Holiday Look #4: The “Dense brown smoky” (Make Up Store Volga Shadow)

Trust me when I say this is one of the most intense - AND the quickest - smoky eye looks ever. In fact it’s slightly slapdash, and you can swop out the brown shadow for pretty much any color you want as long as it’s not pale.

The trick is not to cover the entire black base with shadow, but to leave just a bit at the lash line so there’s a natural gradation from black to brown as you smoke the shadow outwards.
The star here is the rich brown duochrome shadow, Volga. This MAC Club lookalike is less red-toned, so if Club makes you look like someone’s socked you in the eye while you were partying, this is a fantastic alternative.

You need only:

1. 1 brush - a rounded synthetic eye buffing/contouring brush like the Loveybelle small eye contour brush, which I used here
2. 1 matte black khol or cream liner - anything very soft and intense and creamy
3. 1 deep brown shadow - I used a satiny duochrome from Make Up Store called Volga - which is like a less red version of MAC Club shadow - for a bit of dimension (the black base will deepen and make it more matte, so choose something slightly brighter or more metallic than you intend)
4. 1 pale ivory/beige shadow [optional; I used an ivory shade in my Tarte Call of The Wild palette]
5. Mascara
6. A soft pink-toned blush - I used Benefit Rockateur, which is my go-to daily blush when I’m lazy to think!
7. A soft pink shimmery lipgloss - Make Up Store’s Orchid is a frikkin’ gorgeous beige-pink that isn’t too sheer or too frosty.

P.S. On nails, I am wearing Erik from Make Up Store, a blackened-green creme that looks like Japanese kombu (dried seaweed).

Modern Gothic Romance (Inspired by Jordan Liberty)

Black liner, hot pink cheeks, and Noir lips, with slate grey nails

Is "wearable Goth" makeup an oxymoron? 

Not exactly. 

This is not really Goth in the modern sense of the word, but rather, pulls from the late-medieval Gothic age, with its strange blend of opulence and dark dramatism. It's not always about matching over-the-top black lips and eyes. 

Sometimes, beauty is as much what you do, as what you choose not to do.

For this look which is inspired by Jordan Liberty, the eyes are extremely clean and more reminiscent of a 50s kitten eye than anything overtly "Goth", and the only touch of drama comes from the flicked liner and long flared lashes. The lips are the only thing that is slightly edgy about the look, blending black with a dark metallic purple for a 3D lip.

To pull everything back so I don't look like a reanimated corpse, I threw in an intense pink flush on the cheeks for a doll-like twist.

Step 1: Apply a matte beige to the lids, and a slightly warmer medium toned apricot (both from the Wet n Wild Greed Palette) to the outer halves of the socket line for very subtle definition. As we want the look to be very clean, the eye lids should not be discolored.

Step 2: With a flat liner brush, apply black gel liner (Maybelline Lasting Drama) to the lids. As always, draw in the flick first, then the lash line. This allows you to really control the length and angle better.

The finished liner should give your eyes a slightly exotic tilt but not be so thick or angled upwards that you look like you're channeling a Sophia Loren look.

Step 3: False lashes. I applied very full synthetic lashes (Fairy Lash #10 from Sasa), longer at the outer corners than the inner. The longer outer edges will lift your eyes upward. (Try something like Red Cherry 043s for a similar shape, although these are not as full.)

The outer edge angle of your lashes should follow the curve of your liner earlier.

Step 4: Apply a hot pink blush (NYX Pinky) high on the cheeks. Pull it in further towards the center of your face than you would normally wear, just to give it a bit more of a doll-like look. And I hate to say this, but you CAN go a bit heavier than usual, as it needs to balance out the strong black lips.

Step 5: This is the scary part. Use a black liner to rim the edges of your lips. If you have small lips like me, leaving the center of the cupids bow bare so you don't close off your whole mouth.

Step 5: Fill in the outsides with black lipstick (L.A. Girl Creme Lipstick in Dreamer), and then run a dark metallic purple (Make Up Store Magic lipstick) in the center of the lips and blend outward slightly. If you can't find a dark purple metallic lipstick, the EASY way to do this is to dab MAC Grape pigment around the center of your lips and then press them together to distribute. Then apply a tiny touch of Vaseline or Rosebud Salve to return some shine without making the lip look glossy.

You can always choose to go all-black on the lips, as long as you keep the overall texture creamy, not matte. The look you're going for is enigmatic, but still pretty and soft. (Well, as soft as a look can be with black lipstick anyway.)

On the Nails: Revlon Top Speed Nail Enamel in 810 Hazy

Fall 2011 Lipstick Recommendations and Swatches

L-to-R: NYX Iced Honey, Make Up Store Magic, and NYX Chic Red lipstick

Some of the shades that have been showing up for the Fall fashion season include a mixture of soft, dark, and strong shades. Here are some of my favorites.

SOFT:

Gone are the concealer lips of last season. The new "nude" lipsticks are kittenish (they make your lips look much more pouty) with a warm peachy undertone so they give your face some color without grabbing too much attention. These lips will go with pretty much any look.

Swatches (L-to-R): NYX Iced Honey (Round) Lipstick, and MAC Kinda Sexy (Matte) lipstick.

NYX Iced Honey lip swatch

STRONG:

Strong shades make your lips the focal point of your face. This season, the liner has been jazzed up, but the lips remain strong. Just keep the eye color neutral for the day, and any of these shades would look fantastic as a pop of color when you're wearing a whole suit of dark colored clothes.

Swatch (L-to-R): NYX Chic Red (Round), and MAC Up the Amp (Amplified) lipstick

Lip swatch: MAC Up the Amp is a creamy, strong purple mauve.

VAMPY:

Super-dark lipsticks have been popping up in many collections. The common variations are those that are brown based, red based, and purple based. The tricky bit is avoiding looking too Goth when wearing these lip colors, but you don't have to pair it with pale eye shadows either. Just keep the lids a soft smoky shade for a more modern touch.

Swatches (L-to-R): MAC Prince Noir (matte) lipstick, and Make Up Store Magic lipstick.

Lip swatch: Make Up Store Magic lipstick gives an interesting metallic purple twist on the dark vamp lip.

Ondine (Featuring Everyday Minerals "Tide is High" Shadow)

Ondine was a water nymph who gave up her immortality for love, but was eventually betrayed by her faithless husband. In vengeance, she cursed him so that he would cease breathing if he ever fell asleep. The story has no happy end, but the mythological figure has always been one of dark and elemental beauty for me.

This is in no way related to the movie of the same name (although I enjoyed it). The bleak and harsh beauty of the Irish landscape and the haunting atmosphere and music did partly inspire the choice of colors and an eye look that's equal parts dreamy and heavy.

Everyday Minerals Tide is High (Shimmer), and Make Up Store Moss (Microshadow)

Read here for the step-by-step!

Quick and Dirty: Smoky Turquoise and Black Eye

When I say quick and dirty, I really mean quick and dirty. You will need a 

• white/beige/pale-yellow liner (matte), 
• false lashes or mascara, 
• a deep charcoal grey matte shadow, and 
• a satiny deep-turquoise blue.

Step 1: Apply the dark moss-grey matte shade in an upright triangle at the outer corner of the eyes. (Basically, do your outer V and then fill it in.)

Step 2: Apply a rich jewel-blue to the rest of the lid, within the socket area. Be sure to pack on the color rather than sweeping and swirling your brush, for maximum intensity.

 Step 3: Finally, run the moss-grey shadow generously along the lower lash line, apply false lashes (optional), black mascara to top and bottom lashes, and then gently line the waterline with a pale matte pencil to finish.

Products used happened to mostly be from Make Up Store:
Make Up Store Microshadow in Boarding (deep aqua-blue satin)
Make Up Store Microshadow in Moss (dark matte grey with an olive lean)
Make Up Store Eye Pencil in Vanilla Matt
L'oreal Voluminous Carbon Black