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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“Sexy Bee”: Black-and-Yellow/Gold Banded Eye Makeup (Works for Mono-lids and Hooded Lids)

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This probably seems like the unlikeliest thing but I saw this cute honey-bee head-band and wanted to do a look for the funny, sassy girls who’d much rather be a bee than an Egyptian queen. Ironically, the color-scheme and look fits any sort of “gold-themed” Celestial or Royal outfit you might be wearing for Halloween.

You’d just need to adjust the yellow-gold shade to match your outfit. I used a matte black from BH Cosmetics and a warm yellow-gold from I Nuovi called Blonde.

Step 1: Along the hollow curve of your socket line, use a soft blending brush to sweep an arc of yellow-gold shadow.

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Step 2: Just under, and overlapping that yellow, use a smaller, firmer brush to apply an arch of matte black. 

Run the black along the outer halves of the lower lash line as well so the black makes a sort of asymmetrical “C” cupping the eye.

If the black is over-applied, simple take the first brush and a tiny bit of gold shadow and just run  it along the upper edges of the black to soften it.

Note for Mono-lids/Hooded lids: Make sure you can see the black when your eyes are open. If not, you probably applied the color a little too low. If in doubt, work with smaller brushes. The black and yellow bands might need to be thinner if you have smaller lid space, and large brushes won’t allow you to do that. Just soften any harsh lines after you’re done by brushing over with a softer brush.

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Step 3: The last bit is simply to take the yellow-gold and apply it right in the inner portions of the lid. 

Make sure to apply a tiny bit to the inner corners of the lower lash line as well, as this brightens up the eye area.

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Step 4: All that’s left is to apply a little black liner to your lash line (I prefer the inner rims but you can just do it the regular way, “outside” the lash line, if you want) and finish with lots of mascara.

Greens are In! (Refreshing Chartreuse and Jade Beauty Products)

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Green is not my favorite color.

But then there is something about a soft golden green that just makes you think of crisp, fresh, spring/summer coolness. Take a cue from Rihanna. A hint of soft golden green on the lids can jazz up any look without detracting from your face or looking overly-dramatic in the day.

Here are a few of my favorite green products this month!

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Skincare:

Lush Herbalism - A tiny bit of this moss-like wad of chlorophyll-infused skin cleanser  goes a pretty long way. I use it as a gentle scrub about once or twice a week. It’s quite gentle (think of the texture of an oatmeal scrub), smells really herbal, and leaves your skin feeling conditioned rather than tight and dry.

Etude House AC Clinic Spot Treatment - This is like Mario Badescu’s Drying Lotion, but cheaper to purchase in Asia. 
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Eye Products:

Bourjois Contour Clubbing pencil in 44 Golden Grey Session - there is nothing “grey” about this pencil. It’s a beautiful metallic pewter-tinged pale green that has both gold AND silver tones.

L’oreal Infallibel Eye Shadow in Permanent Kaki - you’ve heard me rave about this shade before. I love this lush olive shade.

MAC Pigment in Golden Olive - It’s exactly as the name says; a bright golden-green duochrome that’s GLORIOUS on most skins, from very dark to very light.

I Nuovi Moss Shadow - If MAC Golden Olive Pigment and Sumptuous Olive Shadow had a baby, this would be it. 

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Nails:

Essie Navigate-Her - Such a pretty pea-cream green. Most pastel green polishes are quite cool-toned and more like mint than Cream of Pea Soup, which makes this shade really unique and VERY much more interesting to wear. My favorite green creme shade by far.

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Scents:

Chanel No 19 - Rumored to have been created way before 1971 (official launch date) as a successor to Chanel No 5, No 19 is widely-acknowledged as Coco’s personal favorite in the latter half of her life. This is a cool, green, waxy, sharp floral that isn’t very flowery at all. There is nothing overly fluffy or girly about this scent, but there’s a definite sexy edge beneath.

Chanel No 19 Poudre - Sweeter, softer, more powdery and girly than her older sister, Poudre is a different kind of beauty that I reach for where good ol’ 19 is a little too brusque for me. This fragrance manages to be powdery and fresh at the same time, but the sweeter jasmine heart and softer musk base makes it more inviting and generally “nicer” than her older sister.

Great Green Shadows for Summer 2012

I have to admit I don’t often wear green on a day-to-day basis because it tends to be such an obvious and dramatic shade, compared to pinks and purples. However, I do have some in my collection that I will pull out on occasion because they are so absolutely beautiful. 

Here are some of my favorites right now. (I did not include teal or blue-green shades in this line-up as those deserve a separate listing by themselves!)

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Neutral/Smoky Greens

• MAC Green Brown pigment - This hard-to-locate duochrome pigment is similar to Blue Brown but definitely not the same. It’s sold only in Pro stores, and has a golden-green sheen and a lighter, more orange base. TKB Trading has a mica called Dragonfly which is the same thing but being discontinued. MAC Club, Urban Decay Lounge and other similar duochrome shades are actually dupes of Blue Brown, NOT Green Brown, which is a lot more golden-toned. See it in action here.
• L’oreal Permanent Kaki - I LOVE this metallic sage green, and I think you should at least try it before L’oreal does what it always does and phases the Infallible shadows out one day. See it in action here.
• MAC Sumptuous Olive - This is an antique-bronze metallic shade in the Veluxe Pearl range, and a perfect cross between green and brown. You can wear it in place of any neutral and it can look both subtle and dramatic. Great if you don’t like or don’t want obvious color on your eyes. See it in action here.
• I Nuovi Cat’s Eye: For the Drama Mamas out there, this is like MAC Beauty Marked if you replace the red sparkles with a rich emerald green. This is not just a great liner shade because of its matte black base, but also fabulous all over for an intense smoky eye. (No tutorial available for this, sorry!)

Light/Bright Greens

• Lime Crime Seahorse Discourse - This golden acid green is as bright as I will go. Seahorse Discourse is part of the Aquataenia Mermaid Palette, and a pretty satin lime shade. It’s similar to MAC Bitter but more pigmented and with a soft pearl sheen instead of being matte. (No tutorial available yet!)
• The Body Shop 44 Golden Meadow - GORGEOUS soft green and gold duochrome. This shade is like MAC Golden Olive, but more subtle and rich, with a slightly cooler base tone. The texture is also really creamy and pigmented due to the Marula Nut Oil content. See it in action here!
• The Body Shop 08 Shimmer - This is not part of the regular shadow line although it’s usually on the racks alongside them. This is a translucent shadow that shifts to a glowing green in the light. You can layer this over ANY shadow to give it a green sheen, similar to this look. If you can’t locate Green Brown, I also suggest you get this and layer it over a medium matte brown. Barry M has an equivalent Dazzle Dust called Iridescent Green as well.
• MAC Lustreleaf - Yes, it’s that icky gritty Lustre formula and trying to get nice pigmentation with it is like trying to squeeze water out of a rock. BUT apply this with a dampened brush and see how it becomes this intense, BEAUTIFUL silver-mint green, like in the swatch above. (No tutorial with this currently!)

Avant Garde Baby Blue: Smoky-Blue Eyes with Pop of Pastel Liner

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I think I seldom do anything that’s really against the grain in terms of makeup looks, so I just felt like exploring for once. 

I paired a pale sky blue with a dark smoky eye, for those of you who want a little kick to your usual evening routine.

Do let me state upfront that the liner I used (Lime Crime Uniliner in Blue Milk) is quite an expensive option, and I’m not aware of any dupe at this point, so if you want a similar effect on a budget, I recommend trying a matte baby-blue pencil (it will look a lot more subtle) or mixing liner sealant or mixing medium with a pale-blue pigment or shadow to create a liquid liner of your own.

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Step 1: Apply a deep, rich metallic blue over your lids, leaving just the center clean. It’s best to use a good primer beneath so the pigments will show up really strong and dimensional. Make sure to go under the eyes, alone the lower lash line as well, and keep the shape rounded, without any wings or flares at outer corners.

I used a limited edition MAC Shadow called Motorhead but there are PLENTY of beautiful deep blues around from brands like NYX, etc.

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Step 2: In the center, pack on a soft pastel blue (I used I Nuovi Aquamarine dust; you can use a pearly white or silver as well) and gently blend the edges outward into the deeper blue so there are no harsh lines. This should give a really beautiful contoured gleam.

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Step 3: You can finish off with black mascara and leave it be, or you can do what I did (for a kick) and apply a bright, matte baby blue liquid liner along the inner corners of lower lash line, and as a flick at the outer corners. For the lower lashes, to prevent smudging and smearing or general eye irritation, take care to apply to your tightline (where the lashes go into the flesh) rather than directly in the center of the inner rims.

For the flick at the outer corners, as always, follow the angle of your lower lash line. This is the best angle as the flick will work with your natural contours and never look like it is “off”. When your eye is open, the lower and upper lines should look beautiful together.

Soft Pink and Purple Evening Look

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So many women love purples and pinks in the day, but we often forget it’s possible to get it quite dramatic for an evening out as well. The general rule of thumb is, the greater the difference between the darker and lighter shade you choose, the more dramatic it can look.

(I paired a dark bruised purple with a pale, almost-silver pink here.)

The shape of the eye is also more dramatic than usual, with a more angular and elongated wing than I would normally wear. The good news is, it’s actually very simple to do and doesn’t require many products.

All that’s left is to keep the lips and cheeks soft and complementary.

Brush suggestion:

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Step 1: Apply a deep purple to the outer 2/3 of the lower lash line, then apply it to the outer half of the upper lids. Following your socket line, extend the outer corners into a wing.

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Step 2: With a soft silvery-pink, fill in the inner half of the lids, blending the pale shade into the purple you applied earlier. 

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Step 3: The finishing touch is applying a plum metallic pencil (plum works better than pure purple because it’s a little more red/pink toned, which works with the purple and pink you applied) to the upper and lower lash lines. 

If you need, re-assess the shape and decide if you might need to extend your wing a bit more at the outer corners. 

When you’re satisfied with the shape, curl your lashes and apply lots of mascara to finish! (This look works with false lashes of course.)

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Step 4:  For the cheeks and lips, I kept it simple with a Lip and Cheek cream (MAC Casual Color in Weekend Getaway) in a soft pink. I apply it to the center of the lips with a finger first, and then distribute the remainder onto my cheeks. You need very little on the cheeks, so if you start by applying the product there, you’re likely to end up with too much.

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I Nuovi and MAC are cruelty-free brands. Visit PETA.org for more information regarding animal testing and brands.