Weekly Looks: Cool Tones

I mentioned a few times in the past month or so that I was getting a little tired of my eyeshadow looks and felt like I was always doing the same things. And I realized that what most of my favorite looks have in common is that they are warm-toned. 

I was inspired this week to separate my single shadows (that aren't already in existing duped palettes) into warm and cool tones. And to my complete surprise, I was really drawn to my collection of cool shadows. I did one look this week with a cool shadow on the lid and warm shadows in the crease, but after that, I just wanted nothing but cool tones. So that's what I did. 

It was a nice departure from what I typically do, and it was great to get some use out of shadows that are typically very ignored. I guess this could almost be considered a one week, one palette, but I did not use every shadow in this palette and also pulled in some other shadows. 

Here is a closeup of the palette and shade names:

And here are the five looks I did this week. 

Look 1: Ardency Inn Heaven

Lid: Ardency Inn Heaven

Transition: Kat Von D Ludwin

Crease: Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear

Brow Bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Look 2: Juvia's Place Chi

Lid: Juvia's Place Chi

Center of lid: Ardency Inn Heaven

Transition: Viseart cool brown and Coloured Raine Moments

Crease: Urban Decay Untitled and Juvia's Place Chi

Inner corner: Kat Von D Saphyre

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Juvia's Place Chi

Look 3: Coloured Raine Royal Highness and Ardency Inn Violet

Inner lid: Coulred Raine Royal Highness

Outer lid: Ardency Inn Violet

Transition: BH Cosmetics pink

Crease: Colourpop Silver Lining

Inner corner: Urban Decay Roadstripe

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Ardency Inn Violet

Look 4: Costal Scents Lakeshore

Lid: Costal Scents Lakeshore

Transition: Viseart cool brown

Crease: Urban Decay Boom

Outer corner: Urban Decay Untitled

Inner corner: Kat Von D Saphyre

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: Makeup Geek Caitlin Rose

Look 5: BH Cosmetics taupe and Colourpop Glass Bull

Lid: BH Cosmetics taupe

On top of lid: Colourpop Glass Bull

Transition: Viseart cool brown

Crease: Coloured Raine Moments

Outer corner: ABH Rosette

Inner corner: Urban Decay Roadstripe

Brow bone: Wet N Wild Brûlée

Lower lash line: ABH Rosette

Look 1: Ardency Inn Heaven

Heaven is an odd shadow for me. When I swatch it on my hand, I am so blown away by how gorgeous it looks, but when I apply it onto my lids, I tend to feel like it is too cool-toned for me. It almost comes off as a silver, which I know sounds strange, but that's usually how it looks. I paired it with warm-toned shadows in this look, and while I think it looks nice in photos, I didn't really like how it looked in person. I contemplated decluttering it from my collection, but when I moved it into the cool-toned palette and away from the other, warmer golds, I became much more drawn to it. 

Look 2: Juvia's Place Chi

This was one of my favorite looks that I did this week. It was also the first that I did with the completed cool-toned palette. As soon as I saw Ardency Inn Heaven next to Juvia's Place Chi, I knew that I had to use them in a look. I'm really happy with how this turned out and enjoy the the "moonlight on the ocean" look that it has, but I would be curious to see how Heaven would look on the majority of the lid with Chi on the outer corner. This was much more of a "midnight" look than I originally anticipated, but I absolutely loved it. I also love how great Coloured Raine Moments looks within the eye look because that is a shadow that I have not been able to utilize much. 

Look 3: Coloured Raine Royal Highness and Ardency Inn Violet

I might sound repetitive in this post, but this was another look that I really liked this week. I have several purples in my collection, but I feel like they don't get a ton of use, which is a shame. I don't think it comes across this way in photos, but this was a very smoky, dramatic look, and I loved it. The combination of the BH Cosmetics pink shade and Colourpop Silver Lining made for a really pretty glow in the crease, and I think it transitioned well into the colors on the lid. Again, these aren't colors that I ever would have paired together on my own, but seeing them in a cool-toned palette made them make sense for me. 

Look 4: Costal Scents Lakeshore

This was my absolute favorite look of the week. Lakeshore is such a fantastic and underrated shadow, and I was excited to do a monochromatic blue look with it. And this look could not have come out better for me. I depotted two shadows from the Urban Decay Jean-Michel Basquiat palette (Boom and Untitled), and I'm so glad that I did because I was contemplating decluttering the entire palette from my collection. Instead, I depotted the blue and green shades and decluttered the rest. The two blues performed like a dream in this look. I was also really impressed with how great it looked with the Viseart cool brown shade as a transition, as that is a shadow that I haven't used much because I don't wear a ton of cool shadows. I thought about running one of the blue shadows on my lower lash line, but decided to use the coolest-toned purple in my collection, and I think the result is really, really pretty. I feel like I say this often, which kind of minimizes the sentiment, but this is really one of my favorite looks I've ever done. 

Look 5: BH Cosmetics taupe and Colourpop Glass Bull

Rounding out my cool-toned week, I decided to go with a taupe-based look. To be honest, I wanted to use my Le Metier de Beaute single in Corinthian, but I thought it might be best to stay within the palette. I decided that I wanted to use Colourpop Glass Bull, and I have to say that I still don't quite understand the hype with this shadow. I tried to pull inspiration online, but when I searched for "Colourpop Glass Bull looks," the only thing that really came up was my own look the last time I used it (and, yes, that was quite a weird experience). I find this shadow really sheer and glossy. Maybe it's supposed to evoke the look of a Glossier model. I'm not sure. But it's not a look I personally want at this time. I decided to layer it with the BH Cosmetics taupe shade, and even though Glass Bull is on top, you can't even see it. I think it's a fine look, and I paired it with a raspberry lip, which really pulled it together, but it's not something I think I'll replicate. 

Weekly Looks: Jouer Skinny Dip, Sephora Pro Editorial, Colourpop, and Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts

This was a fun makeup week. I know that sounds slightly repetitive since makeup should always be fun, but this week was just a little more fun than usual. And that is because I am playing with color. I really think I am making up for all the time I spent buying every single brown color imaginable and lusting after neutral palettes. I am all about color now and have been really inspired by the single shadows in my collection. I feel like I'm moving into a good place with my eyeshadow collection, pairing down my shadows, and finding new sources of inspiration. 

Here are five looks I did this week. 

Look 1: Sephora Pro Editorial 

Jeffery on the first half of the lid, Helen P on the second half of the lid, and Costal Scents Oktoberfest blended into the crease. Shawn on the lower lash line. NYX Vivid Brights liquid liner in Sapphire. 

Look 2: Colourpop Rosé All Day, Fyrinnae Aztec Gold, and Makeup Geek Typhoon 

Colourpop Rosé All Day on the inner lid, Fyrinnae Aztec Gold on the center lid, Makeup Geek Typhoon on the outer lid, Costal Scents Peach Petal blended into the crease as a transition shade, and Costal Scents Fine Wine blended into the crease. Coloured Raine Super Star padded on the inner corner. 

Look 3: Jouer Skinny Dip and "Desert Dusk"

Jouer Magic Hour on the lid, peach Inglot shadow and purple Inglot shadow blended into the crease as transition shades, Coloured Raine Ladyship blended into the crease, and Coloured Raine Queen Mother padded onto the outer corner and on the lower lash line. Coloured Raine Crown on the brow bone and inner corner. 

Look 4: Jouer Skinny Dip and "Just Peachy Mattes"

Jouer Star Light on the lid, Colourpop The News blended into the crease as a transition shade, Colourpop Slim Fit blended into the crease, and Colourpop Stay Golden padded onto the outer corner and blended into the crease. 

Look 5: Costal Scents Lakeshore 

Costal Scents Lakeshore on the lid, Makeup Geek Beaches and Cream blended into the crease as a transition shade; Coloured Raine Royal Prerogative, Makeup Geek Desert Sands, and Makeup Geek Cocoa Bear blended into the crease; ABH Fudge and Coloured Raine Dethrone padded onto the outer corner, and Makeup Geek Flamethrower on the lower lash line. Marc Jacobs Whirl(pool) on the waterline. 

Look 1: Sephora Pro Editorial 

I had a lot of fun with this look. I must have been really feeling the greens this week because this look was originally going to be some kind of monochromatic green look. But then as soon as I was going to apply a green color to the crease, I diverted course and threw in a neutral orange-brown. I added a blue-green to the lower lash line and a bright blue eyeliner, and I really liked this look. I think it looked better in person than on camera, but considering these were light pastel colors, I think this turned out pretty alright. This is also a look that I would have never even thought to do a year ago, and while I think there are looks that are more "flattering," I had a lot of fun with this.

Look 2: Colourpop Rosé All Day, Fyrinnae Aztec Gold, and Makeup Geek Typhoon 

Remember that monochromatic green look I was just talking about? Well, I couldn't get it out of my system, so I did this look the next day. I don't know if I would have ever chosen to put all these green and gold shades together, but I have recently been doing a lot of shuffling of my single shadows in custom palettes, and at some point, all of these colors ended up near each other. And I really liked how they all looked. I love the gradient across the lid from gold to green, and I love each of the shadows I used. Like the look from the day before, I was planing on adding a dark green color to the crease, but once everything was in place, I diverted and went with berry. And I love how it looked! Green and berry isn't necessarily something I would easily think of to pair together, but I actually think the color combination is gorgeous. 

Look 3: Jouer Skinny Dip and "Desert Dusk"

So, this is one of my favorite eye looks that I have ever done. And I know that I say that often, but this look was really special to me. I used the silver-charcoal shade in the Jouer Skinny Dip palette as well as my duped "Desert Dusk" palette (I'll do a post on this soon). I guess it's a little bit cheating to call it the "Desert Dusk" look because several shades came from the Coloured Raine Queen of Hearts palette. I know it is sacrilege of me, but I actually depotted all the shades from Queen of Hearts. My reason for this is that every time I looked at the palette, I thought it was a gorgeous combination of shades, and each shadow was great quality. But, I hardly ever used it. And I think it's just because I've been so into my singles this year, and Queen of Hearts was being forgotten. Learning to get over ruining the perfection of shadows and palettes in depotting has really been such a helpful tool in my "makeup rehab" and in using my collection. I absolutely loved pairing the berry/purple shadows in Queen of Hearts with the charcoal shadow from Jouer. I think the overall look turned out quite smoky, but also intriguing. Again, this wasn't really a shadow combination I would have thought of when looking at Skinny Dip or Queen of Hearts as independent palettes, but when I saw the Queen of Hearts shadows depotted, I feel like it opened up a lot of creativity. 

Look 4: Jouer Skinny Dip and "Just Peachy Mattes"

Can you tell how my week went with shadow? Every time I used something that I thought was interesting, I had to try something out similar the next day. I typically don't like silver shadow, but I was so in love with the look I created with Jouer Magic Hour the day before that I wanted to step it up a notch and try Star Light, the most silver shade in the palette. I hadn't used my peachy matte palette in a few days, and as I've said, it seems I can't go too long anymore without using it, so I knew it was going to be a coral look. I wanted to see what it would look like to combine the neon nature of Colourpop Slim Fit with the coolness of Star Light, and I really liked the end result! I kept staring at my eyes all day because this silver was so intense and gorgeous. I find myself continually impressed with the Skinny Dip palette, and I've been enjoying using it with non-obvious colors.

Look 5: Costal Scents Lakeshore

Something that I am starting to learn is that it is perfectly okay to take inspiration from a palette without having to purchase that palette. At this point, I have basically every color of eyeshadow possible, so if there is a color scheme that is pretty to me, I know that I likely have colors in my collection that can replicate the look or give me a similar effect. For this look, I was actually inspired by the swatches of Natasha Denona Aeris:

I really liked the look of the blue and orange (left) shades together, and while a few years ago my impulse would have been to buy the palette, now I can take inspiration and just find colors in my own collection. I have shadows that would be better "dupes" for the Natasha Denona shadows, but I wanted to go for a slightly toned-down neutral look. Adding Makeup Geek Flamethrower on the lower lash line really made this look for me. Especially against Whirl(pool), I think the color combination just looked so cool.  

Weekend Looks: Costal Scents, Kiko, Jouer

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, this will be my last "weekend looks" post for a while as I am having surgery next week and will be in recovery for several weeks. Good news is that I will have more time to write anti-haul posts as well as other requested posts, so that will be fun. As far as looks I did this weekend, I don't really know why I gravitated toward what I did. I figured I would want to wear super colorful looks before being out of commission for a while, but my looks kind of bridged neutral and not.

Here are the looks I did this weekend:

Look 1: Costal Scents Lakeshore and Fine Wine

Lakeshore on the lid, Fine Wine blended into the crease, and Makeup Geek Bitten lightly padded onto the outer corner. NYX Vivid Brights liquid eyeliner in Vivid Violet. 

Look 2: Kiko Water Eyeshadow in #213 Dark Slate Green and Jouer Skinny Dip 

Pixie Epoxy as a base all over the lid. Kiko Dark Slate Green on the inner and outer lid and Jouer Bikini on the center of the lid. Zoeva Substitute for Love and Costal Scents Oktoberfest blended into the crease. 

Look 1: Costal Scents Lakeshore and Fine Wine

Status: Really enjoy

I think something I've come to learn about myself is that I really like blues paired with berries. Costal Scents Fine Wine is a shadow that I have really come to love, but this was the first time I ever wore Lakeshore, and I think it's a really pretty color. I paired it with one of my NYX Vivid Brights liquid eyeliners because why not. I wasn't sure how I was going to like this motley crew of colors put together, but I thought it was actually quite interesting. Also, as a fun side note, I was in Sephora last night buying a replacement skin care item (Drunk Elephant C-Firma) and the cashier went out of her way to compliment my eyeshadow. I thought that was really nice of her, but also quite funny since I was not wearing a single thing on my eyes that one can purchase in Sephora. 

Look 2: Kiko Water Eyeshadow in #213 Dark Slate Green and Jouer Skinny Dip 
Status: Love

I have to say, I really love how this look turned out. I knew I wanted to use the Skinny Dip palette again (although I am having complicated feelings about it), but I also wanted to use this Kiko shadow that I've had for a while but have only ever used on the lower lash line. So, I created this. And I really like it! I used Fyrinnae Pixie Epoxy as a base because the Kiko shadow is a "water" eyeshadow, meaning it can be worn either wet or dry. I'm not a huge fan of using shadows wet as I think it kind of ruins the shadow in the pan afterward, and I've never been the biggest fan of MAC Fix+, but I absolutely adore Pixie Epoxy and imagine it does the same thing as applying a shadow wet, only with less mess. And, man, both the Kiko shadow and the Jouer shadow look incredible under it. I debated using my Viseart Dark Matte palette for the crease work to really smoke out the green, but I decided (as usual) to have a warm brown crease. And I love this look. The Kiko shadow is gorgeous, like two others I have. But I will say that not all Kiko wet shadows are created equal. I love the three that I have, but I have also decluttered two because they were so lackluster. And lastly, the Skinny Dip palette. So, obviously, the shine in the center of my lid is gorgeous, but I used Bikini today and Skinny Dip last week and I can't really tell a difference between them. I also feel like Star Light and Magic Hour might have a similar effect once applied onto the eyes (I think they will both look silver), but I haven't tried either of them yet, so I am still reserving judgement. I will say, however, that I am disappointed Bikini and Skinny Dip are so similar. Both are gorgeous, but I don't need duplicate shadows in the same palette.