Tag Archives: look

Cut Crease

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Hi everyone,

I did this look on Nic this weekend, it’s a cut crease with an Indian twist to the look.

Face:
Nic wasn’t wearing any makeup except for mascara when I started, so I prepped her face with Smashbox – Hybrid 2 in 1 Primer which gives her skin a healthy glow. I then added some Maybelline – Dream Satin Liquid in Ivory to lighten her skintone a little. I then used MUFE lift concealer in no. 2 mixed with no. 1 to hide her dark circles, I buffed this into her skin with a Smashbox – Crease brush no. 10 because this blends the concealer into her skin amazingly.

I then quickly set the makeup with a little Make Up For Ever – Super Matte Loose Powder in 12 Translucent Natural and then added some Stila – Sun SPF15 Bronzing powder in shade 01 to place the outer parts of her contouring (with a MAC 109 brush). I also contoured her nose with this bronzing powder. I then used a bronzer from the Yves Saint Laurent – Sensation Soleil MakeUp Palette no. 1 to really define the hollows of her cheeks.

Eyes:
Nicole has very light brows and I added a mixture of Urban Decay – Naked eyeshadow and MAC – Cork and MAC – Wedge to add multiple colours to her brows. After the brows are ready you can see how far you can do with the eyes. I wanted to do a cut crease with an Indian twist on Nic because it’s something I’ve never done on her before and I wanted to see how it would look. I started with a base of MAC – Soft Ochre and set this with a little Smashbox Eyeshadow in Vanilla.

I used Make Up For Ever – Flash Colour Case‘s dark blue with a MAC angled brush to place the crease bringing it way down on the inner corner. I did it literally ON her crease and blended it upward. I then used Sephora – Colorful Mat Mono Eyeshadow in the colour midnight kiss No. 34 to set the blue and used a little Urban Decay – DeLuxe Eyeshadow in Fishnet to add a little extra brightness.

I lined her eyes with a L’Oreal black eyeliner pencil and then used a little Urban Decay – DeLuxe Eyeshadow in Freakshow under her eyes and made the line fade out where it hit the cut crease. And that is all I did for this look.

I hope you all like this eye, I certainly did!

Classic with a twist

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Hi everyone,

It’s been Friday and Saturday again, which means I did the girls’ makeup again. This weekend I gave Nouk a classic lined eye with a very modern BRIGHT lip for spring:

Nouk was already wearing makeup on her eyes, so I worked around a base that was already there.

Face:
I started with Smashbox – Photofinish primer with Dermaxyl, which gives a great base for the L’Oreal Matte Morphose Souffle Foundation in 180 – Rosy Sand that I used on her. This colour matches her current skintone EXACTLY, it was amazing to see. I then used a mixture of MUFE lift concealer in no. 2 mixed with no. 3 to hide her dark circles, I applied this with a Smashbox – Crease brush no. 10 because this blends the concealer into her skin amazingly. After this I used a little Stila – Convertible Colour (dual lip and cheek cream) in Orchid (5) with my Sephora Mineral powder brush, then set all of the makeup on her face with a light dusting of Make Up For Ever – Super Matte Loose Powder in 12 Translucent Natural and then added some Stila – Sun SPF15 Bronzing powder in shade 01 to very subtle-ey contour her sheeks (with a MAC 109 brush).

Eyes:
With her face perfected I just added a little Smashbox Eyeshadow in Vanilla to even out the colour on her eyes a little and added a little MAC – Cork to the crease with a MAC 217 brush. Next I lined her eyes with Stila – Smudge Pot in Jet Black using a MAC angled brush.
There was already liner on her bottom lashline and mascara on her lashes so that needened be touched.

Lips:
On her lips I added a little Make Up For Ever – Flash Colour Case‘s fushia mixed with a little clear gloss.

Wedding makeup (part one – Planning and choosing Bride and Bridesmaid beauty)

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Hi everyone,

I started this post with general Brides and Bridesmaid beauty and makeup information and then started on the makeup look…. this post became soooo immensely huge that I’m cutting it into two. So here is part one.

bellaressa asked me to look into bridesmaids looks for her. She wants to do her own look from start to finish. There is no budget only she wants to wear Nars – Amour blusher. Also she wants to slim down her face so I’m going to use a contouring that’s natural but also I’ll advise a hairstyle that will slim down the face.

Her dress will be this amazing pool blue colour that will make her skin look radiant. When thinking about makeup for a wedding, see if you can find out the colour flowers that will be used or the colour of the dress you’re wearing. Also as a bridesmaid you’re supposed to compliment the bride, and not clash with her colours, it’s her day after all.

Theme weddings mean a different type of makeup then a “normal” wedding. If you’re talking “Goth” wedding I would go for a smokey eye, if you’re talking about a “Beach” wedding I’d say loose hair and minimal makeup, for a “Winter” wedding I’d go for more silvers etc etc. “Normal” weddings ask for the most beautiful version of you. This means no makeup that’s overly apparent, but a healthy happy face. Look very closely at the invitation, is it classic or is it bright, is it different in any way…. this can give you a hint for the wedding to come.

Own wedding makeup
When thinking of your own wedding makeup, a moodboard is an amazing place to start. You can add looks from your parents’ photo album, friends wedding albums, wedding magazines, wallpapers, movie stills (27 dresses ;) ), flower magazines, colour samples, facecharts etc etc.

5 to 6 months beforehand:
- Find a hairstylist, this can be your regular hairdresser, but can also be a special one for weddings. Once you find the one you trust and whose style you like, talk about how you want your hair to look on your wedding day and if this means growing out bangs or something how you’re going to do this. Schedule all colour and cut sessions up until 2 weeks before the wedding. After this conversation, no more suddenly changing your haircolour to platinum blonde or fire engine red, your hair needs to look healthy, and this means deep conditioning and regular trims and eating well to help your hair grow healthy to give it volume and strength.
- Have your brows shaped by a professional. If it goes wrong your brows can still grow in! If it’s perfect, take a picture and come back once a month for touch ups. Don’t do any plucking the last 2 days before the wedding!!!
- Go see a dermatologist if you have a skin issue you want gone before your wedding. This is the best excuse in the world to have someone look at a sunspot or acne scars. If you have oily skin, book monthly or biweekly glycolic acid peels at a trusted local spa to help your pores clear until the wedding day. If dull and/or dry skin is your problem, consider scheduling a series of six peels spaced two to four weeks apart for skin that’s smoother and brighter looking.
- Invest in an amazing serum, day and night moisturizer and don’t go out without sunscreen!!!

3 to 4 months beforehand:
- Monthly facials are amazing to relax but also for your skin!
- Begin researching your makeup options, if you don’t know a makeup artist who you would like to hire, fins a saleswoman at a makeup counter or a local department store whose work you like and ask if he/she would be willing to do your makeup (in exchange for a fee of course). If you’re looking for a professional, you can also try asking a local modeling agency of a salon for a list of the professionals they use.
- If you ask a friend who you trust to do your makeup, you’re in luck and in hell. They can do many tests on you and will not ask for (a lot of) money, on the other hand, it’s a huge responsibility to do a wedding makeup and this can mean your friend’s nervous and things can go wrong on the day of your wedding. Try and keep one another calm and do test photographs of several different looks in different lighting to find out what makeup photographs well. (MAC – Mineral powder is a big nono for a wedding because if photographs horribly).

1 to 2 months beforehand:
- Get weekly manicures and pedicures. This allows short nails to grow out and overgrown cuticles to be pruned. Also this is the time to do polish tests. Will you use the same colour on your feet as on your hands? Do you want nailart? Are you going for nudes or will you go for a theme colour (like lilac if you’re using lilac flowers).
- You’re going to smile in a lot of the picures so your teeth need to look their best, go see a dentist for professional whitening or do the over the counter kind if you don’t need as much whitening or don’t have that much money to spend.
- If you’re using a professional makeup artist, do a trial run with the makeup and the hair to see the final look. Bring your veil and all the other things you might want placed in your hair (flowers etc.). Wear the accessories you’re going to wear that day and bring the dress if possible.
Now is a good time to do a run through of the entire look and make a schedule for your special day.
- If you want to do your own makeup (I’m sooo proud ;) ), but do a test on the look you’re going for!! Try out new products but photograph every look to see how it looks with different lightings and products.
- Do a test on any false tanning you’re planning on using for your wedding day. See on what day it looks best, but also check if it doesn’t give off on anything white.

3 to 4 weeks before:
- Are you going to wax? Stop shaving and/or waxing now, your hair needs to be long enough when you wax later.

2 weeks before:
- Do a microdermabrasion if you liked the way your skin looked when you tested him earlier.
- Get a final hair-trim and touchups to your highlights.
- Get a massage

1 week to go:
- Get a glossing treatment at a salon (or do one at home for a few days)
- Need waxing? (upper lip, legs, bikini line, etc). Do it now. Your skin can heal and you will not have red bumps on your wedding day.
- Get a paraffin hand mask, this will leave your hands softer and smoother then any moisturizing can and you want your hands to look amazing and ready for that ring!
- Get a facial, it relaxes you and your skin can still recover and look it’s best on your wedding day.

1 to 2 days to go:
- Get a mani-pedi. After today, no more doing any cleaning or dishes until you’re married!
- Exfoliate your skin the night before your final tanning if you like your tan on day two (or three) and get your tanning done today.
- If you haven’t used a glossing treatment on your hair, today is the day you’re going to have to use a deep conditioning hairmask.
- Limit your intake of salt and alcohol, this can lead to puffiness under your eyes and drink plenty of water. (prevent dehydration headaches)
- Put together a beauty emergency kit for your handbag (or to stash with your best friend ;) ). Things you need to put in there: lipstick (and gloss if you’re wearing it), blotting paper, cotton swabs, makeup remover, bobby pins, mini hairspray, compact, brush, breath mints and nail polish,
- Avoid coffee, tea, cola and sugar to help you sleep better. Don’t exercise within three hours of bedtime.
- Moisturize your body from head to toe.
- Freeze moistened green or white tea bags to put over your eyes the next day. The tannins will help reduce puffiness.

Your big day!
- Eat breakfast!!! Include complex high-fiber carbs and lean protein for long term energy. Keep drinking plenty of water and apply the frozen teabag
s for 10 minutes if your eyes seem puffy. Consider a soak in the tub!!
- Apply your makeup and style your hair (of have them done for you).
- Check your manicure for chips.

In the wedding and doing your own makeup?
Now that you’ve thought about it a lot, and think you know what you want…. you start practicing, there is no way around it because Hey, you want to look your best and practice makes perfect. Also you want to test out your makeup and see if it actually stays on the way you want it to. So your otherwise hanging around and doing nothing Sundays, will now be done with your makeup applied flawlessly! Also consider you’re going to be photographed smiling A LOT! So if you have stains on your teeth, 3 weeks in advance would be a good time to start with an over the counter whitener.

Another thing to consider is not to change your browshape the day before the wedding, because one if it goes wrong you’re going to hate EVERY picture you’re in, and two swelling and redness is not sexy! For huge changes to your brows, go to a professional a few months before the wedding, so that your hairs can regrow if you hate it. My advise would be to think of subtle changes 2 weeks before the wedding (if your brows need any changing) and slowly is better then all at once. Keeping your brows perfect isn’t time consuming, it just takes 5 minutes every other night and a good picture of how you want them on your face hanging by the mirror. On the big day, use a brow wax or spray a little hairspray on your browbrush and then shape your brows (after filling them in if this is necessary).

Also new masks aren’t a smart thing the day before the wedding, sometimes a mask can trigger an outbreak and this is not what you want, do a deep cleansing mask 2 weeks before the wedding and try to keep your skin as clean and moisturised as possible, a great moisturizing mask that can work wonders are the Dermalogica Skin Hydrating mask and Bliss Triple Oxygen Instant Energizing mask.

A fake tan can make you look healthy and slimmer, but you don’t want to look like you’ve been tangoed (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1jywlZG74o). If you apply a fake tan, a great scrub is essential. But fake tanning isn’t something I would advise doing in the last 4 days before the wedding.

Don’t do any HUGE hair changes before the wedding, you will need to get used to a pixie if you usually have your hair long. Also major colour changes are a nono. Do go for a trim and deep conditioning treatment a week beforehand and do an at home gloss the night before. A great thing to do even when you’re not going to weddings is use olive oil as a hair mask.
A small thing that can work wonders however is subtle thin strands of highlights.

Nails:
Also think of your nails when going to a wedding, you can go for a classic French Tip , or a soft nude. You can also match your polish to the dress, or choose not to, to make it more fun.
If I had to choose for a nailpolish for weddings out of my collection I’d go for:
Illamasqua – Wink
Essie – Mint Candy Apple
Gosh – Frou Frou
only not matte, this is very different but also very classy at the same time.
OPI – Tickle My Fance-y
China Glaze – Agent Lavender
China Glaze – How about a tumble
OPI – Bubble Bath
Misa – Sun kissed
Essie – Flawless
China Glaze – White on White
Essie – Loophole
OPI – You’re a doll
OPI – Birthday Babe
China Glaze – Innocence
OPI – Suzi & the Lifeguard
OPI – Don’t toy with me
China Glaze – Ruby Pumps

Colours for makeup:
If you’re looking for advise, use these seasonal colour tips if you want a hint of colour in your makeup:
Spring:
- pink, lemon, baby blue, lime green
Summer:
- white, sunshine yellow, gold, sky blue
Autumn/Fall:
- orange, russet, green, purple, gold
Winter:
- ice white, silver, green, vibrant red.

Makeup bag:
When you’re a bridesmaid, your probably not lucky enough to carry a bag big enough for ALL the makeup touchups you could need that day. The best way to cope with this is by thinking ahead. Is it a daytime wedding, then you’re probably going to need blotting paper (the sun will make you shine), are you wearing red lipstick, you’ll need a good mirror and a lipstain to hide the fading and the lipstick to reapply. Bring bobby pins if you have your hair in an updo. Also bring tissues to help with the tears.

 

* All the information stated above is based on my own experiences, and taken from books like: “Wedding Style” by Carole Hamilton / InStyle Weddings / InStyle Wedding
s magazines / Getting Gorgeous / Jemma Kidd – Makeup Masterclass / Kevyn Acoin books.

Pastel eye makeup (Lancome spring look recreated on Nouk and Nic)

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Hi everyone,

I did both Nouk and Nic’s makeup yesterday and I did them with the same makeup.

Nouk:

I used this as an example:

If you look at both the girls next to one another it looks amazing:

This is how I built up the look:

I used the Make Up For Ever – Flash Colour Case‘s white as a base over the entire eye and under the lower lashline.
Then I used Sephora – Colorful Mat Mono Eyeshadow in mat No. 06 (white) to set the cream. I then used from the same line the colour baby blue No. 36 which is a lavernder tinted baby blue on the inner part of her eye up to the brow. I darkened this blue on the nose side of the blue with Rimmel London Colour Rush in 020 Tempted. I applied this with a fluffy brush to help the colour application appear as a wash.

I then took some of the cream green shadow from the Sephora idyll palette on the innerside of her eyelid (not on the inner corner, apply it on the lid itself). I set this cream with another Sephora – Colorful Mat Mono Eyeshadow but now in the colour lime green No. 42. I used a big fluffy brush to apply the colour midnight kiss No. 34 on the outer part of her eye (from lashline to brow), blending this inward and outward.

I used the Stila Eyeshadow Quad in Montmartre (which contains all shimmery colours, a vanilla pinkish colour, a light lilac colour a purple and a light aubergine colour). I applied the two lightest colours under their brows and then used the darkest as a wash over the other purple on the lid to darken it a little. I then took MAC pigment in Light Lilac Crush Metal on another fluffy brush and applied it between the purple and the white to add a sparkley highlight.

I then used again another Sephora – Colorful Mat Mono Eyeshadow but now in the colour mat No. 02 on an angled brush and applied it as close to the lashes as I could to give them a little definition. I then went over this with Bourjois ombre stretch in dark grey over the outer half of the line I drew before. I also applied this on the lower lashline.

I then took a little black eyeliner and went only in the corner and made a LITTLE wing and blended this out to appear almost non excisting. Then I applied mascara only to the top lashes. and was done with these amazing eyes:

Pastel and Purple EOTD

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Hi everyone,

I did this eye this morning when I was going to work. I took a quick picture because I loved the makeup so much.

I’m wearing Laura Mercier – Foundation Primer Oil Free, Make Up For Ever, HD Foundation in 155 Medium beige mixed with a little Clinique – Face Bronzing Gel Tint.
To conceal my very little sleep I used Laura Mercier – Undercover Pot in no. 3 topped with MUFE lift concealer in no. 2 mixed with no. 3.
I used MAC paintpot in Soft Ochre, Illamasqua – Pure Pigment in Lust on my eyelid and under my eyelid I used Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil in Lust topped with Urban Decay – Deluxe Eyeshadow in Graffiti.
On my top waterline I’m wearing Urban Decay – 24/7 pencil in Zero and on my lower waterline I’m wearing Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Pencil in Lust again.
My mascara is Urban Decay – Eyelash Primer Potion followed by Dior – Diorshow Iconic Mascara in black.

Greyscale look with Sleek palette

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Hi everyone,

I was at Nic’s place Sunday and I did this amazing look that Pixiwoo had done on their youtube. So to get these eyes…. follow the tutorial in the video (the only difference is the colour brows because Nic’s a blonde and I lightened the inner corners a little to hide her tiredness.

Blue Smokey

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Hi everyone,

You guys wanted to see this blue eye as a tutorial:

I did this tutorial in bright and sunlight, so it looks a lot brighter then it is if you were to look at it in the shade… but in the shade I have to use a flash so that would undo the whole shade idea so…. imagine the colours being more muted then they are on my eye.
Final eye:

I’m going to do this tutorial with minimal writing because I need to go to sleep. I hope you guys like this step by step guide to the blue smokey eye.

Products I used on my eye:

(Laura Mercier eyelashcurler – Christian Dior 5 Coleurs in 140 Twilight – Dior Iconic Mascara in black – MAC pigment in Blue Storm – MAC 217 brush – Sephora Smudge brush – Sephora big eyeshadow brush – MAC paintpot in Soft Ochre – Urban Decay 24/7 Glide on Eye Pencils in Zero and Binge)

Eye with eyecream:

Soft Ochre Paint Pot by MAC as a base colour:

Binge Pencil as a colour base:


(apply to lid – blend crease with finger)

Apply the darkest blue from Twilight on the lid with the big eyeshadow brush and blend out with a blending brush.

Apply the lighter blue on top (blend to the crease but don’t blend as high as the first blue you used)

Apply MAC Blue storm over the blue to bring a slight sparkle to the blue. (Adding colour tints over one another adds depth to the colour):

Curl lashes, add Zero liner to the waterlines and add mascara:

In direct sunlight:

I hope you enjoyed this picture tutorial.

Have a great Monday everyone!

Megan Fox – Cosmopolitan Cover tutorial

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Hi everyone,

I did a pole 2 weeks ago to check what looks you wanted me to do first and this is the next one in the line. It’s the Megan Fox  December 2009 Cosmopolitan cover look. I have two examples that show the eye perfectly but they also show that the picture has a filter over it because the original eye had a purple tint to it. I did a mixture of the two pictures.
Here are my examples:

And here is the preview of my final eye:

Base:
I started with something I recently bought on Strawberrynet.com. It’s the SK-II travel set that they have and I used the following products on my face to make sure my skin was well moisturized.
- SK-II Facial Treatment Cleanser (a soft face wash)
- SK-II Facial Treatment Essence (a watery substance that feels like it’s moisture to not only your top layers of skin but underneath as well)
- SK-II Whitening Source Dermdefinition (on a few dark spots that are starting to appear again now that the sun is coming back)
- SK-II Facial Lift Emulsion (a moisturizer that I let sink in for a little while)
- SK-II Signs Treatment Totality (feels AMAZING!!)

On my eyes I used Clinique Moisture Surge for eyes.

Face:
On my well moisturized face I used the Smashbox – Photofinish primer with Dermaxyl, this is also an antiaging primer and I was feeling tired having been sick this week so I needed a little boost to look more like Megan ;) .

Over this I used a new product I got, and that’s the L’Oreal Matte Morphose Souffle Foundation in 180 – Rosy Sand. This looks like it’s way too dark for me in the container, but on my skin (buffed in with the Sephora Mineral powder brush) it looks perfect.

The brush I used is no longer sold, but looks like this:

I then used my normal under eye routine, namely taking away the darkness with Laura Mercier – Undercover Pot in no 3 and then lightening with MUFE lift concealer in no. 1 (on the inner part of the eye only to add some extra light in the inner corners).

I set the concealer under my eyes with Laura Mercier – Lanslucent Loose Setting Powder but didn’t use any powder on the rest of my face because it’s supposed to be matte. (It was, for a short while ;) )

Eyes:
Your eyebrows frame your face, and when doing your face you should really try and do your eyebrows before applying your eye makeup simply because they change the eye so much if you change your brow. For this Megan Fox look I saw that our brows are pretty similar, but she does have some powder on the top of the arch, so I did that with Urban Decay’s – Brow Box in Brown Sugar. Personally I think my brows don’t need filling, but for this look I kinda liked it, it finished the eye. If you have blonde brows, you can alter the shape of your brows more easily. For dark brows, try to only use the colour where you want the extra definition, so in this case, on the bottom side of the start of the brow and on the top of the arch. Blend this well with a spooley.

I started my eyes with a base of Urban Decay – Eye Shadow Primer Potion. On the inner corners I used two thin layers of Sephora – Colorful Mat Mono Eyeshadow in white, and then a quick wash over the entire eye to help with the blending later on. This means you get more staying power and more definition.

On the crease I used my Illamasqua – blending brush and MAC – Cork. This means a warmer crease and some definition on the inner crease because this eye is very much colour only on the outer corner.

At this point I actually stopped the makeup for a while, I went to get some new tires for the car and then got back to the look 3 hours later. Why did I still go on with the look? Because at this point you have a great natural eye and it’s still buildable to a great evening eye without any cleanup or touchups.

When I came back I took MAC – Brun and I applied this with a Sephora – Dome shaped brush. (As you can see the lighting has changed because at this point the sun was behind huge rainclouds.

As you can see I went a little highter at the outer corner and I didn’t place any colour on the inner corner. I blended the colour with a MAC 217.

With a MAC pencil brush I applied carbon on the lashline and blended this into the Brun with a 217 brush again.

As you can see, none of the Brun or Carbon is above the crease, only on the outer corner I went higher then the crease.

The next step was adding a LITTLE of colour to the eye, I did this with the Urban Decay – Alice in Wonderland Palette colours Ecstacy and Mushroom.I first applied mushroom with a big fluffy brush for a little velvety finish and then a wash of Ecstacy for a hint of purple.

I took thes
e pictures in natural light to show you the colour, but because the light is fading the end pictures are in yellow lamplight. I think that’s also why Megan’s eyemakeup looks like it’s got different colours when it is in fact the same makeup in both pictures.

Next up I curled my lashes and then I applied Urban Decay – Eyelash Primer Potion followed by Dior – Diorshow Iconic Mascara in black.

I think Megan is wearing individual lashes, but I was out of those so I took MAC – 33 lashes. They are on a clear strip and are bundles of individual lashes on that strip. They have more length in the middle of the lash which is what I found Megan to have on the picture as well. So, using DUO lashglue in white (that turns invisible when dry), I applied these lashes as close to my lashline as possible. I didn’t want to line my eye because I wanted the look to be as much like Megan’s as possible. This means you can see the lashband on close ups, but no one in real life is going to ask me to close my eyes and then come that close to me to see it. So you can see it on the pictures, but in real life you almost can’t see the lashband.

With the glue drying, I went on the place some Urban Decay 24/7 pencil in Zero on my waterline (only on the outer two-third of the waterline).

Even though the eye looks a lot darker, for some reason with this lighting it kept looking pretty natural, so I took these pictures with my webcam:

And these with my iPhone to show you the eye in different lighting with different camera’s:

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, if you try it out on yourself, show me how it went, I’m pretty curious to see if my instructions are helpfull.

Have a great Sunday!

Copper makes Blue eyes pop (proof)

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Hi everyone,

Here is another friend of mine’s amazing blue eyes. (I just found out that most of the people around me have blue eyes…. I’m one of the few with green… ARGH, I need some more brown eyes around me!!)

I used Rimmel’s 060 – Bronzed on her lids and I winged the smokey eye out very far. I made sure that when I was applying the mascara I swept her lashes outward and this is the result: