Sultry Candy: Matte Pastel Evening Look (using Lime Crime Palette D'Antoinette)

If you want to wear colorful makeup, I always find matte shades to be an fun option because they are so color-true.

Lime Crime's Spring palette D'Antoinette is a collection of sugary pastels that are pigmented but not so crumbly and chalky that you can't apply them with a regular shadow brush. I decided to give it a test run by creating a slightly dramatic eye so you can see for youreslf if you like the color-payoff and textures.

The palette is not cheap at $34.99, but if you are in the market for a collection of blossom-y matte pastels that are so fun for spring and summer, this is a good-quality option, and actually quite a good deal if you consider that a single 1.5g MAC pan costs $11.50 without a case, and a regular shadow costs $15, while each color here is 1.6g and costs less than $7.

The only criticism I can think of is that all 5 shades are pale, bright colors, and most people would need a deep color in order as a definer shade. This is NOT an idiot-proof palette. You can't just slap on the colors in any ol' combination and walk out the door.

Unless you have extremely deep sockets, very pale skin, and full, dark lashes, you can probably benefit from using a deep brown, grey, or black, etc along with it.

Step 1: I ran a matte chocolate brown shadow (Revlon 009 Rich Sable) along the upper and lower lash line with a flat angled brush.

Step 2: I picked the soft bright peach (Macarooned) and packed it onto the center of the lids. 

Step 3: Then I swept the matte pastel pink (Royal Flush; this shadow is like the shadow version of MAC Saint Germain lipstick) along the inner half of the socket line above the peach shadow.

Step 4: Now with the only sparkly/shimmery silver shade in the palette, I dabbed around the inner corners of my eyes using a ring finger. (Mercurious; Bourjois's little round pot in Argent, below, is a dupe if you can't afford Lime Crime.)

 

Step 5: Finish by outer corners by packing the matte lavender shade (Ribonesque) in a rough in-ward facing "C" around the eye socket.

Step 6: And just because pale or bright shades all over the lids can really "flatten" your eye and sometimes make your lids look puffy, I added a bit of definition and contour back by running the matte brown from earlier very lightly along the socket line and blending it out to just a soft line.

Step 7: Finish by reapplying lavender and pink outside and above the contour line in the above shape. This helps to soften out the brown even more, and reinstates color without erasing the contours.

Step 8: Apply black liquid liner thinly along the upper lash line, avoiding any flicks. This is just a base for applying a strip of false lashes. (I used Fairylash once again because they are so black and beautifully-dramatic, and go so well with this look.)