Reader Request: Dramatic Colored Eye Shadow Application for Nervous Beginners

How many of you wear the same basic eye shadow everyday and even when you go out at night? Are you scraping the bottom of your Stila espresso shadow palette? Do colorful eye shadows make you nervous? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you’re in an eye make up rut!

So let’s start out with the colors that everyone MUST have in there make-up collection. I’ll start with the sparkly-shimmery hues.

Sparkly

All from Urban Decay (they have the most fab colors)
Eye Shadow , $16 each

Navy Blue (Goddess)

Sea-Blue Green (Shattered, Urban Decay's most popular color)

Green (Vert)

Light Blue (Kiddie Pool)

Purple (Crash)

Next is Iridescent: Iridescent colors are very important for blending the darker sparkly colors and lightening them up a bit.

Iridescent
From Nars Duo Eye Shadow, $31 each

Blue/Purple (Iceland)

Green (Iceland)

From Nars Single Eye Shadow , $21 each

Pink (Himalayas)

White (Tibet)

Ok, so now that you’ve got your palette, let’s talk application. If you’re super freaked out by using these bright colors, my best advice is to start light. As you get increasingly confident, you can try more advanced blending and fading techniques.

For the bright eye shadow virgins out there:

1. Start with a neutral base color on your lids. Pick a color that is almost the same color as your skin. You can skip this step all together and just apply a little of your normal foundation onto your lid.

2. Next get your small Angled Brush and apply the purple or navy blue sparkly eye shadow directly along your lash line. Navy and purple go with almost all eye colors, and they are a little less daring for your first time! I like to start about 2/3 away from the inside corner of my eye, and work my way to the outside corner. Then take a little more shadow on the brush, blow off the excess, and lightly work your way from the first place you started towards the inside of your eye (towards your nose) You can totally line your eyelid, or you can go half way. Experiment to see what looks best.

3.Now breath, you’re almost done! Take either the iridescent blue or pink, depending on your first color, or you could even mix it up, and with an Eyeliner Blending Brush start at the center corner of your eye and blend along the lash line. Blend less as you go away from your nose to the outside corner, so the original color stays darker. Finally take a little of iridescent color and sweep it along your brow bone. Your brow bone is directly under your eyebrow and it usually sticks out a little. This will open up your eye and make you look fresh.

Finish with a little black mascara and you’ve done it! Hopefully your first color eye shadow application was pain free. And remember, you can always wash off something that’s hideous and try again. Even the most experienced eye make-up lovers just can’t get it right on the first attempt!

Summer Trauma: Greasy Unwashed Hair

In my family a certain cousin, who will remain nameless, believes that you don’t have to take showers everyday in the summer, especially if you’ve been swimming in the pool. Chlorine is a disinfectant, right? The truth is we’re usually having too much fun to worry about looking our most fresh. But recently at the end of our beach/pool days we’ve been heading to the local bar for a little cocktail hour refreshment. There’s never enough time to take a shower, so what do you do about that sea salt mop? Sprinkle on some dry shampoo!

Dry shampoo is basically baby powder that is scented and is made to absorb the extra oils in your hair and scalp. I’ve been using Oscar Blandi's Pronto Dry Shampoo and it’s essential in a pinch to refresh your hair. It has a lemon verbena scent, which is kind of citrus-y, and very light. It amazingly plumps up your roots, de-greases and makes your locks smell summery.

The best way to apply it is to part your hair on one side, sprinkle the shampoo on your scalp, then part your hair on the other side and sprinkle again. Run your fingers through your hair and distribute the shampoo throughout the hair. You can also brush it, but I find that using your hands works just as well.

Now you’re ready to dazzle ‘em at happy hour (even if only the local fishermen see you!)

Oscar Blandi Pronto Dry Shampoo $10-$19

Summer Trauma: Peeling Skin

Ah summer. The sun, the sea, the salty air, just close your eyes and….you’re burnt to a crisp and now its peeling! Ahhh! Nothing looks worse with a tube top than blotchy peeling shoulders and backs, not to mention scalps. Fortunately on my trip to Sephora today, I found two amazing products that will buff away just about any sunburned disaster area. Of course this is after your skin has recovered from that naughty sunburn (where was your SPF 55???!).

Super Skin Saver #1: L'Occitane Crushed-Grape Polish $26 Unfortunately Sephora won’t let me copy the pic, so check it out on the site!

I spotted this buffin’ miracle because of its gorgeous pink tube and since I haven’t bought an L’Occitane product in a while I thought I would see what new things they had. My first impression of this polish was its refreshing scent. Don’t be scared by the “grape” in its name, it smells more like a fruity garden than a grape. It does have grape extract in it, and the main exfoliating element is the crushed up walnut shells (which are very gentle by the way). It also has grape seed oil in it which is a perfect emollient to smooth out your skin as it scrubs away the dead grossness. This polish would be great for the usual rough patches, knees, elbows, and as prep for the St. Tropez sunless tanner that you will inevitably need to even out that spotting patch under the peeled off skin. It’s also supposed to “eliminate cellular waste.” I’m not too sure what that is, but I’m pretty certain none of us want cellular waste!

Super Skin Saver #2: Sensitive Scalp Exfoliating Tonic Fredric Fekkai, $30

When was the last time you pampered your scalp? I’m sure most of you weren’t too keen on the hot olive oil treatments like I was in 8th grade (I was a very advanced child). I hate to break it to you girls, but your scalp is screaming for attention! A healthy scalp directly correlates to more healthy and shiny hair, so give it a little love. The summer is an especially hard time for you scalp since it’s almost impossible to apply sunscreen on it, and if you actually dare to lather it up, your hair is guaranteed to be greasy. So give your scalp a break and sooth it with this exfoliating tonic that comes as a 4 week treatment. It calms the scalp with botanicals and afterwards your scalp will be completely moisturized and back to its old self.

The Mini-Break is Over

Dear Devoted Fabulous Girls Guide Readers (all 10 of you, not including my mom!),

Sorry I've been abandoning you for the last 2 months, unfortunately my schooling needed a little more attention than my blog. But since I've been getting requests to update, and I see some free time in my future, look out for all the great things I've kept bottled up! And of course if you're interested in any fashion, beauty, fabulous thing, let me know and I'll blog it!

See y'all soon, xoxo

Tara