Gamine Essence Makeup

Gamine’s best makeup is fun! Lively, cheerful, creative, and colorful.

Gamine Style Essence Makeup

Overall Vibe

Gamines are flattered by makeup that mimics their high-spirited, vivacious beauty.

Your best makeup will feel:

• Upbeat—Featuring cheerful colors and energetic, pointy lines

• Bold—Filled with matte textures and heavy applications

• Colorful—Of all the essences, colorful eyeliner and eyeshadow feel most iconically Gamine

Here’s some of your best specific makeup:

Eyes

Eyeliner

Gamine loves a thick dark line with a short pointy wing:

Winged liner suits Gamine because its up-turned shape feels high-energy.

Makeup that creates a “lifted” effect is great for Gamine in general.

Liner, even thick liner, can also be added beneath the eye:

What feels heavy for other essences often feels just right for Gamine.

Thick wingless eyeliner also suits the essence, feeling graphic and compact.

Creative Eyeliner

A key theme of Gamine is creative.

The essence enjoys experimenting with unique color-combining:

As a Gamine, you can play with a variety of eyeliner styles, such as short negative spaced winged liner.

Or add short angular “wings” to your inner corners.

Best Colors

Dark neutrals; bold non-neutrals; or both!

Black liquid liner is great. You can also swap it for a pop-of-color, like deep blue.

Dark neutrals and bright colors tend to best suit Gamine, simply because they feel more energetic than muted hues.

But if you have a Soft season, you can still create an amazing Gamine look.

Simply choose your most vivid or darker palette shades.

Those will still feel high-spirited on you.

And if you have a Light season, you can still create a Gamine effect by applying your darker neutrals in short, sharp lines.

Texture

Go for matte.

It feels eye-catching and bold.

Plus, it’s the best texture for preserving an angular, defined effect.

You can also choose liquid liner or other textures with a “hard shine” or “matte sheen,” since these still feel intense.

Eyeshadow

Gamine loves matte, solid-color shadow all over the lids, especially in cheerful or unique colors.

You don’t need any kind of soft color transition, like ombre or gradient.

A solid color creates the perfect punchy, standout effect.

Blue is fantastic, because while it’s a conventional color for clothing, it’s one of the most unique-feeling makeup choices:

You can optionally add colorful eyeshadow beneath the eye, too, either in the same color as on the upper lid or a completely different one.

Orange is another winner, exuding playful vibes:

If you have hooded or partially hooded eyes, you can apply the eyeshadow not just on the lid but also your brow bone (and optionally beneath the eyes).

You can extend the eyeshadow horizontally a bit beyond your outer eye corners, too.

Though since Gamine is defined by compact shapes, you don’t want to make the eyeshadow too elongated.

You can also do eyeshadow featuring a duo (or even trio) of colors:

An effect that feels “color-blocked,” rather than ultra-blended, is especially flattering.

Texture

Matte!

Glow and shimmer aren’t ideal, feeling too gentle.

Creamy formulas with a matte sheen can sometimes work, if they appear solid-color and intense.

Neutrals?…

Neutral eyeshadow works, too!

Apply a matte neutral shade all over the lid and optionally on the brow-bone, especially one that’s notably darker than your skin tone:

You can optionally add a different color eyeshadow (or eyeliner) on the brow bone or beneath the eye. Bonus if it’s colorful.

Neutrals can still feel bold and Gamine, especially if medium or dark.

Though it’s true that neutrals won’t tend to feel quite as playful as color.

For most of the other essences, neutrals are the “safer” eyeshadow choice, but for Gamine, it’s the opposite, since Gamine loves daring looks.

Mascara

Go for thick and spiky, even clumpy:

This may feel heavy for other types but delivers the perfect Gamine punch.

You can even do spiky lower lashes, although that can be harder to achieve.

So focusing just on your upper lashes also works.

Since Gamine faces are defined by short shapes, you don’t need ultra-long lashes.

If they’re naturally long, that’s ok—eyelash trimming is 1000% not recommended!—but lengthening mascara is unnecessary.

Falsies or Extensions

Short, dense versions could work well, since Gamine can handle graphic, even “blocky” textures.

But many falsies will feel excessively long for Gamine.

Whether it’s in hair, fashion, or makeup, Gamine favors compact shapes.

Tightlining

Awesome for Gamine.

You can tightline around your entire waterline.

Tightlining makes the eyes feel more intense. It also emphasizes the sharpness that Gamine eyes often naturally possess.

Choose black, one of your palette’s dark neutrals, or even a color!

Brows

Gamine’s best brows are short, angular, dense, and thick:

Brows can even feel denser and more filled in than this—Gamine beauty is bold!—though this overall shape is very good for Gamine.

Gamine brows can be horizontal, but as seen here, what tends to be especially flattering is an overall arched shape with a very short, pointy tail.

The “lifted” effect feels high-energy.

If your brows don’t naturally feel bold, dark, or thick, you could try to add these qualities with brow pencil or powder.

Gamines sometimes appear believable with brows that are much darker than the hair on their head.

Though your brows don’t necessarily need to have every Gamine quality to flatter your Gamine beauty—what’s most important is that their overall effect is playful and emphatic.

So, light-colored or thin brows can work if they have short, angular shapes.

Lips

Best Colors

Cheerful and daring, especially oranges and orange-reds!

Reds and pinks work, too, especially your brightest palette shades.

You can also do very unique, creative-feeling colors, like purple:

In terms of depth, Gamine’s best darkness level tends to be medium, rather than especially light or dark.

Very light colors easily feel soft or gentle, rather than playful.

And very dark colors easily feel serious and stern.

So your palette’s medium, brightest-feeling colors are ideal.

But of course, even if you have a muted season, your brightest oranges, reds, or pinks will still have a Gamine feel on you in a highly-pigmented, matte finish.

Best Texture

Unsurprisingly, matte!

But a matte sheen, hard shine, or creamy finish can sometimes also work, since it feels high-energy.

Lip Liner

Skippable.

Optionally, you might want to line inside your lips to help your bold lipstick stay in place.

But Gamine is flattered by straight shapes. So it’s not necessary to exaggerate the lips’ curves.

Face

Foundation

Astonishingly—matte! Or soft matte or other shine-free finish.

Contour

Great for Gamine—helps emphasize the face’s structure.

You can apply contour in thick, short, straight lines.

Compared to most of the other essences, blending is less important for Gamine, since Gamine loves the intensity of sharp lines. But it is true that ultimately contour is meant to mimic the look of a natural shadow, and that blending the edges a bit helps create a believable feel.

Blush and Highlighter

These may not seem very Gamine at all—and they are skippable.

But you can also use them to create a Gamine feel:

One purpose of blush is to make the face look more energized. So, it really can suit Gamine.

For best results, apply in short, straight strokes. As seen here, you almost want to create a somewhat triangular shape, rather than a circular one.

That’s not the most conventional blush style, but it meshes well with Gamine beauty.

Any color can work; warm-feeling hues like peach and terracotta help add energy.

If you’re cool-toned, you could even try using a cool-toned red lipstick as blush, blending a (very) small dot of it into each cheek.

As see above, you can add a short, straight line of highlighter at the tops of your cheeks (just above your blush, if wearing).

Again, this adds liveliness.

Contrast Level

In makeup, “contrast level” can refer to:

• How light and dark the colors in a makeup look are relative to one another

• And how much your makeup colors stand out relative to your personal coloring.

Gamine’s best contrast level tends to be medium or high.

Gamine wants boldness and playfulness—and these qualities are harder to achieve wtih a low-contrast look.

What’s interesting, though, is that Gamine’s absolute best contrast in makeup isn’t necessarily ultra-high.

For instance, Dramatic desires a high-contrast look with very dark colors on the eyes and very light colors on the lips (or vice versa).

But Gamine’s best look does not feature this extreme contrast.

In fact, Gamine really tends to prefer medium lip colors, avoiding very light or dark shades, and really likes medium eyeshadow, too.

Though Gamine can also do high-contrast elements (such as a color-blocked eye featuring very light and dark eyeshadow).

What if you’re low-contrast?

If you’re low-contrast, you have a few options:

1) Try medium-contrast makeup.

People often seem to be able to handle a higher contrast level than would be expected based on their color season.

2) Explore fun or creative colors or applications.

The great thing about Gamine being such an experimental essence is that it has versatility. So you might find that you can still create a look that reads as very playful and creative, even if low-contrast.

For example, yellow eyeshadow is a unique look and can be quite light. Paired with a light orange matte lip, you might have a low-contrast look that also feels decisively Gamine.

3) Another option is to simply match your contrast level to one of your other essences.

Ethereal, Natural, and Ingenue are all an inherent fit for low-contrast coloring.

Color Season

Gamine makeup can suit any seasonal palette.

The essence has the clearest association with Springs and Winters, since these seasons have bright and bold colors.

But Gamine really does have versatility. So even Soft seasons can easily create a Gamine look by doing makeup with Gamine textures and applications.

In the context of your personal coloring, your brightest colors will look very Gamine on you.

***

That’s the overview of some of Gamine’s best makeup!

If you love creative makeup (and fashion), this is a fantastic essence to have.

Here’s extra detail:

Versatile Beauty

Gamine makeup is eye-catching, bold, and playful yet intense.

But what if you’re highly Gamine yet prefer minimal makeup?

The good news is that other kinds of makeup also flatter this essence.

Previously we discussed how there’s two different versions of Gamine:

1. Formal Gamine—defined by short, very sharp lines (this Gamine is like a shorter, more youthful and playful version of Dramatic).

2. Casual Gamine—defined by short, blunt-edged lines (this Gamine is like a shorter, more playful version of Natural).

If you have Gamine, then it’s likely that both versions 1. and 2. will suit you (although you may be especially flattered by one version vs. the other).

The makeup discussed in this post seems to most strongly reflect Formal Gamine—the side of Gamine makeup that’s like a shorter, more youthful-feeling version of Dramatic makeup.

And like Dramatics, Gamines pull off heavy finishes, bold lips, and an overall standout look.

But there’s also a more casual side of Gamine.

And this side of Gamine makeup can be seen as a more playful version of Natural.

For instance, you might take Natural’s matte eyeshadow and lip colors and make them a bit heavier, darker, or brighter.

But maybe you skip the winged eyeliner, extra-thick mascara, and/or tightlining (essentially, you skip the sharpest-feeling, boldest applications—and this is appropriate, since the “Casual Gamine” subtype is characterized by blunt rather than sharp-edged lines).

The overall effect will still have a playful Gamine feel, since you’re still using Gamine colors and textures.

But the result will be more minimal and less intense than the Gamine makeup discussed in this post.

Should You Match Your Makeup to Your Facial Features?

This is often the safest strategy.

So you might apply Gamine makeup only on your specific facial features that have Gamine, whether that’s your eyes, lips, or bone structure, etc.

But this essence also loves being bold.

So if you’re highly Gamine, you might experiment with applying Gamine makeup to any of your features.

It definitely suits the essence’s vibe to experiment.

How to Tell which of Your Features are Gamine?

Identifying Gamine features can be tricky.

Or sometimes easy—it’s true that features that read as sharp and short, such as piercing eyes or narrow lips or short pointy noses, commonly have Gamine.

The tricky part is that as noted above, there are two types of Gamines.

And this is reflected not only in fashion and makeup but also in faces.

Specifically, Gamines sometimes have rather round-appearing eyes, cheeks, and overall face shapes (especially since short bone structure can sometimes make a face appear round).

So Gamine seems to be a case where the best test of whether you have it isn’t what your literal features look like but rather whether you’re flattered by Gamine hair, fashion, and makeup.

Gamine Makeup Inspiration?

Look for makeup described as:

• 80s makeup

• Color-blocked makeup

• Colorful makeup

• Fun makeup

Using these terms, you’ll likely see many styles that aren’t purely Gamine—as well as many that feel too avant-garde for everyday.

But you still might be able to take a lot of inspiration even from over-the-top looks, modifying them to work better for the real world.

Beauty of Harmony

One of the many amazing things about Gamine makeup is that it really illustrates the principle of the beauty of harmony, and of matching your makeup to traits that already exist in your face, rather than fighting against them.

Specifically, Gamines sometimes have narrow features, including sharp eyes. Mainstream “wisdom” might say to use techniques to make the eyes look wider or rounder—and yet, more than nearly any other essence, Gamines are flattered by very dark tightlining that serves to further narrow the eyes.

Gamines are also flattered by dark, thick, rather short winged liner and flat, matte eyeshadow, which can further contribute to making the eye appear sharper and narrower—and Gamines are truly mesmerizing in these styles.

Conversely, when faces with very curvy, soft-feeling features wear this sort of graphic makeup, it tends to feel overpowering or harsh.

It is so common to see advice that recommends fighting against your features, like using a haircut to soften an angular face, or elongate a short one.

Unfortunately, such advice can seem to be the norm.

But in practice, it usually doesn’t work to produce harmony.

What does work is the opposite: honoring the shapes and vibes of your features by using fashion, hair, and makeup that echoes what’s already in your face, rather than fighting your true beauty.

P.S. Gamine, Classic, and Emotion?

Are Classic and Gamine emotionally opposite—or emotionally similar? Or both?

At first glance, they seem opposite—Classic is reserved, calm, and stoic; Gamine is playful, high-energy, and bouncing-off-the-walls.

But the interesting thing is, these two essences’ best contrast levels—which often reflects the emotional intensity of an essence—are rather similar.

Both want rather moderate contrast, including putting mostly medium colors on the eyes and lips.

And if you think about it, this makes sense, since the Classic and Gamine modes of emotional expression both avoid emotion that is simultaneously serious, deep, and intense.

For instance, being very stoic and calm, as in Classic’s vibe, is one way to bypass expressing deep emotion.

And being very playful, humorous, and lighthearted, as we see with Gamine’s best fashion and makeup, is also a way to bypass expressing emotion that is simulaneously serious and intense.

So the moderate contrast level that’s generally preferred by Classic and Gamine can be seen as related to these essences’ tendencies to not embody emotion that’s both deep and intense.

Importantly, neither is better than the other—there are pros and cons of all these emotional expressions, both deep and lighthearted, as well as appropriate times for them.

Which essences do embody this sort of emotion that’s simultaneously serious, intense, and deep?

Dramatic and Romantic, which explains why these two essences wear the highest-contrast makeup, including the intense feel of pairing dark eyes with light lips (or vice versa).

To be clear, there’s a lot nuance here—Gamine can handle makeup that feels quite high contrast, especially if you’re going to be using, say, very dark thick eyeliner and thick dark lashes, or rather light colorful eyeshadow.

And these colors might seem to contrast intensely with your personal coloring.

But overall, the darkness of the colors in Gamine makeup will tend to feel at least a bit less contrasting with each other than Romantic and Dramatic makeup.

So maybe even though Gamine and Classic are in some ways emotionally opposite, they’re also emotionally similar.

Beauty in Variety

The seven style essences all express different—yet sometimes overlapping—and vital parts of the human experience.

They illustrate that there’s a time for any emotion—to feel more serious or whimsical, stoic or passionate.

Style essences help reveal the beauty in variety.