Try-Something-New Tuesday: Smoky Eyes, Pink Lips

Tue, 10 July 2012 2:28PM

It’s a scenario that takes place in bathrooms the world over … You’re getting ready to go out for the night. You’ve got the drop-dead dress going on, the musky perfume in place. Now it’s time for makeup.

So you reach for the black pencil, dark eye shadow and lush black mascara and work yourself up a sexy, smoky eye.

Gold stamp for you! The smoky eye is a can’t-go-wrong makeup look for evening. (Especially as, in dim lighting, everyone’s version looks great).

Next up? You grab your nude lipstick, right?

Well, not so fast…

Sure, in makeup land, we always bang on about balancing features: if you play up one feature (i.e the eyes or lips), play down the other. Which seems to have translated to mostly mean smoky eyes and nude lips (not nude eyes and smoky lips; funny that). It does make sense. A smoky eye can look very heavy, so visually airbrushing out the lip makes up for this. Yet it needn’t be so black and white. Or, even, black and nude.

Exhibit A: Actress Holland Roden

Total Brigitte Bardot vibe. The bedhead ‘do: back-combed, beehive-y, half-up hair that looks like it could tumble apart at any second, as though she’s been rolling around in silky sheets for hours. The eyes: smoky, of course. And the lips: rosebud-pink.

Sure, BB is known for her pouty nude pout but if you google her 1950s makeup looks, you’ll notice that back then she was more inclined to match a smoky eye to a peachy or pinky lip.

You see, what BB knew is that the smoky eye and the pink lip actually do balance each other well. It’s because one is sexy, the other sweet. One womanly, one girlie. It’s the best of both beauty worlds!

NB: Holland has kept her lips matte. This is so clever and so crucial, Primpettes! Add shine or shimmer and suddenly you’ve shifted from 1950s Paris to 1980s Vegas. And I know you don’t want to make that move.

Lipstick match: Revlon ColorBurst Lipstick in Candy Pink, $23.95, from pharmacies.

Exhibit B: Carmen Electra

Okay, let’s ignore the glitzy, garish earrings and zone in on those lovely lips…

See how the colour is paler than Holland’s, yet it’s pink enough to still provide a pretty, girlie contrast to the killer black eyes?

It’s also probably wise to work a paler pink lip when there’s so much else going on fashion-wise.

Speaking of, Carmen is obviously such a fan of the black-eyes-pink-lips combo that she’s worked the theme back to her dress. Now that’s commitment to a cause.

Lipstick match: YSL Rouge Volupté in Lingerie Pink, $55, from department stores

 

What about it, Primpettes? Do you like the idea of smoky eyes and pretty-pink lips?

Do you prefer Holland’s candy take or Carmen’s paler preference?

And got a fave pink lippie you can share?

 

Kat x

Posted by: Katrina Lawrence

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Tags: bedhead hair, brigitte bardot, carmen electra, featured, Holland Roden, nude lips, pink lips, pink lipstick, revlon, smoky eyes, yves saint laurent