strong eyes/nude lips or light eyes/strong lips?

Here is a picture of me doing a presentation to US and Latin American Magazine beauty editors in New York a few months ago.  Everyone from Marie Claire, Harper's Bazaar to Elle were there.  I loved it and it got a great response.  We had a circular stage that moved and I would step in and out of different rooms with different decor and a completely different model in it!

This specific segment was about old "rules" and misconceptions about wearing makeup.  One of them is that most people feel that you either can wear intense color on the lips or on the eyes but never at once.

As you can see in the finished product (headshot) the intensity is both in eyes and lips and it works out beautifully!  The answer?  Texture!  On the eyes, I used an almost translucent gray color and stayed away from completely covering the eye in black.  Instead I built the intensity with layers of a lighter color.  It creates drama but it doesn't look like one strong stain.

On the lips, I used the same technique.  Using a red/blue tone and layering it with a little gloss with gold specks on it.  I wouldn't have gotten the same effect if I would have just used a matte lipstick alone.

So the way to do it is.  Build the color with layers of a soft tone...don't start dark and then try to soften..>This way, you'll be able to master dramatic looks...