Shades of Beauty

Tim Quinn, makeup artist to the stars, shares 10 tricks of the trade.

Quinn brightens Baco's eyes with a blend of concealer and corrector

Tim Quinn, Giorgio Armani Beauty’s celebrity makeup artist and national artistic director, has worked on faces of the rich and famous, including actresses Uma Thurman and Kerry Washington. But Quinn doesn’t have stars in his eyes.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re famous,” he says of his clients. “It’s all about the beauty within.”

In town recently for an Armani makeup event at Neiman Marcus, the New York-based Quinn brought out the inner beauty of Orlando magazine’s graphic designer, Jillian Baco. Upon meeting her, Quinn proclaimed Baco’s high cheekbones and olive skin “gorgeous,” but insisted that her corner-to-corner black eyeliner had to go. The liner, he said, “closes her eyes right up.” 

 ›› Quinn’s Top Makeup Tips

1 Apply liquid foundation with a fluffy brush, not a sponge or your fingertips. Feathering on the makeup with a brush creates a lighter, more natural effect.

2 Brush on blush only along the top of the cheekbone, not below or past the cheekbone toward the nose.

3 Apply bronzer lightly from temple to cheekbone to jawline in a stroke shaped like a number “3” that follows the contours of the face. Start at the temple in a semicircular motion that ends about halfway along the cheekbone, then stroke back to create a second semicircle from the cheekbone to the jawline. The “3” shape consisting of two semicircles will face backward when you work on the left side of your face.

4 Don’t dull the skin with powder. The matte look is passé, especially for older skin, as powder tends to settle into fine lines. At any age, “it looks better to have a glow,” says Quinn, so don’t be afraid to shine.

5 Go for understated shades that enhance, rather than overwhelm, your natural skin and lip tones. “I like a neutral palette; I don’t like to see the makeup,” says Quinn. He chose soft, spring-inspired shades for Baco’s eyelids and cheeks, and a lip shade that was simply shinier and slightly more intense than her natural lips.

6 Brighten eyes with a blend of concealer and corrector. Quinn mixes the two in order to mask and lighten dark areas under the eyes and near the inner corners. Dab on with a light touch until the darkness disappears. For added brightness, add just a touch of light-loving luminizer to the inner corners of the eyes and along the sides of the nose.

7 Stay away from liquid eyeliner, which produces a harsh, unnatural line. Instead, opt for the pencil variety, applying it right on and into the lash line, both before and after applying shadow. Use a stiff, angled brush to feather and soften the line if needed. Quinn brought the line slightly past the outer corner of Baco’s eyes “to extend the eye and give a little width to her face.”

8 Apply mascara to both the top and bottom of upper lashes. First, apply as usual to the bottom of the lashes, sweeping the brush upward for maximum length and lash separation. Then, apply mascara on the top of the lashes, rotating the brush for a curling effect. “It’s important to get both sides of the lash,” says Quinn. “It’ll give a fuller lash, plus it helps keep the curl of the lash because you’re creating a little envelope around the lash.”

9 To take a daytime look into evening, simply line the inner rims of the eyelids with pencil to create a dramatic nighttime eye. For even more p.m. impact, use a richer lip shade. “In the evening, you can get away with a [bold] eye and lip,” says Quinn.

10 Choose makeup that fits you and your lifestyle, not some ideal taken from a beauty magazine or makeup commercial. “I find that a lot of people try to go with the trends, and that doesn’t always work,” notes Quinn.