BSB: Beauty news, makeup swatches and pictures, nail polish articles, makeup tutorials, product reviews, and how-to's from a MAC-trained makeup artist.

Five Days, Five Ways: MAC Melon Pigment - Sunset Eyes

I'm playing catch up here! OK... we've got "Sunset Eyes" which is mostly a really orange eye.

PS: This is amazing on blue-eyed gals!

Originally, this was going to be more of a gradation, but it seems putting the golden-bronze base sort of evened everything out and made it a subtle orange fade. Still nice, but not what I had planned. A happy accident. :)

You need:

• A bronze eyeshadow base (optional) (I used MAC Indianwood Paint Pot)
• MAC Melon Pigment
• A midtone orange pigment or eyeshadow (I used MAC Off The Radar Pigment)
• A dark orangey-copper pigment or shadow (I used MAC Coppering eyeshadow)
• A soft peach shadow (or gold or beige) (I used MAC Jest eyeshadow)
• Black eyeliner
• Mascara
• Foundation etc
• An orangey pink lipgloss (I made mine -stay tuned!)

Steps:

• Apply your base to the lid and crease. Pat the edges with your fingers to blend it into the skin. Optionally, simply apply the next step with a dampened brush or put the shadows over your base of choice.
• Using a fluffy brush, sweep Melon on the crease and slightly above.
• Pat a medium orange shadow or pigment onto the lid.
• Using a pencil brush or small eyeshadow brush, apply a darker copper shade to the outer "v" of the lid and under the lower lashline. If you need more intensity, dampen your brush first.
• Line the top lashline with black liner.
• Press the soft peach shadow into the area around the tearduct and blend it onto the browbone.
• Apply mascara.
• I also used Melon on my cheeks to highlight! I love that look.

 

 

BPALers (or the BPAL-curious): Enter my "Show Me Your Stash Contest" and win Halloweenies!

Are you a Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab fan? Or are you curious about The Lab? Well, I'm running a little contest in which I'm asking people to show me how they store their cosmetics, makeup, nail polishes... and now BPAL.

Send me pictures of how you store your BPAL or your other fragrances. Email them to jen[@]beautyschoolblog[.]net. This is a separate prize, so even if you've entered the other contest, it's still ok to enter this one...but with different pictures!

PS: Just as with the other contest, if you post about this contest on Twitter (#BSBBPAL) or Facebook or your blog (for the later, leave me a comment below) you get a second entry!

PPS: One winner gets all three bottles.

PPPS: It's ok if your "stash" consists of one bottle of Britney Spears' perfume. I won't judge you. :D

SUGAR SKULL 2010
Vibrant with the joy and sweetness of life in death! A blend of five sugars, lightly dusted with candied fruits.

PUMPKIN LATTE
Espresso, pumpkin syrup, smoky vanilla bean, milk, raw sugar, and a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg.

BLUE PUMPKIN FLOSS
Puffy clouds of pumpkin candyfloss with a trickle of blackberry juice.

The Nail Ninja: Jessica's Victorian Crush + CND Copper Shimmer

Yesterday, The Nail Ninja showed you Jessica's Victorian Crush nail polish. Well, even though she didn't want to take it off she needed to. There were more polishes to swatch. A package in the mail added to the swatch pile. In it: CND Copper Shimmer top coat from their Colour + Effects line of polishes. (Plus a few other things --- stay tuned!)

So naturally The Ninja swatched the Effect over her Jessica mani.

It gave a neat orange-y tinted overlay that just whispers "Fall!"  Gorgeous. A can't-take-my-eyes-off-of-it mani.

Take a look at Victorian Crush + Copper Shimmer:

 

This combo will be swatched again once the sun comes out.

 

PS: Baby Ninja had to get in the picture! The light is terrible because of the rain, so swatching was at the window. Baby Ninja thought The Ninja was looking out at something and had to be a nosey-pants.

_{This product was furnished for consideration by the manufacturer or a representative thereof. Please read our review policy on our About tab for more information.}

Grab a few of these before the cool weather sets in! Carmex Moisture Plus now comes with a hint of color!

I guess it's the weather changing here in the East, but I have noticed that my lips are starting to get a bit dry. Not cool, because I love the Fall  in part for the gorgeous lipsticks! Plus, now that Ara is back in school we've already had a cold go through Meade Manse. Twice. More chapped lips.

I am addicted (ADDICTED) to Carmex Moisture Plus (see my previous review), which is a lovely little moisturizer with that familiar Carmex tingle. The sheen it leaves on the lips is so nice, too...

I used to think about how nice it would be if it had just a touch of tint.

Carmex must be bugging my mind, because guess what they just introduced? Yup. You got it: Carmex Moisture Plus Peach Tint and Pink Tint.

If you're like me, then you're thinking "Sure, I bet it's a weird orangey color and a strange, non-wearable pink." You're a little pessimist, aren't you, you silly thing?!

Take a look at the swatches below. The shades are sheer, pretty, and have just a hint of tint that keeps you looking pretty. They'll work on any skintone, I wager.

Look for them in your drugstores now, and stock up. They're Carmex's first color products, and I'd say they hit the ball out of the park!

PS: They have an SPF of 15, so put them on all of the time and especially before sun exposure.

These puppies aren't going to leave my purse all Fall and Winter!

 

 

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_{This product was furnished for consideration by the manufacturer or a representative thereof. Please read our review policy on our About tab for more information.}

Clarins - Rouge Prodige True Colour Hold & Shine lipstick in Mandarin

So, yesterday I swatched and reviewed a handful of the new Rouge Prodige lipsticks from Clarins. Today, I want to show you a swatch of Mandarin, a glorious orange.

Gotta say, I probably won't wear this often because of my skin tone, but it looked pretty cool so I may eat my own words. I was surprised that it didn't make my teeth look uber-yellow, which is good. Many oranges do.

I will definitely put this in my kit and it's going to come in handy. It's a ridiculously pretty shade of orange, one of my favorite colors. Definitely a full-on orange. As long as we're clear here: it's very orange. ;)

 

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Who might like it:
Bold lipstick lovers, people who adore MAC's Morange lipstick, darker complected women, people who want to rock 2010's orange lipstick trend (yes, it's a real thing).

Who might not like it:
Neutral-lovers, people afraid of orange, those with uber-pink skin, the timid, and folks with really non-white teeth.

 

 

_{This product was furnished for consideration by the manufacturer or a representative thereof. Please read our review policy on our About tab for more information.}

Five Days, Five Ways: MAC Melon Pigment - Bronzed Melon

 

Love this look! As part of the Five Days, Five Ways for this week, I've done up some gorgeous "Bronzed Melon" eyes. And don't you love that lip? It's all as easy as can be. Details, instructions, and product suggestions are after the jump.

Have you shared your stash?

Don't forget to send me a picture of your makeup stash, whether it's a big one or only one lipstick.

Contest prizes include two great makeup books, goodies from China Glaze and Seche, some lovely lashes and Duo Lash Glue, pretties from Three Custom Color, MAC Parrot and MAC Russian Red lipstick, smell-good lotions, and a few other great things. Oh, I'm also supposed to be getting some goodies from Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab - not sure exactly what, yet, but it's in the prize!

Don't forget, if you can get some extra chances to win by Tweeting or otherwise sharing info on the contest.

Go here for more details. Now!

New and Awesome: Clarins - Rouge Prodige True Colour Hold & Shine Lipstick (picture heavy)

I have long adored Clarins skincare, but their color products were, oddly, not something I'd tried! Color me impressed with their new lipstick formula, which I just got a chance to sample.

About Rouge Prodige True Colour Hold & Shine Lipstick

Based on the premise that lipstick is supposed to be shiny and colorful and stay that way, Rouge Prodige is being referred to as a "high performance formula". The next priority for making the product: comfort. This is not your typical drying lipstick. And to that, I say "yay, finally!"

The high notes:

• Long-lasting and color intense thanks to High Fidelity Pearl (a polymer)
• Enhanced shine thanks to vegetail oils that leave a transparent film on the lip to keep the color where you put it, and shiny
• A "lip-perfecting base" containing brittany algae extract (moisturizing and soothing) and ceramides and waxes (smooth the lips and prevent dehydration)

This new formula comes in 16 shades, of which I got to test 5 (in bold below). Here's the list:

• Pinks and Plums: Lilac Pink, Rosewood, Litchi, Raspberry Sorbet, Pretty Plum, Mystic Plum, Blackberry
• Corals and Reds: Coral Tulip, Sunset, Clementine (swatch), Fusion red, Red Prodige
• Beiges and Browns: Nude, Redwood, Copper Brown, Dark Chocolate

Each lipstick will set you back $24, but it's worth it. 

Packaging
Did I mention that each lippie comes in a beautiful gold(-like) case. It's square with beveled edges. I love that the part that holds the lipstick says "Clarins". On the depression on one side is a charming little "C". Inside the case? Clasic Clarins red. There's also a depression along one of the outside edges, one presumes as a place to rest the finger when opening the case. 

The lipstick bullet itself isn't your typical shape, which might be off-putting to traditionalists. It's round, with a slight bevel. The lipstick opens easily, and rolls up and down smoothly.

Application
When applied, these lipsticks are fairly glossy and fall about halfway between sheer and full-coverage (medium, then, right?).  They're comfortable on the lips: medium weight, not slick or tacky, breathable. I wore these and they didn't slide into lip lines. (Not like I have any.) (OK. I do.) They also left a gentle stain on the lips once they wore off (about 6 hours later). In fact, click on the last picture in the slideshow below* and you'll see what happened after I scrubbed my swatches off. As in, scrubbed with a papertowel and dish washing detergent. I think it's going to stand up to your bottled water and coffee!

_{*That picture also has my assistant, Pippa, making an appearance in the bottom left corner.}

Final Thoughts
I am in love with this lipstick formula. I plan on getting a few more of these as soon as cash permits. It's not drying on the lips, which is great. It's not particularly hydrating, though, so don't mistake it for a lip balm. The color is just on the glossy side of satin, but not terribly shiny. The color wears and wears, which I love. They are pigment-rich and slightly buildable, and don't slide all around the lips. In all, a great product.

Who might like it:
Women who enjoy a pigmented lipstick, those who want a product that lasts without drying the lips, those concerned with lipstick migration, Clarins fans.

Who might not like it:
Budget shoppers, those who prefer a highly moisturizing lipstick.

Take a look...
PS: I'll be showing you lip swatches over the course of this week. Stay tuned!

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Have you tried Clarins Lip Prodige True Colour Hold & Shine Lipstick, yet? Will you give it a shot? What's your favorite lipstick? Do you prefer gloss?

_{These lipsticks were provided for consideration.
My review policy can be found on my About tab at the top of the page.}

The Nail Ninja: Jessica Cosmetics - Victorian Crush nail polish (pictures, swatches, review)

Wow. Beauty is indeed where you find it (and not always where you expect it)! The Nail Ninja is pleased to introduce you to another (surprisingly) pretty polish from Jessica Cosmetics' Fall '10 collection, Muse. Let's just say The Ninja wasn't exactly looking forward to this color...

Earlier today, The Ninja showed you how to rock the ladylike trend for Fall with Scarlet. While you're placing that order, toss Victorian Crush into your shopping cart so you can bust out the military trend, too.

Application wasn't quite as smooth for Victorian Crush (as compared to Scarlet). It was a little thick and sticky. However, it should be noted that The Ninja was applying this polish outside in high humidity. That's probably why it was gloppy, but keep some thinner around just in case.

One coat was probably opaque, but since the application was weird, what you're seeing is two fairly thick coats.

Wear is pretty much the same, though, which is to say somewhere above average and hovering around "good".

The color is olive. It's an olive cream, in fact. Some might call it "khaki". The Ninja would not. In the bottle it was a threatening shade of yellow-green, but on the nail it's much more attractive. The green has enough yellow to be considered olive, but not enough to resemble something in Baby Ninja's diaper. And it even looks pretty good on cool-toned ninja skin. This color will get lots of wear this Fall!

The finish is nice. Swatches are with Poshe topcoat, though. The Ninja will probably have to try a matte topcoat over this to see if it's extra rad that way!

Where Scarlet stood up and made you take notice, Victorian Crush speaks quietly but confidently. Perfect for wearing on ninja missions.

Here are the pics:

 

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Only three more colors left for The Ninja to swatch from this collection. Coming up: a gregie/mushroom, a blue, and a mustard yellow.

You may want to request that The Ninja's send you copies of her posts so you don't miss anything! Don't worry - she'll keep your info private. She's a ninja!

The Nail Ninja: Jessica Cosmetics- Scarlet nail polish from their Muse collection (swatches, pictures, review)

Why are so many bloggers and nail polish collectors not a fan of red nail lacquers?

Don't look at The Ninja, she's got no idea why. That's why she's asking you!

Here's a red polish that's hard to resist. It's Scarlet, from the Muse collection by Jessica Cosmetics. Sure, The Ninja thought it was just another red... but when she slicked it on, she fell in love.

Two coats to opacity; smooth application (no drag, no pooling, no brush strokes or uneven appearance); great wear (four days and counting with only tip wear); and a crystal clear, shiningly bright cherry red creamy appearance that's simply beautiful.

Take a look...

 

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Final thoughts:
If you're looking for a classic red cream polish that's perfect for holiday manis, retro looks, or any time you want to be sophisticated and classy, then Jessica's Scarlet is for you. It's highly recommended by The Ninja for all skin tones, but especially cool-toned fair-skinned beauties!

There are six shades in the Muse collection. The Ninja only got 5 of the 6 to review (weird!). Sadly, she won't be reviewing Crimson Reflections, the other red. That's the one that was missing. Stay tuned for the others, though, and they're all quirky colors, so if you're a red hater you'll want to check it out. ;)

xoxo

The Nail Ninja

 

How do you feel about red polishes? Are you a lover or a hater? What's your favorite red? What's your favorite polish color?

Five Days, Five Ways: MAC Melon Pigment - Melon Mushroom

 Hi, beauties!

Here's Day 1, Way 1 for our pretty peach Pigment from MAC: Melon. Read the rest of the days & ways by visiting the hub post, here.



MAC Melon +  MAC Subtle Pigment = Melon Mushroom

Clever name for a look? Maybe not, but the color combo is genius! Golden cantelope meets glowing taupe.

Perfect for: Cool, fair complexions (like mine!); blue eyed beauties; almost any fair-to-medium complexion and many darker tones. I see no reason to limit this to a particular age group, though very crepey eyes will show their lines with all of the shimmer (but who cares?!).

Wear it: Just about anywhere. The peach isn't screaming "ORANGE" so she's not too bright to pull off in quieter arenas. The taupe does a good job of grounding her to keep her from looking too young or silly.

Take a look at how they swatch. The inner swatches were applied dry and the outer two were applied iwth a dampened brush.

There's more on the next page, so keep reading!

Five Days, Five Ways: MAC Melon Pigment

Beauties,

Are you having a good Monday? I know, I know. "Good Monday" is an oxymoron. And to add insult to injury, it's even raining where I am. Well, at least the weekend was good! We went antiquing on Saturday and just had a cozy day yesterday. What did you do?

To cheer us up from the Monday thing, I'm introducing a new BSB feature called Five Days, Five Ways. It's going to run pediodically and give us a chance to look at one product used a few different ways. I am going to keep this to permanent products, rather than Limited Edition items (at least, I am most of the time). I thought that way we can have more of a chance to all play together!

Please let me know how you'd use the Five Days, Five Ways products when you see this feature. You're always welcome to submit your own looks, comments, or thoughts!

Without further ado...

 

 

 

MAC Melon Pigment

This Pigment is one of my favorites. In fact, it's on of my favorite products in the whole wide world.  :)  Since it's being repromoted in this week's Venomous Villains collection (it's part of the Dr. Facilier portion of the set), I thought it was place to start our Five Days, Five Ways series. Plus, if you buy it as part of the Villains collection, you get special packaging. Cool!

Pigments, for those of you not familiar with the product, are loose color powders that can be used in an astounding number of ways. Other companies make similar loose powder products, but the MAC brand calls theirs "Pigments". They're quite, well, pigmented. You can apply them to skin, hair, lips, mix them in lotion, make them into nail polishes, or a few other things. Of course, not all are eye-safe or lip-safe, so be sure to check the recommendations on the item before you get too creative!

Melon is a soft orange shade that makes me think of cantelope. MAC describes it as "bright golden peach". Below are some pictures and swatches of my Melon pigment, which is in the older style of packaging. The new jar is a bit more narrow and tall.

Stay tuned for the first look I came up with for Melon. It's on its way, soon. I'll link all of the Five Days, Five Ways for Melon to this post as they publish, so you may want to bookmark this if you're curious about this awesome Pigment!

1. Melon Mushroom
2. Melon Sunrise
3. Melon nails
4. Melon Sunset
5. Bronzed Melon

Do you have Melon Pigment? Like it? Love it? Hate it? How do you like to wear it, or what would you pair with it?
Do you use loose pigment products, or prefer the pressed?

Have you taken pictures of your stash yet? Contest prize partially revealed...

Look at part of the grand prize for our Show Us Your Stash contest:


If you're a nail fiend (or wanna be) you want to enter this contest! Don't forget, you can also enter simply by helping us spread the word! See the original contest link for details.

And even if your stash is only two lipsticks, you still qualify and could win! So start snapping those pics and send them in!

Why I, a makeup artist and beauty blogger, think you should NOT wear makeup.

Yup. You heard me. I think you should skip the makeup. OK, sure, I'm sleep-deprived at the moment, but it's not the exhaustion talking.

I've had a long relationship with makeup. As a product of the Catholic school system, wearing makeup to school was not an option. In college, I don't think I really wore it either, thanks to The Age of Grunge. It didn't really work with my on-campus uniform of oversized t-shirt, flannels, and holey jeans. The last two years of highschool and the first summer of college, though, I worked at a now defunct Ulta-style chain called Cosmetics Center, which is where my love of art, painting, and color collided with the realm of makeup. A few visits to NYC introduced me to Sephora, and I was hooked.

I encourage you to keep reading to see why I, someone who had a love of the stuff and who makes their money off of the cosmetics industry, would urge anyone to skip their makeup... 'cause frankly, that sounds more and more stupid the more I write it!

 

The Nail Ninja is perfectly pleased with Perfect Formula!

Actually, that headline is a lie.

The Ninja is more than perfectly pleased with Perfect Formula. She's ecstatic! Could you tell by the ginormous image? lol

Listen, the truth of the matter is that nail care isn't sexy. It's necessary. It's helpful. It can even be lifchanging. But it's not sexy. Maybe that's why this review is frightfully overdue... (apologies to Perfect Formula for not posting this months ago when The Ninja first cracked the bottles open). It's so much fun to dip into a new polish color or try a new nail art technique, isn't it? But if your nails are in poor condition what good are those things?

The Ninjas strongly suggests you keep reading if you have weak, brittle, peeling or splitting nails. Or if you love your nails. Or if you want to see how the Nail Ninja made nail care sexy.

Book Report: Style Eyes by Taylor Chang-Babaian | A book about eye makeup!

Do you need a new source of inspiration? A few tips to help you find the right eye makeup look? Pointers on how to concoct the perfect combination of products? Yes, you can get all of that here.

But you can also get it from makeup artist Taylor Chang-Babaian's new book, Style Eyes*.

When I first started flipping through this book, I admit I had low expectations. I have seen too many books that either don't explain the steps or show such basic info that I'm bored. This book had neither of those problems.

 

  Chock-full of helpful tips for every age, race, and eye shape, this book is a winner. Chang-Babaian is a reknowned makeup artist, having worked on celebs, in print, film, and tv and appearing on FOX, CBS Early Show, Dr Phil, and Extra. She's also a writer; you may have read her work in Town & Country, InStyle, Glamour, and Real Simple, or picked up her other book, Asian Faces: The Essential Beauty and Makeup Guide for Asian Women*.

Her tips are succinct, straight-forward, and well-explained. It's nice to see a book that's easy to understand, even for beginners, and to see "functional" pics -as opposed to simply being eye candy. Don't worry, there's still some eye candy in the book, too!

You can get  Style Eyes*  at Amazon for only $12.21 at the moment, though the suggested retail price is $17.95. It' well worth every penny for beginners and for those who want to expand their understanding of eye makeup.

See some pictures I took of the book, after the jump!

The Nail Ninja: Quick Fail Nail plus The Ninja makes a friend! (Zoya Anaka + OPI Mad as a Hatter)

This post title is, in part, a nod to MizzChievous, who posted about "Fall Nails" earlier today. Sadly, to The Ninja's eyes (and several others, according to the FB comments) it said "Fail Nails".

While this mani of The Ninja's isn't a Fall deal, it's surely a Fail. Well, at least the pictures were...

 

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What you see was an attempt to cheer up using one of The Ninja's absolute favorite nail polishes of all times: Zoya Anaka (previously reviewed here). This happy raspberry is sunshine in a bottle (only... not yellow. or hot. well...whatever!).

The Ninja wanted to add another favorite into the mix: OPI Mad as a Hatter. She's sure most of you are familiar with it, but for those who aren't (hi, Mom & Dad!), it's a mardi gras-colored glitter bomb.

So, The Ninja debated whether or not to do an accent nail with MaaH or do French tips* with it. The latter won the dubious honors.

Aside from the craptastic lighting, it certainly did what it was intended to do: looked cheery. The execution wasn't great, because The Ninja had never done this with MaaH before and had trouble finding the right balance with it on just the tips.

What do you think?

 

PS: Here's the "made a friend" part of the story...

 

Dropping off Little Ninja at school, this little fella was spotted nursing a wounded wing in the parking lot. He recovered on The Ninja's hand, then was placed on a bush. Then he immediately took off, a little wobbly but not too much the worse for wear, towards the back of a field.

  _{*With apologies to classic and classy French women who, The Ninja is certain, would sooner do this manicure than jump off of the Eiffel Tower.}

BSB Contest: How do you organize your stash?

Do you have pretty jars of brushes? Drawers full of products organized by brand? Maybe you prefer to order by color? Maybe it's all in baskets, or boxes, or tossed on the floor?

Send me pictures
of your stash.
One of you will be
selected to win a
GRAND PRIZE!
Someone else can win a secondary prize
(see below for details).

I have a completely ambiguous method of selecting the winner, which will involve me being amused, impressed, jealous, or disgusted by your stash. I figure when I see the winner, I'll know it! This means anyone has a chance to win!

Your stash doesn't have to be big or stuffed in a Helmer to qualify for this contest. All you have to do is take pictures of your stash and email them to me at jen[@]beautyschoolblog[.]net (take out those brackets if you're not a bot!) .

_{Everyone's pictures will be posted, so submission means you've agreed to that little fact. Tell me how you want your submission credited (by name, by your blog name, whatever!).}

Contest deadline: Tuesday, October 5th at midnight EST.
Prize winner will be notified by email and, once confirmed, announced on this site. All pictures plus the identity of the winner will be posted on October 15th.

PS: Get an extra entry for a smaller prize by tweeting or posting this on Facebook on writing it up on your blog (one entry per method). If you've done that, post a comment to let me know your method (include a link to your Facebook page or blog).
For Twitter or Facebook, post this:

RT @jen_meade How do you organize your makeup stash? Enter it to win: http://ow.ly/2GTqV #bsbstash

 

What's the prize?

The prize will include -but not be limited to- goodies from these brands: China Glaze & Seche (see here), Three Custom Color (this shade), and more. Plus, you'll get a copy of Taylor Chang-Babaian's book, Style Eyes, (<--the baby spilled a whole soda on it, sorry!)  Lauren Luke's book, Lauren Luke Looks: 25 Celebrity and Everyday Makeup Looks.

Tweeter/Facebook/Blogger prize will be MAC Parrot and Russian Red Lipstick with a few other goodies tossed in.

BPAL prize for fragrance strorage is three Halloweenies. See this post for details.

 

REMEMBER: I don't care if your "stash" is only one item.
Send in a picture for a chance to win!

The Nail Ninja says: Green nail polish lovers, rejoice! Ginger + Liz made Blowin' Money Fast just for you! (swatches, pictures, review)

The Ninja will start with a pictures because they're worth more than a lot of cheap talk.

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The review is after the jump.

One of my favorite (easy!) eye makeup looks - a brown and smokey eye!

Are you looking for a fairly easy, go-to, wearable smoky eye look?

Who isn't?!

This is one of my favorites, and it can be worn by women with any skintone with only a few adaptations.

If you're interested in learning how to do this look, keep reading!

PS: You know how people play that "if you could only have one ________ for the rest of your life what would it be?" game? Well, if I could only pick one look for the rest of my life, it would be some sort of variation of this one. That's how wearable it is!