Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette tutorial: Smoky Neutral Eye with Stacked Liner

I promised I would do some look tutorials using the Tarte Tartelette palette, but I've been having some computer troubles lately, so it's taken a lot longer for me to get to a station to edit all my photos. But here it is!

It's not hard to use this palette; the texures are extremely smooth. You just need to remember this tip:

All-matte looks can tend to go patchy and uneven, especially when you're trying to layer dark colors; to minimize this, dust on a light wash of a light beige shade all over your lid before beginning. Unlike with shimmery shadows, a creamy base can sometimes matte shades go on evenly.

The products I used for this eye look include:

• Tarte Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette
• Marc Jacobs Magic Marc'er Precision Liner in Black
• Tarte Clay Pot Amazonian Clay Liner in Bronze
• Benefit They're Real Mascara

The shades used from the palette are marked out below:

 If you want to keep things simple you don't have to do stacked eyeliner. I just love the look because you get the crisp definition of black at the lash line, while still enjoying the fun texture and shade of colored liner along the lid.

For a last step, just finish with black mascara!

Aqua and Cobalt: Marine-themed Liquid Liner Look

Liquid liner is always a quick way to make a statement/. This is a duo-tone liner look using two shades I love; a pearly aqua (Maybelline Hyper Glossy Liquid Liner in Turquoise Blue) and a rich cobalt blue (Lime Crime Uniliner in Lazuli)

I also used 2 pencils; a black (Shahnaz Husain black kajal) and a matte beige (Nars Rue Bonaparte), and 2 matte shadows (a beige called Nude and a navy called Navy Baby from Coastalscents.com).

IMPORTANT: If you're not sure about liquid liner but would like to get a similar/softer look, just use pencils or gel liner.

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Step 1: First apply 2 matte shadows in the above way, with the navy in the socket first, sweeping from outside in so the color softens inwards, then blended out so there are no hard lines. The beige is just there to "tidy up" the navy, and to neutralize any darkness or discolorations on the lid.

Graphic Winged Liner Tutorial: Tricky to do but makes quite a statement!

Disclaimer first: this is going to take a bit of practise if you're not used to working with liners. 

Also, I used a really bright purple liner from Lime Crime, called Orchidaceous, and I haven't seen any dupes, so if anyone knows any similar alternatives, do reply to this post and let everyone know in case there are some who aren't looking at spending too much on a colored liner!

You'll need 3 shadows:

• Pale cotton-candy pink or beige (e.g. MAC Yogurt)
• A medium violet-blue duochrome. (I used a limited edition shade from Urban Decay called Omen, but you can also use more pink version like MAC Stars n Rockets or Coastal Scents mica Chameleon Violet, which is a great, cheap dupe of this shade.)
• A soft grey/charcoal (I'm not going to name any shades because you can use ANY deep grey.

For the liner, I used:

• A charcoal (grey-black) pencil from Bourjois, #51 Noir Effet Miroir
• Lime Crime Orchidaceous, as mentioned above

Step 1: First pack the pale pink/beige shade into the inner 1/3 of the lids.

Step 2: With the violet shadow, run along the lower lash line, and then pack onto the outer 2/3 of the lids, blending inwards slightly along the socket line.

Step 3: The defined crease. Use a dark grey and a small pencil brush, and run it along the outer halves of your socket line to emphasize it. This is not the fold of your crease. It's the hollow arc above your eye ball, where your eye contour is naturally. Feel for it with your fingers.

Step 4: Just use the brush you used earlier (to apply your purple shadow) to blend out and soften the grey line. It shouldn't look like a harsh stripe.

Step 5: Use your dark grey-black pencil to draw the outer end of your flick first. (If you don't have a charcoal color, a black would work perfectly well; a charcoal is just less dramatic.) Make sure it is parallel to your lower lash line.

Step 6: Thicken the line by drawing from the outer tip INWARDS towards the center of your lid. Then fill in the gap between the 2 lines and extend it to the inner corners.

Step 7: This is the trickiest step. Apply the bright violet liquid liner WITHIN the V of the black winged liner. The easiest way is to place the brush down with the tip pointing outwards. You'll actually be "stamping" your skin with the liquid on the length of the bristles.

Then, just drag it inwards gently like you would when painting your nails. The length of the brush should be against your skin the whole time. If you need to thicken the line, repeat the same movement, always moving in the same direction. 

Then finish by letting the ink dry, curling your lashes and applying mascara. It's important to make sure you coat your lashes properly with black mascara, as there could be a lot of purple ink on them.

Pop Rose: Pink Makeup with Metallic Stacked Liner

We don't often wear pinks on the eyes, lips, nails AND cheeks all at the same time, but I thought the Summer Season might be a good time to give it a go.

The trick is NOT to try and match all the pinks. I used a mauve (pink-purple) shadow, with a magenta toned liner, and a bright pink lipstick. For the nails, I used a hot Barbie pink.

On the lids, I also reined it in and used warm/neutral shades for highlights and contour, instead of more gradations of pink.

Step 1: Apply a soft mauve shadow on the lids. This can be matte or slightly satin-y, but should not be full-on metallic if you can help it. I used a limited edition shade from Urban Decay, but if you don't own the 15 Anniversary palette, you can use one of the lighter shades from the Wet n Wild Petal Pusher palette.

Step 2: Use a pale gold on the inner corners of the eyes (I also used Urban Decay's limited edition color but it's an exact dupe of MAC Vanilla pigment and Coastal Scent's Elven Gold Hot Pot which is super-cheap.)

Step 3: I don't own any metallic pink liners, so I used a pigment mixed with a drop or two of liner sealant. You can use eye drops with MAC Fuchsia Pigment or any electric pink pencil to get a similar effect.

Make sure the flick is parallel to the outer corners of your lower lash line (see dotted line).

Step 4: Probably the most tricky part. Trace over your lash line with a black liquid liner. This is what will pull the whole look together without letting the pink overpower everything. If you don't have a steady hand, use a felt tip liner for more control.

Step 5: Finish off with black mascara.

Step 6: For the cheeks, I just used a very matte pink blush, and then applied Pink Nouveau (my absolute favorite summer pink) lipstick from MAC. Barry M and Wet n Wild have some really good bright pinks as well if you're on a budget.

Lime Crime Uniliner Swatches and Tips!

Lime Crime Uniliners

Swatches (L-to-R): Lunar White (liquid-paper white), 6th Element (true orange), Citreuse (lime), Blue Milk (baby-blue), Lazuli (cobalt), Orchidaceous (bright violet) and Quill (straight black)

The team at Lime Crime very kindly sent me a set of their brand-new, uber-bright Uniliners, so I'm swatching them here and throwing in a few tips on application if you happen to like matte, intense liquid liners as much as I do.

(To see a previous tutorial using a matte liquid/cake liner, click here!)

It's easy to find liquid liners in neutral shades (black, brown, grey, navy), and metallic finishes, but much less common to get hold of them in matte, BRIGHT shades, hence my previous post raving about the colors in this range.

Lime Crime Uniliner in Citreuse

The Good News:

These do go on the way they look in images and swatches. I'm actually surprised by just how nice the paler shades are; particularly Blue Milk and Citreuse. They look like they might have a bit of shimmer in the tubes, but go on matte.

These come with long-ish, fine brush tips, so you can get maximum intensity (as compared to felt tips which tend to deposit less product.

The colors are actually quite wearable in real life despite how bright they look in images. They also don't smear off when rubbed, and don't crack after drying, unless you really coat on layer after layer.

The Bad News?

They're a good bit smaller than they look in pictures (1.3ml or 0.04 oz as compared to the typical 2ml or so in the average liquid liner). This isn't too much of a problem in the sense that most liquid liners dry out before they're finished, but at $13.99, bear in mind that these are definitely higher-end.

The fact that they come with a fine brush also means they might not be the best option for liquid-liner novices or those with shaky hands. 

Tips for Use

1. Instead of trying to apply your liner in one single stroke, you'll get more control and a more intense line if you apply it in sections. Center, outer, and then inner corners when you have the least amount of liquid left on your brush.
2. Take care not to apply too many coats of liner or your liner will crease and crack after drying.
3. If you're going to do what I do and stack liners (black and lime shown here), apply the paler color first in a thick swatch along or close to your lash line. THEN apply the darker or black shade thinly along the base. Doing it the other way round (black first then colored) would be a whole lot messier and harder to control.
4. Arm yourself with Q-tips and a disposable mascara brush. All that liquid liner that you get on places like your skin and your lashes is going to show up instantly. After applying, clean up any smudges with the the Q-tip or by briskly running the mascara wand through your lashes.
5. You can wear it neat without shadow, but always add a little dark color around the lashes or wear tons of mascara. Your lash line can disappear otherwise.
6. Wearing a full strip along the entire upper lash line creates the optical illusion of a smaller but more defined double-lid
7. If you have a very steady hand, wear it along your lower lash line!
8. These, like most liquid liners, are made to last. They won't come off properly with just soap and water. Use a makeup remover.
9. Apply it thick over the entire lid and gently smooth out with your finger tip for a dramatic eye shadow look!

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Lime Crime products are vegan and cruelty-free.

Dummies' / Cheater's Guide to Winged Liquid Liner (plus Tips and Tricks)

sexorchocolateorpillowsorclouds asked:

can you give a small (or large!) tutorial on the liquid liner cat eye? not the runway super wild one, just something real and wearable but that will still make an impact. i'm going to a wedding tonight and i'd love to wear my make up that way. thanks so much!!

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Liquid liner is usually considered the most difficult to work with, compared to pencils, powders and gels. But it does give the most intense, opaque and dramatic lines, so if that's what you're going for, the below might help make things just slightly easier.

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Step 1: If you have oily lids, then no matter whether you're wearing shadow or not, it's best to apply primer and some powder onto the lids to keep them dry so your liner does not smudge or break down over the day.

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Step 2: This is the cheater's way of doing it.

I use a black shadow and a small flat angled brush to draw in a guiding line first. This line should be parallel to the curve of your lower lash line, and almost look like an extension of it. This is where you adjust the angle and length of both eyes until you're more or less satisfied that they're even. A powder is easier to rub off and correct than a pencil.

DUMMIES' TIP: Always draw THE EYE YOU ARE LESS COMFORTABLE WITH first (if you're right handed, start with your left eye) as you can match the flick on your main-hand side to the other much easier than if you did it the other way round.

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Step 4: Clean off your liquid liner brush so that you have a minimal amount of liquid on your brush (or felt tip) and then go over the black powder flick carefully.

CHEATER'S TIP: Don't worry about going all the way to the end. Just use a finger nail to scrape the base of the liquid liner and pull it out wards for that razor-sharp flick.

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Step 5: Finish by drawing a very thin band of liquid liner from the inner corners outward in short strokes until it reaches the wing. If you make any mess, just quickly wipe it away with a finger before it dries. 

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Step 6: Slowly thicken the outer half of the line (from center of eye outwards) if you want a more dramatic, slanted wing. If you want a simple kitten flick, you only need to thicken it very slightly.