Oceanic Halo: TKB Trading Aquatic Blue Pigments

I'm a big fan of loose pigments, and I've mentioned TKB Trading a few times as being my default place to get supplies because of the big selection of colors, and the very reasonable prices. The pigments are sold for use in polishes, mineral makeup, and craft projects by indie sellers, so they are priced for bulk purchase.

You can get good sized 6g sample-sachets that fill up a disposable sample jar (more than typical MAC pigment jars with 4.5g) for just US$1.50 each. The only problem is you won't be able to decide which to buy.

The only thing to note is these pigments are raw ingredients. They don't contain fillers and additives, which can mean more intense vibrant colors, but also poorer adhesion and lasting power. I just get around that problem by using a good primer base or a mixing medium so the pigments stick.

When you dampen your brush with a drop of sealing liquid (e.g. Ben Nye, Mehron, Illamasqua, Inglot and more artist brands have their own versions of these) before dipping into pigment, and apply these like liquid shadows, you get incredibly intense color that is also budge-proof. You can't easily do that with powdered shadows because the liquids will seal the surface of pressed shadows and ruin them.

With loose pigments, you don't have to worry about that.

For this eye look, I was going for maximum pigment intensity, so I had 

• a layer of black matte cream as a base all over the lids
• a deep bronzer as a transition shade in the socket (don't feel you always have to buy a separate eye shadow pan - bronzer is more economical and multi-purpose)
• a rich duochrome aqua blue with a green shift (TKB Trading Capricorn Sea, which is discontinued now - Indian Blue is a nice alternative)
• a paler translucent blue with gold sparkle as a highlight shade (TKB Ocean Green)

A couple of tricks to getting a more dimensional look with loose pigments:

1. Use a dark base - this helps grab pigments and intensify them; the only time to avoid a black base is when you are using a pigment that is quite translucent.
2. Use a matte transition in a contrasting tone - here I used a very warm bronze to contrast against the blue and bring out the green tones more.
3. Apply a first layer of the loose pigment dry, THEN foil a bit with a mixing medium and pack a damp layer of just inside the edges of the first layer as a liquid shadow, so the color goes from soft outside to maximum intensity in the center.
4. The best highlight shade to complement an intense duochrome is one that echoes the color of the duochrome when it hits the light. In this case, Capricorn Sea has a pale aqua shift, so I picked Ocean Green to be the pale center shade for the halo eye look, and also to apply around the inner corners.

It doesn't really look like I am wearing 2 blues - the paler shade is there just to add more depth and complexity to the main turquoise shade.

Makeupbox takes on Katy Perry! (Oh My and Ka-Pow lash reviews, plus a quick tutorial for an eye look that can stand up to huge lashes)

I think Katy Perry has a really fun and out-there style. It's sometimes borderline tacky, but let's face it; she's so hot she can get away with many things that would be faux pas on others.

So of course, when it came time to pick among the numerous lash designs bearing her name, I picked the 2 that I felt were dramatic and the least "normal"-looking. ("Normal" meaning "this shape is sold by 10,000 other brands and it's no point reviewing it again".) If you are going to shell out for Katy Perry lashes, no point buying a shape that Red Cherry does for a few dollars.

OH, MY!

Full, dense, double-stacked lashes. (These are 2 strips of lashes laid on top of one another.) Super thick and dramatic.

Verdict:

• Girls, these are some kuh-raaazzzy lashes! They're so dense I felt like I was wearing 2 sun-visors on top of my lids and everything was dark. "Who turned off the lights???"
• These lashes will cast a huge shadow over your eyes. If you have smaller eyes, or want to widen them, DO NOT - I repeat - DO NOT - buy these. Like any huge, thick lashes, they can make your eyes look droopy and overwhelmed instead of larger and brighter.
• The lash band is super thick and stiff because of the double-stacking, although Eylure was pretty good at making them as malleable as possible. STILL, they're not the easiest things to apply, and without a super-strong glue, you will struggle with keeping these on all day.

--

KA-POW

Purple tipped criss-cross wispies meant to bring out brown and hazel eyes. (There are versions for blue/grey/green eyes called Ka-Ching and Ka-Boom, but these aren't available in Asia.)

Verdict: 

• Now THESE I really like and will re-use. They're dramatic but not too dramatic.
• The purple does nothing to bring out my dark brown eyes. As you can see in the image, all it looks like is black. I'm not sure if you'll have better luck with lighter brown or hazel eyes. 
• That said, the color at the tips really helps to soften the look of the lashes and keeps them looking wispy and pretty even though they are so long.

Conclusion:

I'd definitely go for the Ka-Pows (or Ka-Ching/Ka-Boom depending on what color tips you want). The Oh Mys are WAY too thick and looked kinda tacky on my eyes. I don't mind the length and shape, but it was just the density that was a bit much.

Possibly good if you're trying to shield your eyes from glaring lights or you're going to a costume party as a doll, but otherwise, it has a tendency to weigh the eyes down and make them look small and dull.

Simple Eye Look for Wearing Huge Falsies With (below)