The Makeup Box

Warm and Sultry (Russet and Black Smoky Eye)

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This is composed of dark and rich tones traced with soft champagne, suited for balmy evenings sipping cocktails at a nice bar.

• The star of the look is a russet-brown shadow; something that is rich chocolate with just a trace of wine-red undertones. I picked Bourjois’s Intense Extrait 08 shadow. 
• As counterpoint, is any dark black matte shadow, and a soft champagne with slightly pink tones, like MAC’s Naked Lunch. 
• Evening in a dimly-lit place is a great occasion to whip out the pearlescent bronzers. MAC Mineralized Skin Finish in Comfort was used in the above shot.
• When you’re chatting and sipping, your lip color will wear away quite quickly. Soft nude lips will wear away very gracefully (if you don’t intend to run to the ladies every 15 minutes for a touch-up), and keep him focused on your sultry eyes.

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Step 1: Apply rich russet shadow into the center of your lids, leaving the inner and outer corners bare.

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Step 2: Apply a peachy-champagne shimmer into the inner corners, sweeping around to the lower lids as well.

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Step 3: With a matte black shadow and a small brush, deepen the outer corners of the lids. Also run it very close to the lashes, inwards from the outer corners, for both top and bottom lash lines.

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Step 4: Apply black gel liner along the upper lashes, and the waterline for stronger definition.

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Step 5: Apply wispy lashes as a finishing touch.

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For the rest of the face, apply a rich, coppery bronzer as it coordinates with the warm eye colors very well. Then slick on nude lipstick and gloss to finish the look with a little softness. (I used Revlon Colorburst #070 Soft Nude, topped with Sephora #17 Golden Beige gloss. You can always skip the gloss.)

Bourjois Intense Extrait de Fard Pot Shadows [Review and Swatches]

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I’ve been a long time user of Bourjois’s little round pot eyeshadows, and while I consider those to be hits and misses depending on the shades (many tend to have poor color payoff), I can never resist trying out any shadow that says “intense”.

I snapped up two from the new line over the weekend, and thought I’d give it a day or two before a review.

The shades I got are Extrait #03 (pink-beige matte with lots of silver sparkle), and Extrait #08 (deep russet brown metallic).

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What it Promises:

Intense color, and twice the coverage with one stroke (in bad English). 

They can also be used wet or dry, as a wash of color, or as eye liner. 

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What it Is:

These shadows are baked, which means more pigments and less fillers like talc and titanium dioxide. Some companies like to claim that this makes them more pigmented, but that’s not always true.

They also tend to be more crumbly, so be careful if you intend to bring them around with you. 

The range of shades is not large, but there are some very nice intense, deep shades (the teal and sapphire are outstanding, although my favorite of the lot is the rich russet), a couple of mattes, and a few pale, highlight shades.

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Swatches (without an eyeshadow base)

Top row left to right: Bourjois #08 and #03

Bottom row left to right: MAC Sable, and Bourjois (Original Round Pot) Beige Ambre 62

The payoff is good (the pink-beige is not really that sheer - it just sort of blended in with my skin), but the Bourjois Intense Extraits are not exactly very metallic compared to some other shadows. Still, I like the velvety sheen and intense colors of these.

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Pros:

• Reasonably affordable (although Bourjois tends to be on the higher end of drugstore brands here)
• Lasts through an 11-hour day without creasing
• Highly-pigmented. You don’t really need to wear these wet for many of the shades to look opaque. Definitely outstanding compared to the older little round pot formulation.
• Opacity matches the Bourjois Ombre Stretch shadows, which I also love, but Intense Extraits feel a little less creamy, and come in a more interesting variety of textures. 

Cons:

• No mid-tone shades. Most of the shades are light or very dark, with the exception of a medium gold-brown which sort of disappears into NC25-NC30 skins. Not exactly a mid-tone shade.
• You get only 1g of product, as compared to 1.5g with the regular little round pots. And the original round pots are cheaper too. 
• The silver specks in #03 tend to fall down during the day, so I suggest leaving this for the weekend or the club, if you don’t own a fixing spray. I had to walk around with “pixie-dust” all over my cheeks at work today.

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The Verdict?

I really like the metallic russet. If you can get just one, I’d suggest that. It’s a gorgeous, rich, satin red-brown that would be flattering on most eye colors, and you can either pack it on for real drama, or sheer it out for softer shading.

The sparkly pink-beige is SOOO pretty, but you’ll need to spritz yourself with Fix+ just to minimize the glitter fall-out over the next few hours. If you don’t mind that, it’s a gorgeous shade to own, and I haven’t found a really similar dupe elsewhere.

The navy and teal are pretty, but not that unique, really. 

If you have money to spare, I’d say get the golden brown (it would be fantastic as a cheekbone highlight for medium to deeper skins) or the metallic beige-platinum (great for pale skins). Get the matte shades only if you don’t have access to other decent, pigmented blacks and browns.

A word of caution if you’re in Asia though. MAC, at 1.5g per shadow, contains 50% more product than the Bourjois Intense, and also works out to be slightly cheaper per gram, if you’re paying full price for the latter.