The Makeup Box

Electric Ocean: Intense Glowing Blue-Green Smoky Eye (120 Palette 2nd Edition)

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This has turned into a budget palette week!

Well, I haven’t been using them enough, and considering many of you own one or more of these, I figured I’d do a couple of looks with them. 

One of the key things about these palettes is the range of strong color options, and I picked the brightest, truest blue in the bunch, and paired it with a softer teal green. (See two circled shades above.)

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Butterfly Fields: Fantasy-Green Eyeshadow Look (with Paperself Lashes)

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I got requests for brighter or more dramatic color, and something green, so here’s one that’s kinda all those rolled into one.

Paperself stockists: http://www.paperself.com/ps%20%20all.html

I whipped out my 88 Shimmer palette for this. (I always forget I love this baby. It’s not dusty and the colors are beautiful.) But like most shadows, it’s very important to wear a primer or some kind of base on your lid for the pigments to cling to, if you want to get the most intense effect.

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Day-Glow: Bright Spring Pastel Makeup (Easily transforms into a dramatic look!) 

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I’m a fan of pairing opalescent green lids with bright pink. For Spring/Summer, it’s one of those color combinations that’s fab-and-fresh and goes with so many skin-tones.

The same bright eyes and cheeks works with an almost neon coral-pink lip that I’m in love with, carries surprisingly well into the night if you like uber-dark Noir lips (another FANTASTIC lipstick to introduce today) but don’t want that wintry, monochromatic face. 

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Purple Pansy: Easy Spring/Summer Purple-and-Yellow-Gold Eye shadow Look

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According to Color Theory, yellow and purple are the 2 shades that lie right smack-dab between blue (cool) and red (warm), so technically, they are the 2 “true neutrals”.

They are also diametrically opposite each other in the Color Wheel, so wearing them together is a quick way to get contrast without a lot of work. 

Good for:

• Any eye shape
• Any eye color

You will need:

1. A brown cream shadow base or gel liner (I used Maybelline Gel Liner as usual)
2. A yellow eye pencil (NYX Yellow pencil)
3. A bright yellow gold shadow (I used Coastal Scents Hot Pot in Golden Buttercup)
4. A rich medium-toned purple (I used an old purple pigment from a Japanese drugstore brand called Michiko London; I don’t think the company is still around). You can choose any rich purple you have, or something similar to MAC Parfait Amour or Satellite Dreams.
5. Black mascara or false lashes

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Bejewelled: Gem Encrusted Eyes at Dior

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I was completely wowed by Pat McGrath’s studded lids at the Dior’s Spring/Summer 2013 show. This isn’t something you can do everyday, but a single line of sequins along the lash line as an accent for a party might be an option.

The key to the look here is:

1. A base shade in a geometric shape. McGrath applied either a  rectangular block or a regular wing of shadow in a strong bright color (blue, green, orange, red or violet) across the lid, then
2. she applied individual crystals in various patterns and shapes, deliberately NOT matching the shape of the shadow below.

What you’ll need:

• A strong cream color base or pigment shadow; anything that will give you a very strong and opaque block of color
• Crystals (you can look for expensive Swarovski crystals from brands like Make Up For Ever or just visit your local craft store; make sure to get a variety of sizes and colors)
• Lash glue to adhere each gem
• Tweezers to dip each gem in glue and apply it

My favorite looks?

The red eye with the geometric crystals, and the violet eye with the multi-colored, multi-sized gem wing over it! 

Violet Chameleon: Violet Blue Duochrome Shadow with Violet-blue Duochrome Glitter!

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More than half-way through out “13 shades of Glitter” series!

Purple over purple is a favorite of mine, but if you layer a duochrome violet over another duochrome violet, it gets really intense. [1st image above taken in daylight, 2nd in artificial light.]

When I saw Libra glitter from Lime Crime, I immediately thought of some magenta-violet shadows (MAC Stars n Rockets, Urban Decay Fishnet) that shift to a bright blue in the light. This glitter is a little more towards the purple side, so it would match Fishnet better than Stars n Rockets.

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