Soft and Feminine Smokey Eyes

One of my favorite things to do with my eyes is do a smokey look on it. Although using the conventional black and brown is fine, it doesn't really suit my skin color well. What really helps to make my eyes "pop" is to give it a hint of color.

Soft and feminine smokey eye with pinks, browns, blacks and a lot of highlighting.

Stuff you'll need: 1.) Eyeshadow Primer. 2.) Matte Brown Eyeshadow 3.) Matte Black Eyeshadow 4.) Neutral Eyeshadow (same as your skin tone) 5.) Bright colored eyeshadow (I'm using a bright peachy pink). 6.) OPTIONAL: Sheer neutral eyeshadow palette 7.) Demi lashes + lash adhesive 8.) Black or brown liquid liner 9.) Powder highlighter 10.) White pencil eyeliner (not pictured)

Note: For the step by step photos, I only used my PhotoBooth so the picture quality isn't as good as the finished product. /heehee

Step1: Primer

Use a pea sized amount of eyeshadow primer all over your lids - from the lash line to the brow bone. I'm using Too Faced Shadow Insurance Anti Crease primer. (It's better than the Urban Decay primer potion! :D)

Step2: Eyeshadow Base. Use a neutral colored eyeshadow (ideally matching your skin tone or a bit lighter) and dust it all over your lids.  I'm using MAC in Ricepaper.

The base will even out your skin tone and brighten your eyes.

Step 3: Bright colored eyeshadow. I'm using MAC Paradisco which is a peachy pink red perfect for a warm skin tone like mine. Use this on the outer third edges of your crease... 

...and on the outer third edges of your lid (near the upper lash line) 

MAC Paradisco only on the outer thirds of the crease.

OPTIONAL STEP: Soften the bright color. I'm using my Smashbox Trio Eyeshadow which has a sheer, subtle shimmer look to it. I'm using the light pink color to soften the brightness of MAC Paradisco. To do this, just repeat the same steps in step 3 with your softening eyeshadow. Layer it above the bright color.

Step 4: Matte brown eyeshadow. Lightly dot the matte brown eyeshadow over the bright color you've already put on the outer third of your eyes. Don't overdo this step or else you'll miss the point of "soft and feminine smokey" and it'll end up just pure smokey eye. XD

Using a matte brown shadow on the outer thirds of your eye will give your eyes more depth. I used NARS Bengali.

Step 5: Matte black eyeshadow. This is one of the best parts! Using an eyeliner brush, start outlining your eyes FROM THE MIDDLE and slant it upwards to form a wing shape. DO NOT USE YOUR LIQUID LINER YET! We want to keep the strong yet soft look of the eyes.

Wings! I used Shu Uemura pressed eye shadow in M Black 990.

Step 6: Liquid liner. You can either choose to use black or brown liquid eyeliner. I recommend using the K-Palette 1 Day Tattoo Liner. It NEVER smudges even here in a tropical country. Plus it's more affordable than most high quality liquid liners like Lancome's Artliner. K-Palette is definitely my HG eyeliner!

Line your eyes as close as possible to the lash line. Don't try to use your eyeliner as a shading tool. That's what your eyeshadows are for!

Step 7: White pencil liner (which I forgot to include in the photo..) Line your waterline with a white eyeliner to make your eyes appear wider. Remember that just like in wearing clothes, dark colors give a slimming effect and light colors give a widening effect. Black and brown liners are for definition, and white eyeliners are for opening the eyes.

Smudge the white liner to create a softer effect. I'm using MAC Eyeliner in Fascinating. 

My eyes with the liquid liner and the white pencil eyeliner.

Step 8: Using the same Matte Black eyeshadow, line the outer thirds of your lower lash line layering it above the smudged white eyeliner from step 7.

Smudge the black eyeshadow and clean up accordingly. I use this trick because if you smudge it beforehand, it will be less pigmented and less likely to smudge throughout the day when you're out and about. :D

Step 9: Demi Lashes. You can just buy any type of those fashion lashes and cut them in half. Don't buy expensive ones like in Shu Uemura for these though. I suggest buying from FlutterLashes which costs only 350 pesos/10 pairs.

Demi lashes on the sides of my eye. Remember that falsies on the sides of the eye ELONGATE the eyes giving it a more cat-like look while strip falsies WIDEN the eyes, giving it a more doll-like look.

Not pictured: Highlight the points of your eyes such as the brow bone and the inner corners. Dab a bit of highlighting powder on the crease of the eye and blend it in along with the other eyeshadow colors.

yay! 

02/02/12 Mini Haul

Hi everyone! Here are some of the new stuff I got earlier today:

Shiseido The Makeup Brightening Veil, Benefit Dandelion, Shu Uemura Brown Cross False Eyelashes, Etude House Precious Mineral Sheer Glowing Skin BB Cream, Shu Uemura White Recovery Ex+ Brightening Cleansing Oil
--------
Shu Uemura White Recovery Ex+ Brightening Cleansing Oil Advanced Formula

I love how Shu Uemura has different sizes for their cleansing oils so if you just want to try out a product, you can just go ahead and buy the least expensive 100 mL bottle. The White Recovery Ex+ Line is a relatively new skincare line Shu launched earlier this year (if I'm not mistaken) so I was still a bit hesitant to get the big bottle which costs around Php 6000 ($133.00. YUP. It costs around $50 more here. I suggest hoarding all the Shu Uemura products you can in HK or Korea where they're cheapest) -_-. What made me even more hesitant was the name. "White Recovery"? I don't really care for whitening products as I'm already pretty light skinned and any whiter I'll start to look sickly. But the sales rep told me it doesn't really whiten your skin per se, but recovers a kind of glow that most people with dull skin have. I gave it a go since I'm a huge fan of brightening (not whitening!!!) products anyway.
And. WOW. This is an amazing product. It goes on as oil to remove makeup. But washing it off with water emulsifies the product and turns it into a foamy/soapy cleanser which leaves your face feeling clean and moisturized without a dry/taut feeling. The sales rep also told me this is perfect for people with combination skin (me!!!) so I think I've found my HG makeup remover/cleanser/moisturizer. Definitely repurchasing this one! Worth it! Perfect for lazy nights when I just wanna skip the my whole skincare routine.
I also have to recommend this to people with sensitive skin like me. My mom was right when she told me that Asian women should only stick to Asian skincare products. Western brands are too strong and almost always end up breaking me out or giving me dry skin in the morning. Shu Uemura, and Shiseido are perfect :) (another drugstore brand that I use is the Neutrogena Fine Fairness line because I heard it was formulated specifically for Asians and they don't sell it in the US.)

-----
I'm a bit sad I can't review the Shiseido The Makeup Brightening Veil, Benefit Dandelion and Etude House BB Cream because I just came from the dermatologist and I've been avoiding makeup because of the open pores/skin inflammation. :( Will post individual reviews when my skin fully heals!

(i finally caved in and bought a bb cream after seeing all these reviews online about how girls would get clearer skin after months of use. I used to dismiss all these claims because I love my nars foundation and it's sheer and lightweight enough for everyday use, but we'll see!)

Me, still fresh with derma scars/inflammation >_<

The only makeup I'm wearing here is MAC Eye Brows Pencil in Brunette and Burt's Bees Tinted Lip Balm in Tiger Lily. Two things I can't leave the house unfinished are my eyebrows and lips. XD I don't mind not wearing concealer or foundation, as long as my brows and lips are taken care of then I'll be fine. I learned that skincare is much much MUCH more important than makeup anyway. If you really want that "glow" people keep talking about, take care of your skin and make sure your products are suited to your skin type and complexion for maximum results. :) 

my skincare routine as of 02/02/12:
pre-cleaning: Shu Uemura Balancing Cleansing Oil
cleanser: Shu Uemura White Recovery Ex+ Brightening Cleansing Oil
toner: AHAVA Matifying Toner
serum: Vitamin C Serum
moisturizer: AHAVA Matifying Moisturizer
eye care: Clarins Sun Wrinkle Eye Contour Cream
sunscreen: Neutrogena Fine Fairness UV Block SPF 50++
Thanks for reading! :)