Tips & Tricks: Shimmer Eyeshadow

Hello!

Do you love shimmer/glitter eyeshadow? I do! The sparklier the better. Would you like to know the best way to apply shimmery, sparkly eyeshados for maximum impact? Or are you looking to introduce shimmery eyeshadow into your beauty routine? If so, this is the post for you!

Recently I've had a change of heart when it comes to eyeshadow application. I used to be all about the sparkle, everywhere. From lash line to brow bone, I would use whichever shimmer/glitter eyeshadows took my fancy (examples below).

Look 4 from my Naked Palette series
http://brighteyedbeautyblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/series-naked-palette4.html

Look 6 from my Naked Palette series
http://brighteyedbeautyblog.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/series-naked-palette6.html

That's still fine, but it's a very full-on look which doesn't allow any particular eyeshadow to take centre stage. That's why I've started to change it up. I realised that the impact of a shimmery eyeshadow is at its greatest when it commands all the attention in an eye look- meaning that some of the eyeshadows around it have to be less shimmery or even matte.

When I first started, I wasn't sure how to mix shimmer and matte shades so that it looked good. So here are my suggestions for combinations that will help your shimmery eyeshadow stand out.

Review and Swatches: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Envious

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Do you love the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils? Do you wish there was an equivalent product for your lips? You've got it! Today's review is on Urban Decay's 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Envious. I have to admit, I prefer eye look + gloss rather than lip look + barely-there eye makeup, so I don't have need for lipstick or lip liners all that often. I did go through a red lipstick phase, and it might just be creeping back up on me, so I decided to start testing out lip liners.

 Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Envious

Here's the spiel:
"Smooch. Pout. Smack. Nibble. Lick. 24/7 stays put through everything (yes, EVERYTHING) you do. When you use our liner to fill in your lips completely, it primes them for lipstick or gloss, grabbing on to color to help it last.

Part of the 24/7 family, our long-lasting, waterproof formula glides on smoothly, stays creamy and defines your lips with gorgeous color. And unlike a lot of waterproof pencils (we won’t name names), 24/7 never feels dry or cakey. Moisturizing vitamin E, jojoba oil and cottonseed oil nourish your lips every time you reapply."

Eye Look: A pop of teal

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I recently got my hands on the Lime Crime Aquataenia Palette (review coming soon) and I must admit I'm having difficulty incorporating such bright colours into my eye looks. That might sound odd, coming from me, but I like to do looks incorporating most of the colours from a palette if I'm doing a review and for the life of me I can't think of how to use all the colours from this palette in one look! Anyway, this look is another example of how to incorporate a bit of colour into an everyday look.

A pop of teal in an otherwise everyday eye look

Eye Look: Ombre Eyeliner

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Today's look is about workplace-friendly but creative eyeliner :-)

Usually, my eye looks are bright and quite bold, but lately I've been in a work environment where my colleagues don't  wear makeup and I end up feeling over-done. At the same time, I love makeup and the creativity I put into my looks, so I'm not about to quit. Most of the time, I ignore my feelings of being over-done and just go with whatever I feel like doing. This is a look I came up with on a day I was running a bit late and I thought it might be a good way for those of you who are a bit scared of full-on eyeshadow or really bright eyeliner looks to dip a toe in the bright water :P

Bright blue and black ombre eyeliner look

St. Patrick's Day Look

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Want a green eye look to go with your St. Pat's green cupcakes and green fizzy drink (or beer :P)? Here it is! This is a really easy, really sparkly look that will have you ready for St. Pat's!

St. Patrick's Day inspired green eye look

Look: Ginnifer Goodwin at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscars After-Party

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You may have noticed I haven't been posting as many looks up as I used to. I've been suffering from make-up creative block. Until recently, I hadn't seen much to inspire me to do new looks. That changed when I saw these pictures of actress Ginnifer Goodwin at the Oscars after party.

Ginnifer Goodwin at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscars after party.
Picture property of Just Jared.
Source: http://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/2820345/ginnifer-goodwin-josh-dallas-vanity-fair-oscars-party-2013-04/

Ginnifer Goodwin at the 2013 Vanity Fair Oscars after party.
Picture property of Just Jared.
Source: http://www.justjared.com/photo-gallery/2820345/ginnifer-goodwin-josh-dallas-vanity-fair-oscars-party-2013-04/

This is the kind of makeup I would do with this dress! It's bold, it ties into the dress without being too matchy-matchy and it's perfectly balanced- she kept the rest of her face neutral with some light bronzing anda neutral lip. Most of the time on the red carpet, you see very neutral makeup and if someone does a basic smoky eye or a red/pink lip, they're classed as adventurous or bold. For me, that's not bold. Playing with colour in different ways is bold.

So I tried to recreate it...
I have to say this was the most difficult relatively-simple look I've done in ages. I hadn't done a bold look in so long, it was like I was learning how to use make-up all over again. Plus, a fair amount of my makeup is in storage, so I didn't have the perfect colours and so had to mix and match. I think it turned out ok. Hopefully you'll like it!

Series: Pretty in Pink_Look 4: pink glitter smoky eye

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Today's look was the one I wore to my all-pink event. I spent a fair while figuring out what to do and this is what I came up with. I hope you'll like it!

Pretty in Pink series, look 4: pink glitter smoky eye

Eye Look: Neutral smokey eye using the Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons eyeshadows

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Following on from my last post reviewing the Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons collection, I thought I'd post up a look using the collection. This look exclusively uses the eyeshadow primer, eyeshadows and mascara from the Bon Bons collection.

Neutral smoky eye look done using the Too Faced Shadow Bon Bons collection.

Series: Pretty in Pink_Look 3 GLITTER!

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Do you need more pink in your life? Welcome back to the Pretty in Pink eye look series! My first eye look was soft and pretty, the second was all about a very bright pink shadow and graphic eyeliner combination and today I went almost all out with glitter.

Third look from the Pretty in Pink series

Bright Graphic Eyeliner Smoky Eye Look

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Have you seen the neon green graphic eyeliner smoky eye look Pat McGrath created in the Atelier Versace Spring Couture 2013 show recently? It was all kinds of amazing and bold. In honour of that look, I've come up with one of my own (not quite as neon...). I hope you like it!

Bright Graphic Eyeliner Smoky Eye Look

Series: Vice Palette_Gold and Grey

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Today's look is a gold and grey graphic eyeliner look done using Urban Decay's Vice Palette.

Vice Palette Series: Gold and Grey Graphic eyeliner look

Series: Pretty in Pink_Look 2; Vice Palette_Pretty in Pink

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Here is my latest Pretty in Pink look (also technically the fourth look from my Vice Palette series). This is a brighter, edgier look than the last one (click here). I played around with graphic eyeliner and a darker, brighter pink. I must say I'm really impressed with the wear of Urban Decay eyeshadows. The following pictures were all taken 7 hours after inital application without an eyeshadow primer!

Close up of my second Pretty in Pink eye look.

Series: Pretty in Pink_Look 1

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Have you seen the latest beauty look to come out of Chanel's Cruise 2012-13 Collection? It's very pink. Pink eyeshadow is a bit scary for me. I have friends who wear it well, but for the most part I feel that with my pale complexion, it makes me look a bit sick. I do, however, have a pink-themed event coming up. So, all things considered, I felt that I should try out some pink eyeshadow looks. I will be posting the results of my quest to find a pink eyeshadow look that doesn't make me look ill in a Pretty in Pink eye look series.. Without further ado, here is Look 1:

The first eye look of the Pretty in Pink series

New Year's Eve 2012/13 Eye Look

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Happy New Year! To kick off the new year, I thought I'd share my eye look from last night/ this morning. I usually go all out on New Year's Eve but this year I decided to skip the falsies and make my eye look more interesting with smaller details you'd miss if you weren't looking closely. It's mixed metals, graphic eyeliner and lots of shimmer and glitter.

New Year's Eve New Year's Eve mixed metals graphic eyeliner eye look, one eye close up.

Review and Swatches: Urban Decay Nail Polish in Mars

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Coming up to the holiday season, I always go a little crazy with nail polish. During the year I try to keep it neutral and work-place appropriate (read: pretty but boring) but around the holidays I can go as bright, dark, metallic or glittery as I like. So this review is about the goregous green that is Urban Decay's Mars Nail Polish.

Swatches and Bottles of: Urban Decay Mars Nail Polish and OPI Skyfall Collection
Nail Polish in Live and Let Die. My little finger is done in Live and Let Die;
all the others are painted with Mars.

Review and Swatches: OPI Skyfall Collection Nail Polish in Live and Let Die

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Here's part two to the picture I used for my Urban Decay Mars Nail Polish review. This time, it's just the pinky finger that's relevant to the post. Sorry, I was going to do a full hand of each, but I felt that was just silly.

Swatches and Bottles of: Urban Decay Mars Nail Polish and OPI Skyfall Collection
Nail Polish in Live and Let Die. My little finger is done in Live and Let Die;
all the others are painted with Mars.

Look: Vesper Lynd

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Have you seen the new James Bond movie, Skyfall, yet? Today's look is inspired by Vesper Lynd's look in Casino Royale (2006). Vesper was big on the smoky eyes and my eye look is based on the eye makeup she's wearing in the scene where she's wearing a purple dress. It's really hard to get a good look at the makeup for that scene, so I've improvised a fair bit and made it a bit more dramatic, for the fun of it.

Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) in Casino Royale.
Iage from :http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2009/02/14/article-0-05B61F970000044D-777_468x676.jpg

Look: Smoked Palette and Meet Matt(e) Palette

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I'm back with (yes, yet another) purple and plum eye look. This time I've combined the Urban Decay Smoked Palette with theBalm's Meet Matt(e) palette.

Purple and plum eye look done using the Urban Decay Smoked Palette and theBalm's Meet Matt(e) Palette.

Vice Palette Series_Junkie with Lime Crime Unliner in Reason

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As you might be able to tell (from my Vice Palette review and from this bright eye look), I love the eyeshadow Junkie from Urban Decay's Vice Palette. I don't really know how that came about, as I have a general aversion to blue eyeshadow (admittedly, I have been working on that, as evidenced by this tropical blue and purple eye look). I've also been playing around with my Rhyme and Reason eyeliners from Lime Crime.

Eye look done using Urban Decay's Vice Palette and Lime Crime's Uniliner in Reason (eye open).

Holiday Season Gift Ideas: Stocking Fillers (Lips and Nails Edition)

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Are you still stuck for gift ideas? Are you not a gift set or eye product or face product person? Or do you want even more  indiviudal items to make up your own extra amazing gift set? This post is for you!

Today's gift category: Individual items/Stocking fillers

Edition: Lip and Nail products