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Sunday, April 3, 2011

two posts in one day! it's a record...

Well, not really a post, but... a random, beauty-related stream of consciousness...

Do you ever get bored with makeup? Ever feel like there's no creativity coming your way? I do sometimes. Sometimes I'll fall into a rut and just use my signature look: bronzy eyeshadow, black winged liner, nude lips. Which is fine, don't get me wrong, but sometimes it's good to change it up a little--you know, keep 'em guessing :)

I'm very artsy and inspired when it comes to makeup: my face is the canvas, and I do get inspired by anything and everything. See a sunset? That means a look using hot pinks, oranges, bronzes, and purples. Watch Elizabeth Taylor star in Cleopatra? Maybe rock a little double-winged black liquid liner.

So, I felt compelled to share some possible color combos just in case anyone out there is having a makeup rut day...try out one of these, try out all of these, comment with a picture or two!
  • Matte upper lid, bright lower lid: Do the classic three-color look (light shade all over, medium shade from lashline to crease, darkest shade in crease) with different gradients of the same color using matte shadows only. Then use a bright, glittery/metallic version of that same color just on your bottom lashlines for an unexpected pop of color.
  • Mismatched colors: The liner you use on your top lid doesn't always have to match the bottom. Use constrasting colors. Some possibilities--purple/green, navy/bronze, gold/silver, teal/gold, etc.
  • Sexy neutrals: Try a shimmery taupe shadow from your lashes to crease, then blend a bronze shade in the creases. Use a dark brown on the outer corners and finish off with a pop of silver just in the center of your lids.
  • Gilded Cranberries: Use a burnished gold eyeshadow on your lids, and a cranberry shade in the creases. Finish with black liner. Because cranberry shades can sometimes make you look like you have pinkeye, black liner always brings the look back to reality.
  • Passive-Agressive Smoky Eye: Sometimes hardcore black is too...well, hardcore. Soften it up with a grayish-purple version: Find a shimmery grey shade and use it on your lids, and then use a greyish-purple in the creases. You can still use black...just blend it on the outer corners and underneath your lower lashes for the smoky effect. Just not so in-your-face.
  • The I-Look-Like-I-Slept-For-8-Hours-But-Really-It-Was-Two: Use a pale, white-gold shimmery eyeshadow all over your lids, and on the inner corners. Use a thin brush to line your bottom lashes with the same shadow. Then line just the top lashline with metallic bronze eyeliner. Curl your eyelashes REALLY well and then add black mascara.
  • Another less severe smoky eye: Find a golden-beige eyeshadow that's shimmery, and apply it all over your lids stopping at the crease. Then take a matte shadow in a dusty navy blue and apply it to the creases and lower lashes. I've tried this one, and it looks cool when the lid/crease colors are different textures (i.e. shimmery lids and matte creases, and vice versa).
  • Fairy with a Dark Side: Use a silvery lavender eyeshadow on your lids. Blend a pinky-purple shadow just above your creases, and then a truer purple in the actual creases. Take some of the sugary sweetness out by adding black eyeshadow just in the outer corners.
  • Not-too-girly Pink: We bring out the cranberry eyeshadow again. Only this time, it's paired with a rose-gold eyeshadow on the lids. Use the cranberry in the crease, and a plum shade on the outer corners. For extra oomph, wet an eyeshadow brush and pat pink or gold glitter just on the center of the lids (where you feel your eyeball).
That's it for now. Until next time :) Feel free to share any more color combinations!

my newest obsession comes in a bottle.

...No, not that kind of bottle! Although, I do enjoy a good bottle of Malibu Coconut Rum...just kidding (sort of).

What I'm talking about is epic. Life-changing. You could even say it's got me "shattered."

Pun fully intended! My newest obsession is OPI's new "shatter" polish. Looks like this (and by the way the word "shatter" is starting to look weird to me now...):



Yup, this baby is AMAZING. Dude, it's more than that--innovative would be the word! First of all, I learned from experience that using this on bare nails alone doesn't do squat. For some reason unknown to man, it needs a coat of nail polish first. So basically you can get these nails right here...


in two easy steps! (Well, four, counting base and top coat, but that's neither here nor there.) First, you apply whatever color you want. For the best results, something light or bright, since "shatter" comes in black only (correct me if I'm wrong...?). The color I used was Ulta Professional Nail Lacquer in Island Hopper. Then I layered the OPI Shatter (only available in select Ulta stores, I'm sure you can get it at Sephora, Nordstrom, etc.) over the Island Hopper. The cool thing? So you cover the entire nail (I know, sounds weird...and you're wondering why you have to cover your pretty manicure with black nail polish, but hear me out) and then the black kind of...shrinks. And dries to, well, a shattered effect. No two nails will turn out the same! It's magic, I swear. And Island Hopper is an Easter Egg-esque, minty greenish turquoise. But with shatter layered over it, it seems darker and well, more badass. Yet still girly. Who doesn't love that combo?!

And the funny thing is, I'm not even a nail kinda girl. I usually could care less about painting my nails and when they chip, I'm too lazy to change/fix it, unless it's REALLY bad. I know, I know...but hey, I do have my nail moments when I show them some love--I love the occasional manicure/acrylics+airbrushing. So the love is still there! But it's more of the eccentric great-grandmother kinda love, haha, if that makes sense? Probably not.

So, in a nutshell. OPI shatter is epic. I'm in lurrrrrve.