Drink lots of water and don't forget to prime.
You can find Vanessa's Sinful Colors cosmetics line on Amazon or in some stores. Check Sinful Colors for the whole rundown on the entire Festival Collection! She also has a nail polish collection that would be perfect to wear to any festival, or just to work! You can find the nail polish line at Ulta or Walgreens!
