BellaSugar

How Bright Is Too Bright?

BellaSugar — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 06:02:12 -0700

The Internet's been abuzz with talk about cosmetic brand Illamasqua's recent launch in the US. All the excitement about such high pigment colors got me wondering, though: how bright are you willing to go with your eye shadow? Do you stick to pastels and taupes, or have you been known to rock an electric orange now and again? And what about day and night? Do you brightness discriminate there or no?

Meet Midnight Cowboy's Sister Products!

BellaSugarUK — Mon, 25 May 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Much like the excitement over other cult beauty products like Nars' peachy-pink shimmer blusher in Orgasm or Shu Uemura's 24k gold eyelash curler, Urban Decay has it's own Midnight Cowboy Eye Shadow ((£11). It's a basic beige, champagne colour, which means it looks amazing on all skin tones, but what makes it stand out in the crowd are the sparkles. The shimmer in Midnight Cowboy isn't just light catching and glowy, it actually contains particles of silver glitter that transform your eye into one badass disco ball-esque work of art.

Based on it's popularity, Urban Decay launched a complimentary, intense glitter liner in the same colouring in March, and they are adding more goodies to the brood the first week of June! The launch includes a beige lipstick and a milk and honey scented shimmering body lotion. I'm especially excited to try the new, nudey lipstick, I just hope that it doesn't have the same funky smell and aftertaste as the old formula. What's your favourite cult beauty product?

For pricing and individual photos of each of the Midnight Cowboy products, read more.

View 4 Photos ›

Midnight Cowboy Heavy Metal Glitter Eyeliner (£11.50)
Midnight Cowboy Subtle Shimmer Body Lotion (£16)
Iconic Lipstick in Midnight Cowboy (£12)
Midnight Cowboy Eyeshadow (£11)

Bellissima: Chanel Sequin Eyeshadow

BellaSugar — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 10:21:39 -0800

This just released, fabulous CHANEL LUMIÈRE D'ARTIFICES Metallic Eyeshadow, $75, is already flying off the shelves of Chanel boutiques and department stores nationwide!

There is quite a buzz about this gorgeous party girl metallic eye palette that contains three shades: cool silver, anthracite and warm bronze. Each shade can be worn separately, or blended together to create a stunning look.

The best part about this mini palette is it has been designed to look just like the sequins from a Chanel gown! If you want it, I recommend attempting now! This is a limited edition piece and will only be available while supplies last.

Eyeshadow 101 Cont'd: Brown Eyed Girls

BellaSugar — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 09:22:00 -0700

Welcome back to the final installment of Eyeshadow 101: Brown Eyed Girls. The first lesson was all about purple shadows for hazel/green eyes and the second lesson covered The Best Hues For Your Baby Blues. This final installment is about choosing the best shades of eyeshadow for our chocolicious brown eyed babes.

Let's do a quick recap (I know, it's old by now for you devoted readers) for those of you who are new readers:

The goal of wearing eye make-up is to enhance/bring attention to your eyes. I've taught you, that the rule of thumb is to wear the opposite color eye shadow of your eyes on the color wheel so that your eyes really stand out (or POP as they say in the make-up world). But, brown isn't all that clearly defined on the color wheel so I called in the help of some of my FABulous make up counter experts who say (and I agree), that the best eyeshadow shade for brown eyes are bronzes and greens.

This is super exciting, because as we are well aware by now, metallics are all the rage. Here are my pics for bronze and shimmery deep brown colors for brown eyes. And FYI - these colors can be simple to use alone. Just apply them to the lid and crease.

Stila Eye Shadow in Twig which you can buy here for $14, and

Lancome Color Design Eye Shadow in Click which you can buy here for $14.50

To see additional product recommendations and reviews read more

My favorite green shadows for brown eyes are:

Senna's Metallic Eye Color in De-Vine. It's more of a rich greeny gold which you can buy here for $15.

Scott Barnes Eye Ice in Goddess which you can buy here for $25.

To specifically make your brown eyes bold, you can line both the upper and the lower rims heavily using a classic black pencil as weIl as a deep brown shadow or pencil. I suggest Shu Uemura's Drawing Pencil in Metallic Brown. It's amazingly smooth and the color is FAB. Buy it here for $18.

Application recap: If you are going for the whole shebang (lid, crease and highlighter), apply the lightest color (shimmery taupe or bronze) to the entire eyelid all of the way to the edge of the eyebrow. Use a deeper color from the same color family (i.e. deep brown) to the crease and dust a highlighter (a pale, shimmery, neutral or brown) just beneath the brow.

And don't forget to blend well. Just when you think you've blended enough, blend more, more and then some more! The goal is not to have obvious edges of color. Remember, lighter colors highlight and darker colors recede and add depth and shading.

Bold in Gold: Iridescent Gold Eye Shadow

FabSugar — Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:25:52 -0700

Continuing on with this morning's gold theme, let's talk about Iridescent Gold Eye Shadow. Along with white pencil eyeliner, Gold Eye Shadow was all over the Fall fashions shows. At Anna Sui, makeup artist Pat McGrath applied a thin, shiny line around eyes' inner corners. At Richard Chai, gold shadow covered lips and lined lower lashes.

Try these to get the look:

Chanel Soft Touch Eyeshadow in Gold, $26.50, Available here.

Stila Eye Shadow Trio in Gold, Bronze, Ivory, $24, Available here

Two more picks, plus some great tips for wearing gold eyeshadow, so read more

MAC Eye Shadow in Gorgeous Gold $13.50, Available here

IsaDora Perfect Eyeshadow in Gold Dust, $8.49, Available here

Here are some great How To tips for wearing gold eyeshadow:

Apply the gold up to the crease of the lids, around inner corners, then one-third of the way across lower lash lines; set it off with a coat of black mascara.

Source

Pretty New Eyeshadow - Chanel Pink Lamé

BellaSugar — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 10:00:36 -0700

I have seen this new eyeshadow from Chanel all over the place! It's been in Lucky, Allure, various websites, etc. I have held off mentioning it because, frankly, the name threw me off a little bit. It's called Pink Lamé, the Lamé part reminds of Gold Lamé which reminds of something my grandmother might wear (no offense Grandma). But the more I read about it and the more pictures I see, I have been won over.

This highly original creation from Chanel is new for Fall. When swirled together, the gold, silver, and rose hues transform into a brightening shade of taupe. It's fairly pricey for eyeshadow ($40.00), but I guess you can think of it as actually getting 3 colors in one! Available here

EYESHADOW 101: The Best Hues For Your Baby Blues

BellaSugar — Mon, 31 Jul 2006 16:27:55 -0700

Welcome back to Eyeshadow 101. The first installment was all about purple shadows for hazel/green eyes. #2 is dedicated to finding the best suited eyeshadows for all of you blue eyed beauties. Whether you have more of a sky blue tone or an oceany navy-green darker eye color; men will melt when they catch a glimpse of your baby blues.

Let's begin with a short reiteration of the basics from installment #1. The goal of wearing eye make-up is to enhance/bring attention to your eyes. The rule of thumb is to wear the opposite color eye shadow of your eyes on the color wheel so that your eyes really stand out (or POP as they say in the make-up world).

If there’s one thing to remember when it comes to blue eyes it's this: Never match your eyeshadow to your clothing or your eye color! If you have blue eyes, wearing blue eyeshadow makes your eyes look duller - and complementing your clothing has been out since the 80’s. Imagine if you were wearing red or black? YIKES!

To specifically make your blue eyes traffic stoppingly bold, I suggest colors such as: browns, greys, golds, rusty peaches or plum colors. Right now the look is more of a bold eye as opposed to the old muted "Bobbi Brown" natural eye, so have fun and play with your make-up as you would with any other accessory.

To see my product recommendations and reviews read more

As we know metallics are hot right now and they are easy to use alone. Just apply them to the lid and crease. My bronze and gold pics for blue eyes are:
"Half Baked" by Urban Decay - a really rich gold,

"Amber Lights" by MAC - a shimmery golden peachy-brown (worn by model> and

"Beach"Fluid Iridescent Eyeshadow by Chanel - the perfect combination of bronze and gold.

MAC also makes an awesome eyeliner called Teddy which is a darker shimmery bronze that looks great with any of these shadows.

If you are going for the whole shebang (lid, crease and highlighter) these are my suggestions. Typically, the lightest color is applied to the entire eyelid and to the edge of the eyebrow. Select a deeper color from the same color family to do the crease and dust a highlighter just beneath the brow.

I love Done That by Make Up By Armando for the lid,

MAC's Trax (a burgundy-plum flecked with bronze shimmer) for the crease and

Smashbox's Butter a goldy yellow as a highlighter.

Don't forget to blend well; when you think you've blended enough, blend some more! The goal is not to have obvious edges of color. Remember, lighter colors highlight and darker colors recede and add depth and shading.

Eyeshadow 101: Today's Theme is Purple

BellaSugar — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 15:11:19 -0700

The makeup counters at department stores and the cosmetics aisle at Walgreens can be pretty overwhelming. It's super hard to know which colors to try and which ones go together. I thought I would try to help with this installment of Eyeshadow 101.

The goal of wearing eye make-up is to enhance/bring attention to your eyes. The rule of thumb is to wear the opposite color eye shadow of your eyes on the color wheel so that your eyes really stand out (or POP as they say in the make-up world).

So if you have blue eyes, you'd wear rust, coral, peach or grayish colors; if you have brown eyes, wear greens and bronzes, and if you have green/hazel (gold/yellowy) eyes, try wearing either greens, or deep purples, pinks, and rusty purples.

Next week we will cover product recommendations for blue eyes, to see product recommendations for greenish-hazel eyes, read more

If you have greenish-hazel eyes, I'd go with MAC's Sable eye shadow. It is an amazing muted, golden plum brown everyday color with bronze shimmer. First apply a light pink color to the base of your lids - try Trish McEvoy's Deluxe Eye Shadow in Shell, then add a touch of the sable to the crease.

Lastly, line your eyes with Mac's Sketch Colored Eye Shadow. It's the mac daddy (no pun intended) of purples. The color is an intense burgundy-plum flecked with red shimmer.

Another great idea which I've just discovered that is really simple and great for travel because it's packaged together is glowmineral's gloEye shadow trio in Amethyst.

Or Dior's 5-Colour Eyeshadow in Sweet Illusion.

Be careful when using purples, because if you go overboard, your eyes will look bloodshot. So dust some loose powder on the corners of your eye, and directly beneath your lower lash when you are finished applying your shadow.

How-To: Michelle Trachtenberg's Season-Perfect Look

BellaSugar — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 13:00:09 -0800

Unlike her Gossip Girl character Georgina Sparks, Michelle Trachtenberg seems to have a good head on her shoulders, and she showed it off to her best advantage last night at a party hosted by American Eagle. She didn't shy away from her naturally pale skin, and her eye makeup was sexy, fun, and a little retro. This look would be perfect for your upcoming holiday parties, so to find out how to get it, just read more

How-To: Ashley Greene's New Moon Premiere Look

BellaSugar — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:03:42 -0800

Ashley Greene hit the red carpet for the premiere of New Moon looking gorgeously retro glam. Her awesome bouffant and curls were thanks to her new extensions, but her gorgeous pink lip and mod eye makeup were all celebrity makeup artist Vanessa Scali. "The look was classic '60s," Vanessa says. "Well-defined eyes with lots of lashes, a strong brow, and clean skin with subtle pink/coral cheeks and lips." To see what else Vanessa has to say about getting the look, just read more