Monday's Make-up Muse - Tori Amos

From the To Venus and Back sleeve - toriamos.com

Tori Amos has to be one of the biggest female influences on my life in terms of her music and the way she looks. I can still remember hearing To Venus and Back in my friends kitchen, buying it the next day and looking at the sleeve and thinking she just looked so amazing - it was the first time I tried to do my make-up to look like someone else rather than just messing about on how I wanted my face to look.

Since there I've seen her play live as often as possible and even though sometimes she wears something I wouldn't personally choose she has a fantastic and unique sense of style that I love. Though not known for her make-up particularly, she often looks pretty fresh-faced and it's much more her fashion that is dramatic, it's the look she had in the late '90s when that album came out that I loved (dark red hair, red lip, grungy black liner) and I can still see in my everyday make-up. So, as this is my blog and she's my make-up muse, that's the look I'm going to aim for in my recommendations below which are going to be pretty basic because it's pretty hard to see what she's actually wearing due to the purple tinge on all the pictures. I've looked at a lot of her live recordings from the time and thing I can safely say there was quite a lot of taupe going on... it's the '90s after all.

from galleryhip.com

Eye Shadows - the whole Tori late '90s eye look is a bit grungy - insert heart eyed emoji - satiny, smudgy, almost glossy. A light goldeny base like Make Up For Ever's Aqua Cream in 13 (Fuschia Pink apparently but mine is very pale) with a shimmery taupe over the top - my absolute favourite is Satin Taupe eye shadow by MAC.

Eye Liner - defined and smudgy. If you want ultimate definition then a liquid liner close to the lash line - Make Up For Ever's Ink Liner is my choice. Smoulder eye kohl by MAC smudged over the top with a little bit of black shadow on a Laura Mercier Smokey Liner Brush.

Skin - luminous and, in the album photos, contoured. If I want to have really dewy skin then I use Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer and Dior Star Fluid foundation if you want to skip the primer then NARS Sheer Glow. For the contour the ideal is Soleil Tan de Chanel but if you want something more high street priced then I've been really impressed by the NYX contour stick which is going to be available soon. You want to use creams here to keep the finish as luminous as possible. If you have the  House of Glam Dolls Glam Base Wheel that would be great here too - and a better option for darker skin tones.

Lips - often either red or a sort of brown. Usually glossy. To go ultimate '90s then we'll have to go with brown... well, browny nude and this will depend on your skin tone. I like NYX glosses (Tiramisu or Creme Brulee look good choices for this) , Charlotte Tilbury and MAC lipstick and lip liners.

Q Cover 1998

To Venus and Back cover - from toriamos.com