The Makeup Box

The Big, Brown Cat Eye (plus Cat-eye Liner tutorial)

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There were a couple of requests for a sexy look that was based around neutral shades. Instead of the usual smoky eye or cut-crease eye, I decided to do one that was more sultry and evening-appropriate, and centered around a very strong liner.

This look is good for:

• Regular double lids, mono-lids
• All skin tones (if you are very dark skinned, switch the grey to a darker charcoal)
• Any eye color since it’s neutral, but especially brings out blue/grey and lighter-brown eyes
• Eyes that are not close-set

Special note: If you have hooded eyes, this still works. Just don’t wing the liner out too far. The transition of brown to grey shadow will be the main focus for you.

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You will need:

• A rich brown shadow (all shadows I used were from the 88 Warm palette but feel free to substitute with any similar brown)
• A smoky grey (also from the 88 palette; this can be matte or swapped for a deeper shade)
• A brown gel liner (I used my staple Maybelline Lasting Drama #02)
• [Optional] A lighter peach/bronze shadow
• Mascara

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Step 1: First apply the rich brown all over your lid. Avoid winging the color out at the outer corners.

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Step 2: Choose a grey that is about the same depth and intensity as the brown, and then sweep it along the socket line (the hollow above your eye ball). Don’t bring the grey all the way to the inner corners. It should stop and fade away about 2/3 of the way in. 

IF YOU HAVE HOODED EYES, you can extend the grey a little at the outer corners and buff it out so it creates a slight wing. 

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STEP 3: THE CAT-EYE LINER!

A) First run the brown liner along the lower lash line. I actually ran it along the waterline to hide that strip of bare skin. This creates a more cat-like effect.

B) Along the upper lash line, apply a very thick strip of liner. IF YOU HAVE MONOLIDS, you can actually go ahead and apply a much thicker strip than I did. 

C) One of the problems with winged liner is that it’s hard to get the angle the same on both sides of the eye. To make it easier, simply follow the angle of your lower lash line and extend it up slightly. 

D) To complete the wing, go from the outside in this time, and connect the outer tip of the wing with the center of your upper lid. After this, you can go back in to neaten and straighten the line as you need.

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Step 4: [Optional] Use your ring finger to tap a tiny bit of a lighter bronze shade onto the center of your lid for extra dimension. This is only recommended for double-lidded eyes. If you have mono-lids or hooded lids, skip this.

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Finish with mascara!

Romantic Lavender (For anyone desperate for one more last-minute Valentine’s idea!)

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Lavender is a universally-flattering color for most eye and skin colors, and I always consider it one of those shades that functions like a neutral because it goes with everything and everyone. A pearlescent lavender eye like this one can look sultry and dreamy at the same time (as seen on Jessica Rabbit) if you don’t go overboard with the contouring, AND you’ll see you can transform the entire look just by switching out your lip color.

Some tips:

• What you want to be careful of, if you have uneven skin tone or a lot of red/pink in your skin, is to pick purples that lean more silver or blue. 
• If you have mature lids, go with slightly less metallic/shimmery shadows than I used because a high-sheen can emphasize lines.
• If you have very dark skin, pick a purple that is richer and stronger as a soft pastel can look chalky
• If you are layering it over a grey/silver base like I did here (See below), remember that you need to go with a slightly more pink-toned shade than you want because the blue undertones in the grey base will make a purple look blue. You can skip the base, but you lose some of that soft, hazy effect.

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Glacial Eye Makeup Tutorial: Quick Frosted Aqua and Gunmetal Look

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Simple, quick 5 minute eye that you should be able to pop on within minutes after you do it once or twice. I used a

1. grey cream shadow (Maybelline Color Tattoo in Audacious Asphalt), 
2. a pale silvery aqua (MAC Shimmermint; this is limited edition so you can try MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow in Bright Moon or any sheer, sparkly pale blue-green), 
3. a black or grey shadow (any will do; I used the black shade in Rimmel Glam’Eyes palette in Precious Crown) 
4. a grey liner pencil (Bourjois Metallise in 51 Noir Effet Miroir), and 
5. mascara.

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Spring Night: Smoky Duochrome Eye (all drugstore products!)

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A smoky eye and false lashes do not necessarily mean a heavy look if you layer on some shine and subtle color.

Here, I used:

• elf Black Licorice cream shadow duo (black shade)
• Wet n Wild ColorIcon in Greed (sparkly black and gray-gold shade)
• Essence Colour & Shine eyeshadow in 03 Wear It (baked sparkly purple)
• Bourjois Liner Pince!u 16 Hour liquid liner in black
• Ardell 120 Demi lashes

Step 1: Apply the black base in an even layer, sheering out above the socket line.

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Step 2: Dab the tips of a brush into black shadow and then pack it gently along the lash line. Don’t run this over the entire crease area as you need to leave space for the silver-gold.

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Step 3: With the silvery-gold shade in the Wet n Wild palette (or any soft grey you have), run just above the black shadow in a thin strip. You may need to go over a couple of times to build up intensity. Try to keep the color within the socket line.

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Step 4: Run a sparkly purple along the socket line, framing the rest of the eye makeup. You can smoke this color out a bit more since it’s the outermost shade.

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Step 5: Apply black liquid liner at the base of your upper lashes, and then apply wispy false lashes. To keep the look lighter and more lifted upwards, I’m not applying anything on the bottom lash line. Not even mascara.

Everyday Minerals Passion Passport and Starry Eyed Eye Shadow Tutorial and Review (aka the “Roller Girl Experiment”)
 

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It’s not secret that I like Everyday Minerals products, but I haven’t actually tried any of their shadows since they came up with the roller-ball travel containers (US$4.50). Now they seem like a good idea for traveling but how do you actually apply the shadow when you can’t dip a shadow brush in like you would with a pot?

Well, the folks at Everyday Minerals were kind enough to send me a few shadows recently for review, so what better than to take the opportunity to try it out for myself?

For this look, I used Passion Passport, a sparkly titanium grey, and Starry Eyed, a shimmery cocoa brown. 

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Step 1: First off, I definitely recommend wearing a primer beneath ANY loose powder shadow, but especially mineral ones, because this helps to both increase the vibrancy of the shadows, and minimize fading over the day.

Step 2: The contour color for the outer V and lower lash line. It’s easier to do a strip across the entire lid rather than a contour, but hey - I’m here to experiment. And it was surprisingly mess-free, although it takes time to slowly roll back and forth along your socket and pack the color on strong. You are not going to get pin-point precision, but for regular shadow application, the roller applicator works ok.

Tip: Roll in short zig-zag moves over sections of skin, rather than trying to drag the applicator all the way along your skin in one stroke. This gives more pigmentation, AND stops the roller ball from grabbing at your lashes.

 Step 3: The lid shade is the easy part. As with the contour color, move in short zig-zag strikes to cover the skin and build up to required intensity. Apply more than you want because it’s going to get sheered out when you blend later.

(I have to say I don’t love grays in general but Passion Passport is one of the nicer ones I’ve tried as it’s got plenty of sparkle but is not muddy or overly-silvery and dramatic.

Step 4: Blend the brown into the silver at the socket line to soften any edges. You may need to reapply a bit of both colors after this point as the blending will likely sheer and muddy them a little. 

Step 5: Apply black liner in a wing (I used Bourjois 16 Hour Liner Pinceau liquid liner) and run a metalic brown pencil along the lower lash line (Bourjois Regard Effet Metallise 52 Brun Inoxydable).

Then finish with mascara.