Colour Me Your Colour

A few weeks ago, I wandered starry-eyed into the makeup section of Selfridges and after a dazed and beautiful half-hour, wandered back out again with this Urban Decay eyeliner set.

Coloured eyeliner is something that I’ve largely avoided since the Red Eyeliner Incident of 2005 (I was fourteen. Please don’t judge me.), but since we started this blog I’ve been trying to be a bit more adventurous with my makeup, if just in a desperate attempt to remain interesting. That in mind, and this beautiful, beautiful present to myself in hand, I gave it a go.

COLOURED WATERLINE

This is one of the few variations on coloured eyeliner (besides the Incident) that I’d tried before, and it’s a great way to start. I used the purple pencil, Voodoo, because everyone’s always banging on about hazel eyes and purple, and I think using a dark shade that contrasts to your eyes is a great way to introduce colour – it’s very subtle, but effective, and people always notice and comment on it. It’s also a great way to get a bit more fancy if you’re going out straight from work or haven’t got ages to get ready, as it takes two seconds and all you need is a pencil. I used my middle finger to gently extend my lower eyelid and then ran the colour right over the waterline and down into the lashline.

INNER AND OUTER CORNERS

This is another subtle but pretty look – I used Stargazer, the gold Urban Decay pencil, but you could easily make it more dramatic using a brighter colour. I warmed the pencil a bit so it was soft and then ran it around the inner corners of my eyes. In the waterline and the outer two thirds of the upper lashline, I used a black pencil, blending it into the gold with a brush and then adding more gold to form a wing on the outer corner. Using a lighter colour like gold with a darker one will make your eyes look larger and further apart, but if your eyes are deep set and you’d like them to look wider, you can use a more vibrant colour in the corners and something softer like brown or grey in the centre.

COLOURED LASHLINE

I’ve always thought jade green is a great colour for makeup – it suits nearly everyone, and the bright vibrant shade is a great option at this time of year. Vacancy, the jade green from the Urban Decay set, is one of the colours that first caught my eye, and I think I’m in love with it. I ran the pencil along my lashline and smudged it in with a brush, blending down into my eyelashes. This look is nice for times when you want to make an effort but not look overdone, or if you’d like to do something different without faffing around learning an entirely new technique.

LASHLINE AND WATERLINE

This look is shamelessly inspired by the makeup the professional dancers on Strictly Come Dancing wore for this dance. I’ve toned it down a bit, but depending on the colours you use you can make it as subtle or as dramatic as you like. I used a brighter colour (Gonzo from the Urban Decay set, a bright turquoise blue) on the lashline and gold on the waterline, blending them in as before with the liner brush.

These are only four of countless ways coloured liner can change up your makeup, and I’ll definitely be making more of an effort to try different things, and possibly also to stop impulse-buying things in Selfridges. Maybe.

Hope you’ve enjoyed, and let me know what festive looks you’re playing with this Christmas, or what you’ve accidentally bought for yourself when you’re supposed to be buying presents for loved ones. That's what Christmas is all about.