Amber Eyes (Featuring Colourpop and Incubating Germs)

This was the first deliberate look I did in the new year, just before I got sick with a Dickensian chest cold. Looking at the photos now I can almost see the incubating germs having a party under my skin. Still, I decided to post them because I had fun creating something inspired by the huge vintage raw amber you see me wearing. It's actually a brooch that belonged to my maternal grandmother. I was after something colorful to brighten up the generic J. Crew gray sweater (a silk-cashmere blend from last season, I think).

I used three Colourpop eye shadows from their fall Forever Freshman collection (I'm still embarrassed by the name). When I checked last week the set was on sale and still available, but it sold out since. The shades themselves are not that unique and I'll suggest alternatives below. The thing is more about learning to work with colourpop's putty-like texture and understanding the difference between the various finish. My friend Josie was a great help (and an enabler) when I first got these shadows.

Colourpop mattes, at least the ones I've encountered so far, are pigment bombs. You need the tiniest amount, just a touch of the brush to the surface. They benefit from being buffed into the skin, and I use either a MAC 217 or a Paula Dorf Sheer Crease brush (depending on the shape I'm creating. The 217 is more vigorous). Everything else: satin, metallic, pearls, works best when applied with fingers, and again, in small amounts that can be built on as needed. There's no need to dig into the pan, and using a brush on the non-mattes is rather futile, as the particles will get everywhere and the finish will lose its integrity. If I were a makeup artist I'd probably skip these shadows despite their beauty and attractive pricing, because I'd feel it's a) wasteful, and b) less than hygienic to double dip and use fingers. But for the casual user: dip away and finger-paint. It's fun.

Here's what I used for the look:

Face
Cle de Peau luminizer primer. It's flashing back terribly in the photos, but we don't live in photos most of the time.
LMdB Peau Vierge.
MAC Concealer Palette in Medium, the two top shades on the left mixed together.
Shiseido Translucent Loose Powder

Eyes
MAKE eye primer
Colourpop eye shadows- "As If"- a matte medium cool taupe all over the lid and up to the crease (I could have gone higher, I think). Any matte taupe will do, or even MAC Paint  Pot in Groundwork or Tailor Gray. It got almost covered with the other stuff anyway.
"Melrose"-matte  terracotta applied with a pencil brush mostly along the lash line and blended upward sand outwards. Colourpop Bandit (permanent) is a good substitute, as are the rust color in the Viseart Neutral Mattes palette, or almost any matte bronzer color that has been languishing away in a drawer.
To finish it off, I put a touch of Colourpop Crimper in the middle of the lid and then spent five minutes cleaning up the gold glitter that got everywhere when I accidentally touched my face. Any sheer gold shimmer will do.

I tightlined with YSL Black Bronze cream liner, which is now a Europe exclusive (WHY?). Stila Smoky Quartz cushion eyeliner gel is the next best thing. I finished things off with that Stila mascara sample from their holiday palette. Because it was there.

Cheeks
Burberry Blossom blush
Beauty Is Life Balina multi  powder

Lips
MAC My Inner Femme

SotD was Hedonist Cassis by Viktoria Minya.
Germs courtesy of the husband who caught this plague a week earlier.