The Makeup Box

[Requested] Easy-to-Wear “Pink Glam” Day Look for Summer

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There were a few requests for easy-to-do day looks that are quick to apply, fun for Summer, visible, but not over-the-top.

This is a look that pairs a bright pink shimmer (one of those fuchsias on the 88 Shimmer palette that we never use) with simple neutrals (beige shimmer and black) for a flattering look that works on any skin tone and all eye shapes.

This is a look that works especially well if you’d like to elongate or widen small or rounded eyes.

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Candy-Bloom Pink Eyeshadow Look

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Pink eyeshadow is tricky a lot of times. If you’re not careful it can look like you have swollen, puffy eyes. There are a couple of key steps you should take note of later that can help when you are wearing ANY pink.

This look is good for:

• Monolids, hooded lids, regular lids
• Any eye color

I’m doing a demo using some individual shadow shades from BH Cosmetics. You can use whatever you have, but if you’re just starting out with pink and want a low cost option, these are a nice silky formula for a very low price.

I used a bright medium peachy pink (WM04), a purplish mauve for the socket (WS07), a dark warm brown in the outer V and along the lashline (MM06) and a pale strawberry-milkshake pink on the inner corners (WS19).

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Tips for Wearing Pink Shadows

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Wearing pink (especially any shimmery pink) around the eye area can sometimes end up making you look like you have pink eye or swollen eyes. It’s not the easiest color to wear, and I tend to avoid it mostly.

But ironically, pink CAN be flattering on just about ALL skin tones because it’s a color that is naturally occurring on our bodies.

There are just a few tips to wearing it well.

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1. Pair it with a slightly deeper shade in the crease or socket line. Think neutrals like greys, browns, navys, blacks. Many softer pinks are too light to give you any definition around the eyes, so you need to add a bit of contouring back into your socket mostly. 
2. Always keep your lash line dark. Without some black or brown at the lash line, and dark lashes, you can look like you have rabbit-eyes when you wear pink.

Good pinks: Softer pinks with a peachy-gold sheen are universally flattering on most skin tones. The gold keeps it from looking like discoloration or broken capillaries. Cooler-based pinks and magentas can be nice too, but they don’t go with as many looks and lip colors as a golden-toned pink.

• L’oreal Infallible 004 Forever Pink is a beautiful pink with a peach-gold tint
• MAC Swish, Da Bling, are nice light pearlescent pinks

Mattes are fine as well; in fact mattes are vibrant without looking flat. Locating a good matte pink is harder than applying it well. Avoid any pink that is too plummy or brown. You can look like you haven’t slept for 3 days.

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Quick Tutorial on a basic defined-crease look

Step 1: Important thing to do is to always set a nice darkness around your lash line first. Your pink shadow is going to go on top of it, but having some black below keeps things smokier. Make the black thicker on the upper lash line, and very light and only halfway inwards along the lower lash line. 

(Leave the inner lower corners clean.)

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Step 2: Pack on the pink. Nothing complicated here. Just go up to the hollow of your socket line, but don’t  go to far up.

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Step 3: Reapply the black at the lash line. Keep things smoky and soft. Don’t try to get any thin precise line there.

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Step 4: Use a small pointed brush to lightly run the black shadow along the hollow of the socket line. (If you have hooded eyes, small lids or monolids, make sure you follow along the deep line right above your eyeball, NOT the fold of your eye lid.)

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Step 5: Finish with black liner along the inner rims of the eyes (option) and black mascara.

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Regarding Colors:

You can replace the black shadow with greys, browns, charcoals, navy blues. The only thing is to make sure the other shade you use is deep enough to give some definition. 

Whatever contouring color you use, stick with black liner and mascara.

Pop Rose: Pink Makeup with Metallic Stacked Liner

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We don’t often wear pinks on the eyes, lips, nails AND cheeks all at the same time, but I thought the Summer Season might be a good time to give it a go.

The trick is NOT to try and match all the pinks. I used a mauve (pink-purple) shadow, with a magenta toned liner, and a bright pink lipstick. For the nails, I used a hot Barbie pink.

On the lids, I also reined it in and used warm/neutral shades for highlights and contour, instead of more gradations of pink.

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Step 1: Apply a soft mauve shadow on the lids. This can be matte or slightly satin-y, but should not be full-on metallic if you can help it. I used a limited edition shade from Urban Decay, but if you don’t own the 15 Anniversary palette, you can use one of the lighter shades from the Wet n Wild Petal Pusher palette.

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Step 2: Use a pale gold on the inner corners of the eyes (I also used Urban Decay’s limited edition color but it’s an exact dupe of MAC Vanilla pigment and Coastal Scent’s Elven Gold Hot Pot which is super-cheap.)

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Step 3: I don’t own any metallic pink liners, so I used a pigment mixed with a drop or two of liner sealant. You can use eye drops with MAC Fuchsia Pigment or any electric pink pencil to get a similar effect.

Make sure the flick is parallel to the outer corners of your lower lash line (see dotted line).

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Step 4: Probably the most tricky part. Trace over your lash line with a black liquid liner. This is what will pull the whole look together without letting the pink overpower everything. If you don’t have a steady hand, use a felt tip liner for more control.

Step 5: Finish off with black mascara.

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Step 6: For the cheeks, I just used a very matte pink blush, and then applied Pink Nouveau (my absolute favorite summer pink) lipstick from MAC. Barry M and Wet n Wild have some really good bright pinks as well if you’re on a budget.