The Makeup Box

Evening Sky: Easy Neutral - but not Neutral - look!

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Looking at the pictures, you wouldn’t think this look is based all around a brown base. In fact, it can look pretty subtle until the light hits it, and then the violet and copper sparkles just shine.

You want to look for:

A good dark brown matte shadow (Revlon’s Matte Shadow in Rich Sable is one of the best basic browns

2 loose or baked mineral shadows that are very sparkly:

• a pale pale violet
• a rich copper

Brown liner/pencil. (Black will do as well, but brown gives a softer effect.

Black mascara.

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Step 1: First, make sure you apply a good base to your lids. You can use either BB Cream (Yes, my secret trick; I use a mattifying BB cream as eye primer very often. Cheap and good alternative to shadow primers if your lids are not particularly oily.)

Then use a soft brush to pack on a thick coat of brown shadow over the entire lid up to the socket line, and along the lower lash line. Use a looping motion to buff the shadow in as this gets you the most even and opaque coverage.

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Step 2: Flip to the clean side of the brush and pick up a little of the pale violet/lavender sparkly shadow (a sample costs only $1 and lasts a LONG time). I find loose shadows easier to work with but if you have a sparkly pressed or baked shadow, there’s really no reason to go out and buy anything else.

Press it gently onto the inner half of the lids. Don’t buff or sweep your brush around because all the violet will get muddied up with the dark brown beneath, and also end up on your cheeks.

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Step 3: On the outer half of the lids, using the same pressing motion, pack on a sparkly copper. I used MAC’s Copper Sparkle pigment, but if you find that a little expensive or hard to get hold of, you can actually use any shimmery copper-brown shadow. 

With what remains on the brush, sweep lightly inwards along the socket line and also spread the color lightly above the socket line for a smoky effect. (If you have dry or more mature lids, I recommend using a softer satin shadow instead of something too metallic.)

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Vibrant Blue Smoke (Kat von D Shade Shifter in Stockholm)

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This is a tutorial on how to bring out the most from your duochrome eye shadows, mixed with a quick overview of one of Kat von D’s Shade Shifter shadows. Duochrome shadows are the ones that seem to change color when you move them around under the light, because they have one base tone, and a different reflective highlight.

There were 3 in the Shade Shifter collection when I was at Sephora; a blue-brown which is a dupe of MAC’s Blue-Brown pigment (get that if you don’t like working with loose powder; it’s more vibrant than MAC Club pressed shadow), a green-gold which is a shinier version of MAC’s Gorgeous Gold, if I don’t recall wrong, and Stockholm, a blue-violet which I got.

It’s actually similar but not a dupe for MAC’s Cornflower pigment as they both share that blue base and violet sheen, but Cornflower is more purple, glittery, and translucent compared to Stockholm.

The tutorial I’m doing is an easy way for you to wear ANY duo-chrome shadow, regardless of color or brand. It’s all in the base, because white and black brings out the different facets of duochrome shades beautifully.

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Step 1: I first applied a white pencil (Maybelline Eye Studio Shadow Liner) to the inner corners of my lids and softened it out with my finger. You don’t want to have streaks or patchiness because the shadow can grab in those areas and look uneven later.

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Step 2: The rest of the lid is filled in with black pencil. I simply draw a line along the socket (the hollow dip above your eye ball) leaving only the inner corners empty, and then filled in the area below it.

I also ran the pencil along the inner rims of my lash line on both upper and lower lids.

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Step 3: When you’re done, use a shadow brush to gently smudge out the edges at the upper lids, so you don’t have any hard lines and edges. It should fade out and be smoky at the borders.

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Step 4: This is the simplest and most fun step. Just use a shadow brush to pack on the duochrome color from the white area to the black. It’s important not to go from the dark areas to the light because your brush could pick up some of the black and that would “contaminate” the areas that are supposed to be light.

NOTE: I also did not apply the shadow on the outermost portions of the eye because I wanted to keep that part black for more contrast with the rest of the lids.

You can see from the image that the white brings out the bright cyan-blue base of the shadow, and the black base brings out the violet sheen. You just made it look like you expertly blended 3 shades of shadow (turquoise, violet, black) when all you used was 1 single shade.

This same technique would work with ANY duochrome shadow, so grab what you have and have fun playing!

Night Sparks: Black and Violet-Blue Grungy Eye (Inspired by Sethakins7 on Youtube)

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There are a few people that I really enjoy watching but are sort of “undiscovered” gems on Youtube. Sethakins7 is articulate, intelligent, passionate (and wise) about beauty, and it’s just a pleasure to hear him talk sometimes. 

(We also have the same taste in bags and nail polish; I blame him for selling me on Chanel Peridot Varnish.)

This look isn’t a recreation of his Signature Eye Look; just loosely inspired by it. I went a lot heavier on the lower lids because I wanted a very grungy, smoldering, lived-in look.

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Step 1: I applied a creamy black shadow pigment to the lids (L’oreal Infallible in Eternal Black). PACK - don’t rub - this on, or you won’t get that even, opaque-black finish. Tilt your head forward a little as well, just so you can avoid most of the fallout.

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Step 2: For the lower lid, you can choose to just run a little black along your lash line if you’re feeling a little conservative, but hey - have a little fun and do a rock-star look once in awhile. Press the flat of your brush against the lower lid and run it back and forth along the bottom curve of your eye ball. 

Make no mistake, if you don’t have shadows beneath your eyes, this will give you some.

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Step 3: The fun part. Take any pigment or shadow you have and pack it just in the center of the upper and lower lids, over the black, buffing slightly to blend. I chose a blue-violet pigment because I have dark brown eyes and this will bring them out.

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Step 4: Finish with black kohl along the inner rims of your lids (I used kohl from The Body Shop) and black mascara (Maybelline Great Lash). 

Ultra Violet: Intense Iridescent-Purple Shadow Tutorial

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I’ve been into a lot of strong shadows and textures on the eyes lately for some reason, so after doing red glitter, the next thing that caught my fancy was iridescent violet of course. 

This is actually a really simple look using only 2 shadows, and 2 pencils. The shape and texture (pearl-matte) are the key things for bringing out the depth in the shades, as I wanted to do a look that was monochromatic, but still had depth and contouring.

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 Step 1: To keep the look a little fresher and lighter, I dusted a pale silvery-pink iridescent powder (MAC Iridescent Loose Powder in Silver Dusk) over the cheekbones and brow bones.

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Step 2: With a slightly damp brush, I packed a deep smoky matte purple with subtle gold sparkles (Everyday Minerals Live Austin Live shadow) and swept it in an arc along the socket line, from OUTSIDE-in so the color is thickest and most intense on the outer ends. Then smoky out the top edges so there are no harsh lines.

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Step 3: Using a brighter medium-violet (MAC Parfait Amour) with slight purple-pink duochrome effect, I packed it over the lid area under the crease, blending into the deeper purple so there are no gaps or lines. Then run boldly along the lids as well.

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Step 4: The key step that subtly intensifies the look. Run a matte purple pencil (Revlon Matte Luxurious Color Kohl Eyeliner in 05 Very Violet) along the water line and beyond. Then run over with a sweep of MAC Parfait Amour to set and intensify it. As the top of the eye is so dramatic, it’s ok to go thicker and stronger on the bottom lash line to balance it out.

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Finishing touch: Add black pencil to the tightline (Milani Liquif’ Eye Pencil in Black- I’m loving this uber-black, long-wearing pencil right now), and then curl lashes and apply black mascara (Smashbox Lash DNA Mascara).

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You can pair this with a nude lip for a mysterious club look, or slick on scarlet lip gloss for an updated 80’s look!