If you saw a girl all dressed in black with a gunmetal grayish purple cat eye fondling the asparagus at Whole Foods in Novato last night, yup, that was me. 🙂
It’s been a long week, so last night I decided to reward myself with makeup for dessert. Before I left to hunt and gather at Whole Foods, I opened Urban Decay’s Book of Shadows Volume IV, scanned a few of the included QR codes with my phone and watched the corresponding tutorials.
One of the videos is for a dramatic purple-ish cat eye look (it’s actually called the “Purple Cat Eye”), and that’s the one I chose.
The Urban Decay Book of Shadows Vol. IV kit/palette comes with five very sci-fi QR codes, which work a little like bar codes. After installing a free iPhone app to read QR codes, I held the phone’s camera up to the code. The phone scanned it and then opened a link to the video. Each tutorial features Urban Decay’s Executive Creative Director Wende Zomnir and a model, on whom Wende completes the look while describing each step in the process, including which products and brushes to use.
The look is a sultry twist on a classic cat eye using products from the palette — perfect for an evening out, or for any time you’re in the mood for something a little naughtier than a simple smokey eye. It involves makeup for eyes and lips, but the cheeks are bare.
Unfortunately, these pics don’t convey one of the coolest, most unusual things about the cat eye part of the look — how the colors subtly flash from gray to purple and back. I think it looks more gray than purple in these pictures than it does in real life.
Like that NARS Outremer cat eye look from earlier this summer, this look relies heavily on eyeshadow — rather than eyeliner — to create the shape of the cat eye, and because it utilizes four eyeshadows instead of one, which means a healthy dose of blending, it takes a good chunk of time. If you have some experience blending and feel comfy with eye looks using three or four colors, you should be able to bang it out pretty quickly.
All the products I used on my eyes are from the palette, but I filled in my brows with MAC Concrete Eyeshadow. The sole lip product I used in the look, Lip Junkie Gloss in Midnight Cowboy, lives in Urban Decay’s permanent line.
A breakdown of the look…
EYES
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion all over the lids and along my lower lash line
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Zephyr on the brow bone
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Sin below the brow bone
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Gunmetal on the lids and along my lower lash lines
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow in Gravity on the lids
- Urban Decay Eyeshadow 24/7 Liquid Eyeliner in Perversion on the upper lash line
- Urban Decay Supercurl Curling Mascara on the upper and lower lashes
- MAC Eyeshadow in Concrete used to fill in my brows
LIPS
- Urban Decay Lip Junkie Lip Gloss in Midnight Cowboy (not part of Book of Shadows, Vol. IV)
FACE
- Chanel Mat Lumiere Soft Matte Makeup Soft Honey all over the face
- MAC Strobe Cream, also all over the face
- MAC Pro Longwear Concealer in NW25 beneath my eyes
- MAC Studio Careblend Powder in Light Plus, also beneath the eyes
- MAC Studio Careblend Powder in Medium Dark, also all over the face
Next time I try this look, I plan to do it before I go somewhere other than the grocery store. 🙂
Your friendly neighborhood beauty addict,
Karen
Shannon says
August 27th, 2011 at 5:19 pmYour look is awesome as always! I must write that I have seriously been contemplating bangs since you got your hair cut:) Thank you for using Midnight Cowboy – my fav UD gloss, and since we are almost the same age, I know I’m not too old to use it! 🙂
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:17 pmHi Shannon,
Do it, do it, do it! 🙂 And then send me a pic. 🙂
Vonvon says
August 27th, 2011 at 5:23 pmWow! This is an awesome look!
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Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:17 pmThanks, Vonvon!
Kelsey V. says
August 27th, 2011 at 5:28 pmVery, VERY , fierce! I love this look, but on me I might look a little too fierce for words! Though, you pull it off quite well!
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Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:16 pmHi Kelsey,
You could totally pull this off! Maybe for like a fun girl’s night out?
Erin says
August 27th, 2011 at 5:32 pmLove the cat eye on you. You totally rock it!
Erin recently posted … Popping my blush blogging cherry.
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:16 pmThanks, Erin!
How was your weekend? Did you rock a fun look?
Joyce says
August 27th, 2011 at 5:41 pmUrban Decay Gunmetal is a beautiful color. It looks like Mac Knight Divine, but Urban Decay Gunmetal has a prettier metallic finish. =)
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Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:15 pmHi Joyce,
Love, LOVE the high shine finish on that shade!
Heidi says
August 27th, 2011 at 5:55 pmLove this look. I rocked a rather dramatic silver, aqua and navy blue look from a Wet n Wild palette when I went to Trader Joe’s this morning. Hey, we’ve gotta put some fun and creativity into our grocery shopping!
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:15 pmHi Heidi,
Sounds super pretty! I bet you were glittering under the lights of the produce section. 🙂
Lilit says
August 27th, 2011 at 6:17 pmYou must have been the most glammed up person at the grocery store! Very fierce, loving the cat eye… and yes, it looks more grey than purple on my screen but I believe you.
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Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:15 pmHi Lilit,
The way that it flashes from gray to purple and back is super cool. I like that it gives the look a little something extra, you know?
How was your weekend? Did you rock a crazy look, or did you keep it simple?
Nina says
August 27th, 2011 at 6:18 pmgorgeous look, Karen!
i didnt even bother to apply makeup today – we just ran out for lunch and cat/dog food. so hot here today!
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:14 pmHi Nina,
It’s been hot out here too! I really wanted to go out to the pool… but I never got around going, boo.
Madelynn says
August 27th, 2011 at 6:44 pmSexay!
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:13 pmThanks, Madelynn! 🙂
karen says
August 27th, 2011 at 6:47 pmBy far the hottest, coolest chick last night at Whole Foods! Awesome Karen! You look fierce! This BOS is so coming home with me!
🙂
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:13 pmHi Karen,
So thrilled to hear you’ll be getting this! You won’t be disappointed. 🙂
What are your other UD faves?
Chris25 says
August 27th, 2011 at 7:36 pmIt’s a cat eye Tabs would be proud of. 🙂
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:13 pmHi Chris,
So true! 🙂 How are your kitties doing, btw?
Maggie says
August 27th, 2011 at 10:12 pmAwesome! That looks amazing on you. I’m sure the asparagus appreciated your hard work 🙂
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:12 pmHi Maggie,
I think they did. They looked especially fresh, LOL!
How was your weekend? Did you do anything fun?
Adrienne says
August 27th, 2011 at 10:58 pmLooks great, love seeing you in a more dramatic look!
Please tell me you’ve seen the crazy sale at urbandecay.com !!? I got 6 loose pigments ($1 a piece!!) and a Suburbia cream shadow ($3!) in one shipment (FIFTEEN $$ with shipping, makeup heaven!!) which I’m having a lot of fun playing with. Then I went back for more lol and got 3 lipglosses and like 4 more cream shadows and backups of two loose pigments. Excellent haul!!!
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:12 pmHi Adrienne,
Yup, I did! I tweeted about it when it first hit. Are you on twitter?
Adrienne says
August 30th, 2011 at 12:33 amI made a twitter a while ago, but it never really caught on with me. I think I’m too long-winded lol!
Also, I took inspiration from the style of the cat eye in this look for my makeup today! A smoky eye like yours that leaned towards the purple-black shade with a bright pink just below the brow bone for a pop of color:)
shiny says
August 28th, 2011 at 5:32 amThe look is sophisticated and beautiful!
Gotta say, tho, I don’t know if it shows your devotion to eyeshadow (that you would *dress up* for asparagus) or your devotion to asparagus (that you would dress up for *asparagus*) 😉
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:11 pmHi Shiny,
Thanks! Now if only I had some place to go other than the produce section, LOL!
How are you? Did you have a good weekend?
artemis says
August 28th, 2011 at 5:38 amthat’s how i’ve always been doing my eyes +a lot of black eyeliner 😀
Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:11 pmHi Artemis,
That’s so bad ass! I wish I had the guts to pull this off on a regular basis.
Swatch And Learn says
August 28th, 2011 at 7:31 amThis looks so artsy and futuristic!
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Karen says
August 28th, 2011 at 8:10 pmHi Swatch and Learn,
I did feel kind of sci-fi with it on!