Party Eyes

I love weddings. I particularly love getting dolled up for weddings. I absolutely adore the opulent colour palette of this time of year, so I'm took full advantage of the opportunity to get my glam on & break out a completely decadent smokey eye at a recent wedding. I couldn't resist writing a post about my dress rehearsals.You'll have to excuse the lack of gel liner (usually a staple) as I couldn't find it (it may still be in the hotel!) the evening I had Mr Esme poised with the camera. There will be a part 2 of this post as I've more looks to recreate but waiting for a sunny day to get some decent quality photos for once!

Black & Gold

This super easy look would have complemented my outfit perfectly. I really like black and gold together and with some super sharp liner to finish this off would have been ideal wintery chic. 
Primed with Maybelline 24hr Eye Tattoo in Immortal Charcoal
Took MAC Carbon over outer corner and out into a wing, smudge some under lower lashes.
Blended Benefit Show Off in Jacki into inner corner and over the edge of Carbon. Lined upper lashes with carbon and filled in lower water line. I forgotten how much I love Jacki, its really pinky but turns a beautiful antique gold colour when applied over a darker base.

Navy and Bronze with Teal Liner

This is the look I wore on the day. Its my new favourite eye look. I love the teal under the eye, brightening the look. I love the bronze edges to the navy, not a combination I've tried before but I think the warmth from the bronze really sets the Navy off. 
I primed lids with Urban Decay Primer Potion (Greed) and contoured the crease with a reddish bronze from Sleek The Original Palette. Just underneath the reddish bronze I blended a more gold base tone from the same palette. I covered the lid with MAC Nehru and lined with Carbon  in place of a gel liner. I smudged some Shiseido Hydro Powder in H5 under the lower lashes as a primer then the teal from the Sleek palette over it.

Bright Blue Liner

I've been trying to find an excuse to wear MAC Liquidlast Liner for a while now. It was given to me by a friend who 'could get on with it'. I see her point. Its an amazing colour and REALLY lasts (I have to use baby oil to remove it) but I find it difficult to work with. I always end up with lashes caked in it, whether I use the brush that it comes with or decant onto my favourite liner brushes. Grrr. It stays wet for a really long time too. 
Anyway, I primed my lid with Maybelline 24hr Eye tattoo, Immortal charcoal and covered the lid with Blue Smoke from an Estee Lauder gift palette. I added a thick sweep of Liquidlast, a little flick and some Benefit Bad Gal Blue. I lined the lower water line with MAC Fascinating Pencil. I think its far too casual for a wedding but fun party make up. I love the silver and bright blue combo but still not sold on the Liquidlast formula.

It's all about eye

Firstly, Apologies for my terrible, flu ravaged skin & the absolutely shocking photo quality contained in this post but I was desperate to get it published after over a week of blog silence & so tried (& some may say failed!) to photograph my own eyes.

This post is purely self indulgent. I love applying eye make, it's what I love most about doing my face. Finding myself with a rare work/child/husband free morning, I decided to play around with a few eye looks. I had no plan other than to delve deep inside my shadow box & see how the mood took me. This is what happen next!

Royal blue with flashes of emerald green. Pure silliness! My gran would say 'blue & green should never be seen except when worn by a gypsy queen' but when I see striking blue & green I think peacocks & mermaids (how girly does that sound!). I covered my upper lid Mac LiquidLast (can't find the name of this shade) taking it below my lower lashes but keeping it quite round. Next I lined below the blue underneath & my upper lash line with collection 2000 glam crystals in Pizzazz. Who knows what I was thinking but I kind of like it! Having made an unholy mess I skipped mascara as my lashes were caked in liner. Unless a fancy dress party demands it, I think this look will be going firmly back in the box!

Ombré ish Green I love the melting quality of dip dyed ombré silk & have seen a couple of great example of ombré hair over summer so thought I'd give it a whirl on my eyes. On the outer third I applied GO eyes in 577c  then used a mid green from Pixi's Muse pallet in the centre before  blending some Trish Mcevoy Kiwi into inner corner. I used a bit of L'Oreal Chrome Shine Silver Jade to blend the colours in the centre of the lid. I took all three greens underneath the eye too. I finished up by lining upper lashes & waterline with Trish Mcevoy Definer in Clover. A Quick sweep of Maybelline Great Lash Black/Brown to define lashes but not swamp the softness of the look. I do think this look is soft, despite being bright and heavy. I think it's the kind of thing I'd wear for a Saturday daytime with pale pink blush and glossy pink lips. I  think my initial vision was of something less blended with greater definition between shades but I'm happy with the outcome none the less. This is probably my favourite eye of the morning.

Squared off crease colour.Firstly, I blended a neutral from a 120 colour Prettypink palette all over my lid using a big Ms Make Up brush. Using a  bright matt blue from a FCUK gift palette I took a  Mac 266 and drew a sharp corners at the inner an outer corner of my upper eye and filled it in taking the colour across the crease. I took the same colour underneath, hoping for an arty reflection kind of effect! I added a coat of Benefit Bad Gal Blue and lined the waterline with MAC Fascinating Kohl pencil.  I've been wanted to try a squared eye for a whole after seeing picture of the Frankie Morello catwalk. I've envisioned a dark Gothic version worn with a fierce black dress & boots which I do intend to try this winter. This was so easy to achieve & I like it, perhaps not this colour on me & without the colour underneath but I'll definitely keep playing with this until I get something I really like.


Sparkly green with deep pink. I'm loving wearing L'Oreal Chrome Shine silver jade with collection 2000 Hard Candy  underneath as a weekend look at the moment & the is just a sparkly take on that look with a thick liner. I covered my lid with E5 from W7 Cabaret set then lined it with MAC Stormwatch applied with a Real Techniques brow brush so the line was fairly meaty, I didn't wing it as far as I'd usually take a colour liner so not to overwhelm the look.  I smudged some collection 2000 pixie pigment over Stormwatch then I worked some Hard Candy under the eye adding some Benefit show off in a pinky shade to 'pink it up' a bit. Finally i added a touch of Chrome Shine in rose Gold to the inner corner as a highlight. I finished off with MAC opulash mascara. I'm so sad this didn't photograph better because its a really pretty and subtly colourful look that I'm sure I'll recreate again.

All in all, I had great fun and will be spending my next qquiet morning doing exactly the same but with a plan of the looks I want to try. I will also have a husband on hand to take some decent pictures! Oh how I wish I could spend all my mornings playing in my make up box!!