{Beauty Bloom} The Most Perfect Natural Nude Eye Look for Every Day Evening

(Clinique’s All About Shadow Nude Collection 8 shade palette)

(Shortly after showering, sans makeup except for base for eye; glare on hair is from incoming natural window light)

(Finished look via iPhone) Let’s just start with how incredibly awful I am at taking selfies. I just don’t like it and feel like the biggest wannabe-seen-person ever. Unless it’s with a group of fam or friends, it’s just not for me. I’m thinking that’s why it’s taken me a couple of posts to get this 2nd of 4 in my eye series up. Just had to get that out of the way so I could joyfully continue!   For this look, in contrast to the 1st one, I wanted to go as nude as possible on my eyes without looking washed out. I’m already pretty light skinned for a brown girl, so going too nude wouldn’t be too cute (thinking of all the Photoshopped pics of Beyoncé where’s she’s as pale as Katie Perry– attractive on a girl whom we all know is brown… light skinned, but a brown girl).   Since I like focusing on my eyes a lot when I wear makeup, I thought I’d try to go softer than I normally do, enjoying some of Spring’s latest palettes and colors. What I wanted to accomplish though, was a look I could still rock now in plain winter (b/c it seemingly isn’t going anywhere!) and easily transition into Spring.    With of some of new makeup goodies, I settled on a perfect few to create this soft look. I won’t address concealers and pressed or loose powders here, but it’s the the first thing I do before my eyes. But for purposes of this post, I did all that last.   HERE’S THE HOW!    Base Layer   Clinique‘s new 16 Shades of Beige collection comes with a super basic and all encompassing octet shade eye palette that works marvelously. From the lightest color possible (short of white) to a lovely smokey tone to create a more sultry look, I started with the third shade in and applied it all over my eye lid. That established the lightness I was going to build on.    Crease   Bobbi Brown’s just released Nude Glow collection has some sparkly, limited edition eye palettes that fit right into the nude/natural vibe. I went for the ‘Nude” palette with dove grey, ballet pink, nude, and cement sparkle. Of the four, the cement sparkle was the perfect color to give my crease some sparkle and depth since it has a darker hue.    Top Arch   For my arch, I went one shade darker from the Clinique palette simply to blend it all in. It started coming together nicely and set the whole tone for the final look I wanted.  Lid/Highlighter   This is where I had most fun. I typically would have opted for Estée Lauders eye paints which I just love, but I tried something new. Some eyeliner in nude! How come I didn’t think of this sooner! Smashbox‘s kohl liner in ‘bare’ was the icing to the cake. I didn’t use it to create a top lid liner per se, rather I applied a much thicker liner on my lid and lightly smudged it across. That highlighted my eye without giving me an intentional dolled up Geisha look. It could go that way, so be methodical if you try this.

(Finished look via iPhone)

Brows/Lashes/Liner

I’ve only recently started embracing the idea of brow shapers, etc… EM by Michelle Phan has some essential colors to make a perfect brow come to life. Since my hair loss and thinning problems, my eyebrows have needed some serious TLC. EM brow liners have come in so handy since they’re so natural. A painted-on brow is the last thing I want in my life. The arched pencil in ‘Ashe Blonde’ matched up perfectly as if I hadn’t even applied any.

For my liner, you already know I went for Artistry Beauty‘s stash. Their bronze color pencil added some drama. And seriously, this stuff just lasts. I swear I need a life time supply of the ‘Escape to Paradise’ liner collection (the antique silver is everything).

And if you know me, you know I don’t leave my house without mascara. While I swear by L’Oreal‘s Volumunious for every day, I’m never disappointed with Estée Lauder. The Sumptiuos Infinite Daring Length stick made my lashes look like falsies. Looooove that! Make sure you apply enough in one round. It hardens pretty fast making it a bit challenging to go back for a 2nd layer.

This was super simple, took 10 minutes, and had me in love with trying more nude looks. I love me some color on my eyes, but this just worked. It was light without looking totally naked!

(I used Bobbi Brown’s ‘Pink Gold’ colored lips from the Nude Glow collection, topped with Estée Lauder’s ‘Liquid Petal’ gloss.) 

(And, seriously, I need to get over taking selfies! I just don’t do it. My iphone pics are just too granulated and look all funky, which is what I used for this post. For the next look, I’ll snatch up my sis to use my DSLR– this selfie biz is for the experts! 😉 

Eat well, love unapologetically, pray with true intention, and take care of yourself.

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