30 Day Makeup Challenge: Day 15, Blue Eye Shadow

 Blue eye shadow is notoriously hard to wear for day. I think there were some moments in the nineteen sixties and seventies in which is was perfectly fine. I can picture some ladies with big hair and nipped in waists in the typing pool on Madmen wearing it, but those days are gone.

So color me bold when I put on this matte cool French blue on my lids. What's really nice about having hooded eyes is that when you look straight ahead, mostly folks can't see what color is on your lids. So you can create a dramatic surprise by adding unusual shades and finishes to that area. I like to put some shimmer, some sparkle, one bright color, or even a bunch of colors there as a little gift for folks who are paying attention.

 As you can see, this look is a bit gentler in artificial indoor lighting. I like the way the purple tones come out here.

So here's what I used:

Eyes:

• MAC Soft Ochre Paint Pot as primer
• Urban Decay Vice Palette Chaos on Lid
• Urban Decay Vice Palette Disruption on Crease
• Urban Decay Vice Palette Lace to blend Crease Color up into browbone
• Maybelline Eye Studio felt tip eye liner on lash line
• NYX Slide On Eye Pencil in Navy on Water Line
• L'Oreal Voluminous Mascara in Carbon Black

Here are some tips on working with blue eye shadow:

• Ground the blue with a neutral in the crease and blend them together there
• Finish it off with black eye liner along the lash line
• Blend the shadow a lot, and then pack on more. Sometimes blue shadows aren't as pigmented as we'd like, so they can get patchy. If you really want to be sure to get full coverage, start with a white or, even better, a black sticky base like a NYX jumbo pencil or some other creamy shadow base.
• Go smoky and put something dark, a blue, gray or brown, in the water line
• Restrict the blue to the eyelid if you want to go a bit more stealth on it, and avoid the crease
• Use a nice light concealer under the eyes to make your smoky lash line stand out, and to avoid the sense that it's just the veins and circles under your eyes showing through instead of some nice blue eye liner that you chose to rock today
• Keep the rest of the face pretty neutral, both to feature the eyes, and to avoid an overall clownish appearance
• Since blue eye shadow can be a bit old lady, but it can also be a little Rock n' Roll and glam, wear stuff that fits the Rock n' Roll style - like the black leather jacket I wore here

So what do you think, Beauty Fans? Comment below.

Thanks for coming by my blog!

Love, BeautyJones