These Women Pitted Their Own Makeup Skills Against A Professional Makeup Artist
Professional makeup artist Julia Ismailova challenged her clients to compare their makeup skills to hers. She had her clients do their own makeup, identified their mistakes, and then showed them how to better apply foundation, blush, contour, and lipstick.
Of course, the entire process was documented in photos. Keep reading to see how their skills stack up against a professional in the field. Who do you think did it better?
No More Tight-Lining
This woman looks so much more approachable now that her under eyeliner isn't so harsh. Sometimes less really is more. Julia also showed this client how to use highlighter to her advantage.
In her post, Julia said that this woman's eyebrows were one of the first things she noticed. She said they looked "so heavy and rough" and discovered that they were actually tattooed on. No worries, she was able to tone everything down into this soft and natural look.
A Smoothing Effect
This is the very first transformation that Julia posted on her Instagram page. She taught this woman how to apply foundation in a more even way and how to keep face products from settling into her fine lines and wrinkles.
This makeover is a great example of the power that cosmetics can have, no matter what your age, skin type, or style. With a little knowledge, anyone can accentuate their best features in a natural-looking way.
An Outside-The-Box Look
This client doesn't want a minimal, subtle look. Julia showed her how she can express herself with makeup and red eyeshadow in a more refined way. The pinker, glossier lip also doesn't pull focus from the intense eye look.
"I felt that I didn't want to 'break’ her and remake her, I understood her message, and I started to work," wrote Julia. She kept the model's unique style but improved on it.
A Bolder Lip
This is Uma. She's a doctor who is self-conscious about her dark under-eye circles and the pigmentation that came from pregnancy, and she didn't know how to conceal them properly. Julia gave her a minimal look with full under-eye coverage.
"On the left, you can see the makeup that Uma does by herself every day and on the right, you can see my option with a minimal amount of cosmetics," said Julia.
A Warmer Look
This woman was choosing cooler-toned colors on her face in an attempt to complement her icy blond hair, but Julia showed her that warmer tones do more for her complexion.
Julia's followers really loved this makeover. An Instagram user called fridaynightfever wrote, "Two different people! And the nose is smaller and the eyes are much more beautiful. On the left, the eyes seemed to be wide-set." It's just another example of the transformative power of makeup!
A More Open Look
"Maria is 24 years old and divorced," shared Julia. "The conversation with her revealed that she almost doesn't wear any makeup now and the 'before’ pic shows her evening makeup rather than her day makeup."
She had been tight-lining her eyes, which made her eyes look smaller and more closed off. Julia showed her how to use eyeliner more sparingly to open up her eyes and her whole face.
Those Eyes Are Popping!
This is one of the most extreme transformations on Julia's page. She showed this client how a bold red lip can really complement her hair color and make her blue eyes pop.
"At first, I corrected the brows and then the rest of the puzzle fell together easily," said Julia. Just look at the way her new lip color makes the rest of her face look -- rested, vibrant, and lovely.
A Mattifying Makeover
This woman probably has oily skin, which is why she looks a bit shiny in the first picture. Julia showed her how to turn that shine into a glow using mattifying face products such as translucent setting powder.
Julia shared another trick along with this makeover. She said, "In order to improve the look of the skin, I first do a mini-facial. It takes 15 minutes but provides stunning results." You can definitely see the difference here! The model's skin is much smoother.
A Piercing Stare
Most of this transformation comes down to the hair, which looks so much better when it's wavy and volumized. Julia showed this woman how to contour her cheeks to achieve a more chiseled face shape.
Our pro said that this woman's makeup was well-matched to her skin tone and that her lipstick was the perfect color. She just needed a tweak to the eyeliner and fluff out the brows a bit. Look how much happier the 'after' photo is!
A Subtle Change
This woman was doing a pretty good job with her makeup already. Also, she's naturally beautiful, so that obviously helps a bit. Julia gave her more of a structured brow and a coral lip.
Although Julia did share that the woman's brows needed quite a bit of work, she had nothing but praise for the model. "She really is gorgeous! Like from the cover of a fashion magazine," she wrote.
A Glowy Look
This young woman was blessed with clear, supple skin. It doesn't take much makeup for her to look her best. Julia showed her how to use highlighter and dewy, radiant products to add a gorgeous glow to her face.
"I believed that enhancing her beautiful eyes and showing her gorgeous, even, and youthful skin should be a priority," said Julia. "Let the cheeks be red — it's beautiful, isn’t it?"
More Color
This woman was looking rather dull before Julia worked her magic on her face. Julia used some bright coral blush and a bright pinkish-red lip to brighten up this canvas.
"This kind of woman often puts herself in various categories, for example, she thinks she is a certain color type," wrote Julia. "Frankly speaking, I don't like differentiation by face color types and I don’t understand why people are divided into different groups... My task this time was giving her a certain softness and I think I did it well."
Goodbye Smudge
This model felt that she had serious skin issues to address. "She was seeing harsh rosacea, awful pores, and strong pigmentation on her face," wrote Julia. "I never see these things and I never fight with anything. My task is to enhance all possible advantages and that's what I actually did."
She had tried to create a winged liner look, but her liner wasn't so precise. Julia showed her how warm-toned shadows and liquid liner can take her look to the next level.
The Complementary Color Theory
The model's main objective was to look more professional at work, which Julia was more than happy to help with. "People perceive me as a little girl," she told Julia.
This woman was using pink-toned lipstick, but Julia put more of an orange-toned lipstick on her instead. Orange and blue are complementary colors, so orange-toned lipsticks really make blue eyes pop. She looks ready to lead a board meeting now!
More Blush, Please
Julia didn't have to change much about the way this woman was doing her foundation. She just added a little more blush to her cheeks and gave her a warm glow.
However, she made some tweaks to the eye makeup that made a huge difference. "The eye pencil and the eyeliner in the 'before' photo only enhance the perception of a sad look," she wrote. "I have made the brows look a bit lighter" for a more cheerful look.
A More Youthful Glow
Using skin makeups like concealer or foundation that are too orange or yellow for your personal skin tone adds age to your face. Julia used a more natural-looking foundation on this client to make her look more youthful.
She also structured the eyebrows a bit more and added some contouring to accentuate the model's best features. This is a look that's natural and easy to recreate in the morning before work but that looks polished and professional, too.
Keep It Calm
This woman was trying to do too much with her blue hair and silvery lipstick. Julia's look is more subtle and it allows her client's natural beauty to shine through.
As Julia acknowledged, maybe this makeup "doesn't reflect this heroine’s inner self and you know that I don’t like to ’break’ people. But this time, I very much wanted to create a tender and young fairy from a vampire woman."
She Is Now Glowing!
Aging skin can present a huge problem for some people, especially when it comes to self-esteem. When sharing this model's before-and-after photos, Julia wrote, "You can't even imagine HOW nice to see the surprised and delighted faces of my clients who come to master classes on makeup for themselves or just for makeup."
Julia brightened up her complexion with foundation and bronzer, and she also used some contouring on the model's nose. A little brow clean-up and some subtle eye makeup, and she looks like a refreshed version of her former self!
From 'Gym' To 'Glam'
After seeing this model's photo, Julia "immediately imagined how amazing an image could be for such a bright girl!" It is indeed an amazing transformation. The woman's eye makeup is a big part of the new look. "I 100% supported the idea of ​​creating a smoky smoky and getting away from the rough black arrows, behind which you can't really see the color of the eyes," said Julia.
"It so happened that this evening she was supposed to have a date, and I'm sure it was unforgettable," shared Julia. We hope so!
A New, Lilac Look
"In this transformation, there was no goal to make the heroine younger or fresher, because there is nowhere to be younger and fresher," said Julia of this woman." I wanted to show her and you, HOW one and the same color, but in a different form, changes the whole ensemble!"
While the woman was already wearing a light purple eye shadow, Julia decided to go for a much bolder look as well as adding some sheer gloss to the lips. The results are stunning and dramatic.
Self-Conscious About Her Skin
"'We are more than our skin' is the slogan of one of the most popular acne blogs 'Acne Club,' wrote Julia when sharing this remarkable transformation. She feels it's important to "gently" correct skin imperfections while still keeping things natural.
In addition to personalized skin care, this lovely model received a full makeover. Custom-matched foundation, contouring, and shaped eyebrows all contribute to the polished and pretty 'after' look you see here.
Keeping The Brows Strong
For this model, her strong and defined eyebrows are a central focus of her look, and Julia didn't want to change that. Instead, she cleaned them up a bit and added a mattifying powder and a more sophisticated lip.
"I transferred the ruddy accents to the correct areas of the face and immediately there was freshness!" This woman does look fresh and chic now, while still displaying her trademark style and showcasing her personality.
Makeup Can Totally Transform A Face
While the past makeup looks showed how subtle changes can improve your overall appearance, makeup really has the power to fully transform a face. This is the same makeup artist sporting two separate looks, if you can believe it.
The artist is Abby Roberts and she's racked up two million followers on Instagram thanks to photos like these. The look on the left is Barbie-inspired, and the one on the right was for Valentine's Day one year.
She Turned Herself Into Post Malone
Here's another one that might be hard to believe, but this is the same person. With a little bit of makeup and a changed hairdo, this 16-year-old makeup artist (Abby's little sister!) transformed herself into musician Post Malone.
She shared this amazing creation with the caption, "man i feel just like a rockstar." Although she said that the eye color had been tweaked, the rest of this transformation is all due to her makeup skills!
I've Got My Eyes On You
How many eyes are too many? Most would say that a person only needs two to get by, but this makeup artist who knows how to turn a look would beg to differ on the subject.
This obviously isn't a look for the office or your next Zoom meeting, but for Halloween or some other special occasion calling for a costume, it would be amazing to try and recreate at home!
From Glam To The Grinch
Who said the beauty couldn't also be the beast? This makeup artist, known as Nikkie, is known for her glam looks most of the time, but she also knows how to turn herself into the Grinch on demand.
The most amazing thing is that she also shared a tutorial on YouTube, so fans can follow along and turn themselves into the Grinch as well. We're going to guess that it requires quite a bit of green foundation.
Puzzling How He Could Transform Like That
This male makeup artist turned himself from an average guy into a jigsaw puzzle using only the products available in his makeup vanity. It's puzzling as to how he maintained that level of detail on his skin.
James Charles is such a big star in the world of cosmetics that Seventeen magazine did a feature on him and showed the world what he looked like without all the dramatic makeup.
Seems A Little Fishy
This makeup artist did the opposite of Ariel and went from being a regular girl with legs to being an underwater princess. However, she looks far more terrifying than the mermaid redhead.
The artist, known as Gabrielle Alexis, calls this creation "Swimming with the Sirens" and you can watch a video of her transformation online. If you're talented enough, try and mimic what she does and see how you look as an eerie Siren.
Angelic To Demonic
Why have an angel and a demon sitting on your two shoulders when you could get both from the same person? It's hard to believe a face that beautiful could look so terrifying, but there you go.
Some of these awesome makeup looks are a good reminder that no matter what, Halloween is never more than 364 days away. Keep your eyes peeled for great ideas like this and give yourself plenty of time to learn to recreate them, and you'll be the hit of the costume party!
Fire And Ice Is A Classic Theme
It's a battle of the elements—one frosty while the other is a total scorcher. Using only makeup and a little body paint, this makeup artist turned herself into this stunning duality.
The artist is Embla Wigum, who is Icelandic and Norweigan. She's been known to transform herself into everything ranging from a skull to a sunset to a sea monster. Embla shares tips and tricks of the trade with her 21,000 Instagram followers.
From A Regular Gal To A Villain
Angelina Jolie in the role of Maleficent had impossibly sharp cheekbones that no person could naturally sport, but with a little bit of contour and highlighting powder, this makeup artist transformed herself into the Disney character.
This is such a spot-on recreation that we wouldn't be surprised if Disney reaches out to the makeup artist (it's Abby Roberts again!) with a job offer sometime soon. We'd love to see what she'd be able to do in movies!
Queen Of Hearts Turns Into A Futuristic Cyborg
You might not be able to change the face you were born with (at least, not without major surgery), but you can completely transform yourself into a different person or a different era if you want.
When it comes to fantasy makeup looks, Gabrielle Alexis is one of the best in the business and she's not too stingy to share her secrets. Just check out her social media accounts to see how she creates these masterpieces!
Oh No, Her Face Is Flipping Out!
Does my eye look upside down to you? This makeup artist who got her start on YouTube not only knows how to flip this script, but also contains a whole galaxy on her face.
While artists who specialize in natural makeup looks are impressive for certain reasons, those creations that come with people who have a flair for the theatrical are always mind-blowing to look at as well. Who wouldn't want to be able to do something like this?
Straight Out Of The Comic Book!
Comic books may not be as popular as they used to be in the years before television, but their impact remains. Here we see Charlotte Roberts again, mimicking the illustration style to turn half her face into a comic book character.
It's no wonder that Charlotte and her sister Abby have gotten so famous -- they're both so incredibly talented as makeup artists. Many of us have trouble just looking polished for work!
Drag Queens Are The Masters Of Makeup Transformations
Looking at the picture on the right side, many people never would have suspected that it was actually the man on the left in drag under that makeup, wig, and beautiful dress.
Plastique Tiara is the stage name of Duc Tran Nguyen, a Vietnamese makeup artist and drag queen who can create just about any look under the sun with makeup. Those amazing makeup transformations have brought in more than 1.6 million followers on Instagram and some reality TV appearances!
