The Makeup Box

Candy Clouds: Matte Pastel Evening Look (using Lime Crime Palette D’Antoinette)

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If you want to wear colorful makeup, I always find matte shades to be an fun option because they are so color-true.

Lime Crime’s Spring palette D’Antoinette is a collection of sweet, creamy pastels that are pigmented but not so crumbly and chalky that you can’t apply them with a regular shadow brush. I decided to give it a test run by creating a slightly dramatic eye so you can see for youreslf if you like the color-payoff and textures.

The palette is not cheap at $34.99, but if you are in the market for a collection of blossom-y matte pastels that are so fun for spring and summer, this is a good-quality option, and actually quite a good deal if you consider that a single 1.5g MAC pan costs $11.50 without a case, and a regular shadow costs $15, while each color here is 1.6g and costs less than $7.

The only criticism I can think of is that all 5 shades are pale, bright colors, and some people need a deeper color for defining the eye and lash line. This is NOT an idiot-proof palette. You can’t just slap on the colors in any ol’ combination and walk out the door. Unless you have extremely deep sockets, very pale skin, and full, dark lashes, you will probably benefit from having an additional deep brown, grey, or black shadow.

Note:

The hardest shade to dupe would probably be the bright peach-sorbet shade, “Macarooned”.

If you’re on a budget, you can check out some of the 120 palettes online. They have some brighter peach/orange shades that are passable alternatives. I don’t know of any exact low-end dupes at this time though.

P.S. All those social crusaders who feel a need to say your piece on brands you don’t like for whatever reason, please kindly do it elsewhere as this is a pure tutorial/review; thank you!

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Step 1: I ran a matte chocolate brown shadow (Revlon 009 Rich Sable) along the upper and lower lash line with a flat angled brush.

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Step 2: I picked the soft bright peach (Macarooned) and packed it onto the center of the lids. 

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Step 3: Then I swept the matte pastel pink (Royal Flush; this shadow is like the shadow version of MAC Saint Germain lipstick) along the inner half of the socket line above the peach shadow.

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Step 4: Now with the only sparkly/shimmery silver shade in the palette, I dabbed around the inner corners of my eyes using a ring finger, and then blended it into the peach just slightly. (Mercurious; Bourjois’s little round pot in Argent, below, is a dupe if you can’t afford Lime Crime.)

Extra tip: You can apply a light wash of the silver sparkle over the other shades to transform them from matte to shimmery.

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Step 5: Finish by outer corners by packing the matte lavender shade (Ribonesque) in a rough in-ward facing “C” around the eye socket.

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Step 6: And just because pale or bright shades all over the lids can really “flatten” your eye and sometimes make your lids look puffy, I added a bit of definition and contour back by running the matte brown from earlier very lightly along the socket line and blending it out to just a soft line.

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Step 7: Finish by reapplying lavender and pink outside and above the contour line in the above shape. This helps to soften out the brown even more, and reinstates color without erasing the contours.

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Step 8: Apply black liquid liner thinly along the upper lash line, avoiding any flicks. This is just a base for applying a strip of false lashes. (I used Fairylash once again, and recommend you check out synthetic lashes rather than natural hair ones if you want a more dramatic, glossy look to go with the doll-like colors of this look.)

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Lime Crime products are cruelty-free. Visit PETA.org for more information on brands and animal testing.

Spring 2012 Trend Run-down #1: Red Lips!

[Photo source: elle.com]

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Seen at Anna Sui, Dior, Jason Wu, John Paul Gaultier, Temperley London and YSL, lips were a true scarlet (neither blue nor orange) and the standout texture for a true-true red was matte, though there were some creamy finishes as well.

Red is not really hard to wear. In fact it can be incredibly flattering if you make sure to even out your skin, apply just a touch of light blush, and go easy on the rest of your makeup.

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Good True reds: (light to medium skins)

• NYX Matte Lipstick in Pure Red (matte) *5% coupon code alert! Type MAKEUPBOX in coupon box when checking out.
• MAC Ruby Woo (matte)
• Lime Crime Retrofuturist (Creme)

• NYX Matte Lipstick in Perfect Red (matte) This is a good one that won’t go on too orange-looking, unlike many true reds worn on darker skins *10% coupon code alert!
• MAC Russian Red (matte)
• NYX Chic Red (creme)

Glossier, Sheerer Red (Steal of the Moment)

• Benefit Silky Finish Lipstick in Frenched (bargain alert April 2012: available for $9.99 $18.00! Don’t forget coupon code MAKEUPBOX for another 10% off!)

Juicy Red Lips (Revlon Really Red Lipstick and Lime Crime Candy Apple Gloss)

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Wearing an intense red, glossy lip requires that you layer. You want it to be as intense and opaque as possible, so wearing a gloss alone is nice, but layering it over a deep red lipstick gives you that pleather lips effect which I love.

Having a matte lipstick below also means you don’t need to apply your gloss right to the edges of your lips, so you are much less likely to get bleeding and feathering into lines around your mouth.

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The Rest of the Face:

This almost begs for the rest of the face to remain simple and neutral in contrast.

I’m using POP Beauty’s Eye Trio in No. 3 Park Avenue, and black gel liner for the simple eye.

Step 1: Using a flat angled brush, run matte black shadow along the upper lash line, extending up past the outer corners slightly.

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Step 2: Run bronze brown shadow over the entire lid, layering over the black liner so that you soften the black.

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Step 3: For some contouring, apply a pale ivory-pink highlight shade over the brow bone and also down the center of the lid.

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Step 4: Apply black gel liner over where the black powder liner was earlier. Then finish with a pale matte liner along the waterline and black mascara on the lashes.

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Step 5: Apply a deep red lipstick, do any cleaning-up you need around the edges to get it looking perfect, BEFORE you layer an intense red, sparkly gloss over it. If you don’t like sparkle, look for a creme finish such as MAC Russian Red Lipglass.

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Step 6: On the cheeks, I applied a soft iridescent satin pink shadow as a blush (Bourjois Ombre a Paupieres Eyeshadow #15 is a gorgeous fresh pink.

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!