EOTD: Taupe and Teal...

Golly gee, now this takes me back - way WAY back to before I first started joining in the beautyheaven EOTD thread, and TAUPE was all the rage. It was round about the time that Maybelline released their tattoos (and Tough as Taupe), and I went bonkers buying anything and everything I could find in that particular shade. Actually I went so crazy over this colour I wore it all the time, and consequently became increasingly bored with it, to the point where I packed all the palettes away under the heading of "been there, done that"...

But what a darn shame - it's such a pretty hue, and fabulous if you're wanting something subtle. So there I was looking at my collection last week and thought, hey, why not give it another airing? My fave palettes back then were the essence ones below ("Under a Cherry Tree" and "over the taupe"), and I was pretty chuffed to discover they're still workable, as is the MNY Tough as Taupe tattoo, which I used as my base...

I applied the shadows exactly in the order they're pictured above (marked with the "*") from left to right, and the deep brown from the Over the Taupe palette went underneath. Naturally I had to satisfy my craving for colour somehow or other (lol), so I added MUA Fashionista Supermodel Khol Eyeliner in Naomi on the waterline - a stunning shimmery teal. Doesn't last more than a couple of hours, but it was enough to provide a much needed punch to the whole look...

I just love rediscovering something I've written off - this is such a soft and feminine hue, and it's no wonder I wore it so much all those years ago...

What's your feeling about taupe? Is it something you wear often, or do you regard it as old hat?

Take care of you,

kats xxx

EOTD: Taupe-ified Essence Caramel...

Here's one for you lovelies that prefer a more subtle look as far as eye make up is concerned :-) I do realise that not every gal is into riotous colours and drama as much as I am, so this is for all the neutral lovers out there...

Although I wanted the warmth of a wee bit of caramel on this particular day, the accessories I'd chosen were leaning more towards the goldy-yellow side of the spectrum, so I set about cooling down the essence irresistible caramel cream to a soft taupey bronze. This is a striking example of the shift you can make just by using a very different base shade. Why not just use a bronzey eye shadow to start with I hear you ask? Well the simple fact is I don't have one in my kit that's pigmented enough or sufficiently blendable - I rarely wear neutrals so my collection is limited, but it's pretty easy to turn any shadow into the hue you want :-)

My base was Maybelline Color Tattoo in Tough as Taupe - haven't used this for at least 12 months, and fortunately I had the cap screwed on super tight and it hasn't dried up. I went through a stage of wearing it every other day when I first bought it, and basically grew tired of of the colour and moved onto the other shades in the range. But I'm always happy to rediscover an old love, and this matte cream is a sweetheart hue, nice and dense and provides excellent coverage..

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Over the top I patted down the deeper shade in the essence 3D irresistible caramel cream all over the lid, and added a smidgin of the light shade to the inner corner, but not enough to create a strong contrast (believe it or not, I really wanted a "subtle" look). To make my eyes look a bit more defined, I added Brown Physician's Formula Shimmer Strips Gel Liner on the waterline...

And here's the face I wore with it - I'll post the lips separately later this week. The outfit was all cream - top and trousers, teamed with suede boots the same bronzey shade as the eye make up... 

All up I was far happier with this neutral look than some of my earlier attempts - I think the brighter red hair helps me to cope with the lack of colour on my eyes ha ha :-)

Take care of  you,

kats xxx