Make Green Eyes Sparkle with Cranberry Shadow

Hi everyone!

So this is my first blog post, I figured now is as good a time as any to start making some blog posts! I just uploaded a cranberry eyeshadow tutorial to bring out green eyes. I think I'll do more of these videos for various eye colors! Let me know if that's something you guys would like to see! Below I'll have all the steps on how I achieved this look and skip to the end if you just want a list of the products I used. I'll have list of the products I applied to my face and lips as well even though this wasn't incorporated into the video for timing purposes!

Eyes (steps, list of products will be below):

I just recently picked up this wonderful invention that I bought at Sephora called Shadow Shields that are self adhesive and can be used several times each before discarding. For 12 dollars you get 30 of these little guys and they were well worth the purchase for me! I tend to get mascara and eyeshadow EVERYWHERE so these are wonderful for fallout! They also double as an edge for precise application of shadow, giving you that very defined line on the outer corner of your eye, which I LOVE.

Step 1:

I started off with my all time FAVORITE eyeshadow base:

Laura Mercier's Eye Basics in the color Wheat

I applied it all over my lid with a big fluffy brush, the one I used is MAC's 225 brush which unfortunately is limited edition, but it is a GREAT multi purpose brush for quick blending, application of concealer, powder for specific areas, all over lid color, specific contouring, and a ton of other uses. It is one of my favourite brushes but I never use it on film because it is limited edition.

Step 2:

Taking a dark or black cream shadow, I used Nars's cream shadow in the color Zardoz, which is SUPER creamy and pigmented, although it doesn't appear so because I applied it very minimally (although it is hard to tell because it is SO pigmented). A super cheap alternative would be to take NYX's jumbo pencil in the color Black Bean. Pick up some of your dark base on a concealer burs, (or any synthetic brush) and then apply that to your lid, using the brush to create your desired shape on the outer half of your lid (reserve the inner half of your lid).

 

Step 3:

Pick up some cranberry colored eyeshadow with a shader brush (mine's a 3 dollar brush from Walmart that I can't live without). The eyeshadow I used is Cranberry by MAC. Pat that all over the black and bring this into about the 2/5 mark of your lid (towards the inner corner), leaving the inner corner and first 1/5 bare for application of a flesh toned shadow.

Step 4: Pick up some more of the cranberry shadow and wet with your choice of fluid, water/Fix +/Make Up For Ever's Mist & Fix/etc. This is for foiling the inner part of the lid, just above the pupil. It will create an intense sheen and basically resemble the shiny surface of tinfoil. This can't be done with matte shadows however. Also, make sure you pick the shadow up BEFORE wetting your brush or you'll create a seal over your shadow that will block off the top of your shadow and make it extremely difficult to pick up any pigment in the future. I used the same shader brush that I used with the cranberry shadow and patted the wet shadow in the centre my eye right above my iris. It was about the same width as my iris as well.

Step 5: Blend the edges of the cranberry shadow along the crease. I used MAC's 224 blending brush. Try blending without closing your ring finger along the brush for smoother and lighter brush strokes! I find when I close my palm around the brush like I would hold a pencil, my brush strokes are heavy and too controlled and cause my brush to smash against my eye. I did windshield wiper motions back and forth and little circles in the outer corner. I find the little circles are especially easier with my ring finger disconnected from my brush!

Step 6: I used a shimmer purple from Coastal Scent's 88 Metal Mania palette (last row, 5 over from the right side, right next to the clip). I picked this up with a MAC 214 brush (which is a similar dense brush to the loved 239 brush, but it is thinner, more precise, and the hair's are shorter). I used this to place the purple color in the outer corner of my eye and into the crease. The color just adds a nice purple glow to the outer region of my eye, but could be omitted if you like.

Step 7: At this stage I touched up my blending to make sure there were no harsh edges from the purple eyeshadow with the same MAC 224 brush.

Step 8: I picked up some Brule eyeshadow, which is a flesh tone beige color, with a MAC 219 pencil brush and highlighted my tear duct and inner 1/5 of my eye. I used the same color with a large MAC 227 paddle brush and highlighted under my eyebrow. This brush will also soften the edge of your shadow and refine the blending even more!

 Step 9: Almost done! Haha. So at this point I take the same Coastal Scent's purple eyeshadow and I use it for a liner with Make Up For Ever's Eye Seal (a liquid which turns a powder shadow into a liquid liner), and Sonia Kashuk's Arc Liner brush. I put a couple drops of the Eye Seal into a dish and again pick up my shadow on my brush BEFORE wetting it, for the same reason as above. I line from the 2/5 of my eye outward, reserving the inner corner so as to not close off my eye. This doesn't add much more than a glossy, slightly more defined, upper lash line, because the color is so similar to that of the lid, so you could skip on this step if you wanted.

 Step 10: I removed the shadow guard at this point and picked up some more of the MAC Cranberry and mixed it with MAC's Star Violet shadow and smudged it into my lower lash line with the 214 brush (not going into the tear duct though).

 Step 11: I then took Sephora's Flashy Liner (pencil liner) in the color Flashy Blue and lined my waterline. This step was to further make my green eyes seemingly more green. The contrast of the blue next to your eye will make the color more vibrant.

Step 12: Mascara and then eyes are done! I curled my lashes with Shu Uemeura's lash curler (MAC's lash curler is IDENTICAL). (I used two different mascara's, which will be clear why in my next video haha) I used Lancome Hypnose mascara on one eye, and CG's Lash Exact Fusion on the other.

Face:

Foundation: NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Barcelona, applied with a MAC 131 brush and then MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Medium used to set foundation with a MAC 182 kabuki brush.

Bronzer: Tarte's Mineral Bronzing Powder in Park Ave Princess buffed into face with the same MAC 182 brush. I used the one with shimmer but a matte one is also available in the same color.

Cheeks: MAC Earth to Earth Mineralize Blush applied to apples with a MAC 108 Brush and then highlighted with MAC Shimpagne Mineralize Skin Finish which sadly is limited edition (my FAVE! Soft and Gentle MSF which is permanent is absolutely identical when swatted!) It is incredibly pigmented though, which is why I used a long haired duo fibre for a very light application!

Eyebrows: Filled in with MAC lingering mechanical brow pencil.

Lips: MAC Equality lipstick

Eye makeup:

Laura Mercier Eye Basics Wheat

NARS Cream shadow in Zardoz

MAC Cranberry

MAC Brule

MAC Star Violet

Coastal Scent's 88 Metal Mania Palette purple eyeshadow (Last row, 5 over from right side)

Make Up For Ever Eye Seal

MAC Fix +

Sephora Flashy Liner in Flashy Blue

Lancome Hypnose Mascara

Cover Girl Lash Exact Fusion Mascara

Lipstick:

MAC Equality

Face products:

NARS Sheer Glow Foundation in Barcelona

MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Medium Plus

Tarte Mineral Bronzing powder in Park Ave Princess

MAC Earth to Earth Mineralize blush

MAC Shimpagne Mineralize Skin Finish

Brushes (eye):

MAC 225

Quo Concealer brush

Walmart Large Shader Brush

MAC 214

MAC 219

MAC 224

MAC 227

Sonia Kashuk Arc Liner brush

Brushes (face):

MAC 131

MAC 188

MAC 108

MAC 182

Comment and let me know if you like when all the steps are written out or if you would just rather I only write down the product list! I thought I'd do both for my first blog post just to see how you guys felt about it! Also I have a poll going on at the moment and I'd love to know what you guys would like to see for my next video! I will do them in order of the numbers of votes if I get enough where I can determine places! :)

Hope you're all doing well, see you all in the next video or in the next post!

Love you all!

--K-A <3