I just survived a 24 hour Netflix binge. I slayed CW’s Reign in record time. The plot is great, the characters are amazing, the actors are attractive and the costumes are magnificent. But the thing that really had me coming back was the fresh, youthful, natural makeup look that Adelaide Kane sports as the main character, Mary Stewart, Queen of Scots. 5 minutes into the first episode, I was obsessed with her makeup. It was gorgeous. How were her lips getting such a gorgeous hue? How did she manage to have such flawless makeup? After recreating the look for several days, this is what I managed to come up with.
Mary always has a very natural look. Her skin isn’t dewy, but it isn’t matte either. This is most likely due to a more matte foundation with an illuminator and highlighter. Her signature look on the show is her bright nearly magenta pink lips. After searching through my makeup drawers, I came up with the perfect makeup look.
First, I applied my ($52) Hourglass Primer and ($56) Immaculate Foundation. When I was applying the foundation, I mixed it with a liquid NYX illuminator and applied it with my ($24) Sigma F80 Flat Top Kabuki brush. Then I applied a blush that had a nice rosy finish, without shimmer so it looked more natural. In this case I chose ($20) MAC Raizin, because I have darker skin. For lighter skin, I recommend using ($6) NYX Desert Rose–a matte rosy pink would be perfect. I then accented the look with a highlighter. For this look ,I used a very sheer, natural highlighter, as I thought that anything else would be too overpowering. I used the Givenchy highlighter which I know is an expensive item, so as another option, try ($9) NYX Radiant Finish Powder.
I chose not to contour with this look, to keep the face looking natural and found, like Adelaide’s.
For eye shadow, I used a matte nude eye shadow. This color will vary person to person. For me, the color that worked best was ($10) Cork by MAC. For others, that color might be too dark. For fair skin there are many beautiful colors by ($5) NYX in their Nude Matte eyeshdow line which should fit most skin tones. As an eyeliner, I used a dark brown eye shadow and a flat liner brush to keep the lines soft. I used a plain mascara for this look as her lashes just have a natural look to them.
Lastly, I did my lips. Adelaide’s lips as Queen Mary are the focal point of her look. Kane herself has large, full lips that fit her face perfectly. In most scenes, her lips have a pink hue that is almost magenta. For the lips, I created two different looks. For the first I layered a ($22) Stila Lip stain in Pomegranate Crush with a ($17) Clinique Moiusture Pencil in Grandest Grape very lightly on top. For the second I used ($30) Benefit’s Benetint with ($14) Pixi Tinted Balm in Berry. Both of these perfectly match her lip color in Reign.