FOTD - A Subtle Everyday Blue Eyeshadow Look

The other day I was feeling a little flat and decided to have a bit of a play with my pro-palette to create a pretty but subtle blue eye look.

Blue eyeshadow is always something I get nervous wearing but I am slowly starting to find certain ways to make it work without making me feel like I've stepped out of the 80's.

This look is very subtle and a nice way to add a pop of colour to the eyes for an everyday look without looking too overdone.

The eyeshadow shades I used are circled below:

On the top palette I used the two pale cream shades blended together all over the eyelid to start, then I applied the light blue shade on the bottom palette to the outer corners and blending into the centre of the lid. I then took the slightly darker light blue and added a little more colour transitioning out towards the outer corner. Then I took the darker blue and blended it very carefully into the crease as well as using it to line below my eyes. I then took the gold shade on the bottom palette and added this to the centre of my lids and blended everything like there was no tomorrow. I then finished the look off by lining the top lids with the black shade.

Here is a breakdown of all the other products I used for this look:

* Napoleon Perdis Sheer Genius Liquid Foundation in Look 2.
* Savoir Faire Concealer in Light
* Physicians Formula Translucent Powder
* NP Set Shimmer Highlight Duo in Peach/Pink

* Ardell Brow Defining Kit
* Almay Intense i-Colour Volumising Mascara in Midnight for my top lashes
* Bobbi Brown Lash Glamour Extreme Lengthening Mascara in Black on my bottom lashes

* Maybelline Master Glaze Blush Stick in Just-Pinched Pink
* Face of Australia Lip Quench in Pink Champagne

What do you think? Can blue eyeshadow be an everyday shade?

I hope you are having a great weekend!

Michelle xx

Face of the Day - Using some old favourites

I only realised the other day how long it has actually been since I did a face of the day and put my big mug on the blog for all to see. I always want to show my face of the day but by the time I've put my makeup on in between stopping no less than 20 times to make sure my toddler isn't burning our house down in another room, then trying to remember to get some photos before we rush out the door, then trying to remember what products I actually used when I come to write it all down is a bit of a mission and a half these days.

This look is one that I wear quite often as I am a huge fan of a purple toned eye. I feel that purple seems to suit me more than most other shades and paired with a white or cream shadow it also makes me look a bit more awake than I really am too! I was also on a mission to use some of my older products that had been forgotten about on this day as well.

Here is what I used for this look:

* Mirenesse Absolutely Firm Treatment Primer
* Bourjois  Healthy Mix Serum Foundation in Vanilla mixed with a little bit of the Models Prefer Illuminizor in Illuminate to brighten my skin
* Napoleon Perdis The One Concealer under my eyes and over any blemishes
* Physicians Formula Mineral Wear Matte Finishing Veil in Translucent
* Australis Bronzing Powder in Golden to contour and Prestige Mineral Bronzing Powder in Pure Shimmer to highlight

* Clinique Quick Blush in In-A Rush Blush
* Avon Glimmersticks Brow Definer in Tawny
* Clinique High Impact Eye Shadow in Sugar Sugar all over the lid with CK Intense Eyeshadow in Merlot blended into the outer half of the lid and into the crease
* Camouflage Colour Skin Crayon as a liner - This doesn't have a shade name but is a browny/purple colour
* Almay Intense I-Colour Volumising Mascara in Midnight
* ASAP Pure Mineral Lip Pencil in Two as a liner with MAC Cremesheen Lipstick in How Darling

This is a nice subtle workday look for me that doesn't take much thinking and is pretty quick to do.

What looks have you been loving lately?

I hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

Michelle xx

Almay Intense i-color - Bold Nudes Collection for Hazel Eyes

I was fortunate enough to receive some of the Almay Intense i-color collection from Beautyheaven as part of their trial team a few weeks ago.

The products above are listed as follows:

1) Volumizing Mascara in Midnight
2) Defining Liner in Teal
3) Liquid Shadow + Color Primer for Hazel Eyes
4) Powder Shadow Trio for Hazel Eyes

The Almay Intense i-color range has been designed so that the colours complement your natural eye colour and make eyes appear brighter and more defined. I can't say that I hold too much truth in this concept as I didn't really notice my eyes appearing to look much different when I used this range as opposed to when I use other different colours.

(Almay Intense i-color Volumizing Mascara in Midnight)

The Volumizing Mascara was the most disappointing product in the range to me. Although it worked well when I was actually able to apply it properly (which was rarely), the brush is seriously made for someone with eyes the size of a giraffe because it did not matter what angle I used I just could not apply it to my eyes without getting it on my eyelid or in my eyeball. Frankly, this mascara wand now terrifies me and could be marketed as a great self-torture product.

(Look at the size of that freaking brush!)

(Almay Intense i-color Liquid Shadow + Color Primer for Hazel Eyes)

The Liquid Shadow + Color Primer was a product that really surprised me. I usually steer clear of liquid shadows as they never really work very well on my hooded eyelids and normally crease terribly after a couple of hours. This one however lasted the entire day on me and made a really pretty and simple subtle smokey eye when applied as a sweep all over the lid and then blended out at the edges. You have to work pretty quickly though before the shadow sets if you wish to blend it out as once it sets it does not budge at all! I even found that my regular eye makeup remover sometimes struggled to get this off becuase of how well its staying power is.

The Powder Shadows are nice enough to wear but are not very pigmented so need to be built up to the desired colour that you want. They are lovely and soft to apply and blend well to me without much fallout at all. The Hazel Eyes trio comes with a pale coral shade which is supposed to be applied all over the lid, a dark navy blue shade which is to be blended into the crease and a shimmery cream shade that is to highlight the brow bone.

I wasn't a big fan of all three colours used together but I did love using the coral and the cream and the blue and the cream together instead.

The standout product to me was the Defining Liner in Teal. This is an eye liner that I could live in. It's so buttery soft to apply, does not pull at the delicate skin around the eye even the slightest and lasts for hours without transferring to the top of my lid. It's also such a gorgeous shade that I just love to wear with a pale shadow as a base and nothing else.

(Left to Right: Powder Shadow Trio for Hazel Eyes, Liquid Shadow + Color Primer for Hazel Eyes, Defining Liner in Teal)

Here is a very simple eye look I created, and managed to remember to photgraph, one day while I was wearing the Cream highlighting shade all over my lid with the Navy shade blended into the crease and outer corner. I am also wearing the Volumizing Mascara in these photos:

 

Has anyone else tried this range before?

I hope everyone has a lovely weekend.

Michelle xx