As I mentioned in my first post, I’m at a point in my life where I need to develop my “adult” identity—dare I say, I’m having a quarter life crisis.  I am exploring all of the things that I believe my grown-up persona should encompass: how I will pursue my career aspirations, what my political beliefs are, and if I’m the kind of person who can pull off a chic crop top or not (Jamie’s note: she CAN. I’ve seen her do yoga)  I know that the way that you present yourself to the world is crucial, but as a newbie to the beauty scene (you mean, there is more to a beauty regimen than eyeliner and mascara?), I have not quite figured out what that look will consist of yet.  Am I a bold cat-eye kind of girl?  Can I rock a hot pink lip a la Jessica Biel?  Or, am I more of natural, Urban Decay Naked Palette, kinda lady?  The jury is still out.

But, I invite you to join me on my Beauty Newbie journey, as I try out the latest tricks and trends (with some much needed guidance from the beauty expert herself, Jamie), discovering and developing my big girl self.

First up, contouring and highlighting—a simple but essential beauty trick.  After catching a glimpse of Lena Dunham on the cover of Vogue’s February Issue, I couldn’t help but notice her gorgeous bone structure.

Now while I believe that every woman is beautiful, I think we all know she didn’t, in the words of Beyoncé, “wake up like dis.”  To create a contoured and highlighted look like Lena, I followed this guide from Pinterest that provides a step-by-step on the process:

I only used two products to create this look: Josie Maran Argan Creamy Concealer Crayon in Medium 1 for the contours, and Benefit High Beam as a natural highlighter for my skin tone.  I recommend using a contouring color that is one shade darker than your natural skin tone and a highlighter that is close to your skin color, with just a bit of sparkle.  Because both of these products are in cream and liquid form, I just used my fingers to blend the colors into my skin to give it a super natural, ***Flawless look. 

So far, I am digging what this quarter life identity crisis is doing for my “bone structure” and this is definitely one trick that I plan to keep in my beauty arsenal.

Have a beauty trend that you’d like to see me try out?  Tweet me @han_cran, #beautynewbie, with your suggestion!

– Hannah Cranston, Assistant Editor