How To Master Trending Makeup Techniques: Chroming
Credit: Serena Becker
A highlighter may give your skin a radiant appearance, but if you're after an out-of-this-world glow, chroming--a technique by makeup artist Dominic Skinner that uses lipstick as the skin's reflector--is the answer your complexion is looking for.
Skinner got the idea to "chrome" cheeks over a year ago in Miami. "I saw a car covered in a metallic chrome wrap," he says. "I couldn't take my eyes off the reflections that bounced off its surface. I had to figure out how to do that on a face." The answer was frosted lipstick.
So how is Skinner's method different than other glow-inducing techniques like highlighting and strobing? It's all in the texture and finish. "It's about a fine metallic frost within the cream," explains Skinner. "It's not bitty or chunky like highlighting, nor is it pearly like strobing. There's a smooth, clean metal-like shine that reflects light from all angles, similar to a mirrored surface."
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To nail the look, start by moisturizing your skin, then work concealer over areas of discoloration. For extra wattage, you can massage in a layer of sheer luminizing liquid such as Giorgio Armani Fluid Sheer No. 2 ($62; sephora.com). Then grab a frosted lipstick such as MAC Cosmetics Lipstick in Time to Shine (maccosmetics.com) (go for silver if you have fair skin, champagne if you're darker). His pro-tip: Before applying the lipstick, take a hand selfie so you can see how exactly how the shade will look in photos, and thus determine whether or not it's flattering on your skin tone.
Next, take the bullet and "draw it straight across your cheekbones, from your temples down to the middle of the apples," says Skinner. "Sweep a contouring brush up and down your cheeks until the edges blend seamlessly into the skin."
Although it might seem like glitter would be an easy way to inject even more shine, Skinner recommends stepping away from shimmery lipsticks. You want "a fine metallic frost within a cream to product a smooth, clean, metal-like shine that'll reflect light from all angles like a mirror," he says.
Photo by Serena Becker/AK/Kruse; hair: Nathan Rosenkranz/Alterna Haircare/Honey Artists; makeup: Lisa Garza/The Wall Group; manicure: Yuko Wada/Dior Vernis/Atelier Management; model: Alyona Subbotina/Trump Models.
