Eye Shadow

What a divine palette. There is no look, season or occasion that this would not be perfect for, it truly is Just Gorgeous.

I received this as a gift and I am absolutely over the moon with it, so that may have tinted my view but I think these 12 shades are so incredible I would have been just as happy if I’d gotten this as a treat for myself.

Firstly the packaging, all black and sleek with a firm closing lid is right up my street. It is sturdy enough for a busy life and still looks luxurious on a vanity or muji drawer.

There are cool and warm shades and a good mixture of matt and shimmery shadows. I don’t wear glitters on my eyes often and have been leaning towards all matt palettes lately, but because these are so buttery and soft they add a sheen or a slight sparkle without looking too chunky.

‘Ivory’, the top left shade is a perfect base shade or highlight. ‘Espresso’, bottom right is fantastic in the lash line for a softer liner option and I love ‘Naked’, 2nd row 2nd column, for my crease colour / transitional shade. I take ‘Truffle’ the shade under ‘Naked’ on a pencil brush under my lower lash line to add depth to the eye and make them look bigger and ‘Birch’, the shade above ‘Espresso’ in the outer v of my eye and slightly blend it out to elongate the eye.

I could not get Ivory to swatch at all, but as soon as I dip my brush in, the colour picks up beautifully, it is a matt off white eye shadow. The shades from right to left are Chiffon a sparkle, Golden Pink a metallic and Graphite also a sparkle.

The Second row is Gold, sparkle, Naked, matte, Nude Beach, metallic and Birch, matt. As you can see the glitters shadows are not super pigmented and give more of a wash of colour so they are great to layer over the matt shades, while the metallics make the shadows underneath them look almost wet. The third row has Smokey Topaz, metallic, Truffle a matt, Golden Bronze, metallic and Espresso also matt.

I have the feeling this was a limited edition palette however all the colours can be purchased as separates or you can custom make your own Bobbi Brown palette, with your favourite shades. I have just seen the ‘Greige’ palette while I was finding links, oh my goodness that’s going on my list to swatch, it looks incredible. If you’ve managed to bag that please leave a link to your website below.

Thanks for reading gorgeous people,

Till next time, Nicola x

This is from a while ago when one of the most beautiful people I know agreed to let me practice on her

@shauna.mua is a free lance makeup artist working in WA, i know I’m bias but I can’t recommend her enough. Go follow her Instagram and check out her work.

Here we spent the whole day practicing the ever coveted Smokey Eye

Here are a few tips and tricks we have picked up since then, on clients and in class.

Start with the eyes

Fall out (my old foe) is the pitts, it turns all concealer and foundation that came before it turgid, and it can turn any eye design into an unsightly mess. If you are going for a full on vampy black look start your makeup look with your eyes then any fall out can be easily wiped away, less mess, less stress.

Find a primer that works for you

I am an Urban Decay Primer Potion junkie, but e.l.f has a great eye lid primer at a fraction of the cost, there are lots of others on the market.
If you have oily, dry or normal lids a primer will help this look stay put for longer so you look the bomb for longer

Colour in the whole socket with black eyeliner

This will help the black eyeshadow to stick and intensify the colour. All black eye shadows I have tried are not as pigmented as some of their brown counterparts and they need a little help.

Yes you will have to spend longer taking your makeup off, but eye makeup removers such as BioDerma melt everything away in minutes and a few extra minutes is worth it, to look so much more intense

It will look horrific at the beginning and middle…

…but keep going.

Tap off the brush
Pat the eyeshadow on all over the lid,
blend,
repeat.

Polish off the look

Add a good black mascara and a gel or liquid liner to define the eyes and fill in any spaces between the lashes.
Fill in brows, and don’t be frightened to go darker with them than you normally would as dark eyes looks amazing with strong brows to frame them.
It is not the quickest or simplest look but it is certainly the most dramatic the best known, it is perhaps the only eyeshadow look my boyfriend knows.

Practice, practice, practice

You will not be amazeballs the first second or maybe fifth time you try this out but you will get better, and as with everything, practice makes perfect.

My Top Picks

Shadows

Urban Decay Naked Basics Eye Shadow Palette MECCA
Sleek I-Divine Eye Shadow Palette Sleek
Shany Cosmetics Smokey Eye Palette Shany Cosmetics

Black Liners

BOBBI BROWN Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner BOBBI BROWN
STILA Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye liner MECCA
Urban Decay 24/7 Liner in Perversion MECCA

However you wear your smokey eye, you rock that!

All for now,

Have a gorgeous day xxx