Makeup Experiment!

As ill-advised as this experiment was, I went for it anyway. Why ill-advised, you may ask? Well, not only did I decide to play with all of the old (how old? really old...) makeup I unpacked when I moved, I decided to do each half of my face differently in order to maximize the variety of old makeup I was able to slap on there. I have to say, it was a lot of fun, but I'm not sure I would wear either look out without modifying a couple of things.

So. On one half of my face, I did a grey eye and a really subtle pale pink cheek and lip. I'd amp up the cheek and/or lip if I were going to go out with this look; I feel like it made me look washed out. The eye itself was nice, though. I wouldn't normally do a wash of one semi-dark color without a separate eyeliner or contour color to set it off, but it didn't look as stark as I thought it would.

On the other half of my face, I did lots of purples and reds. I kind of feel like that half of my face came out looking a bit like drag queen makeup. Not that there's anything wrong with that... It's just definitely not the look I'm going for! However, it was fun to do something way bolder than I'd ever do for real life.

Because of the number of products I used in this post, fair warning: it's going to be a doozy! I'm not doing a full review of everything I used, but I do want to give some general impressions, for my own personal reference, and in case anyone reading has questions. If there is anything in this post you'd like to see a full review of, please let me know; I'm willing to take requests!

Grey Eye Look:

All of these pictures were taken without flash under unnatural light (except for the collection of what I used, but that doesn't count)!

What I used

 I accidentally left out the powder I used in this picture; it was Physician's Formula Mineral Wear Correcting Powder. It's a pressed powder with beige, pink, and yellow swirls. It's a really soft formula and a kind of weird texture, so my brush always picks up more than I want. Also, I think it looks really "powdery" on my skin, though I think the color correcting claim is accurate. It plays down any redness I have just a tad, so if that is a concern of yours, it might be worth looking into this line. I wonder if it would do better applied with some sort of a velvety powder puff than a brush, where it might get pressed into the skin more instead of just set on top of the skin. Does that make sense? Anyway, it's not a favorite of mine, though I don't hate it enough to toss it.

So, here's a list of the products used:

Face: Rimmel 25 Hour Foundation in 100/ Ivory, Physician's Formula Mineral Wear Correcting Powder, Revlon Powder Blush in "Love That Pink" (Discontinued) across the entire cheek, pink blush from an unknown Stila palette on the apples of the cheeks. I have no idea what palette this is, and there is no identifying information on it anywhere, other than the name "Stila" on the front. I am positive it is old and discontinued; if anyone recognizes it, though, I'd be curious to know what it is! I feel like I probably picked it up at Nordstrom Rack or something like that.

Eyes: Benefit BadGal as base from lash line to the bottom of the crease, bareMinerals in Unforgettable on top of BadGal, blended into the crease. Revlon Matte in Vintage Lace blended from top of crease to the brow bone, applied more heavily as a highlighter in the inner corner and just below the eyebrow. I tapped a bit of the silver side of Maybelline's EyeStudio in Silver Starlet in the outer half of the crease. I used L'Oreal Voluminous Million Lashes mascara.

Lips: Discontinued The Body Shop sheer lipstick/ tinted balm in 01; I'm not sure how these correlate to the new Delipscious Sheer Lip Colors, but this one is a pale yellow pink with some silver shimmer in it.

The blush from the Stila palette; it's the pink one on the bottom.

Grey and pink polka dot jammies! Weird powdery texture! There's a reason this powder was hidden away in a box for a year... 

Close-up of the eye makeup

Btdubs, I used mauve eyeshadow to fill in my brows since it was the closest matte eyeshadow at hand.  Who does that? But it  didn't look freakish. 

Close up of my lips

Purple Look: 

And here is the other look! I'm not thrilled with the way the cheek products blended. Or, more specifically, did not blend. I'm not really sure who the culprit is; the foundation, the powder, or any of the four cheek products I used, but they just seemed to make a weird soupy mess on my face. Oh well, that's why this was an experiment.

This is what I used, minus the lip products

Here's a close-up of the Aromaleigh colors. Mostly because I was afraid I would forget which ones they were. 

Face: Rimmel 25 Hour Foundation in 100/Ivory, Physician's Formula Pearls of Perfection in Translucent, Urban Decay Powder Blush in Lounge, e.l.f. All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade, Benefit High Beam, Physician's Formula Shimer Strips in Healthy Glow (just the lighter colors, used as a highlighter).

Eyes: MAC Fluidline in Dark Diversion as a base over the lid and into the crease (and again later as liner on the top and bottom lashline), Ulta eyeshadow in Eggplant on top of Dark Diversion, Aromaleigh Frumious and Lovelorn over the lid and blended into the crease, Aromaleigh Alloy as an inner corner highlight, Aromaleigh Pass the Tarts near the lashline, Revlon Matte in Vintage Lace blended up to the lashline. I think there may be some of Benefit's High Beam blended around the browbone, as well! I used a MAC wax stick to set the shape of my brows. I also tried out a new sample of Bobbi Brown's Extreme Party Mascara in Black, and so far I am liking it!

Lips: Make Up For Ever Rouge Artist Intense in 13 with Tarina Tarantino's Victorian Punk (discontinued) on top.

And the lip products! MUFE Rouge Artist in 13 and Tarina Tarantino in Victorian Punk 

And the look! 

Eye Closed!

Eye sort of open! 

 Can we take a moment to talk about the lips? These colors combined in a really unexpected way. On it's own, the MUFE lipstick is a dark raspberrywith some shimmer. It's a fairly dark purpley pink, but pulls pinker than most dark berry colors. The gloss is light purple with the faintest hint of a blueish violet shift and specks of silver shimmer. When I put the gloss over the lipstick, the lipstick brightened up, and that faint duochrome shift in the gloss that barely shows up over bare lips really came alive! Plus, glitter. I would definitely do this combination again, but with more neutral eye and face makeup.

The lips! It's really neat how each of these products really changed the look of the other, they came together looking nothing like I thought they would. 

So, that was my morning of experimentation! There are things I would do again, and there are things I am glad I tried out, but would not repeat. For instance, I loved the purple lip and the grey eye, but I was not a fan of the way the cheek turned out for the purple eye look. I think I need to find a better way to apply the Fluidline as an eyeliner. It was really pretty as an all-over wash of color (but I would use it on top of a primer next time), but when I used it with a small bent liner brush as a liner, I feel like there was a faint stripe between two thicker lines where the product got pushed to the side by the brush. I need to find a better way to apply the eyeliner.

What about you guys? Have you experimented and discovered something surprising lately?