It’s snowing hard while I type this and I’m feeling crabby and housebound, so let’s do a makeup post and cheer me up. I have info and some questions sprinkled throughout.
1) Eyes. As some of you know, I cut my long hair recently – here’s a photo my daughter took, I’m wearing the lippie/gloss combo below in #3. Something about that change has allowed me to feel comfortable wearing more makeup – specifically, strong lips and eyes at the same time. I’ve always followed the rule of one or the other (in terms of intensity) – strong lips, neutral eyes, or vice versa. Now, though, I’m working a smoky or multi-colored eye with bright lips and feeling like it looks fresh. What say you? BTW when I say “neutral” I don’t mean no eye makeup. At bare minimum I fill in my sparse brows, and put a Bobbi Brown cream shadow on my lids (applied with a brush) that renders my rabbit-pink eyelids a more aesthetically pleasing neutral color while skipping eye-primer. I use Suede or Slate, which is slightly grayer. Suede looks like hell in the pot, a warm, nasty yellow-brown, but both of these are a hint of soft, shadowy color on my lids. If I have another 30 seconds I do a Bobbi Brown gel liner along the top lashes, which stays until you remove it – I have plum, dark blue and slightly shimmery dark brown. I’ve experimented a little with other brands, but I think the BB has the nicest texture and the most longevity.
2) Related to the eyes – I’ve been experimenting with lining the inside of my lower lids, which looks great and I’ve never done before. I know, I know – we’re not supposed to do that with eye pencils because it’s dangerous unsanitary my arm will fall off – oh, wait, that’s my perfume that’s going to cause my arm to fall off. Somebody call IFRA!
Anyhow, I’ve been using a Laura Mercier in a dark purplish-black and the effect is gorgeous but it doesn’t stay. I have to check my eyes while I’m out to make sure it hasn’t smeared or run into the inside corner (ew), and it’s not like I’m using a ton of product. I’m trying to find a balance … what do I need? A harder pencil? Will that run less? Should I get something labeled kohl? Recommendations?
Makeup tip from Gina, a professional makeup artist and occasional commenter – I have greenish/hazel eyes. While I use brown or gray shadows for smoky eyes and to create some depth (I have deep set eyes, and a little round) she suggested trying a darkish purple (think eggplant.) I have a Cle de Peau shadow that is a very dark plum-purple, almost black, not quite matte, which I’d been using with a damp brush as a liner. As a shadow, placed on the outside half of my lid near the corner to give depth and lift, it’s a great color with greenish eyes and does not register as “purple.” Sorry, I can’t find the name, but I’m sure most makeup lines would have a similar color.
3) Lips! I’ve fallen in love with the NARS lip lacquer gloss pot in Hot Wired – a bright, slightly blue pink that is thick and stays on, the swatch here looks like the true color on my screen. It’s great over bare lips (this stuff is thick) but I’ve been experimenting with layering it over lippies, trying to up the intensity. BTW this is only for you who like a cool-toned pink, if you’re a warm red you might as well skip ahead. Anyhow, my regular pink lippies are nice underneath but don’t provide the pop I’m looking for, my pink lippie choices tend to be not so intense. Much as I love NARS Funny Face, that’s almost too much, and it’s very dry on me. So eventually I tried a red lippie I blogged on before – Dior’s Rouge Dior in Red Premiere, which is a bluish red. I tend to wear it dabbed lightly on my lips for a pop of color rather than as a full-on lipstick, because it’s very emollient and tends to travel, unlike, say, MAC Russian Red. So. Dabbing that on my lips gives a strong pink base that isn’t too dry. With an application of Hot Wired on top – shaZAM!!!!! It’s an amazing combo, that’s what I’m wearing in the photo. It’s not so neon-bright that I feel uncomfortable, but certainly brighter and glossier fuchsia than anything else I own. Anyone who’s got the Hot Wired and a blue-red lippie, you might want to give it a whirl.
4) Nails. Having whined in March’s Maxims about my difficulty getting a decent professional manicure (I know, I know! The horror!) I stumbled across a woman at a local salon who gave such a great mani I drove back out there to get her name. She gave me the oval tip I asked for, not the squoval or the Carmela Soprano, and she didn’t hack them off. Also, maybe my nails are snaggier than usual, but I almost always have to point out some rough edge they missed that needs to be re-filed before the polish. She did it perfectly the first time. My mani, which takes a lot of abuse in this kid-centric household, lasted a full week. I do wonder whether it’s just a really long-lasting polish (Sephora OPI in Run With It, a lovely, subtle dove-gray with a very slight shimmer that works better on cool skin tones.) But this gal took the polish brush and ran it along the edge of my nail tips as she painted, which I certainly can’t do. I’m guessing that helped.
Question: I’ve been sticking to my grayish neutrals and ugly greiges like Metro Chic on my long nails. How do you all feel about darker/brighter/classic red on longer nails? “Long” being a quarter-inch of tip, nothing too freaky. Are long, bright nails too garish or young-looking?
An observation: having seen a number of older, well-dressed women wearing very dark polish (like navy) on short nails this winter … wow. I work a navy or a purple or a dark green and I think it looks pretty, but on a woman in her 70s it’s fantastic. It’s chic in a way that I can only aspire to.
Throwing this open to any makeup items, discoveries, opinions, layering ideas, product raves, or anything else you’d like to discuss.
photo: Diva took it with her fancy new camera she saved up and bought herself. BTW that white stuff on me is snow.
I use a mineral powder eyeliner from L’Oreal on my Eyebrows. It blends nicely and stays on all day. For eyeliner, which I usually wear without mascara, I use Revlon’s ColorStay pencil. I think it was meant to be a brow pencil, but cant remember right now and don’t have it in front of me. Again, this one lasts all day and doesn’t smear like other liners I have tried. Thanks for all the makeup tips, and yeah you do look fab, March!
March,
Our hair and skin coloring is similar, so I read your blog today with lots of interest. Your new haircut looks great on you. I’m a long-hair gal, and I admire ladies who can make short hair look feminine and chic. And, as others have raved, your skin is awesome! Love your fuchsia lips. I bought the NARS Funny Face lipstick, but like you I find it dry. I wore it yesterday, in fact. I need to get me a pot of that Hot Wired gloss. Looks so pretty.
Since my eyes are more blue-green than hazel, I try to emphasize the teal-ness of them. I wear coppery browns or greyish shades. I love the Bobbi gel eyeliner, too. I wear Indigo the most, and sometimes Graphite Shimmer. I’m also a fan of tightlining the top lashes from underneath, and sometimes the bottom lashes for special occasions. I use the BB cream eye shadow in Cement as my base and often by itself.
I’m a big fan of pedicures and love bright colors on my toes. My hands and fingernails get a lot of household chore abuse, and I can’t stand a manicure that has chips, dings or dents in it, so I only do my finger nails for special events. I’ve never been able to grow mine out super-long, so I’m glad that shorter, well maintained nails are considered current and modern.
I enjoy your makeup posts. Diva did a great job with the photo. Very nice work!
http://weheartthis.com/2009/04/24/hourglass-cosmetics-review/
For anyone interested this link is a review on Hourglass cosmetics. My gorgeous daughter lives in Philly, went to a salon last week and the guy doing her hair suggested she try Hourglass, gave her a makeover– she said goodbye to her beloved mineral makeup. She also said everyone at work asked her what she had done to her face-it looks flawless.
I gotta ask-been looking through the blog-who won the Coze? I was hoping it was me:)
Lee slipped it into the Top 10 post. Here it is: (By the way, winners of the samples from two weeks back are Geordan1244, carlene and chasa. Get in touch, peoples!)
March, you look so beautifully flawless, porcelain skin, love the lipstick! Kinda reminds me of the old Mia Farrow look. A rep @ Sephora recommended Make Up Forever Aqua Eyes in black for my daughter’s eyes and of course I bought it, too. Glides on easily, and has staying power. I’d love to wear short hair, but alas, I just can’t. You have the perfect face for this cut. Hats off to Diva-what a great name-for the pix!
The hair’s a little retro and I’m liking it. We’ll see how it grows out. MUFE I like some of their other products, so I should definitely check out Aqua Eyes, plus I bet they have some wonderful colors. And btw — Diva is her blog nickname (all four kids got one) — I figured they didn’t ask to be featured on here. Although it’s certainly a fitting nickname! Diva, Enigma, Hecate and Buckethead (the twins.)
Excellent post! All you gorgeous brunettes are lucky with regards to the smokey eye thing. I love it and I wish I could wear it.
I have pale, pinkish skin and coppery red hair and whenever I wear even slightly dark anything on my eyes I look tired and vaguely unhealthy. Also, being naturally pale and having blondey-red eyebrows and eyelashes makes any dark make-up look a bit overdone. It also makes flattering mascara a bitch to find. So my questions is for the other redheads who read this. What do you do for eye make-up?
PS: That is a great pic and your skin is just beautiful.
A suggestion for a lighter smokey eye-avoid all red-based shades, go with a medium taupe-MAC Satin Taupe is lovely, easy to wear 🙂
Thanks! I will look for it next time I’m in MAC.
You look absolutely fabulous! But then, you always do. What a great cut on you!
Can’t say much re nails right now – I am applying for the Medal of Honor because i found a nail file and actually smoothed out some really rough edges, plus I took care of two nails that broke! Anything further is beyond me, though I did manage to shape my brows – does that count?
xoxoxo >-)
Well, honey, you have bigger fish to fry right now than your nails. And brow shaping is very important!
I’m studying your really lovely cut; your hair must have a certain amount of curl/body, right? Especially since you say it’s easy?
re: nails. I love the short/dark combination, and heartily wish I could wear it. (I have papery thin nails, and so I just don’t bother with them. I’ve inadvertently stabbed my children if I have any length at all, so I consider this a public safety measure. Not that I usually handle perfect strangers. Or anything.)
Yes, definitely body and curl. Not curly, but certainly wavy. If I wear it in a longer bob length I can use product and a diffuser and fluff it up around my head like a big ball of cotton candy. 🙂
Now that I’ve broken a nail super-short, I’ll be doing them dark.
Forgot to say elsewhere how much I like your haircut. Reminds me of Shirley MacLaine in “The Apartment” (just watched that movie last night and liked it a lot too.)
I’ve gotten Shirley MacLaine and Jean Seberg, and am flattered.
You look GAWGEOUS!
You know I’m not much of a color gal, but I would probably go the same route if I cut my hair as short as yours is now. Hair is like a security blanket a la Linus from Peanuts, and as soon as you make a radical change, you feel the need to compensate.
I used to read MUA avidly when it was just a makeup board and I did a lot of “accumulating” in terms of cosmetics and I now feel the same way you do. I’d rather have all the fragrances than tons of eyeshadows and lipsticks, etc. My remaining addiction is lip balm and I don’t see that going away anytime soon!
Somehow it doesn’t bother me having fragrances that I never wear sitting in a closet. But I assume (perhaps incorrectly?) that there’s a much shorter shelf life for cosmetics, and so X amount of that stuff will have to be pitched. Also assuming, again possibly incorrectly, that I could sell my used bottle of Dior Poison but not a used Dior Quad Eyeshadow. Could be wrong, though.
LOVE the hair & the photo! thanks for sharing.
My nails are a mess, but generally I keep them short. I think anyone that wants to wear dark nail polish should–70 years old or not, short or long nails… I suck at painting my nails and have no budget for a regular manicure. Lifting weights and baking (my two hobbies–yeah, I know) are manicure killers anyway.
re: eyeliner inside the eye–I use a pencil. Urban Decay ones seem to last a long time ‘on the waterline.’ I also like Stila kajal pencils and MAC feline kohl power, but with the MAC some people have had irritation issues when using it inside the rim.
the great thing about beauty and fashion–everyone gets to interpret it his or her own way.
I need to be careful about irritation (that’s probably me) so I wonder whether this will work out. I’ll look for the UD and Stila, I have other eye products of theirs. Maybe only for special occasions. But it’s such a pretty look. Yes, your hand hobbies would be killer on a mani!
Try hang-gliding or sailboarding (I’ve been an avid participant in each over the years)– by the time you’ve wrangled your equipment off the car, much less set it up, you’ve broken a nail or two unless you keep them neat and SHORT. Actually I’ve always preferred the “gentleman’s manicure” anyway: very short, rounded tip, buffed for slight shine. Easy upkeep– the buffing is optional, just keep them clean!
Hey! Love the new hair! Was it scary when you decided to do it? What was that like?
I always feel like I should be scribbling things down from the comments on these posts. Definitely going to try the MAC powerpoint. I’ve been using their little gel liners–they come in a pot–for a while now and have been happy with them but unable to find the colors I want. I’m a waterliner from way, way back — seventh grade or so, and so far so good… Had no idea I was doing something dangerous! Though I should say that I actually line just slightly outside the waterline on the lower lashes — I think tightlining to rigorously makes the eyes like smaller instead of bigger.
Nope, not scary. I’d had it. I just wanted it gone. I did the first round with the scissors and then had it cleaned up a week later before an event. FWIW I’ve had short hair before (shorter than this) so the idea doesn’t scare me. You’ve seen me — I have the small features for it.
I’m going to try the PowerPoint as well! I think the general issue with waterlining (learned that word today!) is irritation/cross infection, although an eye pencil isn’t something I’d share — or try at a makeup counter, for that matter, anywhere other than the back of my hand. Pinkeye is too awful.
There’s also an issue of contamination from bacteria surfaces and one’s hands and skin. Latisse provides a brush for every application, for each eye *separately.*
I’m not paranoid about it and I *do* waterline and tightline, but I do keep that in the back of my mind and sharpen the pencil just a twist or two before I use it.
I’m still trying to get my girls to understand I don’t want them to use my eye product. Sigh.
The hair looks stunning and really shows off your features!
Personally I use the L’Oreal HIP Eye Kohl for lining my inner rims and it stays pretty well and doesn’t gunk up in the corners of my eyes. 🙂 It’s not a pencil or a greasy stick chunk which I know are really smeary, it’s actually a loose powder with an applicator like this:
I have the oiliest eyelids ever and it managed to stick around on me.
That’s a clear translation of my diplomat-speak. And I like L’Oreal stuff, I’ll check it out!
Short-haired gals FTW!
I love these random weekend makeup posts. I learn so much from the conversation. I have hazel eyes and now want to find an eggplant and a good smokey plum shadow. Anything from Nars or Bobbi Brown I should be aware of. And it may be time to start playing with BB gel liners.
I’m more of a play-up-one-feature gal, which is always the lip–but if a SA gets a hold of me, they start layering on bronzer, blush, and eye makeup to “balance” the look. Note: they balance it with a “neutral” so it seems I’m not getting the neutral-eye-and-glowy-cheeks look down. First I need to learn that, then maybe attempt a smokey eye.
I love your short do. So stylish.
Argh, you’ve hit on the one thing I really hate having done to me by an SA — the all-over-the-face thing. I assume they’re trying to sell me more product, although perhaps that’s unfair. But invariably they do something hideous (often in the way of bronzer) that is too dark and/or too orange-y, and then I can’t even decide about whatever it is I came to try, like the lipstick or shadow, because the face is all off! Why the hell anyone would try to make me look “sunkissed” is beyond me. 🙂
I love random Sunday posts! And I feel compelled to share my waterline winners, since I have a very similar eye colour. (I totally pulled them out of my drawer to be able to write down the full names properly – no way do I remember that)
My absolute favourite dramatic dark pencil is MAC Powerpoint Pencil in Buried Treasure, which is a sort of black-brown with golden flecks in it. Has nuclear half-life and looks better than straight on black.
Runner-up is Boots No7 Amazing Eye Pencil in a blondish brown, name unknown. Doubles as an eyebrow pencil for me. Looks very subtle but sticks around.
Finally, there’s Bourjois Régard Effet Duochrome in Gris Perlé; a gorgeous lilac-infused dove grey that works excellently with green/hazel eyes. This one *does* disappear fast, but it’s so pretty that I put up with that.
Carter, I always use that nailpolish trick, too! It works like a charm.
Oh, and the hair? Gorgeous. Want it.
OK I am definitely going to try the MAC Powerpoint which has come up several times. And I love those lilac-grays!
Love the short hair!
Re: nails – recently buying Barielle Shades polish online. Their blue gray Slate of Affairs is great. Also like their blue w/copper flecks that slowly turns to dark blue. “Shades” stays better on me than OPI but I’ve also started using Rock Hard (avbl. at Sally’s) as base & top. Box say it’s only a base but as top it never chips and stays shiny esp. if redone. Love short nails — they make my narrow nails look wider. Great website for polish reviews and views: http://www.scrangie.com. Scrangie reviews and shows every brand/color out there. I dislike Fr manis, especially on toes and think they are outdated. (like I would know 🙂 )
I’ve stopped going to the $10 mani places as some of the Boston area ones use same tools on everyone and utilize slight of hand to hide it.
Slate of Affairs has been one of my fall staples this year, which is funny considering how many polishes I have. It’s a nice neutral blue, which sounds like an oxymoron but isn’t.
Scrangie is a riot.
PS Barielle’s Misbehaving Mistress from last year is gorgeous, I think it’s still available.
It’s funny, I don’t know if it’s my Euro ways or just blind following of momma’s possibly arbitrary “lessons in good taste”, but I’d wear dark polish on long nails only, my general rule of thumb being: “short nails, pale polish; long nails, wear what you like”! 😉
Oh, that’s so interesting. I don’t really think about polish that way. Then again, until last year I never thought about polish in the first place. 🙂
I’m just guessing, but in America I think that Hollywood during its Golden Age changed all that.
I’m just guessing, but in America I think that Hollywood during its Golden Age changed all that.
You look gorgeous! The haircut is so wonderful. Completely and utterly chic.
On eyeliner, I have a great BB gel liner called granite shimmer ink, which is a very dark blue/dark grey: good for us white-skinned brown-haired girls. But, I recently discovered GOSH, which is a drug store brand here. I now have the most gorgeous mid-grey shimmer liner. I would love to do a deep black cat eye but all the black liners I’ve used make me look ill. If anyone has a suggestion I’m all ears. I’ve read about MAC Feline (I think that’s the name). Any thoughts on that? I prefer gel liners to pencils.
To Carter on the nailpolish trick: You are genius. I’ve always had such trouble with painting my (short) nails. I used to make the mess and then take a stick wrapped in cotton saturated with remover, run it around the skin side of the nail. Worked ok but not great.
Lastly, Diva did an awesome job with the pic.
Diva is a great kid. I didn’t even have to nag her too much to take it. 😉 And thanks for the compliments — I did Round One of the hair, then took it to a salon for something more professional.
I love that Granite Shimmer! I got Diva a sample set of those (to keep her out of mine — grrrr, they never put the tops on them) and I liked that color so much I want it now.
Check out the GOSH liners — if they’re available where you are.
I can see not putting the top on the BB liners being a bit of an issue (given they will dry out and are reasonably pricy).
Interesting on hair. I’d been going to the same guy for several years, liking what he was doing. Then, he moved away — but before leaving he suggested someone at the salon I should move on to. The first time I went to see her, she took a look at the cut and said, “I think it should be tweaked this way”. What she gave me was soooo perfect I wish I’d being seeing her years ago. It was a modification on what he’d been doing, but with a better shape for my face and much easier to maintain. Who knew.
I went back to my short-hair go-to gal. When I wanted to grow it out several years ago, she and I got into this power struggle — she wouldn’t let me grow it! I mean, she kept cutting it back off. And it’s not like I’m some doormat, as you may have gathered. So eventually I switched to another guy in the same salon, who did what I wanted. Yes, if you find someone who can give it that tweak and make it so much better, it’s a glorious thing.
Thanks, doll! You know what they say: a complete lack of patience and skill is the mother of invention :d
That skin. That SKIN. My goodness, March, with a canvas like that, molded over cheekbones like that, you could wear cherry Chapstick and dried-out Mabelline mascara and be gorgeous.
Gina sounds priceless. I have green-hazel eyes too and my everyday shadow is that eggplant-y colour, sometimes with a lighter smoky plum if I’m doing something fancier and two-toned for more contour in the evening. I had this one shadow that was actually the colour of a two-day-old bruise, kind of brown-purple, and even though that sounds ugly it was just such an all-purpose hazel enhancer that looked terrific even in the harshest broad daylight and went with any shade of blush and lipstick. Now I mix a little dark taupe-y matte brown in with my eggplant and get the same thing.
Another trick I was taught is to just lightly sweep your blush brush across the area between your brow and your eye crease with colour after you’ve applied blush to your cheeks. It really ties things together and always makes me feel I look a little healthier.
And I was reading in this month’s edition of something-or-other that Charlize Theron’s makeup pro swears by lining the waterline with a beige pencil when you’re looking tired. Sure enough: it just takes that little bit of pink-rimmed fatigued look away and you look like you’ve had a decent night’s sleep. I could not for the life of me find a beige coloured pencil made for the eye area at my local SDM, but I found an ivory kohl pencil that, used lightly, did the trick. It’s also great for adding a little light to that dark area between the inner eye corner and your nose. It’s subtle but it seems to make quite a difference.
Opi colours seem to be nearly indestructible. I had a pedi one summer that lasted from July to the end of August, I swear. She did that over-the-edge trick, too. I love Carter’s idea of the hot oil bath after painting outside the edges. I think maybe even a klutz like me could do that.
If I only had two things I could do to my face make-up-wise, it would be to fill in my brows and do my mouth. With that, I look almost human. Next thing would be to smudge some brown-black pencil along and into my upper lash line and a very soft and blurry lighter brown under and into my lower lashes for definition. Next priority would be mascara. I used to scoff at those evil-looking metal eyelash curlers, but no more. A 20-second pre-mascara clamp on each eye is now mandatory.
I only use foundation close to my nose and very well-blended out to nothing to even my skin tone, minimize my pores and keep that area from looking shadowy. It’s subtle but helpful. I never use foundation on my forehead; I read somewhere that it did more harm than good (skin’s not uneven in tone up there and you don’t need the coverage, and it tends to cake with movement and skin oils). Now that I’m getting older, I’m getting more and more conservative about foundation in general. If anyone’s found a fool-proof, gorgeous-in-all-lighting, never-settle-into-little-lines, utterly natural-looking foundation, PLEASE, PLEASE tell me!
Your new short hair with your fab bone structure is the perfect combo, March — that, with a man who likes short hair. The last time a guy said he liked my hair best all short and tousled, I married him. Those ones are the keepers. 😡
Two-day-old bruise sounds like the absolute perfect color. I think the key in there is that there’s a slight bit of warmth (brown instead of gray) in the base. Those colors are great with green eyes.
The brows are so huge. I think many women have had the Brow Revelation, whether it’s shaping huge ones or filling in sparse ones. If I could only do ONE thing it would be my brows. I laughed when I had a mani recently and they offered brow waxing. What, you’re going to take off those last nine hairs that form my eyebrows?
Did you participate in the foundation post months ago? I can’t remember. There were a lot of helpful recommendations on there, people included skin tone/texture stuff. I’ll put in my plug here: Make Up Forever’s original Face And Body Liquid Makeup. It’s very forgiving, I put it on with a sponge, it lasts and lasts. The trick with those is whether there’s a match for your skin tone, their choices aren’t endless. I use their lightest one, which isn’t as light as you’d think.
Thank you for the tip about Make Up Forever’s foundation, March. Do you have a link for that earlier foundation post? I missed it, I’m sorry to say.
Yes, the brows!!! If you get those right, I think everything else just sorts itself out. When my brows were thicker – actually, DENSER is more the word — as a woman in my twenties, I used EL brow powder with its stiff little brush, and it was perfect. They’ve discontinued that, in Vancouver at any rate. Now I use Christian Dior’s pencil; it’s got a really nice brush on the other end that gets all the little hairs going in the right direction (I brush everything up and then smooth out the shape along the arch). I used to use a brow gel ($$$) but now I just spritz a bit of good hairspray on my index finger and ever-so-lightly go over my brushed-perfect eyebrows.
I now have a haircut with layers and some jagged bangs, and I find that’s been really flattering to my face and draws attention to my eyes and away from a mouth I don’t like all that much (too wide!). I love your gamin bangs, M. Soft, sophisticated, flattering.
I’ve found this post so helpful, March, even psychologically. I never think of myself as a makeup gal, because my fragrances outnumber my lipsticks about a hundred to one (seriously), but I am always trying to find stuff that works and tweak stuff I own and stuff I do. Thanks. :)>-
http://perfumeposse.com/2008/08/10/random-sunday-foundation/
and for mineral ones and face powder:
http://perfumeposse.com/2009/04/18/random-sunday-mineral-makeup-face-powder/
I use brow powder, but it’s getting harder to find. 🙁
IMO there is no such thing as a too-wide mouth! I love wide mouths, I think they’re sexy. That and gappy teeth.
I’m not a “makeup gal” by the standards of many of these women, or the makeup blogs. Unlike perfumes, I don’t *want* 75 lipsticks or eyeshadows. So these are helpful because I can go pick the pencil or two and try those.
I will try to smile and think of my big grin as sexy, March, thanks. Thanks for the links, too.
I don’t *want* all the lipsticks and shadows and things I’ve accumulated, not by any stretch. They’re really there en masse as a result of me (vainly) trying to find just the few things that are exactly right. 8-}
But fragrances? I can’t imagine having too many. :-\”
Hey, I changed my gravatar image, do you think it worked? I’m guessing not.
The Dior pencil is excellent. I use it and then I use a little bit of powder to soften and fill.
The foundation that I like very much for its extremely natural-but-better finish is Vincent Longo Water Canvas Creme-to-Powder, but if you have dry skin it might not be your friend. The finish is lovely however and what’s great is that you can build it in the spots where you need it most.
Thank you very much, Carter. 😡
A great 2-day-old-bruise eyeshadow is MAC Copperplate. I love it as a crease color and/or outer v blended into outer lid.
When I tight line my upper lids, I massage my pencil directly into the base of my eyelashes. I follow up with Stila in Topaz (the name is miselading; it’s actually a neutral peach colour) in my waterline to prevent any smudging.
Louise tried to show me tightlining yesterday, it was hilarious. Clearly something that takes some practice. Thanks for the MAC shadow tip!
Dang, where’s my new gravatar?
If anyone is looking for a beige eyeliner pencil, which is softer looking than a white or ivory pencil, try Three Custom Color.
🙂
Can I get that online somewhere? Probably. 😉
Oh, of course! TCC is the bomb, don’t you think?
People always say that men like longer hair, but my s.o. always likes my short short hair. I do pay more attention to my eyes when all my face is showing, I think.
I think that was Louise’s point as well. Assuming I don’t go crazy with the makeup, it softens the hair.
Your skin looks so beautiful in that photo.
I sometimes tightline my upper lid, but mostly I use a MAC pencil eyeliner in “Teddy” and I smudge it into my Jouer “Cashmere” cream shadow. The risk of an eye infection from a liner is too great for me to mess around with it. The difference between eyeliner and perfume is that you don’t put perfume into your mucous membranes, know what I mean? Some Diorshow black mascara, fill in the eyebrows and that’s pretty much it.
I tend to agree with makeup folks when they say to keep one’s eyes neutral when emphasizing lips, and visa-versa, although of course there are always exceptions and once in awhile I see someone who pulls off doing a dramatic face. But my preference is for understatement. I really prefer to see the face, not the mask.
As for nails, I can’t tell you how much I loath and despise long nails. Loathe. And. Despise! I don’t think they look too young — I think they are so dated that they instantly make even the youngest, coolest woman look old and utterly clueless. I am sure that someone extremely chic could pull them off by working a hefty dose of irony, but 99.9% of us simply can’t swing that look. I hope I haven’t offended anyone here, but God, I hate them. Short nails in (almost) any color are clean, sophisticated, MODERN, and chic.
Oh, shoot! I forgot to share my nail polish technique, which is the main reason I wrote a response: I don’t bother being neat when I apply polish. In fact, like your new manicurist, I deliberately go over the end of the nail, over the sides of my nails onto the skin, and even over the cuticle. I do a full manicure of Bondor basecoat, 2-3 coats of my color, which is always Chanel’s Dazzling, and Poshe topcoat, and then I take a hot bath…with bath oil in the water. After I’m through with the soak and dried off, the excess polish just peels right off and I have a clean, perfect manicure.
Wow. Just….wow. Now that I want to go back to polish, I have to try that.
😡
You just want to make sure that the polish is dry before moving on to the bath, and wait five minutes or so afterward, because the heat will soften the polish on your nails slightly and you want to make sure it has hardened up again completely before you start taking off the stuff on your skin. Slathering on some hand cream after you bathe will also help in removing the excess polish.
And if I can’t find those products, me and the Chin are coming up to 88th St and yelling in front of your house til you help me.
Okay, as long as I don’t have to take a bath with all three of you at once. I draw the line at two [-x
Oh, I don’t know, Carter — seems to me I’m sticking perfume into my mucous membranes all the time. 😉 I’ve singed my nose hairs off more than once.
Joining in to say that’s a great tip about the mani. Mine tends to start to peel down the sides, where I never get enough polish. Simply peeling off the excess makes sense to me!
Different strokes, heh-heh b-)
I’m so glad the suggestion I gave worked for you. I kind of though you’d get some nice depth and it would bring out your green eyes. As far as liner on the “water line”, as we call it, or the inner rim, I use MAC Powerpoint – it has a bit more staying power. I’ve heard you’re only supposed to use kohl liners on the water line, but this one stays more than kohl. Kohl is smeary as hell. Nothing stays indefinitely because of where you’re putting it. Give it a whirl and let me know how it goes.
LOVE your hair and LOVE that you’re wearing “Hot Wired”. I have it in my kit and it’s freaking gorgeous.
You’re a peach. You’ve given me several great makeup tips, and I love that I can nag you if I’m curious about something. Still loving the MAC Strada (the sort of thing you’d only learn from a makeup artist!) I’m going to check out the MAC Powerpoint, do you recommend a particular color(s) for me?
Hot Wired. Sigh. The first time I tried it on I thought, I NEED that. 😡
Aw a peach, or as I like to say, a pea-och. MAC Strada is lovely, so glad it’s still working for you. Try Buried Treasure in the Powerpoint – it’s kind of cool. I also like the gray one, can’t remember the name? There’s some great colors. Let me know what you decide to go with, I need to get some new ones.
Happy shopping. Something I’ve been doing a lot of lately. Yikes.
I got the gray one! and the purple one – plumperfect or some silly thing. Waterlining is easy, tightlining, not so much. 🙂 The Buried Treasure is an AWESOME color.
The colors sound fab, I knew they’d have a nice plum. Dumbass names, but hey. Wish I had that job sometimes. Could come up with some real winners. Let me know how the staying power works for you.
You’re elegantly beautiful in that photo and the makeup/lip colors are fantastic.
Thanks! Several people wanted to see what the short hair looked like, and I wanted to show off the lip gloss.
You really scared me with the “random Sunday” post. I think I’d die if I thought I had to get up early to go to work tomorrow.
You have that “Snow White” coloring which makes blue-reds look great. I can’t do that–plus I’m older than you. But it’s nice to find vivid shades that still work.
I really have to try a gel eyeliner, which sounds great.
Oddly, I find no eyeliner, a taupe shadow, and lots of black mascara gives me a younger look. Plus it saves me time in the morning when I want to sleep as late as possible.
Oh, and eyebrow pencil? Where were you all my life? It’s been about 10 years since I started using it and it has Changed My Life. I could never go heavily into Botox because if I could not communicate with my eyebrows I might as well be dead.
Oh, sorry about that! I wanted company and posted early. :”> Did you get snow?
I can’t say enough nice things about that Bobbi gel eyeliner. I know it’s quite popular. Have them show it to you. You need a thin, flat brush (not necessarily theirs, mine is from Sephora). It doesn’t flake and it doesn’t budge.
Your routine is perfect, though. Just some covering shadow and mascara and voila. And the eyebrows! Where would we be without our eyebrow enhancement? Mine are, like, three hairs wide.
The picture is terrific; love the hair, and what gorgeous skin you have, M! I’m with Louise on the waterline/tightlining. Makes a big difference, and the pencils she suggests are really good. Those L’Oreal liquid pencil liners are excellent, I bought one in every color. I think wearing whatever polish color that appeals to you is a good idea, too. It’s so cold here, and we are under what the local weatherman calls *permacloud* being so close to Lake Michigan, I guess. It makes me stabby & tired. I crave bright color this time of year and have purchased about 6 different pink nail polishes this week alone; so far my favorite is Revlon’s Pink Freeze. It’s bright and pretty and fresh looking in two coats. @};-
A-this is scary-I just bought that polish 😮
😡
Hmmmm. Will have to check out Pink Freeze! I think I’d die being that close to lake Michigan. :-ss
I never tanned when I was younger, much as I wanted to (child of the 70’s.) I simply don’t tan. Now I am reaping the benefits. Although to be honest, I’ve been lasered several times, warding off the familial pre-cancerous lesions. b-(
You’re fortunate to have avoided over-exposure to sun, March. I used to try to tan in my teen years, achieving only a pale biscuit color when those around me looked like extras in a Hawaiian tourism ad. All it led to was many sessions with the dermatologist. My skin looks pretty good despite all, but I’ve certainly had my share of treatments and biopsies, and even a basal-cell cancer removed when I was just 35, eek!
It’s so wonderful to see young women now who are pale and don’t feel the need to be anything else. Pale is the new tan. 🙂
Hey – my gravatar showed up! I’ve been trying to get that one up in place of the default grumpy, snaggle-toothed gremlin for ages. Whattaya know?
Oh, it took me forever to figure out that Gravatar thing. Hey, I should change my pic to the short-haired one!
March, you look gorgeous. Love the hair and makeup. I recently went back to very short hair after a painful 2-year attempt to grow it long. I can only hope to carry it off 1/2 as well as you do 🙂
Short hair is great, and so easy. Even the Big Cheese (who is a man for long hair) told me how much he liked it. Thanks for the compliments.
How nice to find you here on this snowy day :d/
Well you know how much I like your new do-and short hair in general. I’m in total agreement that at a minimum dark eyes are needed-and a good pair of earrings. I break the rule, too, of emphasizing just one feature, though lately it’s been smokey eye/deep natural combos.
I do “waterline” the bottom lashes-you need a good waterproof liner-MAC’s permas are good, L’Oreal Liquid Liner Intense are fab, and those BB cream liners stay put. I think you’ll know pretty quick if they’re gonna be irritating…also try “tightlining” the upper eyelash line. It’s kinda difficult at first-you need to pull up lashes a bit, line just inside the lashes-great way to emphasize the eyes with less obvious liner.
Hazel eyes turn way more green with purple, but also try bronzes (check my fb pic ; )-for either lining or shadow, not both-can be a bit rabbit-y.
On nails-I think any color is OK anytime, anywhere…just do what you like 😡 Good salon, eh?
oh, that’s L’oreal liquid liner pencil-confusing, I know.
And kudos to Diva for great pics!
I’m laughing, I just broke a nail off right at the base, shoveling snow. So they’ll all be short again.
The upper lash line? Wow, I’ll have to look for mine. Thanks for the recommendations. BTW if it will STOP SNOWING I’m going to Wheaton tomorrow, want to meet? I’ll have Enigma with me. BTW where the heck are those earrings I bought, I can’t find them!
Bronze. Yum. I have nothing bronze.
OH ps — YOUR salon. Gal’s name is Tina.
Yup, I am totally up for an outing tomorrow…grouchy and homebound here atm >:p I think I need Tina, too.
Page me…<:-p
You’re on! Let’s talk eyeliner. It’s stopped snowing [-o< so I think we're good.
oh, and yuck, I broke a thumbnail off so low it bled! No funky nailcolor for me, for a bit.:((
Oh, that’s terrible! Mine is just super-short.
wow, I just had such a flashback to high school, where we weren’t allowed to wear eye makeup….and we lined the underside of our lashes, and bought the tiniest painbrushes for eyeliner that Sister Mary Leniriefensthal wouldn’t detect….