theNotice: a beauty blog

So… this happened.

I’m not entirely certain when, or why, or how, but it was sitting in my “coming up” folder when I went rooting around for a look to post this Monday, and– well, that’s pretty much all I have to say here. It’s weird, and almost a complete 180 from the neutral lid looks I’ve been posting recently, but (or perhaps “so,”) I hope you like it!

Products used

The basics: NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk, Smashbox Matte Eye Shadow in Smoke, Hard Candy Glamoflauge concealer in Light.

The pigments: MAC Pigments in Vanilla, Grape, and Fuschia; FaceFront Artistic Pigment in Steam.

Everything else: Annabelle Mono Eyeshadow in Lagoon, FaceFront Color Volume Blush in I Dream of Peaches, 100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Mascara in Black Tea, La Bella Donna eyeliner in Black.

Check out the post here or by clicking on either of the images!

Products used

Eyeshadow: Urban Decay Primer Potion, NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk (base), MAC Matte2 Eye Shadow in Blanc Type (lashline to brow), Smashbox Matte Eyeshadow in Smoke (brows and outer third), Senna Matte Eyeshadow in Fusion (middle of the lid & blended out)

Eyeliner: Ellis Faas Liquid Eyeliner in Black, Marcelle LUX Metallic Liquid Eyeliner in Jade (layered together)

Lips: GOSH Velvet Touch Lipstick in Darling (patted on very lightly)

Cheeks: MAC Powder Blush in Harmony (Matte; to contour)

It’s always nice to have a product listing that’s less than fifteen five items long, and I can (blissfully) tell you that the shades in Blue Sky work cohesively enough together that this list is. Aside from the four shades of the quad (LE for this Spring’s Colour Breeze collection), this look features Clinique Quickliner for Eyes Intense in Intense Charcoal, Hard Candy Glamoflauge concealer in Light, and… actually, I’m not quite sure what’s going on with my brows. Smashbox Smoke, probably. Oh! And MAC Blanc Type (Matte2) under the brow and around (but not quite in) the inner corner, of course.

Pre-emptive apologies for the fact that I didn’t have time for a FOTD! I’ve been up to other things the past few weeks, but I wanted to do a Blue Sky makeup look to go with the review, nonetheless – I always find it useful to see what a palette can actually look like on the lids, so hopefully this’ll help make or break your Colour Breeze lemmings.

See you tomorrow for a review of the palette itself – swatches & thoughts when it goes up, I promise! For now, you’ll just have to make your judgements based on photos ;)

For my most recent She Said Beauty tutorial, I was asked to do a wearable reinterpretation of Vivienne Westwood’s Spring/Summer 2012 (Gold Label) runway look. For those of you who haven’t seen it – that’s not the easiest of tasks.

I ended up going with red, gold, and coral eyeshadows, plus a touch of gold and black liner. See the post here on She Said Beauty for more photos (plus a tutorial, & product recommendations), or head behind the cut for product swatches, ramblings, and… I don’t know, some other stuff. Sometimes (read: most of the time,) I get carried away.

Keep reading! »

So, in an excellent showing of “it takes Rae forever to post absolutely everything,“ here’s an eye look that I absolutely couldn’t wait to photograph & post. The photos, snapped within 48 hours of my becoming re-infatuated with lavender (totally Xiao’s fault), are… wait for it… three months old.

/sighs

Despite the fact that I am now considerably less excited about lavender (it’s so much more exciting during a season in which it isn’t already being overdone), I’m still quite fond of this look. Enjoy!

I used Rimmel Glam’Eyes in Royal Violet (review) for the violet in this look, but I think I’m going to need a new matte lavender soon – it’s good, for a $5 shadow, but you really have to pack it on. If anyone has recommendations, they’d definitely be appreciated!

To juxtapose something warm and wearable against the ethereal purple tones of Royal Violet, I added a mix of MAC Satin Taupe (swatches) and Ulta Molten (swatches) around the edges and along most of the lower lashline - a sheer layer of Satin Taupe toward the inner corner, and Molten concentrated on the outer corner, to add depth without closing in the eye area.

The look was finished with a smudgy flick of Marcelle Waterproof Eyeliner in Expresso and one coat of Annabelle Le Big Show Mascara (review). I’d thought about lining with the gorgeous MAC Teddy (review), but the Marcelle won out in the end – though Teddy is absolutely delicious (and a dream to smudge out), the wear time on the Marcelle is so much better.

Since doing this look (and this is a bit of an unrelated ramble), Expresso has actually moved into my “daily” tin – brushes, liners, and mascaras that I find myself reaching for quite often. It’s not breathtaking, but it’s still a lovely chocolate brown with subtle gold flecks; the perfect balance between no-nonsense and attention-grabbing.

Swatched L-R: MAC Satin Taupe, Marcelle Expresso, Rimmel Royal Violet, Ulta Molten

One last thing…

Just threw together a quick assortment of other lavender eyeshadows, in case anyone else is being bitten by the lavender bug as well! I’d love to hear your thoughts on any of these, if you’ve tried them, or perhaps if anyone has an etailer recommendation for a nice matte lavender shadow?