The Makeup Box

Cotton Candy and Chocolate: Defined Pastel Makeup Tutorial (using I Nuovi Dusts)

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Pastels are all over the place this season. But more of us love pastels than pastels love us, as it’s not always the most flattering color-group to wear around the eyes for those with high-color (dark hair, darker skins, etc) and flatter eye contours.

For this eye look, I’m using pastels that are so pale they are almost icy, and the application is actually very straightforward, as it hinges mainly on the chocolate powder liner to bring everything together. 

You just need to arm yourself with eye shadow shades similar to the ones swatched above. It doesn’t matter if it comes in loose or pressed form. The only thing to be careful about is that if you are using loose shadows or very sheer pastels, apply an eye shadow base before you begin.

• Pale pink
• Pale Turquoise
• Deep chocolate brown

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Step 1: The thick winged liner. This is MUCH easier to do with powder shadow than with gel or liquid, and you just need a firm angled brush to stroke from outside in, to gently create the wing. There are many brown shadows around, but pick a shade that is matte or semi-matte, to stand out against the pastels better.

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Step 2: Layer  a pale turquoise shadow over the outer half of your lids. Then repeat using the pink on the inner halves, extending down around the inner corners slightly to brighten the eye area.

Step 3: Finish by applying another layer of brown shadow thinly as a liner at the lash line. This gives the brown more depth close to the lashes, while the bit that has pastel blue and pink shadows layered over it has a bit of sheen.

Then finish with black mascara on top and bottom lashes.

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On the cheeks, go for a hot pink blush instead of a pastel. This keeps everything edgy instead of being just pastel everywhere. I used Shu Uemura P Red 14 Blush but any intense pink will do.

On the lips, go with a blue-based pink like Great Pink Planet (what I wore here) or if you’re afraid of getting trolled, you can always use Saint Germain (left-most swatches) to go with the shadows!

Pale/Baby Pink Lipsticks

(L-to-R: Lime Crime Great Pink Planet, MAC Saint Germain, NYX Jupiter, NYX Strawberry Milk, Barry M 100 Baby Pink)

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Anonymous:

What are some good pale pink lipsticks?

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More people love pale-pink than dare to wear it as a full-on lipstick. Sure it’s a bit of a Snooki-esque disaster if you wear it wrong but the right shade can be sweet on the pale, oh-so-cute on the medium-toned, super-sexy on the tanned, and edgy on the darker-skinned.

I didn’t get into pale/pastel pink lipsticks until quite recently (2010 to be exact). I never thought I’d ever pull off a pale pink without looking ridiculous, and I’m sure many of you feel that way too.

Well, arm yourself with a good lip primer or concealer, and give it a shot.

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Shades I own:

Lime Crime Great Pink Planet: The lipstick that converted me to the world of opaque pastel pinks, and arguably my favorite of the lot. This is one of those lipsticks that is opaque enough to give you that “stick-on” lips effect when you really layer it on. If worn sheer, it will look deeper as it stains your lips pink.

Finish: Opaque Satin

Opacity: High

Price: mid-range

Shade: Bright pastel true-pink

Note: Often listed as a dupe of Saint Germain but it’s actually not as blue-based.

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MAC Saint Germain: This legendary Amplified pale-pink creme has driven many makeup collectors crazy as it was previously only available in Europe and via limited edition collections. It’s STILL not available outside of the US/EU at the moment. (I got mine shipped to a friend’s hotel on her recent trip to the States.) 

Finish: Opaque creme

Opacity: High

Price: mid-range

Shade: Bright pastel blue-pink

Note: This can look quite shocking on deeper or yellower complexions because it is VERY blue-based. Not for the faint of heart. If you’re not sure, Great Pink Planet is a better one to start off with as it’s plenty-bright, but warmer and not so stark against the skin. If you want a really eye-catching pale pink though, this is it. 

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NYX Jupiter: This is what I call the “Beginner’s Pale Pink”, because you get a pale, pastel-pink frost rather than an opaque layer of pastel-pink. I don’t like frost lipsticks but this actually looks nice, wears evenly, and will work with many skin tones.

Finish: Sheer frost

Opacity: Medium-low, buildable

Price: Low

Shade: Warm shell-pink with strong pale-pink frost

Note: Avoid pairing with frosted cheeks AND frosted lids if you don’t want to look like an 80’s throwback. Looks FANTASTIC on those with a tan.

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NYX Strawberry Milk: Least-favored of the bunch. Seems everyone who owns it either loves it or hates it. I’m actually probably going to throw it out some day soon. It’s a pale nude almost-pink that looks like it would look so fabulous, but the slippery texture killed it for me. I have a hard time applying it evenly, which drives me nuts because I’m so a**l about getting lip color even.

Finish: Almost-opaque creme

Opacity: Medium

Price: Low

Shade: Pale, pale pink with beige tones

Note: I actually have an extra NEW tube sitting in storage if anyone wants to give it a go. I’ll send it to you free if you’ll pay for the shipping. Just message me if you’re interested and let me know your country. I’ll check on the shipping rate and  you can decide if it’s worth it first!

[Update] You guys are fast! I’ve got a few queries already and am taking this “off the market” before I disappoint too many people. I’ll update again if the deal falls through and the lipstick is available again!]

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 Barry M 100 Baby Pink Lip Paint: UBER-pale pink that is almost white against the skin. I’m NC25 and even on my medium-light skin, it looks very dramatic. Not the easiest shade to wear, but works with the right makeup.

Finish: Satin-pearl (the pearl is almost invisible on the lips)

Opacity: Medium-high, buildable

Price: Low

Shade: Pale white-pink

Note: If nothing but the most deliciously-shocking pale pink will do, THIS is the lipstick for you. Just note that you will need to mute out your lips with a little concealer, especially around the edges, as the lipstick is paler than your skin and will bring out any ruddy tones around the mouth

Makeup for Girls with Glasses: Strong Pastels (Lime Crime Chinadoll Palette)

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Most times, girls with glasses think they should just skip eye makeup altogether. Well actually, you can get away with a heck of a lot more eye makeup in the daytime than girls without glasses.

I’m doing a demo with the “worst” type of glasses. Big, black, plastic frames that mask a lot of your face. And just for fun, I’m choosing strong colors that most people do not choose to wear in the day. Note that this is not the only way to do your eyes for glasses; it’s just ONE of the ways.

Before you begin, there are a few things you need to note when doing your eyes for glasses:

1. Emphasize your lash line. The optical distortion from your lenses and the shadow your frames cast can really obscure your eyes, so make sure you darken your lash line if you want your eye makeup to be visible.
2. You should go easy on your lashes. Don’t confuse this with emphasizing your lash line (above). There is limited space between your glass lens and your eye, and for some people, glomming on a lot of mascara is just going to end up feeling uncomfortable when your lash tips keep pushing against your glasses when you blink.  Use a mascara that builds volme and thickness, but not too much length. And FORGET false lashes. There’s no point.

Step 1: Pack a strong matte aquamarine green (Jade-o-Lade) on the outer half of the lids, and a pastel sky blue (Parasol) on the inner half.  You may need to gently blend where the colors meet, as these shadows go on intense, and you want them to fade into each other.

[If you have Mono-lids, make sure the shadows go up above the fold, until they reach the hollows of your eye socket. Otherwise, you won’t see any color.]

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Step 2: Apply black pencil along the upper lash line and waterline, and then use a flat angled brush to push a matte black shadow (Lotus Noir) over the black. This will make the line much more intense, and also set the liner and keep it in place for longer.

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Step 3: Just for a bit more color, I ran the pastel blue and teal along the lower lash line, UNDER the black.

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Step 4: Finish with black mascara. Wiggle in well at the base of the lashes, and then pull straight out instead of wiggling all the way to the top. This gives you more volume, without building up too much length, which is useful when you are wearing glasses.

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Step 5: On the cheeks, I applied a soft pastel pink blush (MAC Sunday Afternoon Pearlmatte Powder - this is limited edition so if you can’t get it, Well Dressed is real pretty too), and then applied a very clean, blue-based pastel pink on the lips (Lime Crime Great Pink Planet or MAC Saint Germain).

For darker skin tones, try MAC Pink Nouveau.

For those a little less brave with colors, use softer nude-pinks/peaches such as MAC’s Please Me (shown here) or Kinda Sexy Matte Lipstick.