The Makeup Box

[Requested] Hothouse Flower: Dramatic Tropical Floral Colors for a Dance Recital (inspired by Make Up Store)

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I was thinking about 2 separate requests; one for a “Hawaiian-inspired” look and one for an orchid color with a bright highlight. Both were for dance recitals, which require strong makeup that will show up and can convey expression under harsh lights.

Then I walked by Make Up Store and saw their Blossom campaign, which featured dramatic contrasting colors of navy yellow, and a peony pink, and thought “ah-ha!” 

I decided to do a cut-crease look with the same color scheme. Cut-crease looks place a strong defined line along the socket and a contrasting lighter/brighter shade on the lid so you emphasize every blink and expression (which is why it is so popular for stage performers).

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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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Holographia: Dramatic Metal Ombre Lids with Yellow-Red-Pink Transfer Foil! (Click images above to see in larger size)

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Transfer foils were created for arts and crafts. Then some genius decided to use it on nails. Not long after, some people thought it might be a good idea to attempt it on the lips.

(That didn’t go too well, because while it looked cool when it was done perfectly - a la Katy Perry - very few people ever managed to do it perfectly. Tons of women ended up with disappointing patchy, cracked-looking lips.)

Since I’ve got tons of foil (I buy mine from dollarnailart.com), I naturally wondered about using it for other things. It is BRILLIANT as a dramatic transfer tattoo, But what about the eyes?

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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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The Brushed Metal Eye Tutorial: Ridiclously straightforward!

This look was done to coordinate with a nail look I did the other day, and there isn’t really much of a step-by-step to run through because it’s so simple.

It’s a basic smoky lid without any shadow on the lower lash line, amd you can do it even if you have mono-lids or hooded eyes, as long as you bring the color up to your socket line so that it’s visible when your eyes are open.

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