An attempt at recreating Charlotte Tilbury's The Rebel

I've always loved jewel-toned smoky eyes; they've always been my go-to makeup look for an evening out with my friends. So when I saw Charlotte Tilbury's makeup challenge, I knew instantly which look I was going to recreate - it had to be The Rebel!

The Rebel just so happens to include one of the most flattering techniques for my eye shape and colour - horizontal elongation.

I have small, almond-shaped eyes with little lid space underneath my eyebrow, and for that reason I prefer to extend my eyeshadow horizontally instead of vertically. Those familiar with my FOTDs will see that the horizontal elongation is the basis of all my dramatic eye looks; I just change up the eyeshadow colours/placements/textures to suit my mood.

Here is my take on 'The Rebel':

Here's a better close-up of the eye. You can see that I've extended the liner into the inner corners for added emphasis:

For the actual eyeshadow, I used a mixture of singles including Nars Single Eyeshadow in Night Porter, Catrice Absolute Eye Colour Mono in Don't Touch My Mosserati! and the charcoal black shade from Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio in OR302 Fire. Yes, Fire has not yet been purged - the black is way too useful for me to get rid of at the moment. 

You'll also note that I can't look rebellious to save my life. I tried looking intensely for the photos but just ended up looked angry. So here are my usual smiley faces for you: 

I actually tried this out months ago but only just got to uploading it, oops. Thanks for reading! :)

Experimenting with Shiseido Luminizing Satin Eye Color Trio - Opera GD804

I've been wanting to purge this eyeshadow trio in the longest time because the colours do not flatter me as much as my other eyeshadows. When I first bought this eyeshadow palette, I applied the colours liberally all over my eyelid and turned to my mum to show her how it looked. I'll never forget her slightly awkward and frozen expression as she looked back at my muddy eyeshadow application. 

Well, for sentimental reasons, I haven't been able to get rid of it. I used to work near the Paris Garnier opera house that inspired the colours in this palette, and owning this palette reminds me of the period of time when I lived in Paris. 

credit: blog.parisattitude.com

Aren't the colours just perfect? Ok, let's see how they translate onto my skin. This was taken in overcast lighting, hence the darkness of my arm: 

I have the most trouble with the blue and olive shades. Experience informs me that clear colours are most easy to wear on my skin, and that pastels also do not work well on me. 

As with all Shiseido eyeshadows, they are pigmented but not opaque, so the colour of the eyeshadow will change when applied on the eyelids. This is part of the problem, as the powdery sky blue can make my neutral-warm, olive skin look a bit washed out when applied too liberally. 

This is the look I decided to go for in the end: 

Laneige Snow BB, MGPIN cream highlighter, Guerlain Meteorites Teint Rose and Lanolips lip ointment in Sunshine

Main points from this look: 

• Following a rounded (or 'tulip') eyeshadow placement, I contoured my eyes with the olive shade and avoided applying it to the centre of the eyes. My inner corners do not naturally have very prominent contouring, so instead I focused more of the dark shadow on the outer corners and the crease. 
• I used some of the gold shade to lightly pat over the centre of the lid and added a concentrated dab in the inner corners. 
• The light blue was added all across the lower lashline for a brightening effect. I really like how this part turned out! 

Here are some creepy eye close-ups for you:

There was also a failed attempt at layering - I initially applied a layer of Chanel Stylo Eyeshadow in 47 Blue bay on my mobile lid and layered the blue shade over the top. This turned out to be pointless because the layering couldn't be seen at all. The blue eyeshadow grabbed onto Blue bay a little too well. Also, Blue bay did not blend out quickly enough, so its placement was just restricted to my mobile lid. If you squint hard enough, you may be able to see a hint of blue on the mobile lid in the photos, but it's really not very noticeable. 

The eyeshadows look surprisingly neutral on my eyes, and I adore the powdery blue shade too much to let the palette go. But I'm still not entirely convinced that I should keep this. Perhaps the placement is a little too low. Hmmm. What do you think? :)

My taupe collection

While I love bright colours (as evidenced by the new banner photo above ^^ and my previous post), there is always a place in my heart for shimmery taupes. Over the past few years, I've unwittingly built up a small collection of taupes, so this comparison is equally for my benefit as it is for yours!

I forgot to include a picture of Shu Uemura ME856, though I did swatch it later; in truth I don't like it that much anymore. It is pretty, but texturally it does not flatter my eyelids and it also creases much more easily than my other eyeshadows.

Here is my (current) taupe family:

clockwise from top left: Shiseido Alchemy RD709 // SUQQU Konruri // SUQQU Himesango // KATE Deep Trap Eyes BR-1 // Dior Incognito // KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1 // SUQQU Sumiredama

The first two shadows on the left are the taupes from SUQQU Himesango and Konruri respectively. Texturally, they are very similar, however the Himesango taupe is a touch cooler than the one in Konruri, which looks positively bronze on my skin. Also is it just me, or does Himesango also look more red than Konruri? 

I dunno whether it's worth prematurely concluding that one of the two must necessarily be more flattering on my eyes. Both have their roles to play in my stash. :D

Much to my surprise, the Shiseido swatches rose gold on my skin. That explains why it often makes me look a bit swollen and bruisey when I use it as a 'wash' over the eyes. :) I was also taken aback by how soft and shimmery the Sumiredama taupe (furthest right) looks. I normally use it layered with the rest of the Sumiredama eyeshadows, but after seeing how it swatches, I am definitely going to wear it on its own sometime.

L-R: SUQQU Himesango taupe // SUQQU Konruri taupe // Shiseido RD709 // SUQQU Sumiredama taupe

In this next set, the one furthest to the left is Dior Incognito. I don't know if the pictures can adequately showcase the beautiful texture of this eyeshadow; it truly feels buttery to apply and blend. Lisa Eldridge once mentioned that she had had the Dior quint eyeshadows tested in a laboratory and that these shadows owe their texture to how well they stay in their 'fatty lipid' form. Once swatched, this shade is more of a grey on my skin. For a truer taupe, I like to blend it with the bronze-brown in the same Incognito palette. 

The three shades on the right are all from the now discontinued quint, KATE Deep Trap Eyes in BR1 (minus the highlight and liner colours). Upon closer inspection, none of these read as taupe on my skin, save for perhaps the darkest one, which is a cool brown with a flash of grey. The lid colour leans red again (meh), while the glittery highlight shade has a beautiful icy greyish-mauve tone. They did look more taupe in the pan, right?!

L-R: grey-taupe from Dior Incognito // three shades from KATE Deep Trap eyes (crease, lid and glitter shades)

Finally, I swatched Shu Uemura ME856 against the two taupes from the KATE trio in BU1.

ME856 (left) really does not appeal to me anymore; in terms of colour/texture/complexity, I find it rather bland. Its metallic sheen is not so flattering on my eyelids when used as a wash, plus it is ever so slightly red-toned, so I will have to purge it. My colouring makes it trickier to wear red, murky tones, and I prefer to avoid them where possible and stick to clear/neutral colours.

L-R: Shu ME856 (added as an afterthought) // darkest shade from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1 // lightest shade from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1

The two on the right are from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes trio in BU-1. These, along with KATE Deep Trap Eyes, are some of my favourite Asian drugstore eyeshadows. They are also sadly discontinued, though I think they're still available online in some places. 

The lightest shade (right) appears clearer (and less red - yay!) than all the other taupes in my collection, and for that reason I love it. It reminds me a little of Chanel Moon River, though it's much less shimmery. When I use all three shades in Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1, it gives me the epitome of neutral, subtly sparkly OL makeup. 

So, conclusions? 

My favourite shades are probably the SUQQU Sumiredama, Dior Incognito and the lightest from KATE Deep Shiny Eyes BU-1. These are all clear and neutral enough for me to wear all over the lid without a problem. The others would need a more restricted placement, and while it's definitely not a bad thing, it does make them a bit more finicky to work with. The comparatively less complex KATE Deep Trap Eye taupes are not standouts on their own, but I like them when layered together, especially with the glitter shade over the centre of the lid. 

What do you think, could I do better, in terms of texture/colour/anything else? Am I crazy for purging Shu ME856? :D