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!

Handy Hint – Eye Shadow for Green Eyes! is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

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

Handy Hint – Eye Shadow for Brown Eyes! is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

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

Handy Hint – Eye Shadow for Blue Eyes! is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

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.

Handy Hint – Makeup Colour Wheels is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

Nicki from Christchurch sent us this image, and we LOVE it! Congratulations Nicki, all the products listed on this page are on their way to you.

Create this look using EyeSpice Products

Face products you will need:
- Heavenly Naturals Pure Mineral Foundation in a shade suitable to your skin colour
- FaceFront CheekUP Blush Powder in Afundadoodle or a shade suitable to your skin colour
- OCC Lip Tar in Hush or Conquest

Eye products you will need:
- The base colour is FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Julie’s Revenge
- For the crease colour, use either FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Death By Rubies (for a darker crease), or OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Cherry Bomb (for the pink colour shown in the photo – but be very light-handed with this colour as it can be very intense)
- Also use OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Glisten
- For the inner corner highlight use OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Platonic
- We recommend using Heavenly Naturals Mix Drops with the inner corner highlight colour, but this is optional
- As an eye liner, use Coastal Scents Gel Liner in True Black

Brushes you will need:
- Sigma SS150 Large Powder Brush, or Sigma SS182 Buffer Brush
- Sigma SS239 Eye Shading Brush
- Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush
- Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush
- Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush or Sigma SS209 Eye Liner Brush
- Sigma SS187 Duo-Fibre Brush (optional)

Step One (Base): Apply Heavenly Naturals Pure Mineral Foundation with a Sigma SS150 Large Powder Brush, or Sigma SS182 Buffer Brush. As this look has a large amount of colour around the eyes, you want to make sure your skin is buffed to a very smooth finish to ensure any imperfections are well camouflaged. Buff in an egg beater like motion. Don’t be afraid of intense motion. The more you buff, the more luminous your face will appear, as buffing creates more even coverage.

Step Two (Eyes): As an optional step, apply your eye shadow base. We use FaceFront Survival Paint. Because the products used in this tutorial are so vibrant and long lasting, it is not imperitive that you use a base prior to applying.

Step Three (Eyes): Using your Sigma SS239 Eye Shading Brush, apply FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Julie’s Revenge to the lid, from the crease down.

Step Four (Eyes): If you want a darker crease colour to give your eyes more depth, use FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Death By Rubies for your crease colour. If you want to create the look exactly as it is in this image, use OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Cherry Bomb. Apply your crease colour with a Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush. Apply a very small amount at a time, and build up to the required depth. Apply in small circles at the outer corner of your eye then sweep the brush in a windscreen wiper like motion across your crease. Use a Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush to bring this  crease colour from the outer corner, down under your eye too.

Step Five (Eyes): To diffuse the edges of the eye pigment, apply a small amount of OCC Loose Colour Concentrates in Glisten. Blend this out well around the edges of your upper and lower lid with your Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush.

Step Six (Eyes): Using your Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush, apply a dab of OCC Loose Colour Concentrates inPlatonic to the inner corner of your eye. Pull this colour up to blend into the upper lid, and pull it down across the inner half of the bottom lid. To create more depth here, dip your brush in a drop of Heavenly Naturals Mix Drops, and then into your inner corner highlight colour. Apply this directly underneath the inner corner of your eye to create a very bright-eyed appearance.

Step Seven (Eyes): Using your Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush or Sigma SS209 Eye Liner Brush, apply Coastal Scents Gel Liner in True Black to both your upper and lower water line.

Step Eight (Eyes): Apply two coats of your favorite mascara, and your eyes are done!

Step Nine (Cheeks): Using either your powder foundation brush, or a Sigma SS187 Duo-Fibre Brush, apply FaceFront CheekUP Blush Powder in Afundadoodle to the apples of your cheeks, and then pull the colour up towards your temples.

Step Ten (Lips): Using your Sigma SS209 Eye or Lip Liner Brush, apply OCC Lip Tar in Hush or Conquest to your lips.

This tutorial is for a full face of makeup. The products used in this tutorial represent a good set of products to have in your makeup bag for any occasion. For something more wearable for the day time, try swapping the strong colours used in this tutorial, out for greys, silvers, browns or golds. The techniques used in application remain the same, just the colours differ. To help you in determining what colours you should use, have a look at our upcoming blogs related to eye colour, and the best shades to mix together in one look.

There is not a lot we would change with this particular chosen look. One thing that could be done to top the look off perfectly, would be to create a slightly darker and nicely shaped eye brow. For more information on this, have a read of our recent blog showing how to create perfect brows. Isn’t it funny that you didn’t notice the eye brows when you first looked at the image, but now that we have pointed it out to you, it’s hard NOT to notice. It’s one of those things. Once you start to perfect your own eye brows, you will notice those of others immediately!

Have fun creating this look, and thanks again Nicki for an original, vibrant competition entry.

August Competition Winner – Warm Corals and Pinks is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

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

Handy Hint – PERFECT Brows is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

Create this look using EyeSpice Products:

Products you will need:

- Coastal Scents Gel Liner in Indigo Blue
- Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Mystery or Genius
- Coastal Scents Gel Liner in True Black, or your favorite black eye liner pencil
- Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Emo
- HeavenlyNaturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Vanilla Crush or a highlight shade from your Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette

- Eyebrows: FaceFront Survival Paint and Heavenly Naturals Eyebrow Tint in Jet Black or Brunette
- Lips: OCC Lip Tar in Conquest or Complex

Brushes you will need:
- Sigma SS275 Angled Shading Brush
- Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush
- Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush
- Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush
- Sigma SS239 Eye Shading Brush
- Sigma SS209 Lip and Eye Liner Brush (for lips)

Step One: Apply Coastal Scents Gel Liner in Indigo Blue to your upper lid using a fluffy brush such as a Sigma SS275 Angled Shading Brush, but really any fluffy brush will do. Note, we normally apply gel liners using fine tipped brushes, but for this look, we are applying it right across the lid, rather than in a defined line. Blend this out well so it is not too thick. Create the basic shape high on the lid, tapering out to a rough point at the outer corner and pulling the colour down under the outer lower lid.

Step Two: Using your Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush, start applying Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Mystery or Genius in your crease. This can be blended across from the outer corner, to the inner corner right to the bridge of the nose. Blend this upwards to just under the eye brow. Bring the colour down across the lower lid, close to the lash line.

Step Three: Take a black eye liner pencil, or your Coastal Scents Gel Liner in True Black. Apply right around the eye using the pencil or your Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush. Thick on the upper lid, bring down along the lower lash line and across to the inner corner of the eye. Blend this out somewhat using your finger.

Step Four: Use your Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush to apply Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Emo. Apply directly on top of the black eye liner on your lid, and then across the lash line of your lower lid. Blend this out using the same Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush. Blend, blend, blend. Clean up rouge pigment from your face by rolling a cotton bud firmly across the pigment.

Step Five: Select an appropriate highlight shade. A matte colours such as HeavenlyNaturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Vanilla Crush, or any of the highlight shades in the Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette work best. Use your Sigma SS239 Eye Shading Brush to apply small amounts of highlight shade right around your eye, to blur the edges of your eye shadow. If you remove too much of the black, add it back on with your Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush.

Step Six: Ensure you have well defined eye brows for this look. Apply FaceFront Survival Paint Eye and Brow Primer to your eye brow. Using your Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush, apply Heavenly Naturals Eyebrow Tint in Jet Black or Brunette to fill in your eyebrows. If your eye brows naturally finish short, use your brush to pull the eyebrow pigment out to a point, to extend the line of your eyebrow.

Step Seven: Apply Coastal Scents Gel Liner in True Black to your water line, then apply two coats of mascara.

Step Eight: To effectively erase your lips, either apply your pale liquid concealer or foundation, or apply a very pale OCC Lip Tar such as Conquest or Complex. Apply using your Sigma SS209 Lip and Eye Liner Brush.

To learn how to contour, link to our contouring tutorial now.

Androgynous Dark Eye Shadow Tutorial is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

Create this look using EyeSpice Products:

Eye products you will need:
- Eyeshadow primer such as FaceFront Survival Paint
- Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette
- FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Skinny Dipper (Optional)
- Coastal Scents Gel Eye Liner in Truffle
- Heavenly Naturals Chubby Cream Eye Shadow in White
- Coastal Scents Gel Eye Liner in True Black
- FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Butter Me Up (Optional)
- Heavenly Naturals Glitter Eye Liner in Disco Ball

Brushes you will need:
- Sigma SS252 Shader Brush
- Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush
- Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush
- Sigma SS209 Eye Liner Brush
- Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush

Step One: Apply a small amount of eye shadow primer to your lid. We use FaceFront Survival Paint.

Step Two: The various earthy tones that are used to create this look are made up from shades in the Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette. First select a skin-coloured shadow, a few shades darker than your skin tone. Using your Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush, apply this shade to the outer corner of your eyelid and across the crease.

Step Three: From your Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette, select a shade slightly darker than the first. Using your Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush take up a little bit of pigment on your brush. This will be used to re-shape the crease, to give your eyes the appearance of being bigger. Use the brush back and forwards to create a faint shadow from your real crease in the middle of your upper lid, towards the bridge of your nose. This false crease shadow will be above your real inner crease. If you need to, use your SSigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush to fade the shadow out.

Step Four: Again from your Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette, select a chocolate brown shade. Apply this to the outer corner of your eye using your Sigma SS252 Shader Brush. With the flat part of the brush, apply this shade as if to coat your upper lashes, which will result in application to the very lower edge of your upper eye lid. Then concentrate the colour in the very outer corner of your eye and crease.

Step Five: Using your Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush, apply FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Skinny Dipper to your inner, upper lid in a small patting motion. Although this effectively blends into the other colours to create a softer appearance, try not to blend it too much. If you don’t have FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Skinny Dipper, you could use a lighter shade from your Coastal Scents 88 Piece Makeup Palette, select one lighter than your skin colour to give you a highlight effect.

Step Six: Using your Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush or your Sigma SS209 Eye Liner Brush, apply Coastal Scents Gel Eye Liner in Truffle to your upper lid, in a line close to the lash line. Allow this line to become thicker as it approaches the outside of your eye, and create a wing out from the very outer corner of your eye. Before the liner dries, smudge the end of the wing out with your finger to soften the point.

Step Seven: With your clean Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush, apply a small amount of Heavenly Naturals Chubby Cream Eye Shadow in White right underneath the brown wing you have created. This creates a more defined shape to your eye shadow look. Ensure the white cream shadow is blended in well with your brush.

Step Eight: Using your Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush or your Sigma SS209 Eye Liner Brush, apply Coastal Scents Gel Eye Liner in True Black to your water line. Smudge the edge out with your finger, to bring some of the colour down onto your lower lid, close to the lash line. Using your Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush apply your lightest shadow shade to your lower lid. Then graduate to your darker shade which can be applied to the outer corner of your lower lid, again close to the lash line.

Step Nine: To add a bit more shimmer to the lash line, you can add a line of FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Butter Me Up Up using your Sigma SS209 Eye Liner Brush. This is optional.

Step Ten: Apply Heavenly Naturals Glitter Eye Liner in Disco Ball very close to the upper lash line, and on top of the wing.

Step Eleven: Apply your favourite mascara, and you’re ready to go!

Because this look utilises earthy tones, it is appropriate to wear a bright red colour on your lips. We recommend Obsessive Compulsive Lip Tar in NSFW. Alternatively, a nude lip would go nicely with this look. We recommend Coastal Scents Smacks Lip Gloss (try out Star Dustin). Check out our Handy Hint blog entry on the Perfect Lip.

Aphrodite Wearable Eye Shadow Look is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

Create this look using EyeSpice Products:

Eye products you will need:
- Heavenly Naturals Mix Drops
- Dark Corner: Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Inked
- Turquoise: FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Early Spring
- Charcoal: Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Dream Girl or FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Heroic
- Heavenly Naturals Chubby Cream Eye Shadow in White
- Coastal Scents Gel Liner in Deep Plum 
- Coastal Scents Gel Liner in True Black (optional) 
- Violet: FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Weekend Warrior or the Coastal Scents 88 Shade Palette (optional)
- Glitter (the key ingredient): Heavenly Naturals Glitter Eye Pigment in Mermaid Scales

Brushes you will need:
- Sigma SS194 concealer brush
- Sigma SS224 tapered blending brush
- Sigma SS219 pencil brush
- Sigma SS266 small angle brush

Step One: Use a flat topped brush such as a Sigma SS194 Concealer Brush to create the outer point to your eye. Dip the end of your brush in Mixing Medium, and then in your dark corner shade (we use Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Inked). Tap away the excess and apply to the very outer corner of your eye, creating a line sweeping upwards about 1cm. This will create the shape of your eye shadow look. Blend this line very slightly inwards towards your crease to create the shadow with which to develop your blending on.

Step Two: Using your Sigma SS224 blending brush, apply your turquoise colour to the outer corner of your eyelid and blend this using wind screen wiper motions, into your crease and upper half of your eyelid.We use FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Early Spring. At this stage, the lower half of your upper eyelid remains bare of any pigment.

Step Three: Using a black cream eye liner, apply this to the lower half of your upper lid, from the inner corner (where it is applied at its thinest), to the outer corner. Blend the turquoise and black eye liner together using your Sigma SS194 Concealer brush. The black cream eye liner creates a base. If you don’t have a black cream eye liner, apply your charcoal eye pigment in step four with mixing medium instead. 

Step Four: Continuing to use your Sigma SS194 Concealer brush, pack your charcoal colour on top of the black cream eye liner (we use Heavenly Naturals Mineral Eye Pigment in Dream Girl or FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Heroic – both have a nice amount of shimmer to them). Ensure a bold colour is achieved. Hint: Make sure you tap excess powder off your brush before applying. If you do end up with a dusting of charcoal pigment on your cheeks, brush this away with a large powder brush (rather than your fingers which will make it smudge)!

Step Five: Using your Sigma SS224 Tapered Blending Brush dry (without any pigment), blend the turquoise and charcoal colours together to create a gradient transition between the two, rather than a sharp line. Add a small amount of the darker corner shade (Heavenly Naturals Eye Pigment in Inked) to your blending brush, and add this to the very outer corner and a small way along your crease. This will help with the transition between turquoise and charcoal.  

Step Six: Apply Heavenly Naturals Chubby Cream Eye Shadow in white to just underneath your brow bone and to the inner corner of your eye. Blend this into your brow bone lightly using your Sigma SS194 Concealer Brush. This is your highlight shade, so ensure it remains light without taking on too much of the surrounding colour. Smudge with your finger into the inner eye. To create a more defined line at the outer corner of your eye, you can apply some white cream eye shadow under this line, and also blend in with your Sigma SS194 Concealer brush. To add more definition and shimmer, you can apply a shimmer highlight shade on top of the cream eye shadow under your brow bone and to the inner corner of your eye. Use your Sigma SS219 Pencil Brush to reach the small area in your inner eye. We recommend any of the OCC highlight shades for this.

Step Seven: Using your Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush, apply Coastal Scents Gel Liner in Deep Plum to your lower lash line. Pull this line lightly out past the outer corner of your eye (don’t apply too thickly). If you feel that this line needs setting, apply a small amount of violet pigment on top, and blend out to create softer edges. We recommend FaceFront Paint Me Perfect in Weekend Warrior, or any of the violet shades within the Coastal Scents 88 Shade Palette. If you want to apply Coastal Scents Gel Liner in True Black to your lower lash line, do this now with the same Sigma SS266 Small Angle Brush.

Step Eight: If you have false eyelash glue, dab a small amount right across your eyelid (from the lash line, up to just below the crease). Dip your finger in Heavenly Naturals Glitter Eye Pigment in Mermaid Scales, and dab on top of the glue to get an even coverage of glitter. If you don’t have glue, you could apply mixing medium or glycerine to your lid instead.

Step Nine: If you are going for false lashes, apply them now, otherwise add a couple of coats of your favourite mascara!

Step Ten: This look is as much about the lips as it is about the eyes. For a dramatic look, apply OCC Lip Tar in Anime, Pagent or Demure to your lips. These shades look great on their own, or mixed with other shades!

Bold Mermaid Eye Shadow Look is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz

• 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!

Handy Hint – Brow Highlight is a post from: EyeSpice.co.nz