This tutorial shows you how you can enhance your green eyes. To make your green eyes pop, you dress them with colours that contrast with green. These are always colours that lie on the opposite side if the colour wheel from green. Have a read of our recent tutorial introducing the colour wheel. This tutorial will give you a bit of background on colour theory, and how this can be applied to your make up application.

Although the colours in this tutorial work especially well with green eyes, they can in fact be used with any eye colour. The theory is around choosing colours which compliment other colours. You may be wearing green clothing, and want an eye shadow to contrast with this colour. Either way, colour theory works the same. Below are some suggestions of colours to contrast with your green eyes (or your green clothing). Enjoy!

Try these shades (hover over the image to identify brand and shade. Click on the image to visit the product page):

Base Colour:
Outer Half Lid:		Crease Colour:
Crease Colour (also pull down under lower lid):		Lower Lid Colour:

Also try:

Upper Lash Line/ Lower Water Line	Inner Corner Highlight	Inner Corner Highlight	Upper Lash Line/ Lower Water Line

Note: This tutorial would look great with Coastal Scents Gel Liner in Envious along the water line. Envious will be hitting shelves during September. Keep an eye out for when it arrives. We will let you know immediately on Facebook!

This tutorial shows you how you can enhance your brown eyes. To make your brown eyes pop, you dress them with colours that contrast with brown. These are always colours that lie on the opposite side if the colour wheel from brown. Have a read of our recent tutorial introducing the colour wheel. This tutorial will give you a bit of background on colour theory, and how this can be applied to your make up application.

Although the colours in this tutorial work especially well with brown eyes, they can in fact be used with any eye colour. The theory is around choosing colours which compliment other colours. You may be wearing brown, red or orange clothing, and want an eye shadow to contrast with these colours. Either way, colour theory works the same. Below are some suggestions of colours to contrast with your brown eyes (or brown/red/orange clothing). Enjoy!

Try these shades (hover over the image to identify brand and shade. Click on the image to visit the product page):

Base Colour:
Crease Colour:		Outer Half Lid:
Lower Lid Colour:		Crease Colour (also pull down under lower lid):

Also try:

Upper Lash Line/ Lower Water Line	Inner Corner Highlight	Inner Corner Highlight	Upper Lash Line/ Lower Water Line

This tutorial shows you how you can enhance your blue eyes. To make your blue eyes pop, you dress them with colours that contrast with blue. These are always colours that lie on the opposite side if the colour wheel from blue. Have a read of our recent tutorial introducing the colour wheel. This tutorial will give you a bit of background on colour theory, and how this can be applied to your make up application.

Although the colours in this tutorial work especially well with blue eyes, they can in fact be used with any eye colour. The theory is around choosing colours which compliment other colours. You may wearing blue or violet clothing, and want an eye shadow to contrast with these colours. Either way, colour theory works the same. Below are some suggestions of colours to contrast with your blue eyes (or blue/violet clothing). Enjoy!

Try these shades (hover over the image to identify brand and shade. Click on the image to visit the product page):

Base Colour:
Outer Half Lid:
Crease Colour (also pull this colour down under the lower lid):

Also try:

Upper Lash Line/Lower Water Line		Inner Corner Highlight

If you are new to makeup application, or if you are just looking for new ideas and ways to be creative, start using the colour wheel when selecting which eye shadow shades to apply. Colour wheels come in many shapes and forms but this is the one we find most useful. You could search the web for others if this one doesn’t suit you:

If you have access to a colour printer, we suggest you print a colour wheel out so you can keep it in your make up kit. It’s useful when trying to choose colours which compliment or contrast with your clothing, as well as your eyes.

Basic colour theory

First, lets cover off the basics of colour theory in a nutshell:
- Primary colours are colours which can’t be created from other colours. These are yellow, red and blue
- Secondary colours are created when you mix two primary colours together. These are orange, violet and green
- Tertiary colours are created when you mix a primary colour with the secondary colour next to it on the colour wheel. These are yellow-orange, red-orange, red-violet, blue-violet, blue green and yellow-green.

On the colour wheel above, you have lighter and darker variations of each colour. This is called the tint (adding white) and shade (adding black).

Complimentary colours are those on the opposite side of the colour wheel. For example, green and red, blue and orange, yellow and violet. When these colours are placed next to each other, together they intensify both colours.

How this applies to make up application

The important thing to remember is that you really can wear any eye shadow colours you want. The point of applying colour theory, is to make your eye colour stand out. At the end of the day, we want our eyes to be the focus, not necessarily our eye shadow. You will know that sometimes when you wear a certain colour, people mention how it brings out the colour in your eyes. This is because you are wearing a colour which compliments them (or, a complimentary colour). This is called colour theory and it’s used to enhance colours. In this example we are applying it to our eyes, and we are using our eye make up as our tool.

So, if you have blue eyes and wear colours in the orange, gold, brown family, they will make your eyes look more blue. If you have blue eyes, and you wear blue eye shadow, it is not wrong, it simply won’t have the ‘popping’ effect that you would get if you used a complimentary colour. Similar colours to your eye colour will make your eyes fade out. If you have green eyes, your complimentary colour is red, so tints and shades of red (including pinks and burgandys) will make your green eyes stand out. There are a number of different shades of brown eyes. Those with warm browns, generally have complimentary colours of greens and blues. Have a play around with these colours to see which works best for you. Dark brown/almost black eyes, work well with pretty much every colour – lucky you! Hazel eyes can be fun as they are generally made up of flecks of brown, gold and green.  Wearing red toned eye shadows will make the green stand out. Wearing purple toned eye shadows will make the gold stand out, wearing blue toned eye shadows will make the brown stand out. Again, have a play around with these colours to see which looks you prefer.

True complimentary colours should be used as a guide only. In fact, you can choose any colours in the opposite half of the colour wheel, the intensity just won’t be as strong as with the true complimentary colour. Play with tints and shades of complimentary colours, to find which ones work the best with your eyes. But remember to choose appropriately for the occasion. Whether you are aiming for a wearable look, or something a bit more dramatic, we have some suggestions below.

After you have selected the complimentary colour you want to use, select colours that sit next to this colour on the colour wheel (up and down, or side to side). These will provide you with good colour matches for blending (lighter colours in the inner corner of your eye, blending to darker colours in the outer corner). For a bit more of a dramatic look, try selecting colours two positions away from your complimentary colour (side to side) on the colour wheel. Or try adding one of these colours as eye liner on your upper lid, close to the lash line. For example, for brown eyes try shades of light green blending to darker green in the outer corners. Add a line of light blue or light violet to the upper lash line.

Clothing

To add even more complexity, consider your clothing colour in your colour selections. Try to keep eye colour and clothing in the same colour family (for example, for brown eyes try different tints and shades of green for your clothing and eye shadow). If you are really trying to make a statement with your eye shadow, you could intentially choose to wear clothing in the same colour as your eyes, to compliment your eye shadow instead. The simple option is to wear black! But it’s always nice to team black with a splash of colour. This will work well if you match this splash of colour to your eye shadow colour.

Blue, brown and green eye tutorials

For more information, and to get some ideas on how to create eye shadow looks which compliment your eye colours, have a look at our upcoming blogs specific to blue, brown and green eyes.

We love MissChievous’ s eyes! Learn how she gets them looking this great!

What you will need:
- An eye brow pencil or eye liner pencil in a colour slightly darker than your natural eye brow colour
- Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Brow Tint in a colour similar to your natural eye brow colour
- Apply your eye brow tint with a Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush

One of the best kept secrets to perfect eye shadow, is the use of a brow highlight. Brow highlight can be used:

• To lighten your brow bone making your eyes appear bigger.
• To diffuse and soften the edges of your eye shadow out into your natural skin colour.
• As an eraser or blur tool, to hide mistakes.

Your choice of highlight colour and texture is completely up to you, but here are some simple guidelines:

• When going for a skin-toned colour, choose a colour that matches your natural skin colour, or a bit lighter.
• In the evenings you may want to try pearl or iridescent highlight colours. These are white based, but may have a slight pink, apricot or golden hue. Select a hue that matches your skin tone. If you have yellow undertones, pick a highlight with a golden hue such as OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Lustre. If you have pink undertones, pick a highlight with a pink hue such as OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Platonic. If you have warm undertones, pick a highlight with an apricot hue such as OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Titania. Alternatively you could select a pearl eye shadow with a silver hue such as FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Sea Salt. For a straight white highlight, try FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Snow Cone.
• If you have any texture on your brow area, choose a matte eye shadow with minimal shimmer. The shimmer can sometimes draw the eye to imperfections.

The following products can be used as highlight shades:

• Mineral foundation powder such as Heavenly Naturals Pure Mineral Foundation, in a colour that matches your skin tone or one a shade lighter. These will generally be matte textures.
• A purpose-made highlight eye shadow such as FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Skinny Dipper. This has a very slight shimmer to it, which gives your eyes a natural lift. Alternatively select a pearl eye shadow highlight such as the range of OCC Loose Colour Concentrate highlight shades.
• A white cream eye shadow such as Heavenly Naturals Chubby Cream Eye Shadow in White.

When applying highlight, use the following brush types:

• For a powder highlight, apply with a loose, soft brush such as the Sigma SS275 Medium Angled Shading Brush.
• When using a cream eye shadow, apply roughly to the brow area, then blend into your skin and the edges of your eye shadow with a concealer brush such as a Sigma SS194 Concealer Brush

It is difficult to explain the true concept of brow highlighting, and there are not a lot of videos available on this. The best way to see the benefits, is to try it out. And practise until you get it right.

Start with application of your eye shadow primer. Follow your usual makeup routine, applying your base colour and a crease colour to add attractive shadow to your eyes. You may notice the edges are not even, and that there is a distinct line between your eye shadow and your skin:

Using the appropriate brush, apply your highlight colour directly under the eyebrow in a sweeping motion. Make sure you blend this well into the edges of your eye shadow. You will notice immediately that the harsh lines are blended out, creating a clean gradient between you eye shadow and your skin.

The highlight colour can also be pulled down under your eyelid to soften harsh lines on your lower lid, or to clean up any mistakes.

Tips and Tricks:

• Look to extend the highlight application into the inner corner of the eye to open up the eye and give a more youthful and fresh appearance. This is particularly effective with pearl highlight shadows.
• When you first start out applying highlight, play around a bit until you get it just right.
• For more on highlighting and contouring of the whole face, check out our Coastal Scents Contour and Blush Palettes, and this great xSparkage video showing you how to use it!

If you have any other uses for your eye shadow primer, or any other hints and tips in it’s use, please let us know and we will spread the good word.

Here at EyeSpice we’re normally all about the eyes. But we can’t forget the lovely lips every now and then.  Lips can be dressed up or down depending on the occasion. We have a few simple rules that we like to adhere to. And we are happy to share our secrets with you!

We figure there are 3 main situations where lip colour should be considered:

1) When you dazzle up your eyes with a vibrant and eye catching look, you don’t want to draw the attention away from this. A nice nude lip compliments bright eye makeup perfectly. We recommend any of the Coastal Scents Smacks Lip Gloss shades. These just give you a tint of nice glossy colour, and can be applied easily with the included brush.

2) When you want to show off your lucious lips, but keep it simple around the eyes. This is when you really get to have fun with your lips! Obsessive Compulsive Lip Tar is perfect for dramatic lip looks. This can be applied directly from the tube, but if you are making a statement of your lips, do it properly and use a Sigma SS209 brush (these can also be used for eye liner). Line your lips first with the brush, and then fill them with colour. OCC Lip Tar is a relatively matte lip pigment, and very long lasting. A way to really vamp it up is to apply a coat of Coastal Scents Smacks Lip Gloss in Pucker on top of your matte shade. Pucker is completely clear, so it just adds high shine to your lips. You shouldn’t need to reapply your Lip Tar very often, but keep your Smacks Lip Gloss in your bag for reapplying as needed.

3) If you are just mooching around the house, or out to lunch with your friends, lip gloss is the perfect companion even if you don’t dress up your eyes. It takes seconds to apply, so keep it in your bag so your lips never have to go naked. Coastal Scents Smacks Lip Gloss gives you the perfect amount of shine, with a tint of colour. Obsessive Compulsive Lip Gloss gives a very faint tint of colour, which is so natural looking.

For those of you that are looking for something just a bit different, try this:

After applying OCC Lip Tar to your lips using a Sigma SS209 brush, take one of your powder eye pigments. Choose any colour as long as it has a lot of shimmer. Using your finger, dab a very small amount of shimmery pigment to the center of your upper and lower lip. To top the look off, add a coat of Coastal Scents Smacks Lip Gloss in Pucker on top. This seals the look and creates a really eye-catching, alternative lip. Bright red lips look great with a tinge of shimmery gold! Try out OCC Lip Tar in NSFW with Heavenly Naturals Eye Pigment in coutour.

Let us know what other combinations of colour you use. Email us on info@eyespice.co.nz

xSparkage shows us how to create personalised face charts in this tutorial. If you are feeling creative, these are great for trialling out particular make-up looks, before you take to your face. We all have different face shapes, and different features, so what works on one person, may not work on another. These face charts are great for those of us that have trouble visualising how a look might appear once applied to our own face.

Face charts are also great when you have created the perfect look, and want to remember what you did and how you did it. Simply fill out one of these charts, and file it away until next time you need it.

Step One: Take a photo of yourself with no makeup on, and your hair pulled back.

Step Two: Convert the photo to a pencil sketch using an online tool such as Dumpr. Save the image.

Step Three: If you can, use a photo manipulation computer application which will allow you to ‘erase’ some of the additional detail on the photo. You want as clean a sketch as possible. At a basic level, you could use the ‘Paint’ application that is installed on most Windows PC’s.

Step Four: Print the sketch out, and take to it with your coloured pencils and crayons!

Don’t you hate it when you are in the middle of creating a stunning look for your eyes…. and…. your eye shadow pigment falls all over your cheek bone! It is so tempting to wipe it away with your fingers, but when you do, a big, dark smudge appears across your face. You start rubbing it harder, and then your foundation and blush become patchy.

Fear no more, the solution is so simple.

An easy way to get rid of this pesky fall out, is to simply use your large powder brush. We use the Sigma SS150. Use it clean, or even with a small amount of your mineral powder foundation. Sweep your brush along your cheek bone gently. The fine bristles will pick up the fall out, and move it away, without leaving a line, or ruining the rest of you make up.

Or course, there are ways to avoid fall out in the first place:

• After dipping your brush into your eye pigment, tap off the excess into the lid of your eye shadow
• If you are constantly seeing fall out, try holding a tissue flat against your face under your lower lashes while you apply your eye shadow with your other hand
• A dusting of translucent powder (or your mineral powder foundation can be applied under the eye area before you start applying your eye shadow. When your eyes are done, brush away the excess powder with your large powder brush

Sigma SS150 Powder Brush

If you are just getting into the make up scene and don’t really know where to start, we have come up with a list of essentials, that will get you on your way to creating flawless beauty every day.

Essential # 1: A large powder brush for the application of mineral foundation and blush. We recommend the Sigma SS150 powder brush, but some people prefer a duo fiber brush such as the Sigma SS187.

Essential #2: An eye shadow brush for the application of both base and crease eye shadow colours. A set of eye shadow brushes is ideal, but to get your started we recommend a Sigma SS252 or SS239 brush which will both give you a lot of potential.

Essential #3:  Mineral Foundation. We recommend Heavenly Naturals Mineral Foundation. After washing your face, and applying your moisturiser and sun block, even out your skin tone with the application of some mineral foundation. Mineral make up is good for your skin, allows it to breath and contains natural sun protection. Using a small amount in the lid, swirl a large powder brush in the pigment to ensure it is evenly caught in the bristles. Apply using a 3 motion to the left side of your face, and an E motion to the right side of your face. This means starting at the middle of the forehead, moving the brush down past the side of your eye, up around the apple of your cheek, down past your jaw line to your chin. Do this on each side ensuring you cover your entire face.

Essential #4: Blush Powder. We recommend Face Front CheekUp mineral blush powder. It is amazing how a little bit of colour to your cheeks gives you such a radiant glow. Apply using your large powder brush, or duo fiber brush. Apply only a small amount of colour at a time, and build up to a darker shade if necessary. When you smile, the balls of your cheeks are where you want to apply the blush colour. Apply in a circular motion and then draw the brush up your cheekbones to ensure the colour is blended evenly.

Essential # 5: Two eye shadow colours (base and crease colour). We recommend Heavenly Naturals Eye Pigment, OCC Loose Colour Concentrate and FaceFront Paint Me Perfect Mineral Eye Pigments. You can create a stunning smoky eye look using just two eye shadow colours. Choose a mid-toned colour with a bit of shimmer for your base. Grey, silver and brown are very popular, but you can be more daring and choose a purple, blue or green shade. Apply this right across the eye lid using your eye shadow brush. Choose a darker colour for your crease. This can be matte or shimmer. Press the crease colour onto the outer corner of your eye lid, on top of your base colour. Using a sweeping motion, sweep the crease colour along your crease to blend nicely into the base colour. Blend the crease colour into the outer corner of your eye and up on your outer brow bone. Blend well to create a diffused look.

Essential #6: Mascara! Use a tried and tested brand, one that you are happy with.

That’s it! After you have purchased the essentials, and started experimenting with your products, you will quickly learn that there are no limits with good quality make up. You will be able to start experimenting with different coloured eye shadows, and create natural looking day time looks, and striking evening looks. Get started today and realise the limitless potential that is out there!

Clean brushes make such a big difference to how your make-up applies and the finished look. One of the most important aspects to any aspiring make-up artist, is to make sure you use clean brushes in your makeup application. Not only do the colours apply stronger, they create defined areas of colour which allow you to then blend together as the look requires.  If you find that the colours you are applying are blending together too much on your eyes, before you have a chance to blend them yourself, the chances are your brushes need a good clean.

Clean brushes always feel nicer on the skin too.

Clean Your brushes often!

The most important thing to remember when cleaning your brushes, is to make sure the bristles are always pointed down, so you don’t get water up under the metal rim. This can ruin your brushes.

The best way to clean eye shadow brushes, is to spot-clean them. Squeeze a drop of brush cleaner onto the bristles of your brush. Using an old towel, run the bristles back and forwards across the towel. You will see the old make-up coming off on the towel. Once clean, you can use them again strait away as they will only require a few moments of drying time!

You can buy a specialised brush cleaner from beauty supply shops, or you can make your own! Mix 1 glass of distilled water, with 2 teaspoons of rubbing alcohol (purchase from your local chemist), and 1 teaspoon of gentle baby shampoo. Pour into a user friendly plastic squeeze bottle for easy use.

If you don’t have any brush cleaner, you can also clean your eye shadow brushes as you would your face brushes (see below), however they will need to dry overnight.

The best way to clean bigger face brushes, is to clean them in the bathroom sink, with a small amount of gentle baby shampoo in the palm of your hand. Get the bristles wet first, then swirl the brush around in the palm of your hand. Rinse out, squeeze dry and then shape before laying them flat to dry overnight. Remember, hold the brush bristle-side down to make sure you don’t get water in the metal rim of the handle.

Use your Sigma SS266 brush with Heavenly Naturals Eye Brow Tint and Toner to create perfect eyebrows to frame your eyes. Sweep the pigment from the inner corner of your brow, to the outer corner. Make sure the eye brow is wider at the inner corner, tapering off to a fine line at the outer corner.

Fill in areas of your brows that might be a bit sparse of colour naturally. Select the best colour for you by matching it to your hair colour.

Use yourSigma SS187 or SS168 with FaceFront CheekUP blush powder to create a healthy glow to your skin. Sweep the pigment across your cheek bone from below the outer edge of your eye and almost up to your hair line horizontal to your eye.

The colour can be layered to achieve the desired look, so start off with just a little and build up to the depth you want.

Choose from pink or beige shades, depending on your skin colour and preference. Choose between shimmer for a fresh look, or matte for a more sophisticated look.