First world problem: I sometimes find myself forced to simplify my makeup so that it doesn't clash with a particular outfit. But it genuinely saddens me when long-sleeved dresses + digital prints + bold colours + excessive hair cannot co-exist peacefully with crazily smokey eye makeup, at least not on my face.
You'll soon see how difficult it is for my brain to execute a 'simple' eye look.
- Attempt 1: A sheer wash of Chanel Moon River on the eyes. Meh, too lifeless. Not enough colour.
- Attempt 2: A dab of KIKO eyeshadow stick in 20 Black in the outer corners, blended to meet the middle of my eye. More depth now, but still a bit blah.
- Final attempt: I cast an eye towards my 'purge-atory' makeup items and grabbed a long-neglected Soap & Glory teal green kohl eyeliner, which I used to draw a more graphic liner. For extra definition, I layered the darkest green liner shade from KATE Deep Eyes GN-1 closest to my lash line whilst still letting the teal liner show through, and finished with a dusting of the base shade over my brow bone.
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| Colour makeup: Pink blush from Shu Uemura Blue Morphorium palette. base and liner shades from KATE Deep Eyes GN-1, YSL Glossy Stain 11, Chanel Moon River Stylo Eyeshadow and Soap & Glory Smoulder Kohl Eyeliner in Aquabat |
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| Whoops, nearly forgot to include the KIKO Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 20. This is my go-to black eyeshadow base for smokey looks. |
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| Two swipes of each eyeshadow colour with my finger, under natural light. |
On my lids, Chanel Moon River looks less warm, and more of a cool champagne colour. It has no perceptible colour base when blended out and just adds an elegant, dimensional shine, which I love both on its own and layered over/under other colours.
The Soap & Glory pencils look very similar to all other long-lasting kohl pencils, and I believe they're also made in Germany. However, they always transfer and smear onto my lower lash line (and sometimes, very unattractively, on my aegyo sal), so it was crucial to 'set' the liner with the KATE liner shade. The powdery texture of all liner shades (e.g. those in SUQQU and KATE palettess) work wonderfully on my slightly oily and hooded lids.
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| KIKO Long Lasting Eyeshadow Stick in 20 |
How did I own this for months without realising it had glitter in it?! Well, there you go. The KIKO black eyeshadow stick has glitter. It's imperceptible if you are pairing it with other bright and shimmery eyeshadows, though. While they blend decently, they are not
as malleable as I need them to be, and I've often found myself stuck with a slightly un-blended and uneven eyeshadow shape.
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| Two swipe of the Shu Uemura blush and YSL Glossy Stain 11 |
The blush from the Shu Uemura Morphorium Blue palette (now discontinued) is one of my favourite blushes.
My natural blush colour is more of a cool raspberry colour, and the white base in this pink adds a lovely, unobtrusive and just *pretty* look on my cheeks. It works harmoniously with most eye looks. I also wear this colour in the evening when I go out, because, well, I get red-faced with alcohol anyway.
A wonderful lady once sent me this YSL Glossy Stain in 11, and I have since fallen in love with it. Initially I put on my Maybelline Vivid lipstick in Shocking Coral, but its drying texture did not play nicely with my Winter dryness. Instead, the GS 11 worked perfectly to finish the look.
Here is the final look, apologies for the bathroom lighting:
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| Fluorescent bathroom lighting |
Thanks for looking! The dress is extremely 'loud', and the slight graphic teal liner was a good way of adding more interest to my eye makeup without looking too matchy-matchy or competing with the rest of the look. I am also pleased to report that the YSL Glossy Stain lasted through several drinks. :D
