I’ve done a pretty decent job of covering all of my ‘so very ___’ bases on this blog so far. Marriage Mondays are generally my so very churchy days (and once in a while if it’s an intimacy related post I can squeeze in a so very naughty gem), Work in Progress Wednesdays obviously are my so very crafty days, cooking and baking through Deceptively Delicious has been an easy way of sneaking in some of my so very healthy ideas, clearly the rest of my posts are so very domestic and I know that my so very nerdy tendencies shine through fairly often. All that’s really been missing is so very pretty! So here goes – with the first installment of Super Cute Saturdays!

I wasn’t sure where to start at first because of course, this area of my life has so many blogging possibilities. I could do makeup tutorials! Product reviews! Share little tips and tricks!! Then I thought, since my ‘go to’ manual for getting cute is Carmindy’s Crazy Busy Beautiful, I will use that as a reference guide. Fun!! So this post will be a slightly disorganized intro!

 
(left photo is Urban Decay shadow in kiddie pool, right is Urban Decay in Skimp and Romp – and Revlon lashes. Both photos have Too Faced Lash Injection mascara)

Let’s jump in with eyeshadow, because it’s just more fun than the basics of skincare and sunscreen (which you really, really should wear every single day even in the rain and especially in the snow). There are some things about shadow I’ve just learned in the last year or so since meeting Carmindy and becoming more than just a little obsessed with her book.

One of my dear friends, who is actually Wee One #3’s Godmother, Miss Lindsay, is a very talented makeup artist and she’s told me for years that if you want your shadow to stay on all day, you have to use a primer. I really didn’t think it mattered that much in my little world, now of course I realize that it matters more to me than to others because it’s not like I always have time for touch ups with three wee ones underfoot! A couple of months ago, I bought primer for the first time – Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion. It’s beyond amazing. It’s $18 for a tube smaller than a mascara BUT you only need a dab and it actually works. Really, truly. I generally get up around 7, and do my makeup within minutes of falling out of bed. Between kids and cooking and cleaning and blogging, I generally don’t have a chance to touch up till just before supper, which is 5. That’s 10 hours and it stays put – and even then I just powder my face I don’t mess with my shadow at all. When I finally take it off around 11 or so when I get in the shower it’s starting to feather a bit but that’s after 17 hours of wearing it. When I do my shadow without a primer, it’s feathering at lunch. No lie.

I also learned that you can make a base with a little extra foundation and powder on your lids and brow bones and that does work, though not as well as the primer potion I picked up from Urban Decay.

Of course, playing with colours is the best part of playing with makeup! For a long time I stuck to the three shadow sets, the little kits that have a highlight, lid and contour shade. For a long time I stuck with just that, and mostly in two colours. I’d get the green trio and the purple trio. This one from Clinique is a good example of a trio of three shades in the same colour family.

If you’re not used to wearing shadows and you’re not sure what colours to try, a shimmery brown eye shadow works for all skin tones, eye colours and ages!

Eventually, I embraced the seventeen year old in me and started mixing it up myself with three shades of gold, or mixing a purple with a green (I know that sounds like a bad carnival ride but it’s adorable). These two kits, one from NYX and one from Almay, are kits with colours that go well together but are not just different shades of the same colour.

A few quick little notes that have made playing with makeup more fun. 1) Keep a makeup sponge with a little foundation on it on hand when you’re using super glittery or shimmery or otherwise loose eyeshadow. So when the shadow inevitably lands on you cheeks and the area under your eye, you can smooth it away like a little magic eraser. 2) When you look exhausted and there’s no time to properly do your makeup, a few dots of white eyeliner blended with your finger in your tear duct area coupled with just a little super light highlighter on your brow bone wakes up your face – considerably. 3) Vaseline is a great eye makeup remover!

Next up? Lashes. But when you wear them everyday like I do, you have to call them laaaaaashes. 😉

(I used Tarte Lock & Roll in bronze here with Urban Decay plush lashes)