Lockdown makeup tutorial and wardrobe revamp tips from top Yorkshire MUA and style experts

Whether you’re posting on social media or simply looking forward to when we can go out again to restaurants, bars and parties, Stephanie Smith finds expert advice from Yorkshire makeup artist Ash Fehners and personal stylist Anna Mewes on taking your lockdown look up a level (or two).

In past times, lockdown might have meant exactly that – strictly confined to the home, only seeing, and being seen by, those you live with. If sartorial standards slipped and personal appearance took a turn for the dishevelled, no one would know.

But the irony is that lockdown 2020 is, for many of us, a rather visible affair. There are cameras everywhere, on our phones, our tablets and laptops.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Keeping in touch with family and friends, colleagues, clients and collaborators means video calls, while many are taking the opportunity to embrace social media and post selfies to share their experience of lockdown life.

A confident make-up look created by Ash Fehners on model Jessica Gagen @bossmodelmanagement for our fashion shoot in 2018 in York with Abraham Moon. Styling: Stephanie Smith. Picture: James Hardisty. Hair: Emma Tierney of Ross Charles Hairdressing York, with Kennedy Watson. Fashion assistant: Abigail Turner. See below for Ash's easy Garden Party make-up look.A confident make-up look created by Ash Fehners on model Jessica Gagen @bossmodelmanagement for our fashion shoot in 2018 in York with Abraham Moon. Styling: Stephanie Smith. Picture: James Hardisty. Hair: Emma Tierney of Ross Charles Hairdressing York, with Kennedy Watson. Fashion assistant: Abigail Turner. See below for Ash's easy Garden Party make-up look.
A confident make-up look created by Ash Fehners on model Jessica Gagen @bossmodelmanagement for our fashion shoot in 2018 in York with Abraham Moon. Styling: Stephanie Smith. Picture: James Hardisty. Hair: Emma Tierney of Ross Charles Hairdressing York, with Kennedy Watson. Fashion assistant: Abigail Turner. See below for Ash's easy Garden Party make-up look.

This feels like the right time to take stock, learn new skills and take on projects. Project You has to be the best place to start, so here is expert advice on undertaking a gentle wardrobe rethink, plus an easy make-up lesson.

Elevating The Everyday During Lockdown with Anna Mewes

Anna Mewes has been a personal stylist since 2012 and has helped more than 1,000 women improve their style, wardrobe, self-confidence and body image. A former global brand equity manager for ghd, Anna, 38, lives in Shipley with her husband, Jon, and their two children aged seven and four. She is resident style expert on Stephanie Hirst’s BBC Radio Leeds show and fashion editor for the Capsule online magazine.

Anna says: “Every day since the first day of lockdown – bar Sundays when I would always have a chilled dress-down day anyway – I have got up, got dressed and gone about my day, within my four walls with only the cats, the kids and the hubs to see me.

Anna Mewes, personal stylist, at home in her kitchen in Shipley.Anna Mewes, personal stylist, at home in her kitchen in Shipley.
Anna Mewes, personal stylist, at home in her kitchen in Shipley.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“Why go to all that effort when I’m not going to see anybody? For me it’s simple – how I look directly and massively impacts on how I feel and how productive I am.

“I have been on my own style journey, gaining weight and losing confidence after having my second child, finding myself with a loss of identity and self-esteem along the way.

“My experience with my clients as well has led me to the strong belief that paying attention to our personal style is a form of self-care and at times like this, when our whole world has been turned upside down, it shouldn’t be neglected.

“I know a new frock isn’t going to fix all our problems but, just as a warm bath with a good book, a daily yoga class, or a walk in the sunshine can revive you and elevate your mood, so can putting on something that makes you look and feel great.

Anna Mewes and the fabric pieces she uses to help her clients decide which colours work best for them.Anna Mewes and the fabric pieces she uses to help her clients decide which colours work best for them.
Anna Mewes and the fabric pieces she uses to help her clients decide which colours work best for them.
Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’ve been keen to spread the message ‘get up, dress up, show up’ far and wide in recent weeks and have taken to Instagram every day to do live chats imparting knowledge on signature style, body shapes and colours. The response has been huge.”

Anna’s top tips for elevating your style during lockdown:

“Banish the joggers/PJs to weekends only. I do make-up free Sundays in leggings and a comfy sweater and it feels like a treat because it’s just for one day each week. It also helps mark out the weekends from the weekdays.

“Rotate your wardrobe. Make sure you don’t mindlessly reach for the same items each day. Set yourself a simple task of wearing every item once before repeat wearing anything. This will ensure you don’t get bored but will also help you weed out items you’re not loving so you can streamline your wardrobe.

The finished look. Make-up artist Ash Fehners with her simple garden party make-up look finished with MAC Lipstick in the shade Lady Danger.The finished look. Make-up artist Ash Fehners with her simple garden party make-up look finished with MAC Lipstick in the shade Lady Danger.
The finished look. Make-up artist Ash Fehners with her simple garden party make-up look finished with MAC Lipstick in the shade Lady Danger.

“Finally, don’t forget to accessorise.”

Visit www.annamewes.com Instagram & Twitter @annamewes Facebook – Anna Mewes – Personal Stylist. Anna offers a 60- minute Style SOS Service for £50, tailored to the client’s needs, conducted via email and Zoom video call.

The Garden Party make-up look with Ash Fehners

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

With a background in television advertising and costume styling and a keen interest in fashion and make-up, Leeds-based Ash Fehners retrained as a hair and make-up artist several years ago and regularly works backstage at London Fashion Week with the MAC Cosmetics Pro Team for fashion houses JW Anderson, Roksanda, Ashish, Halpern and more. She can also be booked for bridal make-up.

Ash has created this striking and simple but effective make-up look to try at home, perhaps to impress on social media or at a Zoom or Houseparty garden party – and of course to practise and keep in mind for when real-life dinners, parties and nights out return to our lives. Here is her step-by-step guide, using MAC Cosmetics UK:

First, prep. Apply MAC Strobe Cream and massage into skin.

Ash Fehners Before and AfterAsh Fehners Before and After
Ash Fehners Before and After

Apply a veil of MAC Face and Body all over the face and take it down the neck to blend. “I use my hands for this as it warms the product up and gives more coverage,” says Ash.

Apply MAC Pro Longwear Concealer where needed, a little on the inner corner and underneath eyes and on any areas with redness or blemishes.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Using MAC Mineralise Skin Finish (here in medium tan) to warm up the skin, sweep over the cheekbones, across the nose and forehead to give a summer glow. Ash says: “I also sweep a little through the crease of my eye to make my eyes appear more open and lifted.”

Curl your lashes to open the eyes and show your lashes off to their full potential with the right mascara.

Now for the make-up...

Tap MAC Reflects Glitter in Gold gently on to the eye.

Take a small amount of MAC Pro Brilliance Gloss. “I like this one because it’s not sticky,” says Ash. Tap it over the movable part of your lid so it makes it look more hydrated and smoother and reflects light as the gloss catches the sun.

Apply your favourite mascara to your curled lashes. Ash says: “I use MAC In Extreme Dimension. Be sure to get to the root of your lash and mimic the natural fan shape of your lashes to make them look as full as possible.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Highlight cheeks. “I like to use a cream rather than a powder,” says Ash. “It looks more natural and is suitable for all ages. Take a small amount, warm it on your wrist and then gently tap on to the high points of cheeks. I like to double up with a more gold and rosy tone highlight to create depth and add a little colour. I use MAC Pearl Cream Colour Base and MAC Hush Cream Colour Base.”

Tap a tiny amount of MAC Strobe Cream on top of the highlight for an even more dewy look.

Brows – “I use Clear Brow Gel to brush brow hairs up, giving a fuller, fluffier texture and fill any gaps by mimicking brows hairs using MAC Shape and Shade Brow Pen in Taupe – it’s a great little pen with a really fine tip so perfect for light hair strokes.”

Now the lips. Ash says: “Start by filling the Cupid’s bow and then the middle of lower lip, connecting the edges. Now the lip shape is already sketched you can go ahead and apply straight from the bullet of your lipstick. Here I have used a bright and vibrant shade called MAC Lady Danger.”

You’re good to go – even if it’s just into your own garden.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Ash Fehners is on www.ashfehnersmakeup.format.com and Instagram @ashfehners and @bridal_by_ash @ashfehners

Stephanie Smith Twitter @YorkshireStyleQ and Instagram: @YorkshireStyleQ

For more stories from the YP Magazine and The Yorkshire Post features team, visit our Facebook page.

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor

Related topics:

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.