The Makeup Box

Burgundy Sparkle Eye Tutorial (feat. Body Shop Shimmer Bricks 07)

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This is a softer smoky eye that is quite subtle but multi-faceted so there are nuances of shimmery color, but nothing too loud, too contrasting, or too overpowering for your face.

As always, you don’t need to use the same product if you can’t get hold of The Body Shop where you are. I swatched all 4 shadows so you can look for similar tones as substitutes. 

You need 4 shimmery shades:

• Bronze brown
• Petal pink
• Dark eggplant
• Pale silver/platinum

Step 1: I used a brown pencil all around my upper lid and smudged it out with a finger to fill in the lids. This will be your base.

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Step 2: Apply the rich bronze-brown along the center of the lids, leaving only the inner corners bare.

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Step 3: Apply the petal pink shade from the inner corner outwards, overlapping some of the brown, until you reach the center of the eye. 

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Step 4: Finish the upper lash line with some dark aubergine to the outer part of the crease/socket line. Then run along the outer halves of the lower lash line with a flat angled brush as well.

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Step 5: Add a touch of soft silver to the inner most corners of the lids to add that contrasting cool-toned sheen. This is what will give the look its nuances.

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Step 6: After you’re done with the shadows, apply a plum metallic pencil to the top and bottom lash lines. (I used Rimmel Exaggerate Waterproof Eye Definer in 220 Perfect Plum.) Then apply mascara to finish!

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Weekend Face: “Casual Polish” Deep Blue Liner and Mauve Lips

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I was on my way to see a movie and wanted to give my new MAC Lip and Cheek Color in Relaxation a test run.

This is a shade very similar to dusty mauve-pinks like MAC Snob and Revlon Pink Pout, both of which I love, so I had to pick one up.

I didn’t feel up to wearing it on the cheeks for a day out in warm weather though. It does blend out to a more or less matte finish, but I just went with a powder blush.

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Products Used

Base: Rachel K CC Cream (too ashy) mixed with Aveeno Positively Ageless Correcting Tinted Moisturizer (too dark, too warm)

Concealer: MAC Select Coverup

Setting Powder: Clinique Redness Solutions Redness Relief Powder on areas

Brows: MAC Impeccable Brow Pencil in Taupe

Crease (Matte beige and matte peach) - Wet n Wild Coloricon Greed Palette

Liner (Metallic navy blue) - MAC Motorhead (limited edition); use MAC Deep Truth or any metallic deep blue

Tightliner: Bourjois Liner Pinceau 16 Hr in black

Lashes: Maybelline Great Lash in Dark Brown

Cheeks: Bourjois Little Round Pot Eye Shadow #15

Lips: MAC Casual Color Lip & Cheek Color in Relaxation

MAC Casual Color Lip and Cheek Color Swatches and Review

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MAC’s new collection was barely laid out on the counter at my local MAC when i swooped in on it. I was only able to check out the Lip and Cheek Colors this round and picked up 2.

Relaxation: Soft nude-mauve. If you enjoy Snob lipstick or Revlon Pink Pout you will like this color.

Weekend Getaway: Medium warm-pink. Similar to Chatterbox in tone. If you like Pink Nouveau but find it too blue or pastel, this is a very good option.

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Texture and Coverage:

They look and feel a little like MAC’s potted balms but the coverage is quite opaque. I’d say these are between Cremesheens and Satins because they don’t go on glossy and can easily build up to a pretty full finish. Think of these as potted lipsticks more than a Cream Color Base or balm. On the cheeks, they blend out ok but note the medium tone shades in the range need to be sheered out well. They are also similar to Stila cheek rouges and leave a sheen so oily-skinned gals might want to avoid applying it to your cheeks.

These contain castor oil, a primary ingredient in lipsticks, but that is very low on the comedogenic rating, so these should not clog your pores. Still, I’m not fond of communal lip/cheek dipping pots because things like grease from food, and other icky stuff can get transferred in from your lips and then applied onto your cheeks.

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Application

Fingers are still my favorite for getting these on. After all the whole collection is centered around quick, easy, relaxed makeup. Sponges and stippling brushes would work as well for cheek application but it will take so much time to get everything evened out that I won’t even bother. This isn’t a liquid or mousse so it’s not going to spread easily without some gentle pressure.

For the lips, you can use a lip brush for precision and a fuller, glossier finish but I again use just my fingers. You just need to be very careful as around the corners of your lips as fingers don’t navigate those corners well. Be prepared to tidy up a little.

When I haphazardly swiped on a layer, I looked like a 7 year old that got into my mother’s makeup stash. A mess.

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Shades

There are 8 in total, and while I was also fascinated by the dusty lavender, I decided to just be practical and go with the 2 shades that:

1. I would use often. (Lavender is out.)
2. Would actually be blush shades I would wear. (The nudes and browns are out because I like a bit of pink/warmth to the cheeks.)

Dark Golden-Eggplant Shadow

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Step 1: Lay down a base with an eggplant/plum metallic pencil, such as Rimmel Exaggerate in 220 Perfect Plum. Apply it thickly along the top and bottom lash lines, and then fill in the rest of the lids. Fnish by smudging out the top edges so it fades into the socket line.

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Step 2: Apply a dark plum or eggplant purple to the outer and inner corners diagonally, slanting up and out. I used MAC Extra Dimension Eye Shadow in Rich Core, but you can use any shimmery dark purple or plum. 

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Step 3: In the center of the lid where the diagonal gap is, pack on a pale champagne gold shimmer. I used Sephora Prisma Chrome shadow in Moon Beam. (I was one of those who got the mis-named/re-named batch of Moon Beams that is a pale gold instead of a pale ivory pink duochrome.) Choose any pale golden-beige shade.

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Step 4: Finish with a touch of gold along the inner corners of the lower lash line as well, then proceed to apply lots of mascara.

How To: Create Your Own Long-wear Eye Shadow

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I use a primer every day, and while I do own some of the acknowledged “best” in the market (Urban Decay, Too Faced, NARS and Lime Crime), sometimes after 12-16 hours, there’s no stopping your eye shadow from fading to almost nothing.

So short of bringing your eye shadows out for touch-ups, how do you make your powder shadows last and stay vibrant for longer?

With a makeup sealant.

Many brands have sealants (Illamasqua, MAC Pro, Ben Nye, Mehron, Graftobian, etc). Online theatrical makeup stores like makeupmania tend to carry quite a few brands.

What you want to look out for are those that:

• Don’t contain alcohol (those are good for general use away from the immediate eye area but since you’ll be using a fair amount of it, I recommend non-alcoholic formulas like Ben Nye LiquiSet)
• Don’t come in a spray bottle. The spray-on formulas aren’t quite as lasting because they are designed to stil feel light when misted over your face. The ones I’m taking about are real sealants designed to turn eye shadows and pigments into liquid liners so they are a lot more concentrated.
• Has an ingredient list that includes one or more of these words: -acrylate, or -polymer. (These are film-forming ingredients that will really set and leave a water/transfer-resistant surface so things like Fix+ and eye drops are not going to do quite the same thing.)

Application tip: You don’t want to add this into your eye shadow pan directly or you will ruin it immediately.

1. Apply your eye shadow as you normally would first. An initial layer is going to act as a base of color. If you want a very sheer look, skip this step.
2. With your fluffy blending brush (or clean finger if you’re using a loose pigment) pick up an adequate amount of shadow, and then dab only the very tip/s lightly into the sealing liquid of your choice. Don’t just dunk the brush or dip your finger in. You need just the tiniest amount or you will end up smearing shadow all over the place. This is also why I don’t recommend using a flat brush as it tends to pick up more fluids.
3. Gently stroke and blend over the initial layer of shadow, like you would apply and blend out a gel or liquid shadow, until you get a uniform layer. Then let set for a minute before opening your eyes.

What this gives you is stronger color, a more beautiful sheen or finish, and shadow that is going to be a lot more resistant to fading over the day. If you have oily lids, this will help reduce creasing as well.