Pretty Pretty Pretty

Cream eyeliner May 23, 2008

I kinda like pencil eyeliners, i really like liquid eyeliners, and now i love love love cream eyeliners. I bought this Stila smudge liner (my first cream liner) a little while ago and it’s really versatile. You have to apply it with a make-up brush, but you can create all sorts of different looks with it using different brushes, mixing with water, smudging with fingers, or blending with eyeshadow. The possibilities are endless!

Here’s a pic of my Stila liner in Copper, with the tiny-tipped brush i bought from the art shop. Sorry about the blur.

With the smallest brush you can get real precise lines like this…

I dipped the brush in water first to make the liner more liquidy for the above look.

And then i got a bigger brush, and smudged it all out, and the blended with a blender brush with a bit of vanilla eyeshadow. This isn’t the best photo but you get the idea…

(Sorry about the poor quality of the pics.)

The only thing that’s a bit of a pain with this creme liner is that in cold weather it hardens and becomes difficult to apply. i guess i could fix that by putting the pottle into warm water or blow drying it.

Prime and prejudice April 17, 2008

Dearest readers,

A while back i discovered make-up primers. If you’ve not used one, it’s just like a paint primer - it prepares the surface of your skin for foundation application. Foundation goes on smoother, glides over imperfections and lines, and stays put longer. So if you’re after that kind of thing, read on.

(Actually, I’ve only ever used Napoleon Perdis make-up primer. I’m really impressed with it, but tell me if you’ve used any other priming products and what they are like.)

So, dear friends, with the discovery of the make-up primer under my belt, i decided to try out an Eye Primer and tell you what it’s like. For this post I chose MAC’s Prep + Prime for the eyes. I don’t usually splurge on such expensive cosmetics, but for you my beloved readers i will stop at no cost.

The MAC sales assistant told me the primer would make eyeshadow last longer and make the pigments appear brighter. Before making any recommendation to you, whom I hold in highest regard, i thoroughly and scientifically tested these assumptions.

This morning i applied the primer to my left hand with an applicator brush. I then applied four colours atop of the primed area with a blending brush. On my right hand i applied the same four colours without the primer. Pictured below is each hand at the beginning of my experiment (click for big version).

(From left to right on each hand: MAC Ricepaper, Clinique Purple Dazzle, Living Nature #5, Living Nature #16)

I found that the colours applied on the primer were much brighter (except perhaps the MAC ricepaper). Without the primer you can barely see the Living Nature colours, but on the primed hand they really pop.

I left the swatches on my hand for a number of hours. The primed hand definitely lasted longer.

On the Pretty Rating i give this eye primer 3 out of 3 Pretties!!