The Makeup Box

Violet-and-Moss Two-Toned Cat-Eye Makeup (Black Liner and Shadows)

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This look is SLIGHTLY similar to the elongated liner look I did recently, but it’s more of a traditional cat-eye shape, with a flick that goes upwards. 

The main point of interest is that it is colored by coating the black with metallic shadows, which gives a very interesting and intense effect. 

You will need:

• Black gel liner (I used Maybelline Lasting Drama (or Master Drama)
• A deep purple metallic shadow (Urban Decay ACDC)
• A gold mossy-green shadow (I Nuovi Moss)
• Black mascara

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Soft Platinum Neutrals Eyeshadow Tutorial (88 Warm Palette)

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Here’s a simple but still polished and defined look that would take you from work to casual settings. I worked with a pale platinum-gold, a charcoal and a dark brown. The only shade that isn’t matte is the pale yellow-gold, but even that is a satiny texture rather than very sparkly or metallic.

Great for:

• Mature lids
• Hooded lids
• Mono lids
• Widening close-set eyes

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Applying Cluster Lashes: How to Choose and Apply

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Revisiting a lash cluster guide for those who didn’t see the first one, or just want a bit more explanation. The first thing to remember about cluster lashes is that they are very different from full strip lashes. They’re not meant to alter the look of your eyes. They aren’t there to stand in place of your natural lashes the way some girls use strip lashes. 

Used right, they are meant to bulk up what you already have while staying very invisible and natural-looking. Try these if you:

• Don’t like or want the unnatural look of full-strip lashes
• Find full-strip lashes hard to apply
• Can’t find strip lashes that are the right size for your eye
• Don’t want to alter the look of your lash line

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MAC In Extra Dimension Collection (Limited Edition) Review - plus Young Venus swatch

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Have you checked out MAC’s In Extra Dimension Collection? I must admit I was not aware until I saw them on the display at one of my local counters and was blown away by how pretty they looked.

These promise to be a powder-cream hybrid with the benefits of both; silky, high-pigmentation, high-sheen, and defined. 

I found the above to all be true, but I don’t actually find them creamy-feeling. They pretty much feel and wear like regular pearl finish shadows to me. If you like the Veluxe Pearl formula, you will love this. If you liked the Metal X Shadows but want something more intense and that won’t crease like a cream, this is good as well.

Each pot looks a lot larger than the regular shadows but actually only holds 2g of shadow (0.5g more than the regular shadows) but the cost is also significantly higher, so I’ll leave you to decide if it’s worth purchasing. It’s hard to resist when you’re staring at the sculpted metallic contours of these things in the shop.

I didn’t find the whole collection to be splurge-worthy, so I only got one item (Young Venus, image set above) which is a perfect pink highlighter for those with medium to fair yellow-toned skin. I wear pearlescent pinks on my cheeks all the time and prefer the subtle glowy effect to champagne (oily-looking) or gold colored (jaundiced-looking) highlighters on me.

Pink Venus is a pale pink pearl not as shiny and warm-based as Pink Swish, and not as pink as Da Bling. I love it on the cheeks and bridge of the nose as it’s not overly shiny and sparkly for day (as compared to something like MAC Iridescent Powder in Silver Dusk), but soft and glowy enough to not look like blush or turn chalky white against the skin.

As for the other shadows, they’re beautiful but I’m undecided about whether I need to get them as regular shadow since they’re

• limited edition, so any shade I fall for is not going to be available for long
• just like other metallic/pearl finish shadows. And I wear everything over a base anyway, so I don’t usually have problems with color intensity

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Also in the collection: MAC Extra Dimension Skinfinish.

I thought these were beautiful but I didn’t get them as they are better suited for caramel to really deep skins. For medium-to-pale skins, these look pretty brassy and unnatural. (If you can imagine applying a copper or bronze metallic shadow onto the cheeks… this are it.) There is one peach shade which might work a bit better for those with medium and medium-light skin, but I can’t promise it will work if you’re very fair, so definitely try before you buy.

If you have deeper skin, these might be gorgeous if you don’t mind looking quite metallic and shiny. Or, if you’re looking for a special FX finish for a show or shoot, these are worth checking out of course. Then again, I think you can get the same look using a metallic eye shadow or pigment, so I don’t know if it’s worth paying so much and worrying about it being discontinued.

So as beautiful as they are, I resisted the urge. I will probably go back and get the limited edition split-fiber brush for cheeks though. It’s a perfect size for highlighting!