With spring springing upon us and the sun finally blessing us with its warmth, it is finally time to move past those (non-existent?) winter makeup routines and add some more colours and even explore new makeup products. Whether you are a sucker for a good face beat, or are into more natural looks, upgrading your makeup kit is never easy once you feel comfortable with a set of products. Lucky for us, freelance makeup artist Nadia Hoecklin shares with us her top 5 favourite products to use, as well as some tips and tricks to help step up our makeup game. As a self taught MUA through YouTube and other social media platforms, this 4th year political science student started her Instagram page MakeupByNadia 6 years ago, and since then, she’s been working for various beauty contracts and even graduation bookings. For Nadia, makeup is a way to enhace your features, rather than to hide or change them. As a personal preference, she likes to create natural looks on herself and here’s some of the products she swears by:
In terms of foundation, Nadia likes to use the MAC Studio Face and Body for the large shade range and its long wear. It is also a great product as it does not smudge and looks amazing in photos as well as in natural lighting.
Retail price: CA $33.00
For contour, it is important to use matte colors, rather than a glowy bronzer. For Nadia, the Kat Von D Shade+Light palette is a must, as the colours are not only super matte and creamy, they are also very easy to work with. This palette also offers a variety of shades that suit many skintones.
Retail price: CA $55.00
Nadia’s pro tip: rather than applying your countour in the hollows of your cheeks as many MUA recommand, try countouring slightly above them for more lift and more sculpt to your face.
Nadia does love her highlight, however, she believes that on an everyday basis highlighting can go from poppin’ to cakey real quick in natural light, which is why she advises to use it moderately. For that reason, her go to highlighter is the Laura Mercier 01 Highlight, which gives a beautiful natural glow without that sparkly and glittery finish.
Retail Price: CA $50.00
Since everyone needs a good mascara, Nadia likes to use the L’Oréal Voluminous Mascara in Blackest Black. This is more of an old school product but lots of reknowned MUAs such as Makeup By Mario swear by it. Plus, no need to break the bank with this product, which is a bonus!
Retail price: CA $6.99
The tools Nadia deem important in any makeup addict’s kit are a good set of brushes. Her essential tool is the MAC Studio 224 eyeshadow brush, which allows her to create so many eye looks, ranging from natural to dramatic.
Retail price: CA $39.00
In terms of trends, Nadia has been loving the “soap brows” as opposed to the popular “instagram brows”. According to her, they much more flattering, as they make your eyebrows look fuller and fluffy at the same time, so look it up.
Lastly, Nadia is a strong advocate of a good skincare routine and the importance of removing your makeup before bed. Her routine consists of using remover from the Body Shop makeup, which gives a sublte scrub while being super gentle on the skin. Following with almond oil, which according to her is an amazing product for moisture and even for before putting makeup on.
Can’t get enough of Nadia? Follow her Instagram page to see more of her work and some inspiration for your next makeup slay.
Images provided by Nadia Hoeckin and the following sources:
https://www.walmart.ca/en/ip/loreal-paris-voluminous-mascara-black-2/6000016938166
http://www.sephora.com/matte-radiance-baked-powder-compact-P379031?
http://www.sephora.com/shade-light-contour-palette-P392129?country_switch=ca&lang=en