Look of the week: Rachel Bilson’s soft pin-tucked waves and frosted eye shadow

Wed, 18 January 2012 8:44AM

Yikes! I can’t believe I just typed the words frosted eye shadow into that header, but I did and now there’s no turning back. After years and years of giving icy shadows the cold shoulder, this shot of Rachel Bilson looking all sparkly and sweet and youthful left me feeling like a total judgemental beauty bully. So to all the sparkly, frosty shadows out there, if you’re reading this, I’m terribly sorry for the pain we’ve caused you and it’s great to have you back in the fold.

Personally, this was the kind of glamour I was expecting to see at the Golden Globes, it’s soft, it’s pretty, it’s delicate but best of all, it’s not too intimidating. In fact, I love this look so much, I think we may be looking at my wedding day hair and makeup right here. What do you say?

The tips and tricks for recreating the look. 

Keep the sparkly, frosted shadows on the inner corners of the eyes, and use a subtly shimmery pressed shadow as you move up toward the brow bone for a less Tina-Sparkle finish.

Avoid using a straight up white eye shadow and opt for a number with slight silver or dusty pink undertones to escape the unwanted iridescent finish that frosted shadows got the bad rap for the first time around.

Use a gel liner, not a pencil. OK, so I’m a tad obsessed with gel eye liner at the moment but for good reason. Unlike a straight up pencil liner, it boasts a semi-wet-looking finish that packs way more punch than a powder or kohl, plus it’s great at grabbing sparkly bits of shadow that you can layer over the top like Bilson to help bounce light off the eyes. Right now, I can’t get enough of Smashbox Limited Edition Girls On Film Creme Eye Liner and Travel Brush Set, $39.95, which comes with a super stiff eye liner brush that makes layering the product right in at the roots of the lashes a piece of cake. Love it. Love it. Love it.

And now, for the double-rimmed black liner. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of the style, I have mayjah issues with Kate Middleton’s obsession with it, but I think it works a treat with this look for two reasons. Firstly it does a stellar job at anchoring the eyes to prevent the lighter shadow from taking over and leaving the skin looking washed out and secondly, if you look really hard at the picture you’ll notice a super subtle hint of gold placed discretely below the bottom liner to warm up the skin. Clever on so many levels.

And as for the hair? Well, if you’ve got thin, super slippery hair that can’t hold a curl to save itself than this is the only way to wear waves. After tonging, wait for the curls to completely cool before spritzing with hairspray before pinning them under into a faux bob for instant volume and added hold.

What do you think, Primpettes?

Reckon I can try and crack this look for my wedding day? 

Were you disappointed with the beauty turn out at the Golden Globes? 

Are you willing to give icy shades of shadow another go? 

 

Posted by: Eliza Ashe

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Tags: balayage, eye liner, eye shadow, featured, frosted eye shadow, hair, rachel bilson