Hello pussycats,
Anonymous Lovely Reader writes in,
I LOVE your blog. Thanks for taking time to share with the world in this way. You have had a positive effect on my life as I am now more aware of the implicit messages being sent by how I present myself. I now even dabble in make-up sometime.
In fact it is the make-up that brings me to my question. I just did a search of your previous blog entries and didn’t find anything that answered this question so I am writing directly to you. I rarely wear eye shadow, but had the opportunity to the other day. I went to put some on and realized that I had forgotten how to apply it in a fashionable way. I do understand the mechanics of applying it (brush on eyelid) but was mystified about where to put the contrasting color and if the contrast should be lighter or darker. Any tips would be much appreciated. Thanks!
Blessings,
AnonymousPS Regarding the eyeshadow, I always wear glasses and am nearsighted. This has the effect of making my eyes look smaller than they really are.
Darling Anon,
Thank you for your kind words and praise. It seriously means a lot to the ‘Bang to know that this blog has helped you to more intentionally put yourself out there as a public leader who looks the part.
Eyeshadow is no big deal. You might start with a nice smudgy brown eyeliner — say, something by Revlon or Cover Girl — and line just the top of your lid with it, blend, and be done. Be sure to go all the way to the end of your lid and all the way in (you’ll smudge the inner corner so much it will be barely perceptible, but it’s important not to line only part of your eye if you’re a newbie at it). Of course you’ll want to add mascara (and PB never goes a day without curling her eyelashes first — they’re long, so why wouldn’t I take the extra ten seconds it takes to do something that creates such fabulous results?). I usually smudge a much lighter, shimmery brown under my lower lash and leave off the mascara on the lower lashes because it can get smudgy. What you don’t want is to draw two harsh lines drawn around your eyes. Blend! Blend!
Another thing I like to do a lot is to smudge a dramatically dark brown shadow with some gold in it all along my lid, making a little window-washer gesture with the brush as I hit the crease (NEVER EVER use those useless, cheap applicator sponges they give you in the package!! They apply the product in an absolutely inferior manner, they’re like something BARBIE would use, for God’s sake!). Thlen I curl my eyelashes and apply a ton of mascara. You could do the same thing, but with a more muted color. You just have to play around with the colors. They often look far more pigmented in the package at the drugstore than they really are.
I like a dramatic eye and a subtle lip (try to avoid wearing a bold eye and a bold lip at the same time — if you’re doing a big red mouth, just do a soft wash of color on the lids, curl your lashes and add mascara. Make sure your skin is flawless but avoid lots of blush, too).
I’m not so into this “wear a neutral color all the way up to the brow and contrast with a deeper color in the crease” look, because frankly it can look very 1980’s and the next thing you know, you’ll be sporting ginormous shoulder pads or big floppy bows at the neck or some other tragic Murphy Brown or “Designing Women” look that we’d all do much better to put out of our minds immediately.
PeaceBang is also nearsighted and alternates between contacts and glasses that make her eyes look smaller. None of that matters, but what does matter is to think about what look you want for your day. Am you just doing some visits and spending some time at the office? A smudge on the upper eyelid and mascara will do. Are we preaching? If we are, then I spend some time with “special effects” because I want my eyes to project to the back of the sanctuary. If that means icing puffy eyes, then I do it. If that means adding a few false eyelashes because I’m tired and I don’t want to look it, then on they go.
I love and adore eye make-up. It can make us look entirely different. But there is a lot of BAD, BAD eye make-up out there, so until you feel confident following a period of exploration, keep it simple. Browns are good, matte shadows are good (applied with a small finger-shaped BRUSH, NOT a sponge applicator), things with a bit of shimmer in them are good but not all over the lid, and if you’re dramatic enough, liquid eyeliner can be your best friend, especially the waterproof formulations.
If you have sparse brows don’t forget to include them in your eye make-up preparation! I never, ever appear for an event unless my eyebrows have been carefully filled in with powder. They are such an important frame for the face, especially if you wear glasses!
Hope that helps, Lovey.
