Lessons on Smoky Eyes and the J. Lo Glow with Urban Girl Squad

Ever since I met Amanda Hofman, the founder of Urban Girl Squad, at a boudoir event she coordinated that I happened to be covering for lingerie boutique, Sugar Cookies, I have been psyched to attend an UGS event myself. UGS organizes social networking events for women in NYC, but their events are far from any ordinary way to do so. They can range anywhere from African dance classes, to rifle shooting lessons, to cooking with season vegetables, and even cigar smoking tips (just to name a few). Above all, I was dying to try one of their beauty classes. When I was told they were having a makeover session by cosmetic brands Fresh (on how to get that J. Lo glow) and Make Up For Ever (on smoky eyes), I immediately signed up. I realized there are 10,000 ways to do a smoky eye. Here are some tips from Make Up For Ever:

– Use a water resistant eye liner pencil and a flat synthetic brush. Start from the lashline to line your eyes with the pencil and use the brush to pull out the color. Since it’s water-resistant, it won’t crease.

– Choose a color that’s warmer than your skin tone (it can be any color, but for the tutorial they used a chocolate brown color). Wipe your brush clean, and use a darker color to pat on to eyelid. Blend like crazy with a smudge brush. It should have a ‘smoked’ out effect so blending is key.

– Use a highlight color (think cream colors) to highlight the brow bone with the same brush.

– Use the pencil now to line the lower waterline. I asked about lining the top eye, but with this method, you use the shadow to smoke out instead of lining the eyes intensely.

Then we went on to learn how to get the J. Lo glow using Fresh good-for-your-skin products. The two key products they used was their Supernova Radiance Brightening Pen, the Satin Luster Palette, and the Fresh Sugar Lip Treatment.

First, use the pen to conceal and dark circles around the eye area. It’s infused with lotus flower which champions de-puffing properties. The bright microspheres help to illuminate the eye area to give it a lift. Then, apply the pink rose pearl color from the palette on your lid. Apply the white pearl color on the inner corners of your eyes to brighten. The makeup artist also used a little of the beige pearl on the brow bone to lift. As they were showing us the volunteer’s face really started to take on that J. Lo glow! They finished her look off with a swipe of Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatment which I am so obsessed with now that I’m getting all my friends hooked too. Seriously if there’s ONE thing you go out and buy, you MUST try that product!

I really found Urban Girl Squad’s get-together fun, informative, and filled with women from all sorts of professional backgrounds and interests. That night alone, I met a singer, a women who used to work for the NBA (now she works at JetBlue), a dental student exploring the city while taking a year off, and a IT consultant — all with a mutual love for makeup. I am telling you, instead of the usual dinner catch-up session with your girls, spend that cash on an event with UGS. Events can range from $10 up depending on the event and a lot of them are even free! Check out their website for more info: www.urbangirlsquad.com. Trust me, you’re guaranteed and amazing time…you can thank me later ;).

*All event shots by Beja B.

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Shy

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