How to Get Lea Michele's 5 Signature Beauty Looks
In what may very well be the best news ever, Lea Michele just released her first book, an intimate look inside her life titled Brunette Ambition ($13, Crown). This means that Lea's not only an actress-singer-dancer (AKA a triple threat), but now she's an author, too!
Lea's brand-new book has a little bit of everything: recipes, career advice, fitness tips, and more. But our favorite chapter? The beauty stuff, clearly. After all, it's obvious that Lea is one celebrity who knows her way around an eye pencil. Lucky for us, she dissected her five signature hair and makeup looks and broke them down, step-by-step. And guess what? You get an exclusive excerpt, courtesy of Teen Vogue! You're welcome.
Check out the cover of Lea's book, then let us know what you think of the tutorials in the comments below!
Reprinted from BRUNETTE AMBITION Copyright © 2014 by Lea Michele (Crown Archetype)1/6An exclusive excerpt from her brand-new book Brunette Ambition.
Reprinted from BRUNETTE AMBITION Copyright © 2014 by Lea Michele (Crown Archetype)2/6Date Night
Makeup: A Smoky Eye and Nude Lip
Rim the entire eye with a soft kohl pencil, then use your finger or a pointed brush to smudge the line. Take a cream shadow in the shade you prefer (taupe, bronze, or gray) and work it into the crease with a pointy brush. Don't get too high or too far out with the color. Next, curl your lashes and take your mascara wand and wiggle it at the base as you move up. Use a cream blush, smile, and pat the color onto the apple of the cheek to add freshness. Tap and blend until it looks just right. Because the eyes are dramatic, you'll want to keep your lips nude. Try a matte cream lip stain or lipstick and use your finger to pat it on.
Hair: Beachy Waves
Take four-inch wide sections of the hair, then roll each one under with a 1 3/4" curling iron and set with a clip. Leave the bottom two inches uncurled to make the wave cooler and messier. Then, spray a paddle brush with flexible or working-hold hairspray, remove the clips, and brush the hair out. Leave the front sections alone, but add volume at the crown by back-combing a one-inch section of hair. Then warm a light styling cream in between your hands and run it through the hair for a tousled effect.
Reprinted from BRUNETTE AMBITION Copyright © 2014 by Lea Michele (Crown Archetype)3/6Golden Globes
The Makeup:
Use a kohl pencil along the top lashes to create a clean line, and then wing it a tiny bit. Apply a small amount of shimmery dark brown shadow to a domed brush and then feather the line back and forth. Apply two coats of mascara to the top, but use a dark brown mascara on the bottom to open the eyes and keep the overall effect romantic. Use a cream or powder highlighter in shimmery pink or shimmery gold to accent under the top of the eyebrow and the inner corner of the eye. Apply a soft pink blush on the apple of the cheek, patting and swiping with your brush as you move up the cheekbone. Then use a lip pencil in soft pink to define the lips. Finish with a super-high-shine gloss in a matching color.
The Hair:
Part hair to the side and then, using a 3/4" curling iron, curl everything toward the face, creating uneven waves as you go. Make a horseshoe section of hair up top—essentially everything from the front to the crown of the head—and clip it for later. Then gather all the hair from the sides and pull to the center of the back of the head. Braid in one section and secure with an elastic. Twist it up into a bun, and put your first bobby pins through the elastic. Rub a light-hold styling cream in your hands and run it through the top section of hair to create texture, then push hair forward over the bangs or forehead. Take a reusable mascara wand and coat it with a flexible-hold hairspray. Work around your hairline and neck and clean up the look as you go.
Reprinted from BRUNETTE AMBITION Copyright © 2014 by Lea Michele (Crown Archetype)4/6Sunday Brunch
The Makeup: Glowy Bronzer & Colorful Eyes
Take a big bronzer brush and sweep across your cheeks, forehead, nose, and neck. Use a cream color base and flat eyeshadow brush to gently pat a wash of fun color across your lid, gradually building up the density of the hue. Take a shimmery powder in a matching shade and pat it on. Take a mascara in the same color family and wiggle it back and forth underneath the top lashes. Then apply a light pink gloss to the lips.
The Hair: Messy Braid with Natural Texture
Take a bit of light styling cream in your hands, warm it up, and rake it through the hair to give a little hold and shine. Pull all your hair behind one of your ears and then create a classic three-strand braid, securing with an elastic. Tie a bit of ribbon at the bottom in a knot (not a bow!). You don't want a lot of loose hair around the front of your face, so add a veil of hairspray onto a natural-bristle toothbrush to clean up flyways.
Reprinted from BRUNETTE AMBITION Copyright © 2014 by Lea Michele (Crown Archetype)5/6Dinner with the Girls
The Makeup: Fun Lip & Simple Eye
Fill the entire lip with a bright pink pencil, then apply an intensely-pigmented lip lacquer. Bright pouts need to be super-precise so they don't look sloppy, so tidy up the edges with a Q-tip dipped in makeup remover if necessary. Finally, take a little brush and some face powder to carefully set the edge of the lip. Take a powder brush and apply a luminizer all over your face to give it a glow. Apply two coats of mascara.
The Hair: High Bun
Gather your hair at the crown of your head and secure it in a ponytail with a tight elastic. Braid the pony and secure it with a second elastic. Take your thumb and place it on the top of your head in front of the ponytail. Wrap the braid over at the top of your thumb (toward your face), and then wrap under and tuck the end in. Take bobby pins and place them through the elastic in an X, securing the bun to your head. Place X-formation pins throughout the bun to anchor it in place.
Reprinted from BRUNETTE AMBITION Copyright © 2014 by Lea Michele (Crown Archetype)6/6Business Meeting
The Makeup: Winged Liner & Berry Lip
While looking in the mirror, angle your face up before applying liquid liner, then stretch your lid to the side so it's smooth and taut. Start halfway across the lash line, applying light pressure and increasing in thickness as you move to the outer corner of the eye. Then, look straight into the mirror and create your flick, connecting the wing to the rest of the liner. You can take a pointy Q-tip doused in eye makeup remover to refine and sharpen your flick.Use a very neutral matte blush and brush it across your cheeks. Pout your lips and apply a berry-colored stain with your ring finger.
The Hair: Side Part, Straight
Divide hair into a top and bottom section. Secure the top and take a dime-size amount of anti-frizz serum in your hands, rub together, then evenly distribute. Repeat with the top section. Rough dry using a blowdryer until hair is 90% finished, then use a round brush for the rest to smooth it out. Take two-inch sections of hair and slowly move a comb through the strands immediately in front of a flat iron. Then take a natural-bristle toothbrush, spritz it with hairspray, and smooth any flyways.
