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

EOTD: Radiant Orchid...

Well hello Pantone Colour of the Year 2014 - Radiant Orchid! As you can probably imagine, I'm over the moon that such a gorgeous shade is making the headlines, and taking the spotlight. But I'm also hanging out till the various companies come out with some affordable examples of this delicious hue in their ranges. I actually had quite a time of it trying to create this pretty shade for this particular eye look, and I'm definitely not satisfied with what I came up with - not enough pink content, and nowhere near vibrant enough. Sigh, I'll just have to wait, meanwhile here's what I put together...

For a base I used essence stay all day long lasting eyeshadow in the magic must go on - this had great potential as it's pretty close to the shade in question, but I always struggle when trying to apply this cream. Not sure what the problem is but it never comes out intense enough or sticky enough to enhance and hold the shadow I pat down over the top. Definitely more research required :-)

Over the top I blended a couple of the purply pink shadows from the L.A.Colors Venus palette - I normally have no trouble with these powders, but today they wouldn't stay put, and seemed to fade within hours. Just goes to show how important the right base is :-)

I used a more definite purple on the lower lashline as I have to be careful with pinky hues - in the wrong spot, they make me look like I've been crying boo!...

Not quite the right shade, but it will do till I stock my kit with something closer :-)

What do you think of Radiant Orchid? Do you love it or will you shy away from it?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

LOTD: Orchid...

Another in what will probably turn out to be a lip product mix-and-match series :-) I bought a pretty tank top in a shade that I believe is called Orchid - a pinky violet hue that I fell in love with this Spring. Much more subdued than purple, and the strong pink component is very flattering. As I don't have a lipstick in this exact colour, I mixed a few shades together...

Australis Tickled Pink lipliner was what I started with - a browny reddish pink because I needed to tone down what's coming next...

L.A.Colors Grape Crush is a really vivid purple, but over the top of the liner, the intensity is softened to something far more wearable...

To finish it off, I added essence Rising Star gloss to push the purple a little further into the pink zone...

And here's what I was trying to complement - the colour looks deeper and more intense in this photo because of different lighting, but IRL, it was a pretty good match :-)

Do you have any items in your wardrobe in this pretty Orchid shade? Have you found a lipstick that works well with it?

Take care of you,

kats xxx