Last night was my first-ever bellydance performance - and the first time I'd performed any sort of dance onstage since I was 17 (and back then it was flamenco!). It went pretty well, if I do say so myself, but - unsurprisingly - my favorite part was doing my makeup beforehand. (I also did makeup for a few other dancers who had clearly never done stage makeup before in their lives - another favorite thing about performing!)

(This picture makes it look waaaayyyy more subtle than it actually was, FYI. Poor lighting!)

For my base this time, I went with Lancome Teint Ultra 24h foundation in 005 and MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NW15. Blush is Bobbi Brown Desert Rose, and cheekbones are highlighted with Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Rose Gold. It's all topped off with Boots No7 translucent loose powder.

Next: the eyes! The most important part of any performance makeup, if you ask me! As is my usual these days, I broke out the false lashes - a new pair this time, Urban Decay Urban Lash in Sly. These are shockingly natural looking for how huge they are, and they were SUPER easy to apply - or maybe I'm just getting better? I also didn't have to trim them very much - just one little cluster of lashes off the inner corner.

I also dug into my Naked palettes to do the eye look: NARS primer to start, as always, and then a good coat of Snakebite on the outer half of each lid, up to just above the crease. Then Smog in the middle of each lid, and Half-Baked on the inner half, blending the three together. I added a bit of Blackout on the outer corners and blended, and then used Blunt to blend the top edges together, and Walk of Shame to blend out the edges, under my browbone, and at the outer corners (basically to cover up messy edges!). The lower lashline is Half-Baked on the inner half and Snakebite on the outer half. I used Bobbi Brown gel liners to line: Black Ink on the upper lashline (to help hide the fake lashes!) and upper waterline, and Chocolate Shimmer Ink on the lower waterline.

On my brows, I used Chanel's pencil eyeliner (the "automatic" one) to draw my brows in a slightly larger and pointier shape, and fill them in a bit. I followed that up with Bobbi Brown matte shadow in Mahogany, and then Bobbi Brown Brow Shaping Gel in Mahogany to set everything. 

On my lips - Bobbi Brown Creamy Matte lipcolor in Latte. (Lips were really not the focal point of this look, eh?)

Added in my awesome/huge earrings:

And voila: a look fit for dancing the night away!

It took me about 15 minutes (and an oil cleanser) to get this all off at the end of the night, but it was totally worth it - and I can't wait to do it again! But I'm definitely giving my skin a break today - it needs to breathe! Thanks for reading!