LBD Makeup Tutorial: The Best Makeup Ideas For Your Black Dresses

Looking for the perfect makeup ideas to make your little black dress pop?

Whether you are attending a bachelorette party or attending a holiday event for work, here’s how to dust your lids, paint your pout, and add a sexy little fringe to your lashes.

1 Swipe a primer on your lids

add eyeshadow primer to eyelids

To keep your eyeshadow from sliding off your eyes, rub a pea-sized amount of liquid primer on your eyelids. Don’t have any primer handy?

Use concealer or foundation to create the smooth canvas instead.

  • Expert Makeup Tip for Primer: You can apply a small swipe of liquid concealer or foundation over your eyelids as a liquid primer alternative.

2 Get glowing with uniform coverage

foundation makeup for black dressesApply a dime-sized amount of liquid or cream foundation to your face with a dampened sponge, to get a smooth and dewy finish. Next, swipe on a powder foundation with a large powder brush.

Using the same big fluffy brush, dust face with a translucent powder to set the liquid or cream foundation.

  • Expert Makeup Tip for Foundation: Carefully blend makeup and powder at the jawline and neck with a fluffy, blush brush.

3 Add a pop of color to your eyes

best eyeshadow colors for little black dressesFor a sexy complement to your little black dress, swipe two to three shades of eye color on the eye crease, lid and brow bone.

For subtle seduction, dab shimmery brown, cream or taupe in the center of your eyelids. Add definition to the crease with gray or chocolate eyeshadow, applied with a fluffy and large eyeshadow brush.

Highlight your brow bone with a stroke of bone, gold or vanilla using a thin liner brush. Blend all three shades of shadow with a large blush brush to complete your soft and sexy eye look.

  • Expert Eyeshadow Makeup Tip: While it is best to select deep cocoa shadows for green, brown, hazel and blue eyes, lavender is another universal eyeshadow color that enhances almost every eye color.

4 Line your lids

eyeliner makeup ideasIt’s amazing what a bold black or blue eyeliner color can do for your eyes.

To make your baby blues or brown eyes pop, draw a line of color using an eye pencil or liquid liner on your upper lash line. Smudge this dark line with a cotton swab to make your eyes appear sexy and smoky.

If you are wearing a bold lip for with your fabulous, evening little black dresses, like in a red or fuchsia, skip this high-wattage eye-lining step.

  • Expert Tip for Eyeliner: If you are using a pencil to line your eyes, keep it sharpened to keep the wood casing that surrounds the eye pencil from scratching your eye. To make eyes pop, line the lower inner rims of the eye with an off-white eyeliner pencil.

5 Boost your lashes

apply two coats of black or blue mascara to your lashes

Long, full lashes add a dash of femininity to an evening look.

Begin by prepping your lashes for two coats of black or blue mascara with a small eyelash curler. Starting at the base of your upper eyelashes, press the small curler up from the roots of your lashes to the tips.

  • Expert Tip for Lashes: To add extra volume to your lashes, wiggle the mascara wand at the base of your top lashes before pulling the wand through to the ends. If your mascara tends to look a little spidery, apply this lash-boosting product to the tips of your upper lashes only.

6 Apply a pretty flush to your cheeks

apply blush color to your cheeks

Call it love at first brights: A bright blush color makes your eyes twinkle, will take five years of aging off the face, and add radiance to your cheeks instantly.  Blend a cream-based blush with the tips of your fingers on the apples of both cheeks.

For powdery blush formulas, highlight both cheeks with a quick dusting of powdered blush applied with a big, fluffy brush.

  • Expert Blush Makeup Tip: For light, medium or dark-colored skin, wipe a pink, dusty rose or peach-hued blush, to get flushed in a flash. To intensify the color for nighttime, deposit more color on your cheeks with another swipe of the blush along your cheekbones.

7 Swipe on a smooth and sexy lipswipe on a red lipstick to wear with your little black dress

If you are wondering what color lipstick should I wear with a black dress, there’s no better time paint a pretty red pout than when you are wearing an LBD. First, line lips with a matching lip pencil. Layer on your brightest red lipstick straight from the tube. Add a hint of shine by dabbing on a clear gloss over your red lip color.

  • Expert Lip Tip: Line lips with a creamy lip pencil in the same hue as your favorite lipstick color. Celebrity makeup artist Carmindy Bowyer suggests you, “follow with a moisturizing red lipstick. But, avoid red lip-gloss as it gets messy fast.”

Little Black Dress Makeup Do's and Don'ts

makeup ideas for little black dresses

  • Set your makeup look with loose or pressed powder – applied gently all over your face.
  • Finish your sultry and seductive eye makeup look with a strong red lip, rosy or coral blush for the cheeks and pearl pink nail polish.
  • With a bold eyeshadow color, a dark-colored dress and a high-wattage lip, keep your blush color simple and natural-looking.
  • To keep eyeshadow from falling under your eyelids, dust a line of loose powder under your eyes. When eyeshadow falls during your makeup application, it will settle into the powder. After you apply your eye color, sweep away the excess powder under your eyes with a blush brush.

Resources

Looking for the perfect makeup to make your little black dress pop? It’s all about amplifying your assets. In fact, for a daytime or evening look, you can pump up the volume with major lashes, a notice-me eye shadow combo and lip colors that are bold and beautiful.