International romance: special nights and the makeup to match, part 2

Valentine’s Day may be over, but the romance should live on throughout the year! Here are a few more romantic traditions from our international jane iredale distributors. Including a fun holiday called White Day in Japan!

Danielle from the UK: A romantic evening in the UK would be a candle lit dinner in your city centre. If you are lucky enough to be near London like us you can go somewhere over looking some of London’s famous landmarks. You would look stylish and elegant with a pair of killer high heels. Your makeup would bring out your natural beauty while being a bit more sultry and smoky than usual. Our naturally confident look would consist of gorgeous glowing skin with Glow Time BB Cream set with PurePressed Base Mineral Foundation. Add a soft warm flush to the cheeks with Whisper PurePressed Blush applied with the Dome Brush. Apply goWarm Eye Steppes on your eyes really blending in those beautiful gold, bronze and brown tones for a soft smoky look. First apply Sunshine to your lid using the Deluxe Shader Brush. Next apply Sandals to your crease and outer corner of your eye using the Crease Brush, blend well. Apply Beach to your brow bone and inner corner of your eye. Line your top lash line with the Black/Brown Eye Pencil. Finish with Mania Lip Fixation so you know your lip colour won’t budge all night. Use a Hydration Spray to set your look and you are good to go!

Thomas from Germany: One of the most famous and spectacular places in Berlin, Germany is the TV Tower and its first class restaurant with a breathtaking view. You need to be early in order to reserve one of the prime spots by the window. The restaurant is operated on a mobile platform which is constantly moving 360° and opens up a spectacular panorama of the entire city.

And which make-up goes best with this unique location? Apply Glow Time BB Cream followed by PurePressed Base in your shade. Shape your brows with the Bitty Brow Kit. Apply Merlot PurePressed Eye Shadow to your lid using the Deluxe Shader brush. Line your top lash line with Amethyst Mystikol. Apply Rose Dawn Quad Bronzer to your cheeks for this natural-looking radiance. Last, we just love Passion Lip Fixation, a kiss-proof lipstain – which you’ll need on date night! Finish your evening make-up with one of our ECO-CERT certified Hydration Sprays and be ready for a fabulous night out in Berlin, Germany!

Rikki from Japan: Valentine’s in Japan is rather unique, exactly opposite of the US.  It’s a day women express their love or admiration or obligation to the men in their lives, as well as, the man they are interested in.

Today, in Japan for Valentine’s, chocolate companies sell more than half of their annual $5 billion dollar sales at Valentine’s. It’s a chocolate festival!

Along with giving chocolates to someone you really might be interested in, most of the chocolates given on Valentine’s are called “Giri-choko” (obligation chocolates) given to your boss, colleagues or male friends that you have no interest in.

Girls will spend hundreds of dollars in chocolates for the men in their lives.  All of this is not totally wasted, as a month later on March 14, there’s a day for men to reciprocate called  White Day and white chocolates are given to women to thank them for the Valentine chocolates the men received.

Restaurants will take advantage of this custom too and have a special meal for couples in love. This year Valentine’s Day and White Day are on a Friday so it’ll be difficult to get a reservations at the best French and high-end Western style restaurants.

This year the evenings start straight from work.  The women will have their nails painted and their lash extensions perfect and on that evening their lips will be glossy pink and highlighted with 24-Karat Gold Dust. Several years ago, our Chocoholicks which we called Choco-Lips were a hit for Valentine’s.

But unlike in America, the woman do not expect anything special from their husbands or boyfriends on this day, instead they do their best to make it a special evening for their special man.

What a fun tradition, we love the idea of White Day. Will you celebrate it this March 14th? Tell us below how you like to spend your romantic evenings out.