GET THE LOOK || Detective Amy Sykes [Major Crimes Week]

Sykes, you're up! When I came up with Major Crimes Week, I hadn't originally planned to do a post for Detective Sykes. I didn't think that I could do her justice and I hadn't really managed to get a good look at her makeup. That was until I started my series re-watch in preparation for the start of season 4. In one of the season 2 episodes, I actually got a really good look at her eye makeup and decided at the last minute that I would attempt it. If I didn't succeed, I would still have a cool smokey eye tutorial.

I hope Sykes gets more SIS-type assignments because she really flourishes when she's doing the more hands-on, tactical things. Plus, girl can kick some ass!

T H E    O U T F I T

Sadly, it's just the one outfit for Amy. Grey blazers and dress trousers are difficult to find at the moment and when I do find them, they are incredibly low in stock. I really endeavour to bring you items that are in stock and readily available so that if you want it, you can just go, "Yup, I want that!" and you can get it with a click of the mouse. If you can find them outside of what I suggest, grab them while you can! 

Sykes' style is the polar opposite of Raydor and that is undoubtedly intentional, just as Raydor's style was the opposite of Chief Johnson's when she first appeared in The Closer. It's to provide a balance so that the styles don't clash by being too similar. It's always noticeable when Raydor wears her trousers suits now because she is so often in a dress skirt or a dress. It's the same with DDA Hobbs. They are presented differently. You can kind of say that Sykes is The Closer version of Raydor. I'm sure there's a better way to phrase that but I've had very little sleep. Anyway...

Sykes predominately wears trousers suits when on duty, albeit black, deep navy or grey. Like with DDA Hobbs, Grey LaVoi brings a pop of colour to Amy's wardrobe by having her wear colourful blouses or t-shirts. Lilacs and cobalt blues really compliment Kearran Giovanni's skin tone beautifully. 

- Black Stretch Button Front Blazer || New Look - £22.99
- V-Neck Jersey Top || H&M - £3.99
- Suit Trousers || H&M - £24.99
- Ankle Boots || H&M - £24.99

A lot of these just happened to be from H&M. I'm not being sponsored to use them but everything just conveniently was in the style that I needed for this post. *thumbs up*.

T H E    M A K E U P 

First off, this is not going to be a tutorial on skin tone as I'm going to be largely focusing on her eye makeup. My skin tone is the lighter than that of Giovanni and so I'm going through my usual foundation routine; I used my Revlon Colorstay foundation (Ivory), Urban Decay Naked Concealer (Fair Neutral) to cover blemishes, brighten my under-eye area and prime my eyelids, and L'Oreal Paris Pressed Powder (Rose Ivory). Use your own foundation and concealer colours to get your base.. 

I first off filled in my eyebrows using my Soap & Glory Archery pencil (Blondeshell). I used the brush to comb my brow hairs into place before defining my brows with the pencil end. Sykes has quite bold eyebrows. Hers are slimmer than mine and are tamed a lot more than mine are. 

To start with the eyeshadows, I grabbed my Maybelline The Nudes eyeshadow palette. With a fluffy tapered brush - I used my Sephora Crease Shadow brush - I took this matte, neutral brown shadow. I started to apply it in the corner before taking it through my eye socket and going back and forth in windshield wiper motions to blend it out. I then swept the excess over my lid very lightly. This will define the eyes.

To lighten my lid up just a little bit, I took this flesh-toned shadow from the Maybelline palette and patted it all over my lid. I used my Real Techniques Base Shadow brush to do this. 

I then took this cool, grey-toned brown eyeshadow on my Real Techniques Deluxe Crease Brush and used it to blend out the crease so that there were no harsh edges. 

To line my eyes, I used a gel eyeliner. You can use whatever you feel confident and comfortable with; pencil, liquid liner or gel liner. I'm most confident with a gel liner. I used Maybelline's Lasting Drama gel liner in Black in an angled liner brush - I used one from Sephora. Sykes' eyeliner is a lot thicker than Rios' or Raydor's. I took my time with this. It doesn't have to be perfect because we'll be smoking it out later but I wanted to be even as much as I could which is why the mirror was so close to my face. 

As I let that dry and set, I took my Rimmel Special Eyes Precision pencil liner and ran it along my tightline. You can skip this step. I prefer to do this so that there are no gaps in my lashline. My eyeballs got up close and personal!

Sykes has a very dark lower lashline. On my lower lashline, I used a black eyeshadow. I took Panther from Wet N Wild - you can use whatever black eyeshadow you have. I prefer this one because there is very little or no fallout with this. I used a small pencil brush - one that I got from Sephora - and took that black shadow along my lower lashline from outer corner to inner corner. Try to get the brush under my lashes as that will make application so much smoother and don't bring it down too far or you risk Panda eyes.

I then went back in with that Rimmel eyeliner and lined my waterline all the way along. 

Now, back up to the upper lashline. With a small, stiff-ish brush, I used this duo Eye-Enhancer one from EcoTools. On that brush I took some of Panther and took it just a smidge above the gel liner and blended the two together, easing the black shadow upwards. With my pale skin, it turned grey but you can go back in and build that intensity up and make more of a gradient out of it but don't go too far up. This is just to smoke out that lashline. 

I turned the brush upside down and used the soft blending side to blend it out that bit more. You can go over the eyeliner if you need too at this point. 

Next, I curled my eyelashes and applied Maybelline's The Rocket Volum' Mascara to my upper lashes. You can apply mascara to your lower lashes if you wish but for this look, I didn't. 

If you had any fallout from your eyeshadows, now is the time to fix that up. I just touched up my concealer and set it again. 

To warm up my face because it was looking extremely one dimensional, I used my favourite bronzer of the moment, The Body Shop Honey Bronzer in the shade Fair Matte. I used my Real Techniques Blush brush to apply this to where the sun would naturally hit my face; the cheekbones, the temples, the forehead and not forgetting, my neck. 

I think that Sykes' blush is a very understated one - it's there but you can't really tell. You can choose a peachy-pink toned one or a light pink blush. I took my Dandelion blush from Benefit. I used my Deli Plus powder brush to dust it over my cheeks and blending it out so that it was seamless. 

Sykes' lip colour largely looks to be natural but with a hint of gloss. I don't have a plain lipgloss anymore so first of all, I took my Revlon Colorburst balm in Honey. 

I then added NYX Butter Gloss in Tiramisú over the top.

That turned out a little too pink for my liking and I added MAC's Twig over the top.

For this post I had my hair up like Sykes has her hair more often than not. Her hair is never in a high pony-tail. Her ponytail is about ear level just above the base of the skull. If you can, use a bobble that is your hair colour. I used a blonde one. However, this look is brilliant for when you want to wear your hair down.

I hope that you enjoyed this post and I hope you like Sykes' style as much as I do. I adore her off-duty attire just as much. I may do a separate post on that soon if anyone is interested in that.

Tomorrow marks the final post of Major Crimes Week and the last day we have to wait until the new episode on Monday. My heart is racing at just the thought of the new episode. I hope that you're just as excited as I am. I hope you're having a wonderful weekend and if you are working, I feel you because I am too. Monday and Tuesday will constitute my weekend.

Have a great day and I'll see you tomorrow.

Previous Major Crimes related posts
Get The Look Season 3 Promo | Get The Look || DDA Andrea Hobbs ||| Raydor's Rouge  Get The Look || Sharon Raydor || Christmas Style 3x12 Acting Out || Get The Look 3x15 Chain Reaction
The Trenchcoat || 1x03 Get The Look || Get The Look || DDA Emma Rios
Get The Look || DDA Andrea Hobbs #2 || Get The Look || Sharon Raydor 

** Disclaimer: All photos of Amy Sykes, character of Major Crimes are from MajorCrimesTV.net.