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Posted by Dain, Friday, June 03, 2005 12:03 PM (Eastern)
The Eyes Have It
It's been a while, hasn't it? I had to think about this one quite a bit. I wasn't sure how to even approach it.
Eye makeup is great fun, but it is also complicated. For most women, the greatest breadth of color range is in their eye makeup, and I am no different. The color of my lippies tends not to vary, and certainly my concealer or mascara or blush do not vary, but I enjoy a good, fun, complex eye now and again. This has proven troublesome, because in truth, I don't employ all that much variation in practice (usually, a liner, carefully chosen, smudged over Powersurge, and then a wash to soften the effect). I also have very exacting standards when it comes to eyeshadows—very finely-milled (fine, rather than coarse pigment particles), tightly pressed (so that the brush picks up just the right amount, and they don't crumble easily), smooth and silky (so that application and blending is a breeze), and nothing but the most brilliant of colors—so I'm not content with mere drugstore, but prefer instead NARS, Dior, Giorgio Armani, and Trish McEvoy (with occasional forays into Urban Decay, Stila, MAC, and Smashbox). Eyeshadows, therefore, have become an expensive habit. But eyeshadow isn't something you can scrimp on. There are amazing formulations of everything else to be had on the cheap, but superior eyeshadow makes a huge difference.
As it is, I don't even know where to begin. With my pale skin, dark, dark brown, almond-shaped eyes (no crease), and dark hair, I can really wear anything, as far as color is concerned. Greens and violets look good, of course, and I can wear blues probably better than most can (though it's still rather vivid, so only with some restraint). As for neutrals, greys and browns, I have to be careful—they easily look muddy.
Given the shape of my eyes, it is eyeliner that is crucial, and the "wash" (as the name implies, shadow brushed lightly all over the eyelid) is relegated to providing contrast/context/softening. It's rare that I wear a wash alone. So my eye looks consist of some fabulous eyeliner, around which all the variation of my entire look revolves (since I tend to wear the same sort of products otherwise), and usually some sort of subtle, sheer wash so that the liner isn't "stranded". The way I line is without variation: MAC Powersurge, then a powder shadow over it, drawn smudgily. This, I find, is the most flattering to my almond-shaped Asian eyes, and has the added bonuses of longevity (cream + powder lasts longer than either alone) as well as adding definition to my sparse lashes.
In any case, there are four different categories of eyeshadows that I use, and I will enumerate them here.
BOLD (what I call, "watercolors", because they are, in the purest sense, like painting): NARS Rated R, a vivid but sheerer-than-you'd-think combination of lime and blue. The lime acidic, with gold sparkles, and the blue electric, pure but cool, with lighter blue as shimmer. I prefer to use the lime as liner (over an olive pencil, rather than the usual Powersurge), and the blue as wash, though logic might dictate otherwise. In consideration: Dior Seascape, "watercolors" but pretty pastels, rather than electric tones.
SOFT MAUVES/VIOLETS, for a neutral, sophisticated eye: Dior Mauve Chic. Never was eyeshadow so aptly named. A very wearable and infinitely variable quint, from lightest to darkest: a lovely lilac-grey-pink pearl, or perhaps a "pastel mauve", a soft, greyed, "chic" mauve shimmer, a very soft, sheer orchid shimmer, a matte chestnut (or perhaps of good hot cocoa powder) with slight plum undertone, a pigment-rich purple with slight pink shimmer. The colors can be worn in any combination with each other (though I'm not much for the brown), and are neutral enough to wear with other shadows (they play well with others). What I love most, though, is how it adds instant polish without the least bit of effort. Elegance—easy, done.
BLUES: Blues never really look natural, though they can be very flattering. Navy, for example, can be worn without concern for wandering into "disco" flamboyance. Be that as it may, I'm content with just one set of blues, NARS Cleo, a duo with a watercolor-sheer aqua shimmer, and a teal-flecked charcoal that I layer over Powersurge as a liner, a color gorgeous beyond belief, and unlike any other color on the market. For a little alternation, I like to wear the grey of NARS Dream Lover (Bombshell is a similar color, but a single), or a gilt champagne. (Peach would work equally well, but I don't own one.)
GREENS: Ah, I'm rather at a fix here. I'm not sure which greens to pick, because I don't see myself picking anything cohesive that meshes with the rest of my picks. Perhaps just MAC Sweet Sage, those fluidlines are creamy enough to use as shadow. But is it dark enough (to wear with Rated R)? Is it "green" enough, rather than straight olive, so that it won't bore? What about the MAC Tarnish Eye Kohl? Or a celadon shimmer for a wash? Tricky. Very tricky.
"NEUTRAL" WASHES: It's funny how it's worked out, but the two I've chosen are, in a way, renditions of the boldest shimmers out there, silver and gold. As it is, too much of "shadow" looks a bit odd on me, so these are very soft, muted, sheer, etc., incarnations—a sweetly soft dove grey with a pink sheen, NARS Bombshell, and a gilt champagne, NARS Cyprus. I'm as yet undecided as to whether Stila Kitten might be a good addition—it's got a LOT more shimmer than anything else I've chosen, which may be good for a sparkly night-out look, and the pinky-peach is a fine complement to NARS Cleo, MAC Sweet Sage, Dior Mauve Chic, i.e. the liner colors I've chosen.
So, here is the minimalized list, potentially:
NARS Rated R
NARS Cleo
MAC Sweet Sage
Dior Mauve Chic
NARS Bombshell, NARS Cyprus
Stila Kitten?
That, my friends, is a very marked improvement on my current collection of... *cough* eight or so NARS (mostly duos, much less), three Dior, two Trish, etc, etc. I've left out MAC Powersurge Eye Kohl, because never at any point do I foresee *not* using Powersurge, much in the same manner as, "never at any point do I foresee *not* using blush".
Labels: eyes, minimalism
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