Simple and Polished: Basic Everyday Neutral Eyes and Warm Bright-pink Lips
Just because you have a quad or palette with 4, 5, 6, shades doesn’t mean you need to think of how to incorporate every color every time. It can be extremely overwhelming. For daily wear, 2-3 shadow shades is plenty.
Here’s a very simple look that I very often wear when I want to look polished but don’t want to spend too much time. You can recreate it whether you own the same eyeshadow palette I used (Lancôme Hypnôse Star Palette in Brun Adoré), or a neutral eye palette that you already own.
@soccerblonde: Yes you can recreate the look with Maybelline Color Tattoos. Barely Branded is paler than this shade but if it’s a match for your skin tone it will give a similar effect. (The point is finding a main lid shade that sort of fits with your natural skin color but has a sheen and sparkle.) I’d recommend using a soft brush to buff the color in for a lighter finish, instead of using a flat brush or your fingers.
—
Trick: If the shimmery beige you are using is quite sparkly or gritty, and not pigmented, pick up some shadow on your brush first, then spritz your brush with a mist of water or alcohol-free toner. Then buff it onto your lids and you should get a beautiful pearl sheen.
—
Work in circular motions and just concentration most of the color in the outer corners, before sweeping in along the hollow of your socket line just slightly.
—
You might want to switch to a thin sponge tip or a flat brush to do the lower lashes. You don’t need a strong hard line. Just a hazy shadow so your lower lashes look full and your eye shape is more defined.
—
Tip: Many days, when I skip liner, I’ll wiggle my mascara wand at the roots so that the black gets onto the skin at the base of the lashes. Liner + mascara in one go!
—
For blusher, I picked an intense, almost-red pink from Shu Uemura, because I already knew I’d be wearing a reddened fuchsia on my lips. If you’re doing a coral or a blue-toned pink, switch up your blush accordingly.
For a slightly girly, doll-like effect, concentrate most of the color around the peaks of your apples and sweep up and out along your cheekbones, NOT under. A pigmented blush is important if you have very yellow or pale skin (without any pink or ruddiness in it) because an intense lip can make you look very washed-out or sallow.
—
Applying a bright lip that lasts:
- Prime the borders of your lips either with a little lip primer or waxy concealer to fill in any fine lines.
- Use a brush to apply a small amount of lip color to the center of the bottom and top lip and then slowly spread it out to cover your entire mouth.
- Blot lightly on a sheet of tissue.
- I wanted a slightly more “casual" and “lived-in" effect to my lips, rather than a super-precise mouth, so I did a second layer using my finger to smooth and tap the color in rather than a brush. Always work from center outwards so most of the pigment is concentrated in the center rather than the edge.