The Makeup Box

Golden Brown with Violet Crease

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This is a simple way to add a twist of color to warm or neutral shades for day looks. 

Step 1: Use a thin, firm pointed brush to apply a rich violet shade to along the crease of the eye and slightly above it. 

Step 2: Then with your choice of a rich golden brown (I chose MAC Brass Pigment, but if you’re not able to locate this use MAC Woodwinked or Urban Decay Baked), fill in the inner portions of the lid and use a soft blending brush to blend the edges a little so there are no obvious demarcations between the two shades.

Step 3: Pack on the golden brown once more right along the lash lines to intensify the color, as the blending will have taken away some of the intensity and shine. The purple would at this point be just a smoky trace at the edges of the brown.

 Step 4: Apply mascara and pale liner (beige or yellow) along the waterline to finish the look! Easy-peasy.

MAC Brass Pigment on the lids, I Nuovi Ultraviolet Dust in the crease

On the cheeks and lips, I wanted to keep everything fresh and sweet to go with the eyes.

• Cheeks: NYX Pinky Blush applied a little more intensely than I usually do, for a flush.
• Lips: Etude House Darling Ultra Shine “Strawberry Milk” lipstick (I highly recommend this if you like baby pinks but find MAC Saint Germain or Viva Glam Gaga too blue or white. This is softer, sheerer, and slightly warmer toned.) **This lipstick range has been discontinued. Try the Look At Me lipstick range from Etude House for an alternative in a similar texture!

Nails of the Moment: Matte Orange Creamsicle 

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I’ve had my eye on creamy pastel orange/coral with a slight hint of pink for some time. The only thing more gorgeous than that is a MATTE creamy pastel coral.

I got mine from Korean brand Etude House (Matte polish #6), but if you can’t get hold of this online or in stores, L.A Girl has something similar in their matte nail enamel range, although slightly less peach, and more of a stronger orange.

The perfect lip to match? Lime Crime Cosmopop, MAC Peachstock or Benefit’s new Cha Cha Tint if you can’t wear anything too milky.

LIME CRIME Opaque Lipsticks: Haul, Reviews, Swatches and Comparisons!

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My little turquoise package arrived, and in it were 4 shades of opaque lipsticks I’d ordered from Lime Crime. The packaging is shiny and bright mauve, with a sparkly holographic Unicorn and name stamped in. The packaging is just a little too kitschy and airy-fairy to be my kinda thing, but oh well, it’s fun.

The ones I chose were:

1. Cosmopop
2. Great Pink Planet
3. Countessa Fluorescent
4. Airborne Unicorn

I did not choose the rose-fuschia, red, bright orange, blue, lilac, or black, because I decided to go for the colors that were harder to dupe and actually wearable on weekends, if not for work/school.

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Texture: Creamy, and go on smoothly with a satin sheen, but they do contain more pigment content and less wax than most typical lipsticks. This means they

• can get slightly dryer than normal cream lipsticks over the hours
• are more opaque than most other lipsticks I’ve tried. This does not mean they are 100% opaque. You will still need to go over a couple of times to even out the color.
• break easier. My poor Cosmopop (creamsicle orange) slipped out of its box and hit the floor, so now the whole lipstick is deformed and wobbling despite my trying to heat and re-freeze. Be careful about carrying these tubes in your bag on a hot day or leaving them in the car.

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Look: I applied them 2 ways. Once really full-on, straight from the tube. Then once blotted and evened out with my finger for a sheerer matte finish. Scroll on to see! (The pictures are taken in artificial light, so in real life it may differ a little.)

1. Cosmopop full (top) and sheer (bottom)

Verdict: I love Cosmopop sheer. When applied full, it is a white-orange nude which probably belongs more at a costume party, especially if you are not uber-pale.

Applied sheer or with a finger, it’s a lovely bright-peach nude.

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2. Great Pink Planet, full (above) and matte (bottom).

Verdict: Photos are very much how they appear in real life. I really like this lipstick. The only thing is that it is very white-based, so if you have a very deep skin tone, this might look a little crazy. (But hey, if you really want that exaggerated baby pink lip, go for it!)

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3. Countessa Fluorescent, full (above) and sheer (bottom).

Verdict: Heart. This shade is an intense, fluorescent barbie pink. A bit much for work (all the photos don’t quite show how much these lipsticks pop), but definitely a fierce party lip.

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4. Airborne Unicorn, full (above) and sheer (bottom)

Verdict: Another shade I love. Blue does not show up that well in artificially-lighted photographs, so this shade is actually a little less pink and a bit more purple than it looks above. I totally don’t agree that if you have yellow or NC skin, you should wear yellow-toned shades and avoid blue-pinks, blue-reds, etc. That’s all hogwash. I’ve found that having some blue tones will contrast beautifully with your skin and make it glow.

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Swatches below (top 4) compared with other lip products I own that can give a somewhat similar - but not identical - look.

From bottom upwards: Revlon Colorburst Soft Nude lipstick, Etude House Strawberry Milk lipstick (much sheerer and a touch warmer than Great Pink Planet), The Face Shop Extreme Rouge Gloss PK102, Etude House VIP Girl #09, MAC Up the Amp).

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Pros:

• Great, fun shades
• High pigmentation (Sure it’s not 100% opaque, but lighten up. It’s still more opaque than most other brands, and it performs well enough for me.)
• Cheaper than MAC (in Asia). Here, MAC lipsticks cost upward of USD22 at current exchange rates. Lime crime is USD15.99.

Cons:

• Lipsticks are very soft and will smoosh against the sides of the tube or break off easily
• Limited shade range (but then the brand has always focused on slightly off-kilter colors that are hard to find elsewhere, and I like them for it.)
• More expensive than MAC (in the US).

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Verdict:

I really like the texture and the saturated shades, but I’m sure I won’t be wearing them on a daily basis. If you find it hard to get really bright or pale milky colors though, some of these are definitely worth collecting.

They ship world-wide for a flat rate of USD10 (at time of writing) and waiver shipping fees if you spend USD100 in an order. 

“Babydoll Punk” Purple-and-Pink look
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This is a strong purple eye with a defined crease and very-long wispy lashes, paired with bright strawberry-milk lips.

You just need a strong purple which is just bordering on the red side, like MAC Very Violet, and a dark satin or matte black-brown for shading. Applying a little pale shimmer on the inner corners is optional, and you can use any soft pale shade you own.

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Step 1: Apply a strong rich violet in the inner 2/3 of your eye, over a good eyeshadow base. Don’t worry about packing it on strong yet. We’ll go over the purple one more time later.

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Step 2: Use a dark black-brown (or mix black and brown) to get a soft smoky contour color for the outer corners and socket lines. This subtle “cut-crease” is part of the whole babydoll lazy-eyed look.

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Step 3: Foil the violet with water or mixing medium and then gently brush in soft, circular motions onto the lids, and let the color intensify.

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Step 4: Line water line and upper lashes with black pencil, then apply soft, long strip lashes. Keep the liner very thin unless you have very thick upper lids that detract from the overall look, and need to be shortened with thicker liner.

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Step 5: Apply soft pink blush (e.g. MAC Well Dressed) and bright strawberry milk lips. I used an Etude House VIP Girl lipstick #09, but you can probably try Viva Glam Gaga (cool) or Angel (warm) for a similar effect.