Today I thought I'd do a smoky eye in purples and gold to test for next Thursday's photo shoot with Susan Hill. We're thinking yellow jersey (and not much else) - to tie in with Susan's cycling passion, which is the yellow jersey worn by the leader of many multi-stage bicycle races in the Tour De France. I think Susan's colouring is Summer and she has blue eyes, so the violet/purple/pale gold eyeshadow should work well with her eyes and the yellow jersey - it's also a softer version of the classic black and white smoky eye i.e. sexy but not too overt.
Highlight - Ruby & Millie Metallic White Powder #10 (very pale gold shimmer) - to the very top of the browbone only
Midtone - Elemental Beauty Heather (mainly matte but with gold highlights) - all over lid and almost up to the top of the browbone (to meet the highlight) and also all the way under the bottom lashline
Contour - Cozmetic Lab Torquay Surf (purple shimmer) - all over the eyelid up to and into the socket line; also all the way under the lower lashes. Then re-applied wet as an eyeliner to top and bottom lashline (I used spritz to mix and my MAC angled brush to apply)
Liquid liner - Blinc Black - I applied a very fine line along the upper lashline only
Eye pencil - Lavera Black - applied all the way along the inside rim of the lower eye
Mascara - Lavera Black - I curled my lashes after applying eyeliner, then applied one coat of mascara to the lower lashes and two coats to the upper lashes
Eyebrows - Body Shop Charcoal - lightly brushed colour through eyebrows to define - then Blinc primer to keep them in place
Foundation - Cozmetic Lab Natural foundation - applied all over face with velour puff then a second layer pressed on after concealer
Concealer - Elemental Beauty Bright Eyes - under eyes and to lighten hyperpigmentation plus my 'personalised' Essential Beauty concealer
Bronzer - Elemental Beauty Radiance
Finishing powder - Elemental Beauty Matte - T-Zone only
Blush - Lavera #2 powder rouge
Lipliner - Cozmetic Lab Clay
Lipstick - Cozmetic Lab Liana (nude pink/beige) plus Lavera #21 (gold beige) to centre of bottom lip
Spritz - Primavera Natural Balance skin tonic
Cozmetic Lab's Torquay Surf eyeshadow is a vivid purple shimmer shadow with pink and blue highlights, which looks very pretty. Initially I tried Cozmetic Lab's Broome Sunset for the gold highlighter but it is too buttercup yellow and doesn't suit my cool skin tone. My Ruby & Millie mineral highlight powder must be at least 15 years old, but it was the perfect complement to the mauve and purple eyeshadows and the gold beige lipstick.
I need to watch out for Cozmetic Lab's mineral liplining pencils. Today is the hottest day of summer so far this year, and the mineral lipliner had almost melted when I tried to apply it, which made a real mess and isn't at all cost effective. Keeping it in the fridge would solve the problem but wouldn't be convenient. This was the first time I've ever had to take a lipliner off and re-apply because it's spread all over my face! I didn't notice whether or not the eyeliner was the same, perhaps because when you're lining inside your eye rim the softer the better!
The relatively dark eyes and the pale lips work well together and I think choosing soft but vibrant colours for a smoky eye combo is infinitely more wearable than the classic black smoky eye for most people, including older women. Ostensibly the smoky eye is a young look (as is pale lipstick) but I felt really comfortable wearing this quite striking but modified version, which I wouldn't balk at even for daytime.
An understated glamorous sexy look. Scores 9/10 again!