How To Get That Fierce Holiday Look by Beyoncé’s Makeup Artist Francesca Tolot

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Francesca Tolot, Beyoncé‘s longtime makeup artist, recently released a photo book called One Woman, 100 Faces. Done in conjunction with photographer Alberto Tolot and model Mitzi Martin (along with a grip of hair stylists and set designers), the coffee table book spans what Tolot describes as “a fantasy tour of fairytale characters” in which “every woman can discover one or multiple facets of herself.”

Tolot chatted with us about three specific looks from the book that we think any woman could create for a dramatic holiday makeup look; from a cocktail party to a holiday dinner to a full-on gown wearing extravaganza—here are some tips to look flawless for the holidays, as told to Radio.com by Fancesca Tolot herself.

Thin eyebrows are not really in right now, it’s more of a thicker brow. I used a pencil on this one. I actually would define the look and give it a Spanish feeling, which was my intention in this particular picture. It’s definitely the eyebrows, the very dark, defined eyebrows. At this time, Mitzi did have thinner eyebrows, so I used the thickness of her own eyebrows in the beginning part, closer to the nose. Then I covered her eyebrows at the end in order to create this almost straight line, using wax and makeup. That’s not recommended for regular women to do so. Instead following their own natural shape, fill the eyebrows in and try to make them appear thicker than they are. I use pencil when I want a very dramatic look. Otherwise, I prefer to use powder because it’s a softer, more natural look.

The complete lid is painted and extended in a liner shape—but it’s the whole lid that’s painted. Actually what you see is brown, the photo shows a light shadow. So the brown that you see, that’s light. The bottom of the eye is lined with a turquoise eye shadow. Makeup needs to be adjusted to every single individual. One makeup doesn’t look good on everybody. If you have a heavy top lid, then this look is not going to look good on you.

If I want to do a makeup to last a long time, I do like to use some primer. I like the clear one, so the color of eye shadow I will use shows up as the actual color. If you use color primer, like a beige or a pink, that will change the color of the eyeshadow when you apply it.

I mixed this lip color myself by using some very bright orange and gold. When you mix gold with color, it becomes very reflective. It picks up the light and reflects where it hits directly, showing the gold. I love using colors that are opposites from each other, or colors that you wouldn’t normally think of putting together, like the orange lips and turquoise eyeshadow here.

For her cheeks, I put on intense pink blush and some contour because I wanted drama. So the cheeks are contoured with some brown and then blended with the pink blush.

This is an almost Marilyn Monroe-looking photo. I wanted to be, again, dramatic. This photo is in the same family as the one previously described but the difference in the contour here is that I didn’t use the strong color on the cheeks. It’s neutral—you won’t detect it here, but the apple cheek is here more highlighted. I wanted the eye shadow, the lips and the color of the wig to be the most important and jump out of the picture.

I wanted to have a semi-modern Marilyn, who is more contemporary. Blue eyeshadow is a retro thing, it was used by our mothers and grandmothers. That’s all they used back in the day. Their only color options were green, blue, brown and black. With only those choices, blue was definitely the most popular color in the ’50s. It has a stigma to it, but there are different ways you can modernize it, especially if you have light eyes. It’s harder if you have dark eyes, brown eyes specifically. But women with blue eyes who use it lightly and very blended, it can be very modern. The highlight on the cheeks and the eyes make it more contemporary here. And obviously the pink hair.

I like the pairing of this intense eye with a matte, girly lip. It makes it more modern also. In this picture, imagine if I had the typical ’50s red lipstick. It would change the whole feeling of the look. It’s still dramatic, in a pastel way, but contemporary.

Lately, I’ve stopped using lip liner. I go straight for the lipstick. When I work it’s for pictures or a video, so I’m there the whole time to make sure it doesn’t bleed or reapply it. But for real life, it does still help to keep your lipstick in line and lasting longer.

This look features a full strip of false eyelashes. I always do the whole makeup, completely including mascara, and then I apply the eyelashes last. The reason why is, if you apply those first you will end up with particles and dust from your eyeshadow falling into the lashes and that’s very hard to clean. It will take the thickness and intensity of the lashes away when they’re dirty.

The glow of her skin is due to the light, which as you see comes from the top and highlights the cheek, nose, forehead and hands—you can get that effect with highlighting powder or cream on the apple of the cheeks, the nose and sometimes on the chin to get that three-dimensional effect on your face.

The eye here is fully painted black, similar to the first look, but higher on the lid. Here it goes above the crease. I did this look with liquid eye makeup because it’s more defined.

The application of the lipstick is a little transparent. It’s more of a lip gloss than a solid lipstick in a cranberry color. To maintain it at a party, you just have to reapply it. It’s very hard to predict if it will last or not—it depends on how you behave and what you do with your lips. For someone who bits or licks their lips a lot, it’s best to use a lip stain. It will last much longer. Read more here:evening dresses london