EOTD: Not Radiant Orchid...

Bit of a jokey title, but to be honest I wasn't even attempting Radiant Orchid, in fact I deliberately used a purple base to it wouldn't turn out so pink :-) I have to say that I'm somewhat torn between my existing passion for regular orchid, and the Pantone Colour of the Year. Sure it's early days, and although I love Radiant Orchid, I can't see myself going ballistic over it, mainly because it has so much red in it, which can be dangerous for this old chooky's eyes. Orchid on the other hand is pretty much risk-free, plus I have quite a few items of clothing in this more lilaccy hue already, and well, I think it's far more flattering for my particular skin tone...

Of course colour is SO incredibly subjective, and open to such a wide range of interpretations and tags - I've noticed that some online writers seem to be classifying anything vaguely purple as Radiant Orchid, when in fact Pantone reveals the shade to be quite distinct. I don't know how you see it, but to me it's way more pink than purple (pictured again below)...

Anyway, as part of my (ongoing) search for a true Radiant Orchid eye shadow, a fabulous forum friend pointed me in the direction of L'Oreal Chrome Intensity in Purple Obsession (thanks to my precious Petal ♥). While I don't think it's a perfect representation of this hard-to-find hue, it's pretty darn close in certain lights, and in any case, I'm thrilled to have it in my collection. Here are some photos of it taken under various conditions - cool light, warm, flash, no flash. To be honest it's quite the chameleon, and I couldn't figure out which of these pics shows it's true nature, so I included all of them...

So for this orchid look, I used MNY Colour Tattoo in Painted Purple as a base, and then applied the L'Oreal Purple Obsession all over that, with a teeny bit of palest lilac from the L.A.Colors Venus palette close to the top lashline...

There's no doubting Purple Obsession is a beauty - richly pigmented and you don't need to build it very much to get a dense coverage, and blending is a walk in the park. It's actually almost magenta in some lights, but the purple tattoo keeps it from wavering too far into the pink zone...

One bonus is that either of the orchids seem to go well with my eye colour - both tend to make the green stand out more yay :-) I do love the softness of this particular shade though - it's feminine and elegant, yet bold enough to make a statement, with not even a whiff of OTT. I can imagine this working beautifully for brown, grey and blue eyes too :-)

And here's the whole not Radiant orchid look...

Yep...I'm definitely an orchid gal, and while I'm still actively seeking the one that's currently in the spotlight, I reckon this version is radiant enough for me :-) What say you gals?

Take care of you,

kats xxx