It's no secret that one of my favorite things to do is play around with my makeup. Lately I've just been feeling like I'm stuck in a rut, so I took advantage of a free afternoon last Friday to just get myself totally out of my comfort zone. Usually my makeup looks are quite minimal day to day, simply because I like sleep far too much to give myself enough time to put together a full makeup look. I recently discovered the Batalash Beauty YouTube channel, which has quickly become one of my favorites, and I had just been aching to try out something more dramatic on myself. I decided to follow along with the Moody Plum Halo Eye tutorial, and while my look didn't come out nearly as majestic as Sam's, I was quite pleased with it.
I always go for very light coverage for day to day, but since I knew I was going to do something more dramatic with my eyes I started with a layer on the NARS Sheer Glow Foundation. This is my absolute favorite foundation, even though I don't wear it too often. It's just a great failsafe option that I know will always look good on my skin. I added the subtlest of contours using the Fawn shade from the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit, just because I haven't contoured all summer and didn't want it to look bad. I kept my cheeks natural with a soft dusting of the Tarte Amazonian Clay 12-Hour Blush in Exposed (which didn't really translate in the pictures), since I was already quite rosy from the hot car ride home from work. I of course had to pile on more highlight than I already had on from the day, and I grabbed the Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Champagne Pop for that. I've been using most of my Colourpop liquid lipsticks quite often, but the Ultra Matte Lip in Tulle hadn't been getting much love since it's such a bold color. I thought that was a good excuse to paint that on, even if it could end up clashing with the eyes.
1- in and above the crease, 2- mixed and put on inner & outer thirds, 3- mixed to deepen inner & outer thirds, 4- patted in the center
For the brows, I of course used my usual Anastasia Dipbrow Pomade in Medium Brown, which I just kept how I had applied it that morning for work. I was looking through my collection for similar colors to what was used in the tutorial, and I ended up dusting off my Urban Decay Vice3 Palette for its pink/purple/burgundy shades. I started the eye look with a base layer of the Kiko Long Lasting Stick Eyeshadow in 05 Rosy Brown (which I had also worn to work that day) and softly blended a bit of Alien, a pink shade, into and above the crease. Following the tutorial, I took a mix of Alchemy, a bright burgundy, and Angel, a taupe shade, and patted them on the inner and outer thirds of the eyes with a shader brush. I blended out the edges but tried not to get much of these darker colors on that middle third of my eyelid. I next took a mix of Bondage, a deep burgundy, and Defy, a dark brown, and patted it again on the inner and outer thirds of my eyelids to deepen that shading. I again carefully blended these colors out. I then patted a bit of Last Sin, a shimmery champagne shade, on that middle third. I ended up wanting something a little more intense and bright so I patted on some of the Stila Eyeshadow in Kitten with my finger on top of Last Sin. Under my eyes, I applied a quick line of the Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in Purple and blended it out with a mix of Angel and Defy, just to smoke out the line. This was very strange to me, because I usually leave my lower lashline totally bare. I finished off the eyes by tightlining my upper and lower waterlines with the Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Perversion (from Naked2 Double-ended pencil), applying layers and layers of the Maybelline Lash Sensational Waterproof Mascara, and adding an inner corner highlight of more Stila Kitten.
I was surprisingly such a fan of this look. It was so different from what I usually wear, and despite it coming out a little wonky I felt really good about it. I loved how much bigger and brighter my eyes looked with that shadow underneath them - in fact, I've been making sure I smudge a little eyeshadow or liner under my lower lashes every day since. I think I might make it my little Friday ritual to try new things before I wash my makeup off for the night, just to practice. I'm glad it also encouraged me to finally pick up my Vice 3 Palette and use it again (she doesn't use this in the video but uses similar colors), because I forgot how much I loved it. I've really got my eyes on those blue and green shades for my next experiment.
What's your favorite way to get out of your makeup comfort zone?