Sunset Shimmer

This looks much more blended out in person, I promise! My cell phone camera just loves making me look bad.

Products Used:
Black eyeshadow pencil
Urban Decay Potion Primer (eyeshadow primer)
Sugarpill loose pigmenet in Hysteric (shimmer purple)
SHANY 180 Color Eyeshadow Palette (All shimmers - white or light gold, sand, yellow, red-orange, orange-pink)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)
Black eyeliner pencil

Prime eyelids with UD Potion Primer.

For this look, I actually started out by lighting using my black eyeliner pencil gently smudged under the eye, then brought up to create the wing. This gave me a very visual cue for where I wanted to place shadows, and also made it much easier and quicker to do the gel liner later. Just follow the lower lash line as if it were to continue outwards to make that wing. Connect starting somewhere between center and outer third, then fill in the gap. Make sure it's symmetrical on both sides.

Next up, I started with the highlight of a light gold (white would work as well, warmer undertones are better here) on browbone and inner corner, then I put a sandy color in above the crease. This is just a shimmery nude for me, which is what I wanted - a nice color to blend that bright yellow into. Next up, I placed the yellow with the tip of my stiff eyeshadow brush. I wanted it to have a lot of pigment like that brush delivers, but I also wanted to move quicker than a tiny little pencil or smudge brush.

The thing I do differently with this look is eyeshadow placement. I typically do a highlighted inner corner, color on lid, and darker outer V. However, for this look, I didn't lay the first color (yellow) flat over the entire lid. I wanted each color to stand out as it went further, so I basically took the yellow and put it along my crease, connecting my inner corner with my eyeliner wing, but not filling it in really. Just enough pigment that you can see the yellow.

Next up, I used the same brush to grab some red-orange eyeshadow. Put that just below the yellow, again not filling in the gap, but just drawing a line. Next up, pink - same technique. I did a slight outer-V shape with this one, but it was very very slight. This was enough to have the pink blending into my eyeliner just a little.

We're not done with eyeshadow yet, but I don't want a bold, black line, so I'm going to use a gel liner and set it with the final purple color. So, gel liner and angled eyeliner brush over where you put the eyeliner on the upper lid originally. (We did the lower lash line as well, but I think that's enough darkness as is for me, no need to add more product just to try to smudge it out.) Line the waterline as well.

Next up, I used another eyeliner brush to pick up Hysteric loose pigment by Sugarpill. I pressed it on (no sweeping motions yet) to both upper and lower lashlines, then blended it gently with the same brush. The eyeliner gave it the sultry, almost smoked look, but the purple kept the sunset going, plus this pigment has a lot of interesting shimmers to it.

Finally, fill in your brows and throw on your favorite mascara. (Mine is Maybelline Lash Stiletto.)

Shimmery Golds and Pinks

I don't usually go for "normal" colors, but I got a lot of compliments today, so here we go.

Products Used:
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (matte black)
SHANY 180 Color Eyeshadow Palette (shimmer white, shimmer peach, shimmer pink, shimmer darker pink, matte brown)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)

Since this isn't a very outlandish color and I'm not so concerned with creasing, I just used my face concealer on my eyelid to prime it. It's less expensive, but still gives the eyeshadow a base other than natural oils to stick to.

Next up, I put eyeshadow here -
Shimmer white - browbone, inner corner
Shimmer gold - inner half of lid
Shimmer pink - outer half of lid
Shimmer darker pink - outer third of lid, blended out and up a little
Shimmer peach - crease/upper lid
Matte brown - lower lashline
Blend them all together at the edges where they meet other colors, like I did above. You can kind of see that the outer third got out of hand, but I was in a bit of a rush, so I let mine get a little wild. You'll want to try to keep yours in the imaginary lines meet from your lower lashline extended out meets your eyebrow extended out... Mine got too low.

Apply eyeliner with your favorite brush, I used an angled one and went from inner corner to a winged outer corner, increasing thickness to emphasize the wing and elongate my eye, simply because I prefer that shape. Line lower lash line as well (push in gently on your skin to push the waterline out, don't pull down). Next up, grab any skinny brush and go over that gel liner with some black eyeshadow (Midnight by Clinique) to set it.

Curl lashes, apply favorite mascara, fill in brows.

Bold Emerald and Gold

This picture was taken after a 9 hour shift at work. Held up pretty well, don't you think?

Products Used:

Urban Decay Potion Primer (eyeshadow primer)
Maybelline Color Tattoo (cream eyeshadow) in Audacious Asphalt (charcoal)
Sugarpill loose pigmenet in Tipsy (bright green)
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (matte black)
SHANY 180 Color Eyeshadow Palette (shimmer gold, shimmer white)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Brow pencil (random drugstore brand, I think Maybelline?)
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)
Black eyeliner pencil

First up, UD's eyeshadow primer applied with finger. Then I used a stiff synthetic eyeshadow brush to apply Maybelline Color Tattoo in Audacious Asphalt. I really love Sugarpill's green, but I wanted more of a dark base under it today. If you're going for super bright and shiny, skip the Color Tattoo. Next, I used a stiff natural eyeshadow brush to apply Sugarpill loose pigment in Tipsy to the lid up to the crease. Then I used a fluffy brush to apply a shimmery gold color from my Shany palette to the upper lid, and blended the two. Then I used a pencil brush to put black on the outer third of my lid and bring it gently into the crease, just to add some dimension to the look.

I used an eyeliner pencil on the lower lashline, then blended it out with my finger. (Color Tattoo seemed much harder to control in such a skinny space, this is again just to add darkness to Tipsy. If you skipped Color Tattoo, you can skip this as well.) Use a clean pencil brush (I used a different eyeliner brush, 'cause it's also pretty skinny and I didn't mind going back in for more pigment) to the lower lash line and buff it out. Finally, put shimmer white on the browbone/inner corner for a highlight. Blend well.

Apply eyeliner with your favorite brush, I used an angled one and went from inner corner to a winged outer corner, increasing thickness to emphasize the wing and dimension with the black eyeshadow. Line lower lash line as well (push in gently on your skin to push the waterline out, don't pull down). Next up, grab any skinny brush and go over that gel liner with some black eyeshadow (Midnight by Clinique) to set it.

Curl lashes, apply favorite mascara, fill in brows.

Smoked Out Garnet

Products used:
Urban Decay Potion Primer (eyeshadow primer, don't wear eyeshadow without one!)
Maybelline Color Tattoo (cream eyeshadow) in Audacious Asphalt (charcoal) and Pomegranate Punk (garnet-ish)
Shany Eyeshadow Palette (a shimmer garnet color, a pink-ish white, a soft brown)
Clinique eyeshadow in Midnight (black)
MAC Fluidline (gel eyeliner) in Blacktrack
Maybelline Lash Stiletto (mascara)
Brow pencil (I don't remember the brand, just a cheap drugstore thing)

After using UD's pot primer, I used a stiff synthetic hair eyeshadow brush to put down Pomegranate Punk on the lid up to the crease and blended out the edge a little. Then I put on Audacious Asphalt closer to the lashline, and blended it just a little. This was just to get the darkness there and make sure these colors really didn't move.

Then I started with my Shany Eyeshadow Palette. This was a 180-ish or something palette I got from Amazon for about $25, I just wanted a lot of cheap colors. Basically any cheap eyeshadow palette will work, most of them are just licensed under different names, but made in the same manufacturing plant in Asia anyway.

Anyway, I just grabbed a light pink-ish color, put it on browbone/inner corner. This palette had a wonderful garnet that looks just like Pomegranate Punk but shimmery, so I put that on the entire lid with a stiff natural hair eyeshadow brush. Then I grabbed a fluffy brush and put on the light brown on the upper lid (above the crease, below the browbone) as a blending color. Just blend it out, make the transition as smokey as possible. I also used a pencil brush to put some garnet on the lower lash line, this really completes any look well.

Next up, I put MAC Fluidline in Blacktrack along the lash line. I used an angled eyeliner brush, but a push brush would work even better, since I did a pressing motion to get the most pigment along the lashline. Then I winged it out a little, just 'cause I love making my eye longer. I also lined my waterline (don't pull it down, use your finger or a Q-tip to gently press in, it'll flip out the waterline slightly and cause much less aging wrinkles). Then I used a smudge brush just to soften the line out. Finally, put some black eyeshadow (I used Clinique in Midnight) to set the eyeshadow. Just set it on, and smoke it out into that garnet color.

Curl lashes, apply favorite mascara, and done!