Summertime Blues

Ok, so it's not quite summertime just yet. But we've been having a lot of sunshine lately, and it's got me dreaming of holidays by the sea. I always find I'm more likely to wear colourful eye makeup if I'm in that sort of environment, and when I saw a feature on blue eye looks in Look magazine a few weeks ago, it really inspired me.

Now I'm the first to admit that I'm not the most skilled when it comes to applying eye makeup, but I had some blue shadows lying around and I thought it might be fun to experiment. Anyone could do this really, and probably a lot better than me, but the spirit of this post is, let's play with colours we don't usually use on our eyes and see what happens!

I started by applying Urban Decay Anti Aging Primer Potion all over my lids. This stuff is amazing and really enhances the quality of the shadows you apply over the top. The advantage  of the anti aging version, (other than the wrinkle-smoothing benefits), is that it's slightly tinted, blurring away any imperfections such as noticeable veins.

I then used Lancôme's Ombre Absolue palette in Parures d'Etoiles. I've had this quad for a while and can't find it anywhere to buy online, but any combination of similar blues would work if you wanted to create a look like this. The mid blue shade (bottom left) is the main one I used. I worked it all over my lids and under my lower lash line, before adding the darkest shade for more intensity on the lids. I used the silvery blue (top right) in my inner corners.

Next, I lined my water line with Lancôme's Le Crayon Khol in the shade Curacao. Again, I don't think this is available any longer, but any turquoise liner would do. I added some lashes (Eylure 143's cut in half, an idea shamelessly stolen from my favourite blogger, Laura from Buy Now Blog Later) and a sweep of L'Oreal's Volume Million Lashes mascara and that's pretty much it. 

Try as I might, I couldn't really do justice to the turquoise liner in the photos (#bloggerfail). In real life it was more vibrant and formed a nice contrast with the blue shadows. I guess you'll either have to take my word for it or try it yourself and see! I really liked the finished look, and would definitely wear it on holiday to go out in the evenings. With the eyes making such a statement, I kept the rest of my makeup really simple. Just Revlon ColorStay foundation, Maybelline's Tantalizing Taupe on my lips, Benefit Dallas bronzer and a slick of Watt's Up at the top of my cheekbones.

Are you a fan of blue eyeshadows? And who else gets more adventurous with their makeup on holiday?

Kate x