Makeup and Beauty Blog: Makeup Reviews, Beauty Tips and Drugstore Beauty Finds
Beauty product reviews, makeup tips and news from your friendly neighborhood beauty addict.
February 4th, 2008 | Karen | Filed in: Face of the Day (FOTD), Makeup, Makeup Tips/How To, Product Reviews
Last week I posted swatches of the eyeshadows from Shu Uemura’s new Spring Rebirth collection. There were five Easter egg-esque pastel colors in the group, each with an oh-so-purty white floral pattern, that promptly disappeared after I swatched ‘em!
I’m not normally terribly attracted to pastel shades, but these colors are fun, easy to use, and have great color payoff. I combined them with Shu’s Tri-Color Eye Pencils (also from the Rebirth collection) and got in touch with my blossoming inner color diva.
The limited edition Tri-Color pencils, creme shadow pencils that can be used both as liner and eyeshadow base, come in two versions — cool-toned Aqua Flow and warm-toned Energy Flow ($25 each). Each “Flow” has three different colored pencil tips.
I really like these as a shadow base because they glide so easily onto lids and give the accompanying shadows a nice punch of color. The texture is thick without feeling heavy, and, remarkably, the formula lasts all day on my semi-oily eyelids. If you’ve got super oily lids, though, these might crease on ya after a few hours, so you might want to use a neutral colored lid primer beforehand! Utlimately, if you’re a fan of MAC Shadesticks, then you’ll dig these, fo’ sho.
To be honest, I rarely wear pastel colors on my eyes and didn’t really know what the heck to do with these colors! To get inspired I studied the Rebirth beauty shot…
And here’s what I came up with!
This was so much easier than I thought it would be!
First, grab the Energy Flow Tri-Color pencil and apply the yellow color directly beneath your brow bone, about 2/3 in from your outer brow. To the remaining 1/3, apply the orange color.
Now, smooth out any edges with a firm, flat brush like the MAC 239.
Next, apply the green shade from the Aqua Tri-Color pencil into your crease, going barely into the lid.
Directly beneath the green shade you just applied, add a thin layer of the yellow color from the Energy Flow pencil, and then an even thinner line of white right next to the lash line. Use the same 239 brush to smooth away any hard edges. The end result should look like a little something like this:
Use a crease brush to apply Pristine Green eyeshadow into your crease with a sweeping motion. For this I used a MAC 275 angled fluff brush with the pointy side facing my lash line.
Next, grab a thin pencil brush like the MAC 219 and apply a thin line of Yellow Elation eyeshadow onto the lid.
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February 3rd, 2008 | Karen | Filed in: MAC Makeup, Makeup Tips/How To
Smokey eyes are all over the frickin’ place at NY Fashion Week. Check it: warm brown smokey eyes and neutral lips at the Boy By Band of Outsiders show.
Le sigh… I both love and hate this at the same time. Love it because it’s really pretty and sexy (and dare I say, smoldering); hate it because for the life of me I can’t get it right. I’ve got two left feet (hands?) when it comes to doing smokey eye looks. I aim for “stylish rave vampire” but end up more “barefoot Britney walking into a gas station restroom.”
There are times when I feel like your friendly neighborhood beauty addict won’t ever prevail over the elusive smokey eye. She’ll be forced to hang up her brushes to live a life of smokey eye-free debauchery.
Despite my proclamations of klutziness, Gordon Epsinet, Vice President of Makeup Artistry for MAC Cosmetics, insists that just about anyone (even me) can do a hot smokey eye.
“To do a beautiful smokey eye you must start with a fabulous dark pencil,” says Gordon. “You have to have MAC Smolder [eyeliner]. “It blends beautifully together with shadows and cream colors and MAC paints as well.”
“Start with lots of black pencil on the eye,” says Gordon. “Apply the pencil around the rim of the eye first, then blend it with the #219 brush, which looks like a fat little pencil.”
“You’re going to blend that, smudge it in a bit, so it looks like a smokey stain.”
Next, blend a dark brown eyeshadow into the black liner to create a mix of brown and black colors. Blend the brown shadow over the black pencil stain you just created. Gordon suggests using…
For this I chose MAC Brun, and here’s what it looks like after I blended it on top of Smolder.
Gordon then suggests using a MAC #224 brush (a soft, fluffy, tapered brush), to blend a lighter eyeshadow into and above the dark brown layer you just created. His favorite colors are…
I have a MAC #224 but find it gets shadow all over the place, so I ended up using a Billy B Paint Brush #6 to apply Soba over the Brun/Smolder mix.
Ultimately, says Gordon, the final look should have the darkest colors at the lash line, and the colors should transition into lighter colors the farther you get away from the lashline.
And here I am in the final look. The only thing missing from this picture is a black beret and a copy of On the Road.
Okay, okay, this wasn’t as hard as I thought it was going to be. With a lil’ bit of practice, I think I’ll be able to get the color transitions to look more subtle and smoother. Come fall I’ll be ready to rock it with the other trendsetters.
Speaking of smokin’, the other night I watched Donnie Darko for the umpteenth time and was reminded of how totally unfair it is for Jake Gyllenhaal to be so hot. Why doesn’t he call and ask me to make out with him?
Of course I’d say no (married, hi), but it would still be nice to be asked.
Anyway, if you’re hunkered down in front of a TV watching the Superbowl, I’ll be with you in spirit. Besides the tight pants and the prospect of eating profound amounts of junk food, I don’t care much for the big game, so I’ll be out and about running errands today. Eat a hot dog for me!
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
P.S. Your weekend ain’t over yet! Here are the best posts o’ the week from the Beauty Blog Network…
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February 1st, 2008 | Karen | Filed in: MAC Makeup, Makeup Tips/How To
It’s NY Fashion Week, ya’all, and rich lips and smokey eyes have already made appearances on the runway.
Don’t be scurred to wear a dark lip in real life. With a little help from Gordon Espinet, Vice President of Makeup Artistry for MAC Cosmetics, you can pull it off.
Begin by lining your lips with a lip-colored pencil. If you’re tempted to use black liner (LOL, like I did in the early 90s), resist. “You’ll have a monster of a time trying to blend it away,” says Gordon. “Use a lip pencil that’s the natural color of your lip but slightly darker. I always recommend something like MAC Spice or Stripdown.” What you want is a neutral, forgiving color that’s easy to work with.
Choose a dark burgundy or brown lipstick like…
What’s Gordon’s favorite dark lip color? “There’s one lipstick that I absolutely adore,” he says, “and it’s called Paramount. It’s one of those lipsticks that got parked for awhile there because browns and dark lips fell out of favor.” But Paramount is back with a vengeance!
Use a lip brush. The lip brush is your best friend, especially when doing dark lips. Gordon advises against applying directly from the tube because it creates the tendency to over-apply. “If you have on too much dark lipstick it can look, well, threatening!” Gordon’s lip brush of choice? — the MAC #316.
Start brushing from the center of your mouth, right where your lips touch. It’s where you’ll want the strongest color. To avoid harsh lines, spread the product from the center of your mouth, up or down, fading toward the lip line.
Take care not to build an overly dark lip outline, says Gordon. “You know you don’t want to look like a goth vampire. It’s really about having a mouth that may be dark but still sensual.”
Ultimately, the look you want is somewhere between matte and shiny. If you’re struggling with excessive shine, blot with a tissue to take it down a notch.
Straight off the runway! Just kidding… more like straight from my living room!
In the pic above I only used one layer of MAC Paramount. If you want a deeper lip, you can always add more layers to intensify the color.
What do you think? Sexy or scary? Discuss.
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
If you are looking for a easy liquid liner... Out of all of the products you listed I’ve only... I have always had a battle with not only dark circles, but dry under-eye area...© 2009 Makeup and Beauty Blog | Design By The Blog Studio
