After 20 years of doing makeup I still LOVE to learn. I learn so much from listening to my fantastic makeup artists, product development team, girls in the office, and my sisters & friends.
Makeup artist extraordinare Amanda Bell (who I have been working with since 1999) is one of these people that I learn from. With many facets to her background - skincare expert, makeup school trainer, session makeup artist, and Pixi international makeup artist to name a few - Amanda's knowledge is amazing!
Naturally, when I heard that Amanda had an innovative way to use the new Crayon Combo in Wide Awake, I was all ears.
From Amanda:
"The Crayon Combo in Wide Awake has a brightening peachy tone - 1 side is a matte peach and the other side is a lustrous peach. Because they are creamy in texture, they blend seamlessly into all skintones and create a beautiful highlighted effect."
Find Crayon Combo in Wide Awake at: http://www.pixibeauty.com/makeup/eyes/crayon-combo
"Sculpting with intense highlighting and contouring has become commonplace - we have seen pictures of celebrities revealing their extreme concealer application. It looks flawless in pictures but in person it can look quite obvious. This whisker technique of lifting & brightening is a subtle alternative that looks absolutely gorgeous in daylight and up close."
"1. Starting with the matte end of the pencil, draw 3 whiskers on the cheeks - start close to the nose and draw out towards the hairline. The first one should be no higher than your cheekbone, the second one about 2 inches below the initial whisker and the third one about 2 inches below that. Then, draw a line with the lustrous end of the pencil just above the first whisker so that it highlights the highest point of the cheekbone.
2. Use the matte end of the pencil to outline your natural lip line. Then take the lustrous end and accentuate the cupid's bow of your lips by using the drawing just above/outside the natural shape of your lip - this will make your lips look fuller and more pouty.
3. To give a wide eyed & brightened effect, dot the lustrous end of the pencil in the very inner corner of the eye. Draw the matte end of the pencil about half an inch below your eyebrow on the brow bone, then take the lustrous end and trace just above the matte line so that the lustrous line is closest to the brow. This will lift the brow and open the eye.
4. For a final flourish, draw 3 matte whiskers upward from between eyebrows to the hair line - this makes the forehead look rested and the skin perky!
Now let the lines 'cook', meaning let them warm on the skin for a few minutes so they blend out perfectly. Take a clean foundation brush and, using a circular movement, buff the lines into the skin. They will disappear, leaving an amazingly lifted & radiant look to the skin. As a final step, use clean fingertips to gently blend out any remaining lines and that's it! You now look like the cat that got the cream 
"
Watch Amanda putting this technique into action in Daily Makeover's video below:
If you liked Amanda's Crayon Combo technique, be sure to follow her blog at:
http://simplythebestinbeauty.blogspot.com/
Give this a try yourself & let me know how it goes in the comments below!