Fresh Faced Beauty at Oak Hall

April 24, 2019

Playing in makeup is one of my all-time favorite things to do, so I was delighted to visit Oak Hall recently and have my makeup done by Matt Gossett, a dear friend and amazing MUA. Oak Hall carries Trish McEvoy Cosmetics (a dermatologist-designed skincare + makeup line), so I knew that this would be an easy-peasy job for him to do. I typically do my own makeup for everything, but maybe one day in the future if I go to a big fashion event like the Met Gala, I can splurge on it. Matt is well-known for his event and bridal makeup, but I actually wanted to do something a little different: a fresh faced, skin-focused every day look for Spring.

I take pretty good care of my skin, so full coverage foundation has never been a necessity, however, I do love the look of it. There’s nothing like having a flawless looking base, but being that it’s getting warmer, I don’t want to always look like I’m wearing makeup. I’ve known Matt for a few years, and one of the main things that I love about his work is his base application: every MUA worth their money knows that if you can get the skin to appear natural but polished, the rest of the look will fall into place.

blank canvas!

When you’re creating a fresh faced look, you must first prep the skin before any makeup is applied. The starting lineup included the Beta Hydroxy Pads ( a daily exfoliator), Beauty Booster® Cream (moisturizes and primes), Beauty Booster® Serum (extra hydration), Beauty Booster® Eye Serum (I have dry undereyes so my skin drank this up) and the Eye Base Essentials (shadow primer + brightener; this makes an immediate difference and can actually be worn alone without shadow). After letting the products soak in, my skin felt supple to the touch and was ready for makeup.

I typically wear a liquid foundation, but this time around Matt applied the Correct & Even Portable Foundation Stick; it’s a cream to powder finish, so it melts into your skin for a barely there look. It is buildable, but it’s perfect for those who just want a touch of something extra on their skin. I have dark circles (concealer is a must or I risk looking exhausted 24/7), so he used the Correct and Even Full-Face Perfector™ to help cancel out the darkness, and then the Instant Eye Lift® to conceal. There aren’t a lot of powder products in the line, so he just dusted my cheeks lightly with a coral blush and lightly set my under eye with the Even Skin® Mineral Powder Foundation. Because this look is about looking as natural as possible, we skipped highlighting and contouring.

My brows were freshly waxed and shaped, so he filled them in with the Precision Brow Shaper®, and then applied the Fast-Track® Face Stick Highlight Stick and a little gold eyeshadow from one of the planners to my eyes to brighten. Finally, he thinly lined my upper lash line with shadow using the Finish Line elixir. Matt’s not a big fan of winged liner, BUT this technique makes your eyes look so much bigger! A few coats of Lash Curling Tubular Mascara and we were done.

For lips, the Lip Perfector Conditioning Balm can be worn alone since it has a light hint of color, but Matt lined my lips with a nude Essential Lip Pencil and nude Veil Lip Color, which is like your lips but better. Voila!

Once he was done with everything, my skin looked so good! His light-handed technique let my skin shine through so instead of people saying my makeup looked pretty, they said my skin looked amazing. Not quite a “no makeup” makeup look (I still looked polish due to my groomed brows and light eye makeup), but it looked like I had on no foundation and was just blessed with radiant skin *hair flip*. It’s a beauty look that you can wear to work during the day, and if you’re meeting friends or a date for dinner, just add in a darker lip (like Daring Plum) and you’re good to go.

The products are a little on the pricier end, however the collection is designed for people who don’t want to own a million products and look for collections that can be used for any occasion. The skincare and beauty products work really well together, so if you’re able to splurge, do it.

To see more of Matt’s work (and keep up with his shenanigans because he’s a hoot and a half and always on the go, lol), click here to follow him on IG. He works for Oak Hall but also freelances so definitely check him out!