Wow, so many ideas. LifeOnWry, I would like to try your idea on me. badbadrubberpiggy, the Almay kit sounds just about right for my brown eyes. Brown has no opposite on the color wheel. Although I’ve been told my eyes change to “honey color” when the light hits them just right, I think it means a lighter brown, maybe with a slight hint of yellow.
I walked by the MAC counter at Hecht’s this evening and nearly sat down, but someone was already being served and I didn’t have time to wait around. (She was a dark brown Latina getting blue eyeshadow.) People keep advising me to sample MAC, and it sure looks like they have a good idea to bring people in with a beautician on hand to do you up. The makeup counter ladies I see at Hecht’s almost always have exquisitely done eye makeup. Their eyeliner and mascara is more prominent than their eyeshadow, which tends to be shimmery browns. They do use a lot, yes, but when it’s done with a good sense of style and taste, the makeup does what it’s supposed to do, which is to enhance the natural beauty of the eyes, not overwhelm them. It helps that most of those women are Indian, Pakistani, Iranian, Arab, Filipina, or Latina. Such pretty eyes! They take so well to all the sultry dark eyeliner. It’s easier for them to look good this way.
Maastricht, I’ve discussed makeup counseling with the aesthetician at the salon who’s been microdermabrading my poor old beat-up face. Once that process is done, I might get a makeup consultation from her. She is a very professionally skilled woman from Russia who told me that the trend in makeup these days is to be almost invisible. She gets by with next to nothing, but then she has taken very good care of her skin.
Back to the OP, eyeliner: maybe shimmery maroon will work well for me. I asked because I’m going to Congress on Thursday to lobby for TG rights, and I’m scheduled to meet my senator. I got a conservative navy wool business suit for the occasion, I look really smart in it, and want to be chic but respectable at the same time. I need a subdued but attractive color on my eyes. What’s the name for a color that combines maroon and purple? Like a darker magenta?
Today on a break from work I went to a nearby Target store and quickly took stock of the eyeshadow. They didn’t carry Almay eyeshadow, alas. Maybelline turned out to have what I was looking for: a trio of a deep burgundy (that purplish maroon I had in mind), a medium dusky rose, and a light neutral. They named it “Crown Jewels.” The next closest color scheme I found was a quartet named “Berry” from Revlon or somebody like that. But I got the crown jewels, which I expect will go well with my complexion and lend me a more businesslike appearance for when I wear a navy wool suit downtown.
I like using shades in threes, as I noted above. Too often they’re made in ones, twos, or fours.
Lot of earth tones these days. Some eyeshadow ensembles were even plainly labeled “Earth.”
Thanks for all the advice, everyone! The Dope rules!
I have blue eyes & usually wear a brown cream eyeshadow just on the eyelid. Often eyeshadows stand out, & not in a good way, if I wear them above the crease. I’ve just never the mastered the application technique. And the shop girl at the Clinique counter didn’t help.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned www.makeupalley.com.
I discovered it a couple of years ago through a Google search.
Consumer reviews there have really helped me find flattering & effective cosmetics & hair & skin care lotions & potions.
There are boards that professional makeup artists have been known to post to, where you can ask for advice & a product review section. It’s my favorite board, next to this one. I don’t who provides the site, though.
MUA, Inc., what company is that? Their terms of use don’t really explain who they are. http://www.makeupalley.com/docs/terms.asp
Odd, tonight I was in the planning meeting, wearing my purple eyeshadow, and the leader of my state delegation told me to dress conservatively and lose the eyeshadow tomorrow morning. Said it was fine for evening wear. I said, “Well, this is an evening out for me.”
Maybe I can get away with just the dark one, and not above the crease. Since I have deep-set eyes, that means almost nothing would show. <Sigh>
I just want to make a good impression. I’ll tone it down.
I think MUA probably stands for “Make Up Alley”. I don’t think they’re afiliated with any one cosmetics company although they do take advertising from Drugstore.com.
I usually recommend the site but you beat me to it. The reviews are helpful because they often review very specific shades and most posters tell if they think the color is good for them. BTW, they use acronyms to descibe skin tone; I’m a PPP (pale porcelin princess, :rolleyes: , yeah, I think it sound silly too) and I think you’d be either a DDD (dark darling diva) or a CCC (captivating caramel cutie).
I think the usual advice for deep-set eyes is that you want to bring them “forward”. So a light neutral colour from eyebrow to the crease (cream, pale gold/bronze) might be worth trying, and should be subtle and classy enough not to get anybody irritated.
IMHO, the combination that really brings out eyes is concealing under-eye circles/bags well and judicious use of mascara. Eyeshadow doesn’t add a whole lot more.
I’ll try your advice, serious lark. I’ve already got the light neutral. I did put the subdued dark burgundy on my upper eyelids today, but it wasn’t very different from the color there already, so no biggie.
I use concealer under my eyes and it makes a huge difference. However, I like to use fine black kohl powder too, and I usually drop some under my eyes when applying it. It makes this horrid black smear. I have to wash it all off before I put anything else on. Kohl has to be #1 in the lineup for this reason. One of these days I’m going to write an article on how to use real kohl.
Mascara doesn’t add much for me, you know why? Because my eyelashes already look naturally as though they’d had some mascara. My daughter used to ask me if I had mascara on before I ever tried it. It does help some, I just thought that was funny. Mascara is the most amazing stuff, how such a tiny little tweak can make such a big difference in the look of your eyes.
I know what you mean. I feel the darker someone’s skin is, the lighter eye makeup should not be. I never use the lightest hue for more than a teeny tiny area at the upper edge. I keep it to the minimum. Too much light color there looks retarded.
What I meant by the above: Where I used to work there was a dark brown-skinned woman from Latin America who was very pretty in her own right. But someone had given her the incredibly bad advice to use white eyeliner along her upper eyelids. I literally could not stand to look at her face, it was so scary.
That would be a very devious way to get revenge on someone who trusted you: give her eeevil makeup advice.
The next closest color scheme I found was a quartet named “Berry” from Revlon or somebody like that. But I got the crown jewels, which I expect will go well with my complexion and lend me a more businesslike appearance for when I wear a navy wool suit downtown.
I don’t who provides the site, though.