Soft Pink and Purple Evening Look

So many women love purples and pinks in the day, but we often forget it's possible to get it quite dramatic for an evening out as well. The general rule of thumb is, the greater the difference between the darker and lighter shade you choose, the more dramatic it can look.

(I paired a dark bruised purple with a pale, almost-silver pink here.)

The shape of the eye is also more dramatic than usual, with a more angular and elongated wing than I would normally wear. The good news is, it's actually very simple to do and doesn't require many products.

All that's left is to keep the lips and cheeks soft and complementary.

Brush suggestion:

Step 1: Apply a deep purple to the outer 2/3 of the lower lash line, then apply it to the outer half of the upper lids. Following your socket line, extend the outer corners into a wing.

Step 2: With a soft silvery-pink, fill in the inner half of the lids, blending the pale shade into the purple you applied earlier. 

Step 3: The finishing touch is applying a plum metallic pencil (plum works better than pure purple because it's a little more red/pink toned, which works with the purple and pink you applied) to the upper and lower lash lines. 

If you need, re-assess the shape and decide if you might need to extend your wing a bit more at the outer corners. 

When you're satisfied with the shape, curl your lashes and apply lots of mascara to finish! (This look works with false lashes of course.)

Step 4:  For the cheeks and lips, I kept it simple with a Lip and Cheek cream (MAC Casual Color in Weekend Getaway) in a soft pink. I apply it to the center of the lips with a finger first, and then distribute the remainder onto my cheeks. You need very little on the cheeks, so if you start by applying the product there, you're likely to end up with too much.

I Nuovi and MAC are cruelty-free brands. Visit PETA.org for more information regarding animal testing and brands.

Cotton Candy and Chocolate: Defined Pastel Makeup Tutorial (using I Nuovi Dusts)

Pastels are all over the place this season. But more of us love pastels than pastels love us, as it's not always the most flattering color-group to wear around the eyes for those with high-color (dark hair, darker skins, etc) and flatter eye contours.

For this eye look, I'm using pastels that are so pale they are almost icy, and the application is actually very straightforward, as it hinges mainly on the chocolate powder liner to bring everything together. 

You just need to arm yourself with eye shadow shades similar to the ones swatched above. It doesn't matter if it comes in loose or pressed form.

• Pale pink
• Pale Turquoise
• Deep chocolate brown

Step 1: The thick winged liner. This is MUCH easier to do with powder shadow than with gel or liquid, and you just need a firm angled brush to stroke from outside in, to gently create the wing. There are many brown shadows around, but pick a shade that is matte or semi-matte, to stand out against the pastels better.

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Step 2: Layer  a pale turquoise shadow over the outer half of your lids. Then repeat using the pink on the inner halves, extending down around the inner corners slightly to brighten the eye area.

Step 3: Finish by applying another layer of brown shadow thinly as a liner at the lash line. This gives the brown more depth close to the lashes, while the bit that has pastel blue and pink shadows layered over it has a bit of sheen.

Then finish with black mascara on top and bottom lashes.

On the cheeks, go for a hot pink blush instead of a pastel. This keeps everything edgy instead of being just pastel everywhere. I used Shu Uemura P Red 14 Blush but any intense pink will do.

On the lips, go with a blue-based pink like Great Pink Planet (what I wore here) or Saint Germain (left-most swatches) to go with the shadows!

Tips and Tricks: Wearing dark berry-brown-plum lipsticks

Swatch flower: Revlon Raisin Rage against different eye shadow alternatives

Someone messaged me to ask about how to wear dark berry/plum/purple-toned lipsticks, specifically NYX Very Berry and NYX Eggplant. NYX Eggplant is quite an odd and unique shade (pearlescent deep purple with grey tones), so I'll break this post into 3 parts.

1. Eyeshadows to wear with a dark creme berry/brown (NYX Very Berry)

2. Eyeshadows to wear with a dusky grey purple (NYX Eggplant)

3. General Application options

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Eyeshadows

Since most people will usually go for a rich prune shade like Very Berry, I did a "swatch flower" using Revlon Raisin Rage, which is very similar to Very Berry which I don't own. (I'm not going to list neutral beige-browns and black because those go with pretty much any lip color, so I'm going to just list alternatives to those.)

Starting from the top, and running clock-wise.

1. A pale duochrome ivory-gold: This looks beautiful contrasted with a dark lip. It brigtens up your eye area without overpowering or taking attention away from the lip. Options: MAC Vanilla pigment (not shadow), Lime CrimeNymph, The Body Shop Eye Shimmer #02 Gold.
2. A soft champagne beige: Slightly less low-key. This is the kind of shade that will allow you to rock that dark lip in more conservative environments. (Well, I would anyway.) You can get this color ANYWHERE, so just run down to the nearest drugstore. If you want to check out alternatives, try: I Nuovi Metallogy in Champagne, NYX Champagne, or MAC Jest
3. Rich copper sparkle: I don't like wearing bright coppers usually because I feel it makes my eyes look swollen, but this is the one product that I DO like. MAC Copper Sparkle pigment is not really an eyeshadow pigment. It comes in tiny flecks like crushed metal foil, so you need to use a base and clean off any fallouts, but once it's on, it's gorgeous.
4. Soft Silver/Ash: A touch more dramatic than a pale yellow gold, because silver contrasts more with the deep prune-brown. Good if you want a more noticeable look, but don't want to go overboard with the eyes. MAC Cyber from the Metal X Collection is a true silver, while Palladium (swatched here) will look good if silver is too stark on you and you want more warmth.
5. True Purple: If you really want more drama, I personally prefer purple in combination with a dark brown/plum-toned lip. This in no way means you can't wear other bright colors, but it might feel like a bit too much for some people. Try Urban Decay Ecstasy (shimmery rich purple-plum), MAC Vibrant Grape (deeper low-sheen purple) or for max drama, Lime Crime Empress(strong, incandescent royal-purple)

Read the rest of the post here!

Day Look: Golden Brown with Violet Crease

This is a simple way to add a twist of color to warm or neutral shades for day looks. 

Step 1: Use a thin, firm pointed brush to apply a rich violet shade to along the crease of the eye and slightly above it. 

Step 2: Then with your choice of a rich golden brown (I chose MAC Brass Pigment, but if you're not able to locate this use MAC Woodwinked or Urban Decay Baked), fill in the inner portions of the lid and use a soft blending brush to blend the edges a little so there are no obvious demarcations between the two shades.

Step 3: Pack on the golden brown once more right along the lash lines to intensify the color, as the blending will have taken away some of the intensity and shine. The purple would at this point be just a smoky trace at the edges of the brown.

 Step 4: Apply mascara and pale liner (beige or yellow) along the waterline to finish the look! Easy-peasy.

MAC Brass Pigment on the lids, I Nuovi Ultraviolet Dust in the crease

On the cheeks and lips, I wanted to keep everything fresh and sweet to go with the eyes.

• Cheeks: NYX Pinky Blush applied a little more intensely than I usually do, for a flush.
• Lips: Etude House Darling Ultra Shine "Strawberry Milk" lipstick (I highly recommend this if you like baby pinks but find Saint Germain or Viva Glam Gaga too blue or white. If you don't have retail stores near you, I think they're still sold here or on ebay here.)