I know it's only been a week, but it feels like it's been a long time since my last blog post. Either way, I'm happy to be back to posting. I hope you all had a fantastic holiday. As December's coming to a close, I've seen several "best of" posts pop up on different blogs and I decided to add mine to the mix. I'm going to split it up into a few different posts, so you can expect a couple more of these before the new year. Today's is going to highlight some of my favourite eye shadows.
To warn you in advance, this year, I've either grown up or gotten terribly boring with my eye makeup. I used to be a lot more adventurous with eye shadow colours, but these days I really prefer how I look with more neutral-toned shadows. With that in mind, for your viewing pleasure, I've got my 10 favourite neutrals and my 5 favourite colours. I made sure to pick shades that are still available, so you can easily get your hands on any of these!
Top 10 Neutrals
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| (L to R) Darling Girl Cosmetics Smoking Gun, Darling Girl Cosmetics Chococat, Darling Girl Cosmetics Harvest Moon, Cheeky Cosmetics Sun Goddess, Cheeky Cosmetics Fairy Tale, Cheeky Cosmetics Silk, Chequered Lily Apothecary Neverwhere, Shiro Cosmetics Deku, Shiro Cosmetics Master Sword, Silk Naturals Splendid Perfecting Glow |
Darling Girl makes some of the smoothest eye shadows I've ever used and they have a ton of beautiful colours. It was a struggle to pick just these three! I use Smoking Gun a lot as eyeliner. It's a beautiful dark, smokey taupe that ironically reminds me a lot of Honeybee Gardens' eyeliner by the same name, only in powder form. Harvest Moon is a beautiful peach shade and Chococat is an almost metallic golden brown. Both of them are great, mid-tone neutrals that come in handy for a lot of different looks.
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| (L to R) Darling Girl Cosmetics Smoking Gun, Darling Girl Cosmetics Chococat, Darling Girl Cosmetics Harvest Moon, Cheeky Cosmetics Sun Goddess, Cheeky Cosmetics Fairy Tale |
Cheeky Cosmetics
Cheeky Cosmetics is a Canadian company that I don't see talked about very much. They were one of my first introductions to mineral makeup and even though my collection's grown since, I still find myself reaching for these colours a lot. Sun Goddess is a metallic gold that leans a little orange/bronze and reminds me a lot of swatches I've seen of Urban Decay's Half Baked. Fairy Tale and Silk are my favourite shades for highlighting the inner corner. I use Fairy Tale, which is pink-toned, the most, but Silk, which is more yellow-toned, is what I reach for when I want something more neutral/warm.
Chequered Lily Apothecary
After how I went on about it in my review, I'm sure it comes as no surprise that I've included Neverwhere in this list. Probably top three material, if I were ever forced to narrow things down even more. It's a great, more complex neutral - golden brown with pink sparkles.
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| (L to R) Cheeky Cosmetics Silk, Chequered Lily Apothecary Neverwhere, Shiro Cosmetics Deku, Shiro Cosmetics Master Sword, Silk Naturals Splendid Perfecting Glow |
Shiro Cosmetics
Shiro is another of my favourite eye shadow companies. Deku is a stunning reddish copper with green sparkles that makes blue eyes pop like no other. Master Sword is a glittery pale taupe that somehow manages to be both gold and silver. It's one of my favourite lid colours.
Silk Naturals
Splendid is actually one of Silk Naturals' Perfecting Glow powders, not an eye shadow. The Perfecting Glows are supposed to be similar to Bare Escentuals' Radiance powders in that they give you a slight glow, but they aren't over the top and can be dusted across your whole face. Splendid made it into my eye shadow list because it makes a fantastic colour to blend out almost any other shadow. It goes on as a pale gold, but it's quite sheer and as you blend, it basically rubs out to nothing. At the same time, it's a lot easier to blend over Splendid than bare skin.
Top 5 Colours
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| (L to R) Shiro Cosmetics Twilight Realm, Black Rose Minerals Titania, Femme Fatale Cosmetics Divinity, Noella Beauty Works Mango Berry, Madd Style Cosmetics Lady Luck |
Shiro Cosmetics
One more from Shiro. Generally, I have the hardest time wearing blue eye shadows, but Twilight Realm is the exception. It's a greyed blue that makes the most gorgeous blue smokey eye. Love love love.
Black Rose Minerals
After neutrals, purples are probably my favourite colour to wear. Titania is a plummy purple that works as either a shadow or a liner. I love that while it's clearly purple, it isn't super bright or in your face. It's a colour, but it's still completely work friendly.
Femme Fatale Cosmetics
Femme Fatale is an Australian company that makes the best duochrome eye shadows of any indie brand I've found. Divinity is a soft pink with a pretty gold duochrome.
Noella Beauty Works
Mango Berry is a perfectly balanced coral. It's a little more orange than it appears in my swatch. I don't reach for it much in the winter, but it's a beautiful shade that just screams summer in the warmer months.
Madd Style Cosmetics
I think Lady Luck was released with last year's St. Patrick's Day collection, but it's still available as of now. On first glance, it's a light yellow/gold, but it has the most amazing pale green duochrome that adds just the right amount of interest to any green look.
I hope you enjoyed checking out my top eye shadows picks for 2012. I'd love to hear what would make your list!
It is so exciting to see all the favorites that people now are posting. Looking forward to more of yours! :-)
ReplyDeleteI have the Splendid too. Happy new Year!^^
ReplyDeleteNice post Caitie!:) Anyway,I have a problem in switching eye shadows to mineral ones.It's less pigmented than the conventional ones.Even after put primer before applying eye shadow.Do you have that problem too?If not,what is the most pigmented brand of mineral eyeshadows that you've ever tried?
ReplyDelete@Malin - I love reading people's favorites too. It's one of the best ways to find out about new products :D
ReplyDelete@Leira Yann - Happy New Year to you too!
@Lovely - I'm surprised to hear you say that! I find mineral eye shadows are generally a lot more pigmented than conventional pressed ones. I would recommend any of the brands in this post - they're all highly pigmented. Maybe your issue is the primer you're using? I find often loose eye shadows do best with a stickier primer or base to help them adhere. My favourite is Detrivore Cosmetics' original primer.
they look beautiful!!!!!!
ReplyDelete