The Makeup Box

My 5-minute Colorful Half-Liner Eye Look

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This is a super quick eye look that I always pop on when I don’t have a lot of time to do my face, and want an eye that is subtle but still has a shot of fun color. I tend to pair this look with a strong blush and bright lips (a coral-pink mostly).

Image notes: 1st image was taken over the weekend for Instagram, with a translucent gold glitter shadow on (Chanel Illusion D’ombre in Vision). For the other images, I used a shimmery beige to demonstrate. Hence the slight difference in finishes!

You don’t need to be an expert or to have a very steady hand to do this. Plus you have tons of shade options. Any colored liner pencil will work as that accent shade, so pick a violet or a royal blue, even a lime green; whatever you like!

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Revisiting: The Creamy Salmon-Pink Lip

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Want a color that pretty enough for Spring, but still bright enough that it’s not a wishy-washy pastel? 

This is something that showed up on the catwalks about 2 years back, but is still gorgeous today. You take any fuchsia pink or coral you have, and you mix it with a flesh-toned concealer shade. What you get is a highly-pigmented salmon-pink (fuchsia lipstick) or milky-peach (coral lipstick) that takes on a bright pastel hue and really pops against your skin. 

Perfect on a sunny day OR as an alternative to the usual nude lip with smoky eyes!

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Coral Lipsticks: Shades, Swatches, Tips!

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Coral is that hybrid shade that is not quite orange, not quite red. Some even have a shot of pink and peach thrown in. Read down further for brands and details of the swatches listed!

It can be a hard shade to wear if you don’t take care to even out your skin tone with a good base or concealer first (it can make blotchy skin blotchier) or a little matching blush on the cheeks (it can make medium to dark skins sallow-looking).

But get your base covered and coral is its own statement and does not need much eye makeup accompanying it. (Interestingly, all the beautiful looks I found featuring coral lips had MINIMAL eye makeup.) 

P.S. Thanks to all of you for chipping in with your favorite corals! More, more! We need to know where all the good stuff is!

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Chinese New Year FOTD (Neon coral-pink lips) 2013

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Just a quick-quick post to run through a quick look I wore during the Lunar New Year holidays the last week before my little stint in the hospital. The main item was the super-bright coral-pink lip, which is a change from my usual blue-toned bright pink.

In daylight it goes really pink but indoors and in artificial light, it leans coral.

This isn’t a tutorial, because I literally just rubbed the taupe cream shadow (Maybelline Tough as Taupe) all over the lids, smudged a little black pencil on, and applied mascara. Then I applied blush and lipstick, and that was it for the whole day. Talk about low maintenance!

Makeup:

• Make Up For Ever HD Foundation 120
• MAC Studiofinish Concealers NW25, C25
• Silica powder (for setting)
• NYX Pinky blush 
• Maybelline Color Tattoo Tough as Taupe over lids
• Black Shahnaz Husain kajal smudged in outer corners
• L’oreal Voluminous Mascara in Blackest Black
• MAC Force of Love lipstick (Viva Glam Nicki is very close but a little less pink; Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in L’eclatante is a reddened and more matte - but equally bright - version)

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Tomorrow, a multi-colored liner look that would go with this sort of super-bright lip!

Inglot Lip Product Mini-Haul (from NYC) - click images for clearer photos

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I picked up several items from Inglot on my recent trip to New York, and 3 of these were fab lip products.

I would actually recommend you check out their little Lip Paint pots if you ever get the chance to; these are absolutely fantastic. They’re not sticky, sheer glosses. They’re really creamy, intense lip laquers that go on almost opaque if you build them up, and give a nice glossy finish.

Just look at those swatches to see how gorgeous they are! 

• 56 - bright medium pink creme; similar to MAC Pink Nouveau in shade, but in a much easier-to-wear texture for most people.
• 59 - gorgeous lavender-mauve creme; lip swatch image looks a little washed out. The wrist swatch is a better representation of the color. It’s a softer version of MAC Up the Amp lipstick and definitely a color to wear if you want some impact!

The 3rd product is one of their matte lipsticks; 421. This is a deep fuchsia that leans a little warm, so if you are afraid of very blue-based pinks and magentas this is a great shade. The texture isn’t as smooth and comfortable to wear as a MAC matte, and I only really bought it because the color was gorgeous. 

All Inglot products featured are US$12 before tax.

Summer Trend: Bright Glossy Stained Lips

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“Juicy” lips have become all the rage it seems. It’s characterized by semi-translucent, non-shimmery color with a moist but not glossy-wet finish.

You can run out to look for products that can give this effect (MAC Sheen Supremes, Revlon Colorburst Lip Butters and Balm Stains, Urban Decay Super-Saturated High Gloss Lip Colors), OR you can just pull out any bright, non-shimmery lipstick you have and just recreate the look in 2 steps.

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Step 1: Apply a clear gloss or balm over your lips. It’s best to use something that isn’t too sticky (MAC Lipglass is too sticky) as you need it to be able to dissolve lip color easily.

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Step 2: Using your lipstick of choice, lightly run it back and forth over your lips a few times until you get an even, semi-translucent coat of color. The look you are going for is not ombre lips, so try to distribute the color as evenly as possible. 

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Tips for choosing shades:

Go for very saturated, bright shades like MAC Morange, NYX Louisiana, MAC Up the Amp, etc. You can go lighter if your lips are quite pale, but be careful as lighter and more pastel colors (like Wet n Wild Dollhouse Pink) will tend to seep into the lines in your lips and look streakier.

Pale shades are not recommended at all.