But first, lemme take a Selfie:

Hi everyone! It's me, Kat! Welcome to my installment of how to take a sexy selfie! Of course, I am the makeup artist for Haute Shots, so I'm going to give you my tips on doing your makeup for your best shot!

I will admit this post was a bit of a challenge for me - I hardly ever take a selfie, and when I do, it's not usually something I'm planning on showing anyone. Most of my selfies are to check out how an outfit looks, or it's me and my son making funny faces at the camera. My husband and I started dating BEFORE sexting, selfies, and the influx of social media sites, and I've always been more of a behind-the-scenes girl, so taking a selfie is very unfamiliar territory. However, I've certainly come across instances where a selfie is necessary- a pic for your twitter profile, an Instagram contest, or even just a quick snap to commemorate a special event or memory.

While there is something sexy about those dreamy bedroom shots that emulate the sexy bed-head with little to no makeup, the simple truth is that most of us don't look like that when waking or going to sleep. If you're anything like me, the reality is that you wake up with hair that may or may not be brushable, a crinkle from the pillow across your cheek and a red mark across my forehead from having my sleeping son's leg pressed against it since 4am.

Luckily, we have a few tricks these days to help all of us "normal" gals hide those dark circles, give lackluster skin a glow, and enhance our features for a pic we'd be proud to show anyone, especially our significant others.

Start with fresh, clean skin. I know that I feel more confident when I've had a nice exfoliation or a facial, but let's face it, that's not always possible. At least wash off the makeup from yesterday! (The esthetician side of me is a bit aggressive about the necessity of cleansing your skin) Even if you don't have perfect skin- don't worry! This is for a selfie, and you don't need a full makeup arsenal. You will be surprised that the camera can actually be a little more forgiving than you might expect, especially when it comes to blemishes.

Step 1

This is my no makeup shot, fresh out of the shower. It's not a terrible shot, but it's not that interesting. And I look like I'm missing half of an eyebrow.

Step 2

Apply undereye concealer and foundation. If you're not used to wearing foundation, or don't need to, you can use concealer just where you need it, or try a tinted moisturizer. I'm wearing my favorite oil-free Garnier Skin Renew BB Cream and Anti-dark circle eye roller concealer. I also like to blend it gently with a water-moistened makeup sponge. While I've evened out my skin and dark circles, I've also taken away any dimension in my face so I will have to add it back in later.

Step 3

Eyeshadow. I went with my favorite go-to look, which is lightly smokey using warm brown tones. I also smudge the darker brown under my eyes. (Products used: Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadow pencils in Pearly Beige, Pearly Copper and Matte Brown.)

You can really play up your eyeshadow when you're taking a selfie- in real life, my eye makeup looked like a 6 (on a 1-10 dramatic scale) but in these pics it looks more like a 3 or 4. So even if it feels heavy, you can go darker with a little careless abandon if the mood strikes you. On that same note, but a different scale, consider this- if your power brows, heavy contouring, and black smokey eyes look amazing in a PHOTO, you may want to double check how it looks in REAL LIFE. It may be a bit over the top!

Step 4

Eyeliner, Mascara and Eyebrows. I prefer a cat-eye on myself, so I line my top lid using a black felt-tip liquid liner. If you are a liner newbie, it can help to gently stretch the eyelid towards the temple while you apply. I also use the felt-tip liner to line a little on the bottom lid under the lashes to give a smoky look at the corner of the eye. I apply mascara after curling my lashes, which is not necessary if you have curled lashes already.

My brows need filling in, so I fill them in with Too Faced Bulletproof Brows. Invisible brows will look odd in pictures, so even if you're blonde, using a light taupe pencil or shadow will make your eyes stand out more! If you've got lush brows, try brushing them with a eyebrow brush or a clean mascara wand and locking them in place with a little hairspray.

Step 5

Waterline, Blush and Powder. One of the biggest differences between pictures 4 & 5 is the addition of black liner on the waterline of the eye. This makeup look gives what we call "Automatic Spy Eyes" LOL. I prefer this look on myself as I think it gives me a edgier look. While some find that this makes their eyes look smaller, I think it enhances on me. Try it out and let me know what you think it does for you!

I apply blush with a fan brush. Here, I am using a Physician's Formula pearl powder blush in Natural Pearl which is lightly pink and shimmery. I love the way it looks dewy without having to use a separate highlighter on the cheeks. I apply where the blush would be most natural- the apple of the cheek and swept up towards the temple and down towards the ear lobe. My favorite blush color for most skin tones is usually a peachy pink, which goes with everything. Blush will add color back to your face, and add contour without having to do any actual contouring. I consider contouring an advanced makeup technique that most women don't need for everyday looks.

I finished my look with a fine finishing powder and my favorite Urban Decay setting spray. A finishing powder can really help soften lines and pores in a photo in addition to giving a soft matte look. I also used a sheer dark raspberry colored lip gloss as I like a softer less defined lip on myself versus a lipstick.

My finished look:

After looking at the finished selfie I took for this blog post, I realized that it is pretty, but not necessarily "sexy". So I took my own advice and added a little more eyeshadow in a dark grey-brown to amp it up and lost the shirt. Haha! I love that adding just a touch of skin can make a selfie more sexy for anyone that is a little shy!

I used the LINE camera app on iPhone for editing my photo. They have really cool features like collages and text/pic graphics, although some are a bit extreme. This app can actually slim faces and make eyes bigger, etc. but I only used it for brightening and 3 different FX filters at less than 20% to show the variety you can achieve. I am not a huge fan of all these features that drastically change the photo like a mini-photoshop. You should love yourself for you because you are special, unique and important!

Questions? I'd love to answer your makeup questions- you can contact me at @herabeautykat on twitter or @katludens on Instagram. Check out our boudoir behind-the-scenes on IG: #storiesfromtheboudoir

Want more selfie tips? Check out Part 1 (Photography, Posing & Expressions) and Part 2 (hair tips). And watch for our final installment of this series, featuring Shana, soon!

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