Punk X-Mas

I really like playing with makeup. Really, really. And because of this, I need to get experimental and surely not all of my experiments work out. I can only pair a smoky eye with a red lip, or copper eyes with peach gloss so many times. So out with the crazy color combinations. To be fair they make work on someone, just not necessarily me.

So in honor of Christmas, for those that celebrate, I came up with a red and green color palette for my face and did my best to make it work. I used a gold-green eyeshadow all over the lid and up to and extending the crease. Then I used a sparkly black shadow as a contour shade in the outer corners as well as a lower lash eyeliner and the upper inner corner. To tone it down a bit ya know. The shadow was black but I used sparingly to create more of a charcoal grey effect.



I used a red tinged stain and matching balm on the lips. Then I used a bronze/ highlighter on the cheeks to warm it up a bit and act as a neutral.

Makeup details:

Face: Mac Studio fix fluid spf 15 in NC 15; Mac mineralize skinfinish Natural in Light; Benefit Powderflage undereye concealer; Benefit 10 highlighter/bronzer

Eyes:Mac eyeshadow in Rated R; Mac Pigment in Dark Soul; Clinique High Impact Mascara in Black; Benefit Browzing eyebrow kit

Lips: Benefit Benetint lip/cheek stain and Benefit Benetint lip balm w/ spf

Since using pigments can be tricky (messy) and I'm using such a dark one, I recommend doing your eyemakeup before your foundation so clean-up is easier.

Mini Reviews:

Benefit's Benetint lip and cheek stain

This is Benefit's oldest product whose original incarnation in the seventies was as a nipple reddener for strippers. yeah. But despite its seedy origins it remains one of their top selling products. I know it can be scary to work with a stain if you haven't before but the payoff is worth it. When I use this on my cheeks I put a drop on my fingers and blend it in quickly. Time is off the essence here. But once it's on it's on and you don't have to worry about tough ups. Especially good on the lips. The color is buildable so even though I'm very fair, warmer and darker skin toned look even lovelier with this. But while it adds color, it doesn't add shine or moisture and so....

Benefit's Benetint Lip Balm spf 15

They've made multiple formulas with this, both with and without the spf. So if you've tried it before and didn't like it you may still like this. It has the same rose red hue of the stain but it's in balm form. It can be used alone or over the stain and it's very moisturizing. The only downside is that I hate having to stick my finger in the little pot to get it out. Dirty and messy.

Benefit's 10 Powder

This was my first and remains my favorite Benefit powder. It had two stripes in the box, one a bronzer, one a highlighter. You can apply it this way as a quick two-in-one but I like to swirl them together before brushing across my cheek. It's just a beautiful warm, neutral but better, with just a hint of shimmer, more like a glow actually. Plus it lasts forever because the box is nearly indestructible. I've dropped in a million times and it's still in one piece. The only downside is that is can appear kinda muddy on very fair, cool toned skin.




So what about you? Doing anything special with holiday makeup?