The Makeup Box

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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Popster: Fuchsia Lips with Warm, Romantic Neutral Eye (Good for Mono-Lids and Smaller Eyes

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I call this look the “popster” because it’s SUCH a popular look among celebs and popstars both in the West and in the East. (P.S. this is actually slightly similar to another tutorial I have lined up recreating Jade Thirwell’s makeup in DNA, but that look is slightly more complex and a LITTLE more dramatic.)

A warm, glamorous bombshell-esque eye focusing on winged liner and sometimes false lashes, paired with electric fuchsia-pink lips.

This is a look that’s especially good if you want to “enlarge” your eyes a little, because the lashes, the shadow AND the liner all create the illusion of bigger eyes.

You will need:

• A brown cream shadow (I used Make Up For Ever Aqua Cream in #14; you can use a regular powder shadow if you want)
• A soft bronze-beige shadow (I used The Body Shop’s single shadow in #41; just look for something a little deeper than a beige)
• A pale yellow matte pencil (NYX Yellow would work)
• A black gel liner (or liquid liner if you want; I used Maybelline’s black gel liner)
• Black mascara
• False lashes (I prefer soft fluttery, natural-looking ones like Ardell 122s for this sort of look because they are longest at the center, not the outer corners. You want to retain that very rounded, doll-like eye shape.)

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Camo and Color: Simple Khaki Neutral Eyes with Fuchsia Lips

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I wanted to do a strong lip look, but instead of the usual neutrals on the lids, I thought it might be nice to do a little subtle color.

Works great for:

• Most eye shapes, including hooded and mono-lids
• All skin tones
• All eye colors, but especially hazel or green eyes

You will need (if you can’t get hold of the Sephora Jungle Chic palette):

• A dark brown gel liner or cream shadow (I used Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in 02 Brown)
• A medium olive/khaki green with a shimmery finish
• A deep steel-grey or charcoal; this shade can be slightly blue or green based as long as it’s quite dark and smoky
• A medium matte beige
• A bright pink blush (I used MAC Peony Petal)
• A fuchsia lip pencil (like NYX Fuchsia)
• A fuchsia lipstick (like Revlon Colorburst in Fuchsia, NYX’s Addis Ababa, or MAC Girl About Town)

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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.

Glossy Burgundy Lids with Neon Magenta Lips (NYX Matte Lipstick in Shocking Pink)

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One more look I posted on Instagram (makeup_box) a couple of days ago. This is a very simple look to recreate. The only thing about it that is different from a regular look is just the gloss on the lids and a neon pink lip.

I used

• a plum colored metallic pencil from Bourjois (Khol & Contour 07 Praline Inventif - any one you can find would do.)
• a deep cool brown shadow (Coastal Scents Hot Pot in Southern Wood)
• a soft medium-light taupe (Coastal Scents Hot Pot in Goldmine - MAC Patina would be a prettier alternative)
• Any clear gloss and a bit of pale purple micro-glitter (optional)
• soft pink blush (any of your choice; I used my Bourjois Little Round Pot shadow #15)
• Bright magenta-pink lipstick that is deeper than a neon fuchsia (NYX Matte Lipstick in Shocking Pink)

Step 1: Begin by shading in your lids, then lining both the upper and lower lash line.  Then use your finger to gently blend out the edges so there are no hard lines, and then touch up the pencil once more along the lash lines. The color should be more intense there.

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Step 2: With the deep smoky brown, lightly run along the lid near the lash line and gently extend your brush past the outer corners into a slight wing. This sets the color around the lash line. If you want to, you can skip this step, but I like a bit more dimension and depth I get by layering the shadows.

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Step 3: Apply a soft taupe brown to the upper portions of the lids, leaving just a small margin of skin above the lash line. If you want 

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Step 4: Go back over your upper lash line with the plum pencil.

IMPORTANT: Curl your lashes now because you’ll be applying clear gloss next. You can’t curl your lashes once you coat your lids as you’ll smear everything off.

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Step 5: With a flat brush, mix a little violet glitter (this is optional; it’s only visible when someone is quite close to you and looking directly at your eyes) into a dab of clear gloss, and then gently PAT that onto your lids. If you stroke your brush back and forth, you will end up smearing the shadow beneath.

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Step 6: Finish by applying black mascara. IF you are using false lashes instead, then you will need to apply them BEFORE you apply the gloss. Otherwise, the latex will have problem sticking to your skin if there is any gloss there.