Well Happy Birthday to Me!! I finally get to dig into my Orglamix color collection in Interwine; in the spirit of celebration I bring you Viva el Vino!
A word about primer:
Many a good beauty blog/video tutorial will mention the importance of a well-primed eyelid for a successful and stunning eyeshadow application with staying power. Most of these will even recommend a favorite product for priming the delicate skin of the upper (even lower) lids to ensure a smooth and beautiful application. I'm actually going to back up a few steps and discuss Full-Body Priming.
"What the heck is she talking about?" you ask. Here's the thing--your skin is your body's largest organ; it lives, breathes (yes!) and performs a variety of functions we could not do without, such as protecting us from the external environment and many of the pathogens in it, assisting in regulating our body temperature so we don't overheat or freeze on contact with cold air, and helping us get rid of dietary and environmental toxins our poor overtaxed liver and kidneys can no longer cope with.
All of which is to say: want a truly gorgeous look when you wear makeup? Begin the application with healthy, well-fed, glowing skin! The basics to lovely skin include
1) Adequate sleep (roughly 8 hrs per 24-hour period)
2) Drink plenty of water (actual water, not just soda--even diet--or energy drinks); experts vary on how much is enough: 8-10 is a good place to start if you are not getting even that much but some say daily water intake should be half your body weight in ounces of water PER DAY (whew!)
3) Check out your food intake: too much salt will dehydrate you, we all know what they say about too much sugar and fat (breakouts, anyone?), and vitamin-poor diets make for lackluster skin.
4) Exfoliate and moisturize!!! Here's a couple of my go-tos:
Both of these goodies are hand-made right in my own home (no I don't sell them; I'll leave that kind of thing to the pros like Cheri at Orglamix--I just don't have the patience or perseverance for the endless experimenting to get a formulation "just so" let alone the marketing, etc. to make a skill into a cottage industry). Up top is a scrub made from Rhassoul clay, blue corn flour (a very gentle scrub), raw apple cider vinegar, orange blossom water (available at Indian/Middle Eastern markets), and local honey. I use it in the shower and when I rinse it off, my skin feels silky from head to toe even BEFORE I put any cream on!
Below the scrub is a fresh batch of cream I made yesterday (ridiculously easy; I make it in my blender but that's a blog post in and of itself!) and scented with Sandalwood, Rose, Geranium, and Orange Blossom essential oils. It is rich, luxurious, absorbs quickly into the skin, has no synthetic ingredients or fragrances, and literally costs about 1/9 as much as a high-end drugstore moisturizer (even less compared to Designer Lines Who Shall Not Be Named ;p).
I learned how to make these luscious, body-conscious "primers" from a wonderful herbalist, Kami McBride; if you'd like to know more about her work you can find it here.
On to the look!
This look takes advantage of the pre-coordinated color collection "Interwine" available at Orglamix's online shop.
Start with clean, healthy and moisturized skin. After that, I applied makeup for the look as follows:
1) Mineral foundation and translucent veil to match skin color
2) Neutral-color primer on upper and lower lids blended into the surrounding skin to avoid any sharp boundaries
3) Pat Orglamix Jasmine under the brow down over the brow bone
4) Pat Orglamix Freesia over the lid
5) Apply Orglamix HD Violet WET (I used a foiling medium) into the crease and draw out into a slight wing at the outer corner of the eye (the shape of my eyelids casts a natural shadow in this shape so I just follow that shadow with the Violet) and down into the outer "v" of the eye; brush what's left into the upper and lower lash lines for a soft lining effect.
6) Let Violet dry & apply second coat if a more intense look is desired
7) Tap a little extra Jasmine on the inner corners of the eye
8) Matte brown shadow in the brows and mascara on top lashes
9) pale pink shimmer lip gloss (just a tad)
(See the wings in the second pic? I followed a naturally occurring shadow with the wet HD Violet to create this shape and add more drama to my usual features).
I took this out to a wine tasting party my dad escorted me to for my birthday today; very pretty in sunlight or indoor light and although it's not too dramatic it does have that pop of color everyone loves for "going out."
Enjoy!
