The Makeup Mole

myface.cosmetics- blingtone

This week I was taken through the whole Myface range of makeup, and the more I’m trying from this brand, the more I’m liking it. I’ll be posting about other Myface products in the coming weeks, but on Friday shooting London It girl Yasmin Mills (who is already naturally so gorgeous), I used lip gloss in Lip Pop and a touch of the cult product Blingtones on the eye to give her gaze a hint of shimmer, and honestly, this product has to be tried to be believed.

It’s crushed pearls – yes, real crushed pearls, in an oil base, and it is a totally new technology for eyeshadow – Kay and I have never seen anything like it. What it means is that with one finger swipe of product you can create sparkling, glistening lids instantly. When it’s on, it looks so shiny it appears wet. “Oooh!” I hear makeup artists around the world squeal. How we love a bit of wet look shine (I know, there’s a tacky joke in there somewhere, but this is a makeup blog people, keep it clean). To get this effect, until now we relied on either using shimmer shadows or pigments with a wet brush, or adding Vaseline or eye gloss once the powder shadow was on, but with Blingtones you just swipe it on with a finger, for instant, glamour eyes. And the effect can be just a touch of pixie dust or full on metallic foil. It comes in a range of colors – silver, gold, deep purple, amazing teal blue, bright blue, white and beige copper.

Can you tell I’m smitten? I have a feeling I’ll be using these bad boys all the time. They are perfect to throw in your handbag or your desk drawer if you’re going out that night to punch up your look, and they don’t need a brush – they actually go on better when applied with your fingers.

The only thing I would say is that the pearl particles are so fine it does drop under the eye somewhat, so I would recommend doing the eyes first, before your foundation, then using some sticky tape around your finger to pick up any fall out, before proceeding with the rest of the makeup. (This is also a great trick if your smoky eyes start out more panda than pretty!)

And the best part? It’s available at Boots – yes, Boots the chemist. I so rarely get excited about anything I buy at the chemist (unless they’re in Paris, or the US has some ace stuff also), that to find a range at drugstore prices that has anything I want is already an achievement in itself.

You can check out the full range at www.myfacecosmetics.com

Until the 25th of February Myface cosmetics is offering a free concealer with every Myface foundation, available throughout the UK at Boots Chemists.

This is officially my favourite eyeshadow set at the moment, and it’s been in my kit so long that it’s the old enamel blue and black stripes (and that’s old! I think I bought it pre-2000) and it’s still getting cracked out on a regular basis.

Why so good? Well it has the perfect nutmeg brown for starters, which has a slight bit of shimmer but only a touch (the other four shadows are matte). It has a cream, which I never use but hey at least it’s there if I ever need to do – well, a cream color, a gorgeous matte peach which has just the right amount of blue to it, not too coppery, an almost wine color which is lovely on blue and green eyes mixed with the brown, and my other fave, a mustard-y camel color which is just the wrong shade of tan to be oh so right.

They’re gorgeous mixed together or used separately but they are a kit staple, so for me it’s BAG IT!

How many of my Makeup Molettes have bought a cream eyeshadow expecting it to be amazing and got it home, smeared it on, and it’s just well…not? I’m constantly mystified as to why magazines tell people to try a new color eyeshadow in a cream texture, as if buying a powder  eyeshadow to test something out would be too shocking. Ladies, I think we’re strong enough to handle it!

What the magazines don’t tell you is that cream eyeshadows are the diet version of powder eyeshadow – the anorexic younger cousin, the Lite to powder’s Maxi. Yes, they can be beautiful on their own, but you’re never going to get a full fledged rockin’ look if you don’t layer it with powder.  So expecting to get some amazing strong effect from a cream shadow, well it’s just not going to happen (sorry).

Because cream is more transparent than powder it’s always going to give you a sheerer wash of color – so for a neutral, natural everyday look they can be lovely. For this transparent, taupe-y effect I highly recommend NARS cream shadows in Corfu and Savage and Laura Mercier Metallic Crème Shadows in Gold and Rose Gold.

They are great as a base – MAC Paint Pots and Paints (which come in dinky little tubes) are often used as a base color to give the powder something to adhere to. Personally I don’t like using a ‘base’ color as I think it changes the color you put on top, but on any given Sunday Youtube is awash with people who disagree with me, so it’s really personal choice.

If you are looking for something with more oomph, Illamasqua cream eyeshadows come in amazing strong colors and strong pigments, (the strongest I have come across), so for creating really bright colored eyes I would definitely recommend these. MAC Paint sticks are also a winner although the color range is a bit limited.

I do love creating editorial looks with creams, and for this I generally turn to my trusty MAC Cream Color Bases (or CCB’s as they are fondly known around the traps). These are a staple, staple item in my kit in pretty much every color available. They are unbeatable for smudging and creating beautiful shadows and highlights – once you try them you will be hooked!

I have also recently tried and LOVED the Bobbi Brown cream eyeshadows which are the only ones that I have found that don’t crease. For this is the definite drawback with cream eyeshadows – most of them crease like crazy, which means they need to be repaired throughout the day (not usually something most people want to worry about!) They also crease more on those with oily eyelids or in summer. You can help prevent this by setting with a small brush and a translucent powder, or a powder eyeshadow in a similar color.

And if you are channeling your inner 80’s diva, nothing beats the combo of powder and cream eyeshadow to give you mega glam slam eyes. And just like painting, half the fun is in the mix. Get to work!

How perfect is this little one-stop-shop nugget of shimmery grey goodness? It really is everything you need for the perfect smoky eye – it has a deep charcoal/black which is perfect for lining the eye, a gunmetal grey with just the right amount of shimmer, a soft silver (and it’s elegant silver, not nasty silver which can be too blue), and iridescent white for highlighting if that’s your thing.

 If you want to add the dramz, nestle either a soft black kohl pencil in at the lashline and then add a swipe of black liquid liner over this. Mascara is a must, false lashes are optional, flirting, mandatory.

And like all things Chanel it is chic, glamorous and just the packaging has the ability to make your heart go pit-a-pat. And since greys and black look good on every coloring, all you need is a swipe of beige lippie, a wink and a smile. Because who needs a boy to make your eyes sparkle when you have Chanel?