Light & Bright Eye Look with Urban Decay

This is a look I created with my Urban Decay Book of Shadows III palette. Since some of the shadows are exclusive only to that palette, if you know of any dupes for the colors, please feel free to pipe up in the comments! 
Since this was just a running around day look, I skipped mascara on the bottom lashes, and also did not add any eyeliner. I have large eyes, so I can get away with doing this often and not risk losing definition of my eyes. However if you are not so lucky, you may find adding a little liner to the look will help. I’d suggest a plum (like Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in 1999) or taupe (Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Underground) to keep the look light and bright. :)
To get the look:

“Base Shade”: First I took a fluffy eyeshadow brush (I used the MAC 217, but the Sigma E35 or any similar brush would be fine) and used Urban Decay shadow in Midnight Cowboy Rides Again. I made sure to tap the excess off of the brush. This helps greatly in reducing the glitteryness of the shadow, which is the one complaint I ever hear about it. I applied that with a sweeping, almost buffing motion all over the lid all the way up to the brow. I took my time to really buff the shadow and work with the color. This also helped reduce chunky glitteryness. I did experience some fallout, but it was minimal compared to past times I’ve used this particular shadow.
Note: If you are not quite as pale as I am, and MCRA is quite a bit lighter than your skin tone, you probably want to limit the color to the lid, crease, and maybe slightly above the crease.
“Lid Shade”: Using eyeshadow brush #7 from Stila (any small shader will do, such as the Sigma E55) I applied Urban Decay shadow in Bordello to just the middle of my lid. I just wanted to create a little interest/depth to the color that was already on there. Bordello is a pinky mauve shade. For the purposes of the look I was trying to create, any sort of mauve shade will do. I didn’t use very much and used a light hand. Something tells me there’s a Fyrinnae color that is a good substitute for Bordello, but I don’t remember which one. Help me out guys which is it?
“Contour Shade”: After wiping off my Stila #7 brush I took a small amount of Urban Decay shadow in Rockstar just on the tip of the brush and applied it to my outer V/crease. Now here’s where I’ve switched up my technique lately and I want to be clear to share that with you. Most of us learn to blend with a back and forth or windshield wiper motion. When I had my makeup lesson with MUFE, MUA Cat taught me to just place the color where I wanted it and blend in one direction only. If any of you have ever sketched something, it’s kinda like how you shade. In fact, it’s pretty much exactly like shading a sketch. This small tip was like a total “a-ha” moment for me. It really saves your color saturation from being blended to oblivion, and if you’ve ever had trouble with colors getting too muddied when blending, try it this way. See if maybe it will help. 
Would anyone be interested in a quick little video demo of this technique? Please leave a comment!

Here’s the finished face and the complete breakdown…

My brows are sort of haggard and in dire need of some clean-up on the outer edges, so please forgive me if you click these to view full size and are aghast. :P Here’s some pictures taken in brighter light:
Complete breakdown…
Eyes:
– Urban Decay Primer Potion
– Urban Decay Eye Shadows in Midnight Cowboy Rides Again, Bordello, and Rockstar
– Billion Dollar Brows brow powder in Taupe
– Shu Uemura eyelash curler
– Maybelline The Falsies mascara (top lashes only)
Face:
– Make Up For Ever HD foundation in shade #110
– Purely Cosmetics Diamond Perfect Finish Powder
– TooFaced Chocolate Soleil Bronzer
– Rock & Republic blush in Spank 
Note… the camera makes it look like my blush is way brighter than it really was in the last 2 photos. It’s much more like the first one. The light in my house is odd. When the blush looks true to life the eye shadow looks dark and murky, but when the eye shadow looks true to life my blush looks neon. <3 Cameras.
Lips:
– MAC Dazzleglass in Date Night

Find Your Inspiration with TAAZ

Image from Taaz.com

I love a good makeup tutorial. It gets me all excited to do my makeup. They’re great inspiration. I just happened upon this tutorial from TAAZ about 40s starlet makeup, and I love it! It’s a great look for a holiday party too, which is why I wanted to feature it here on the blog. They even give fashion advice to complete the look.

Remember, I’m still collecting looks for the Holiday Lookbook. If you’re stuck on what to do, maybe try this out and see how it works for you. TAAZ has lots of other great tutorials and pictures to get your creative juices flowing.

Fall Looks by Stila

Stila has come up with some really pretty fall makeup looks! They have posted tutorials on these looks on their site. I don’t really change my look for the seasons since California doesn’t really have seasons, but I’m always on the lookout for new things to try! Now, of course they use all Stila products, but you can look at the products they use and try these looks with your own similar stuff from other brands if you want.

Stila Beauty Lessons

A Budget Makeup Look

Almost everything in this makeup look is cheap cheap cheap. And awesome. ;) I apologize for not having step-by-step photos.

Face
I started my face with mark. See Things Clearly moisturizer, and let it sink in (doesn’t take long at all).

Then I applied some Everyday Minerals mint color corrector over ruddy areas like my cheeks and nose/any blemishes that are red. You don’t need very much, so I used a Flirt skunk brush.

Following the color corrector, I applied Everyday Minerals Matte Fair foundation with EDM’s flat top brush.

I set all of this with some MAC Fix+ (trying to use up what I have before digging in to my mark. Mist Opportunity).

Eyes
I gently applied some Urban Decay Primer Potion with my fingers and let it set. While it sets, I apply my brow product.

I applied Stila Brow Duo in Medium with an Anastasia brow brush. I set the brow powder with Maybelline Great Lash in clear.

With a fluffy blending brush by Ms. Makeup I applied Stila Chinois all over the eye area to provide a nice base for my eyelook over the UDPP. This makes the eyeshadow easier to blend over the base. Chinois is matte off white, about the color of my skin.

Next, I applied the palest blue shadow from the Wet ‘N Wild Silver Belles palette all over the lid. It’s very pale and did not show up very much, but I’m going to put other stuff over it and this will add dimension. I applied the blue shadow with a Stila #7 shadow brush. It’s my favorite.

Again with the Stila #7, I applied Milani Enchantment shadow all over the outer half of my eyelid. I blended it into the blue and blended the edges with my mark blending brush.

The blue underneath was starting to be barely noticeable so I applied (yes with the #7, I wipe it between colors) the teal color from the Wet ‘N Wild Glamorous Gems palette on the inner half of my lid and blended it into Enchantment with the mark blending brush again.

I decided the look needed a bit more “oomph”, so with an Essence of Beauty crease brush I applied Milani Shock to the outer v of my eye. I then took an Everyday Minerals eyeliner brush and applied more of Shock to my lower lashline.

With Stila Chinois again, I blended the top edge (at the crease) and highlighted my brow.

As a finishing touch, I traced my waterline with New York Color pencil eyeliner in black. This puppy costs 99 cents and it is awesome.

After eyeliner I applied mascara. I use mark. Make It Big most often. It’s fail proof.

Cheeks
While I was waiting for the UDPP to set on my eyes, I applied Milani Mango Tango blush very very lightly with a skunk brush, and blended it with a cosmetic puff.

Lips
The lipstick I used was CoverGirl TruShine – Nude Shine.