FOTD: Lower lashline colour (and a bad makeover story)

This look was inspired by three things.

Firstly, Alicia Keys' makeup on her MTV Sessions performance of Empire State of Mind here:



(It's a spine-tingling rendition I think although I cringe every time at the line "Some will sleep tonight with a hunger for more than an empty fri-ii-iidge...")

Secondly, this awesome look done by one of my favourite beauty bloggers Designer Spray.

Thirdly, the necklace I wore for my birthday. Ironically I didn't end up wearing it to the dinner I was going to because it looked too much for a casual meal with friends!

I was convinced that Alicia was wearing teal liner on her lower lashline in this performance, but I was clearly wrong! Either way, I was really taken with the bronzey smokey look (I think her makeup is often perfection). I loved Designer Spray's look but I'm not young enough nor by any means cool enough to pull off such a punchy look. And I wanted to pair bronze and green in a different way to my look here to match my necklace, with an earthier finish.

This is what I came up with:

I used an absolutely ancient blush for this look, which has since been discontinued. I don't use it often but it's a great plummy shade and well pigmented. I remember that my mum bought it for me when we had a day out at Bluewater and I had a voucher for a free mascara sample and makeover at the Estee Lauder counter. Hilarity ensued because the SA really struggled to work with my skintone (guess not that many Asian gals pop up at the EL counter at John Lewis) and caked it on as a result with dark grey smokey eyes (absolute no-no with my skintone, very ashen and made me look punched), bright cranberry shimmer lips and this plum blush. Ohhh I looked straight from the 80s! My mum laughed so much but we both agreed the blush was lovely and she bought it for me. I remember it being such a fun day, just the two of us, and wearing it again today brought back the memories.

I'm also wearing my new Sleek Pout Polish in Plum Perfection. The colour in real life is brownier than it looks here - I think it's a lovely autumn shade and you can wear it really sheer or build up the colour (I have the ltd edition Flamingo one too and Sleek say they've got some new colours coming out which I look forward to!) I really like the vanilla scent to these too and the moisturising texture. Out of all my lip products I think I like the tinted balm versions best - really versatile and easy to wear.

What I wore:

Base:
MAC Moisturecover Select concealer
Urban Decay Primer Potion

Eyes:
Urban Decay shadow in YDK on lid
Bobbi Brown Gel Liner in Black on upper lash line
No7 Metallic Eyes Pencil in Green on lower lashline
YSL Faux Cils Noir Radical mascara

Face:
MAC MSF in Dark
Estee Lauder Blushing in Port Passion with MAC Springsheen layered on top
MAC Brow in Spiked

Lips:

Sleek Pout Polish in Plum Perfection

Closeup: