Pink Lemonade Cut Crease

I'm baaaaaaaaack! No, seriously, I'm back to blogging! My first year at UNCSA just ended, and now I'm back in sunny San Diego (not really, it's been raining all day), and trying to get back into the swing of things. Of course, I'm going to be a bit rusty with all this, considering that, not only have I not done this in a while, but I'm also working on a computer that I'm not quite used to. My old HP laptop finally conked out on me, so as of right now, I'm typing and editing photos on my parents' desktop computer, waiting for my new Macbook Pro to arrive on my doorstep. Luckily, my parents' computer still has my photo editing program on it, so I can still get by!

Anyways, I thought, what better way to welcome myself back than with a fun, bright cut crease look that's perfect for summer!

I was shopping in Walmart at some godforsaken hour a few weeks ago, and spotted this amazing bright yellow eyeliner by Revlon that reminded me so much of the Stila Smudge Stick in "Canary" that I just had to have it! 

For this look, I used a handful of different eyeshadows in order to achieve just the right about of depth. Bright pink eyeshadow can be hard to pull off, because it can often just make you look like your eyes are swollen and that you've been sick or crying. A great way to combat this is with a bold liner and lots of depth in the color to make it appear as more than just some irritation.

To start out, I placed a layer of tape along the outer corner of my eyes, to help ensure a sharp cat eye with little cleanup. As a base, I used a thin layer of the NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in "Milk." Then, I used Makeup Geek "Beaches & Cream" all over the lid and up to the brow bone. In order to make blending easier, I then used Milani "Bella Caffe" in and above the crease, avoiding blending down onto the mobile lid to begin creating the cut crease effect. With a small, clean fluffy brush, I used Milani "Bella Rouge" and buffed that into the crease, again avoiding getting the color onto the mobile lid, blending upward. With a small detail brush, I applied Makeup Geek "Simply Marlena" eyeshadow into the crease, really focusing the color between the more feathered out "Bella Rouge" shade and the creamy "Beaches & Cream" color, creating a more defined cut crease. Because "Simply Marlena" is just slightly darker and more matte than "Bella Rouge," it also begins to create some depth in the crease. To deepen that color even farther, I took Makeup Geek's "Unexpected"  on the same detail brush and pushed that into the crease, flicking upward to help blend the color out. Then, using the same brush that I had "Bella Rouge" on, I blended upward and out, until I got a subtle gradient. When the hot pink gradient seemed to blend too far upward, I took "Beaches & Cream" on a stiff blending brush, and blended the pink shadow back under control.

In order to redefine the mobile lid, I took "Beaches & Cream" on a flat stiff brush and really carved out the contour of the lid,  mixing with Milani's "Bella White," and using "Bella White" as an inner corner highlight. After filling in my brows, I also used "Bella White" under my brow bone to really bring the look together. 

For the fun, bright yellow eyeliner, I used Revlon PhotoReady Kajal Matte Eye Pencil in "Matte Lemon." Making sure the tip was sharp, I created a thick winged liner, using the tape on the outer corner of my eyes to help keep the creamy pencil where I wanted it to be. For my tutorial on creating the perfect winged liner, click here. I also used the "Matte Lemon" liner on the lower water line. This bright yellow is a fun twist on the classic white or cream liner that you would normally apply to the lower water line to open your eyes up. In order to define the eyes even more and make the yellow really pop, I used the Maybelline Line Stiletto Liquid Liner and created a very thin winged liner along the lash line. I then used Milani "Bella Caffe" along the lower lash line to give the look a subtle smokiness, and then topped it all off with the Mally Volumizing Mascara.

To give my cheeks a subtle hint of color, I used the Maybelline Fit Me Blush in "Light Rose," then finished off the entire look with Milani's Color Statement Moisture Matte Lipstick in "Matte Orchid," which added an extra pop of color to this already colorful look. However, when I wore this look out and about, I went with a nude lipstick to make it more wearable.

It was crazy bright outside yesterday, so very few of the open eyed photos actually turned out alright. So you get this silly "it's too bright to open my eyes" photo instead!

I hope you enjoyed this look. I'm so glad to be back to blogging. I missed it dearly and I can't wait to share all of my fun new looks!

- D.