Hiya, ladies. I had fun with this week’s Benefit 4-Step Eye Look, so I decided to try another one — this time using products from the UK’s rising makeup star, Illamasqua.

More on the Illamasqua brand…

• Illamasqua Lip Look: Thinking Outside the Box
• Illamasqua: Makeup for Your Alter Ego
• Let Illamasqua Sirens Seduce You with Color
• Illamasqua, I Think I’ve Met My Matte

It’s a shimmery and smokey black, gray and bronze eye, and it makes heavy use of Liquid Metal in Enrapture (a shimmery bronze cream) and Powder Eye Shadow in Lestat (a matte black).

Blend till you can’t blend no more!

Like the Benefit look from a few days ago, this look involves just four steps, but it can still take a while to complete, thanks to the amount of blending required. Seamlessly transitioning the black matte into the bronze cream shadow isn’t something I’d try if I only had a couple minutes to get ready, so if you’re gonna give this one a try, consider budgeting a few extra minutes to blend.

I had to restart this look twice, wiping everything off each time, and had to remind myself not to get frustrated. If you end up with black eyeshadow all over your face, no worries! Wipe it off and start over again. That’s the beauty of makeup, right? You can always start with a clean slate.

Illamasqua 4-Step Eye Makeup Look

1. I start the look with Liquid Metal in Enrapture applied over my entire eyelid and along the lower lash line with a MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush. I take care to concentrate most of the color on the lid, gradually decreasing the saturation of color as it moves toward the brow bone.
2. Next, I use a MAC 217 Blending Brush to apply a light layer of Lestat into the crease, diffusing the edges and blending into the the bronze shadow.
3. For a smokey effect, I pat several layers of Lestat onto the outer half of the eye, concentrating most of the color in the outer corner (the side closest to my ear), and blend away any harsh lines with my trusty MAC 217 brush.
4. To finish the eye portion of the look, I load a MAC 219 Pencil Brush with Lestat, smudge it along the outer half of my lower lash line, and use my MAC 217 to gently diffuse the edge.

Illamasqua Sirens for Lips and Cheeks

For the rest of my makeup, I went with a hot pink and gold lip with shimmery golden peach cheeks. Illamasqua’s new Sirens collection helped.

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This year’s fall makeup collections have begun to trickle in, and the one I’m spending quality time with today is Smashbox’s new Reign ($19-48/item).

Inspired by England’s Tudor period (circa 1485-1603), a time that encompassed Queen Elizabeth I’s reign, the eight pieces feature shades of berry, peach, plum, black and champagne.

Smashbox Reign Eyeshadow Palette in Majesty ($42), Lip Gloss in Crowned ($22)

For today’s 4-step eye makeup look, I grabbed the Smashbox Reign Majesty Eye Shadow Palette ($42), one of three eye palettes in the collection. It comes with three baked eyeshadows (a champagne, a reddish plum and a black), each with a dollop of matte shadow surrounded by a shimmery version of the same shade.

Top row: shimmery shadows. Bottom row: matte shadows.

I was in the mood to wear something soft today but wasn’t sure if I could make the red shade work for a daytime look — that is, until I discovered that with enough blending the shade looks somewhat reddish brown (!).

Smashbox Reign 4-Step Eye Makeup

1. First things first. I grab my MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush and wet the head with a spritz of MAC Fix+ Rose. Applying shadows with a wet brush like this intensifies their color. I load the brush with the shimmery champagne shadow from the Smashbox Reign Magesty Palette and apply it over the entire eyelid and along my lower lash line.
2. Next, with a Sonia Kashuk Crease Brush, I apply the red eyeshadow (mixing the matte with the shimmer) from the same palette into my crease, concentrating more of the color toward the outside (closer to the ear), and use a MAC 217 Blending Brush to soften the edges.
3. Then, to make the whole look really pop, I apply a mix of the shimmery black and shimmery red shadows with a Sonia Kashuk Angled Eyeshadow Brush, drawing a thick line along the upper lash line and smoothing out the edges with a MAC 217.
4. Finally, with the same brush and a mix of the shimmery and matte black shadows, I line the lower line.

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I love crazy, complicated eye looks as much as the next makeup junkie, but some mornings I just can’t get it together — I’m either running late or just plain lazy as all hell.

I’ve been wanting to do something with my eye makeup for a few days but haven’t wanted to do anything *too* complicated, so I limited myself to four steps.

Why four steps? I guess it’s my happy medium. Five steps feel like too many; three not enough.

Oh — I’m not counting curling my lashes or applying mascara as individual steps… I probably should, but I don’t like the sound of six steps as much as four.

Benefit four-step eye look

The look is a shimmery neutral eye with a bit of gray, and I think it’s a great look for beginners.

Here’s how I get the look…

1. To start, I apply Benefit Creaseless Cream Shadow in Samba-dy Loves Me (a shimmery peachy gold) on the lids and just up into the crease with my fingers, smoothing away any harsh lines.
2. Next, using a Sonia Kashuk Large Eyeshadow Brush, I sweep Benefit Velvet Eyeshadow in Leggy (a shimmery peachy pink) over the entire eye.
3. With the same brush, I pat Benefit Velvet Eyeshadow in Where There’s Smoke (a shimmery blackish gray) onto the lid and into the crease.
4. To finish, I line my upper and lower lash lines with Benefit Bad Gal Waterproof Liner (a true black) and smudge out both with a MAC 219 Pencil Brush and Where There’s Smoke Eyeshadow.

Cheeks and lips

You could pretty easily dress up this look with bold pink or red lips, but since I’m not really going anywhere special today, I shot for light and breezy with Benefit Posie Tint (a semi-matte peachy pink) on my cheeks and Benefit Full Finish Lipstick in Thrillin’ Brazilian (a shimmery golden peach) on my lips.

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G’morning, ladies!

A few of you asked to see details of the Bobbi Brown Ivy League look I tried on Monday.

Nicole and Nancy wanted a breakdown of the eyes. They took about eight steps. If you were comfortable trying any of my 4-step eye makeup looks, I think you could easily do this look as well.

My Bobbi Brown Ivy League eyes

Oh, if you’d like to tone down the look, swap the black pencil liner for a brown one or omit the lining along the lower lash line entirely.

1. I start by applying Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Forest Shimmer Ink (a dark green with golden flecks) on my lid and just up into the crease with a Sonia Kashuk Synthetic Concealer Brush, smoothing away any harsh lines with a fingertip.
2. Then, using a MAC 217 Blending Brush, I pat Bobbi Brown Metallic Eyeshadow in Bash (a shimmery forest green) over the lid and just barely into the crease.
3. Next, with a MAC 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush, I sweep MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow Quad in Assemblage (a shimmery gold) into the crease.
4. Applying a light color under the brow bone can add definition to eye makeup, so I pat on some MAC Eyeshadow in Arena (a shimmery golden peach) with a MAC 239 Eye Shader Brush.
5. For a slightly smokey eye, I line my upper lash line with Bobbi Brown Creamy Eye Pencil in Jet (a matte black) and diffuse/fade the edges by running the pencil’s attached sponge along them. Then, still with the same pencil, I line my upper and lower waterlines.
6. To emphasize my lower lash line while still keeping it soft, I draw a line along it (ideally, getting between the roots of each lash) with Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner in Forest Shimmer Ink.
7. Then, I soften the lined lower lash by gently swiping Bobbi Brown Metallic Eyeshadow in Bash along the outer half (toward the ear) with a MAC 226 Small Tapered Blending Brush.
8. Finally, still with the MAC 226, I swipe MAC Arena along the inner half of the line (toward the nose).

All done.

Possible alternatives for Bobbi Brown Metallic Eyeshadow in Bash

Swatches from left to right: Bash, MAC Humid, the light and dark green shades from the Chanel Murano quad

Thanks for suggesting so many alternatives to Bash in an earlier post. I think MAC Humid comes pretty close, and the two darker green shades in the new Chanel Murano quad should also work.

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I’m so jealous of all the lucky New Yorkers who get to celebrate Illamasqua’s official in-store Sephora launch at the new Times Square flagship store today.

Wouldn’t it be cool if we could all go together? We could meet in front of the Blushers and lipsticks and throw elbows at anybody who got in our way, LOL!

Check out some of these other posts for more on the Illamasqua line…

• Illamasqua Intense Lipgloss in Frenzy: A Pink Pigmentation Bonanza!
• Easy 4-Step Eye Makeup with Illamasqua
• Illamasqua Cream Blusher Stays On Like Donkey Kong
• Illamasqua Lip Look: Thinking Outside the Box
• Illamasqua, I Think I’ve Met My Matte
• Illamasqua: Makeup for Your Alter Ego
• Arousingly Sheer Illamasqua Sheer Lipgloss in Rouse
• Illamasqua Swatch O’ Rama
• Illamasqua Pure Pigment In Conquer Needs to Conquer a Price Reduction

It’d be a full-on Illamasqua swatch-o-rama.

But I’d probably shy away from the company’s Volume Mascara in Harness ($23) (a matte black). Truth be told, it hasn’t made me want to shoop as much as the other things I’ve tried from the line.

For now it’s the only Illamasqua mascara available on Sephora.com, and Illamasqua describes it as a smudge-free, dramatic mascara to lengthen and thicken lashes.

Thicker, longer lashes

First, what I see as the good stuff: Volume Mascara does a pretty good job of thickening and lengthening my lashes. The color is a deep, true black with a matte finish, and even a single coat creates an immediate difference that’s both noticeable and above average.

Does it inspire OMG!-filled texts to my BFF at three in the morning? Maybe not, but it’s still a pretty color and markedly above average.

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• 4-step sun-kissed glow without the use of tanners — A Mom in Red High Heels
• I can’t wait to try Kiehl’s new Argan Body Lotion — Beauty Blogging Junkie
• When bags hit the fringe of fashion — The Jet Set Girls
• Avon’s new $30 anti-aging agent fights wrinkles while you sleep — Makeover Momma
• 10 things you didn’t know about Khloe Kardashian — Spoiled Pretty
• What do Magnolia, fresh citrus and Neroli have in common with Chanel? — Makeup Bag
• Are lips trending vivid red or neutral nude? — Beyond Beauty Basics

Like a sunflower, girls, it’s time for us to rise and shine.

Hope you had a nice Sunday night. The highlight of mine was watching Jason Stackhouse dig himself in ever deepening holes on the latest episode of True Blood. That poor boy’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

• Hard Candy nail polish is back from the dead! — All Lacquered Up
• A 4-step summer makeup video by Carol Shaw of Lorac Cosmetics — Sephora Beauty and the Blog
• Like I needed another excuse to eat chocolate — Daily Beauty Reporter Blog
• How to bring a pimple to a head — BellaSugar
• Awkward family photos… The name says it all — Awkward Family Photos
• 9 things to do when you’re feeling stale — Chase Jarvis
• NARS fall collection swatches — Karla Sugar
• If you’re anything like me, this video will make you go AWWW (wait until the end) — YouTube
• I swoon for these red Valentino shoes — Manolo’s Shoe Blog
• Top 10 MacGyver tricks — Lifehacker

Saturday shenanigans?

G’morning and happy Saturday to ya.

I feel like I’ve been up since the dawn… of time. I set the alarm for 6:30 because I’m still trying to turn myself into a morning person. Depending on how much caffeine I’ve consumed prior to any given moment, it’s hard to tell how well the experiment’s working.

What are you up to today? No plans for me except for some puttering around, maybe laundry, maybe reading the September issue of Marie Claire and playing around with Obviously Orange Technakohl liner.

Any ideas for ways to wear an orange eyeliner? I’m stumped.

Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,

Karen

Hey, homies. What’s shakin’? Despite the lack of posts so far today, I haven’t been out busy doing exciting things. As a matter of fact, I’m still in my jammies at home (and it’s after noon!). I’ve just been sitting at my computer playing with Photoshop and MAC Magic, Mirth and Mischief.

I thought I’d put together a quick tutorial for the shimmery blue/silver/peach look from yesterday. This one’s a little more complicated than usual for me, but it’s still pretty easy overall.

What you’ll need

1. A neutral matte cream eyeshadow base like MAC Paint Pot in Painterly ($17)
2. A shimmery silver eyeshadow like the silver side from MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow Duo in Blue Sorcery ($20)
3. A shimmery blue eyeshadow like the blue side from MAC Mineralize Eyeshadow Duo in Blue Sorcery ($20)
4. A shimmery golden peach eyeshadow like MAC Arena ($15)
5. A dark black eyeliner like MAC Kohl Power Eye Pencil in Feline ($15)
6. A black liquid liner like LORAC Front of the Line Pro ($22)
7. A black mascara like MAC Zoom Fast Black Lash ($13)
8. A matte peachy blush like MAC Blush in Peachykeen from the Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit ($38)
9. A shimmery pink highlighting power like MAC Beauty Powder in Pretty Baby from the Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit ($38)
10. A shimmery warm beige highlighting powder like MAC Beauty Powder in Sunsparkled Pearl from the the Hocus Focus Colourful Face Kit ($38)
11. A brownish pink lip liner like MAC Lip Pencil in Spice ($13)
12. A peach lipstick like MAC Lipstick in Surprise Me ($14)
13. A shimmery peach gloss like MAC Dazzleglass in Phiff! ($18)

Eyes

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