Saturday 13 February 2010

Optimus Primer and FOTD

After Thursday's woefully shiny face of the (end of the) day, I decided on Friday to A) remember to photograph it in the morning and B) remember to use a primer to see if it made any difference.

While I was at uni, I had a job at home during the holidays at a Harvester-style pub down the road. I did waitressing and bar work but my favourite was in the kitchen. To my mind chef's whites are one of the few ways you can practically wear pajamas to your place of work. It was a hot and steamy atmosphere, but unfortunately not because the rest of the kitchen staff looked like George Clooney. It was more to do with the massive steak griddle, the humungous pots of veg on the stoves and the halogen heat lamps at the pass. I really enjoyed it, but I spent most of the time looking like a sweaty tomato.

At least I had a good excuse. Nowadays when I come home from my catering-free work environment, I still seem to look like I've been slinging Surf 'n' Turfs all day and my make-up has slid off. The eyes are usually okay, thanks to Urban Decay's Primer Potion, but the cheeks, chin and forehead tell a different story.

After hearing good reviews, I invested in a tube of RMK's Creamy Polished Base a few weeks ago, so yesterday I decided to use some of that before applying foundation. The base is an opaque gel, which applied easily and smoothly. I then used my Clinique Even Better foundation. I used a little bit of Studio Fix concealer and set with Bobbi Brown pale yellow powder.

Honestly, I'm normally a smiley person



After priming the eyes with UDPP, I used a little bit of Estee Lauder Double Wear cream shadow in Blue Velvet on the outer third of my eyelid, and smudged it into the socket. I highlighted the inner corner with Rouge Bunny Rouge eyeshadow in Unforgettable Oriole. On the middle of the lid, I used RBR eyeshadow in Abyssinian Catbird - I LOVE this colour, it's a sort of brown/olive/khaki with subtle gold shimmer. I blended this up into the socket and slightly beyond. Then I used a Stars Makeup Haven shadow called Walkin' after midnight (a gorgeous deep, shimmery blue) to blend into the outer V and under the lower lashline. I blended any harsh edges and then used a little MAC Vanilla to highlight under the brow. I lined my top lashes with a GOSH liner in Petrol and used mascara from K by Beverley Knight (which I like, but it's got quite a 'sticky' texture. This means it builds well but also clumps well, unfortunately).

Cheeks were given a light sweep of Urban Decay blush in Sweetie and a whisper of highlight from MAC's Moon River duo. For the lips I used Rouge Bunny Rouge sheer lipstick in Fluttering Sighs.

I was really pleased with the final look and got a few compliments at work. It's the first time I've used Abyssinian Catbird with a dark blue shadow and I think it worked well.

After 12 hrs wear - shield your eyes!
As for the primer, well the look was still pretty much in place when I got home and I don't think it was AS shiny as the previous evening. There's still a glare though! The eyeshadow lasted very well though and didn't have any creasing, which is not bad for 12 hours wear, I reckon. I think it's a combination of the UDPP, Double wear shadow and the RBR shadows which meant it was all locked to the lids. Now if I could just find a similarly successful priming cocktail for my face, I could be on to a winner.

2 comments:

  1. This looks really well, I'd quite like to try some RMK make-up, the shadows especially look beautiful on you xx

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  2. Thanks Arlene, and thanks for being my first follower :-)

    I've got a few bits of RMK now, so will do a post in the near future to review. I can particularly recommend the creamy foundation for coverage and the eyeshadows which are buildable yet subtle.

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