Madd Style Cosmetics: My Signature Look!

Hi Everyone!

This month's Madd Style Cosmetics model monthly theme was brought to us by the ever lovely, Jalackie (one of MSC's newest Madd Models)! Jalackie's idea was that we all do a tutorial for our "signature" look. Deciding what I was going to do was pretty easy--as my signature look kind of became it by default (I suppose that might be how it usually works!). About a year ago I started doing looks that faded to black--either a gradient of any colour and then to black, or a progression across part of the colour wheel...and then to black. I figured this would be a good tutorial to do as I know black can be a scary thing to work with--and using black can easily get out of hand. But hopefully after reading this tutorial you'll be inspired to test out one of your black pigments and not be too scared of the results!! :)

If you want to follow me to find out how I achieved this look:


Then please--keep on keepin' on with the reading! :)

First, gather all of the supplies!

(Top to bottom, left to right: NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White"; Barry M 3 in 1 Intense Mascara; Too Faced Shadow Insurance; Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Pencils in "Zero" (Black) and "Yeyo" (White); Madd Style Cosmetics "Awesome Sauce"; Madd Style Cosmetics pigments (clockwise from the lightest blue): Brad (from the Rocky Horror Picture collection); Sapphire (from the Dark Crystal collection); Poison Berry (from the Birthday Collection); Sparkle Motion; Matte Black (from the Up in Smoke collection); Birfday Suit (the matte nude); Time Warp (the left-most black); Flat Shader Brush; Domed Crease Brush; Liner Brush; Angled Liner Brush; Slanted Shadow Brush.)

*whew!* That's a lot of supplies!!

As always--start with a squeaky clean eye!

Then you want to start priming! Primers are necessary to keep your pigments in their place (ie: this stops them from crawling into your creases throughout the day). My chosen primer is Too Faced Shadow Insurance. On the right, you can see that this is how much I use for both eyes. After putting the amount I want on one finger, I rub it together with the same finger (on the other hand) and then dab/spread it on to my whole eyelid, around the duct area, and lastly along the lower lash line.

After priming, you will want to put a nice two colour base on your lids. For this look, since I'm using black on the outer corner--I chose to use white on the inner lid and 2/3rds of the rest of the lid and then black for the outer most 1/3rd of the lid. Begin by applying the NYX Eyeshadow Base (in "White") to the inside part of the lid. Apply this down around the duct and blend it out to most of the lid (leaving that outer most part naked, for now!). Be sure to blend the white "up" towards the brow a little too--this will help with blending later on!


For the black part of the base, use a black eyeliner pencil. I like to use the Urban Decay pencils as bases because I find them quite soft and easy to blend (as will be happening soon!). Starting at the outer-most corner of your lid, fill in a little black triangle. While you have the pencil out, also line the outer 1/3rd o your lower lash line with the same black pencil.


At this point, you'll have something like the picture on the left. Then, with your finger (or a brush), blend that black base (on the lid) toward the white and up toward the brow (at the outer corner). Don't take this colour into the whole crease (toward the inner eye, I mean)--you're just focusing on blurring it so it's a soft black spot on the outer corner of your lid. Because my lids are semi-hooded, I also angle the black so that the black itself is less than a 90 degree angle (if you think of the line that meets between the white and the black). You want something more like a...70 degree angle? (I might have just totally made up that number...!) Basically, what I'm saying, is by fanning the shape out this way it will have the effect of opening up your eyes a bit! Once you're satisfied with the blending of the black, move on to the next step.


Awesome Sauce! Awesome Sauce is Madd Style Cosmetic's version of a foiling medium. Essentially what it will do is help to make your pigments appear "wet" and a bit more opaque than if you were just applying them straight on to a base. If you click on this picture to make it a bit bigger--and then look really closely at the right side--you can see that that is how much of this product I use for BOTH of my lids. Like I did with the primer, I smoosh my fingers together and then dab this product all over my eyelid. With things like this less is seriously more. Don't go overboard or you could just be inviting a creasing party to your eyelids. After you've applied the teeniest amount of this to your lids, sit for a few minutes to let it get dry and kind of tacky.


Hooray, now we can get on to playing with some colour! First, using a flat shader brush, take a light blue colour and apply it to the first 1/3rd of your eyelid. Here I am using the wonderful "Brad" (a colour that was part of a collection that is no longer available)--but you can use any light blue that you have...as long as it's "blue" blue and not greenish in any way. Pat this colour on to your lid and really get the colour nice and opaque (the Awesome Sauce will help make this step SUPER easy).


Then, using the same brush (but the other side of it), dip into a more medium dark blue. For this look I am using "Sapphire" from the Dark Crystal collection--another collection that isn't available anymore (sadly!). Pat this colour on next to your light blue. To blend this colour in with Brad, all you have to do is lightly touch the seam (between the light and darker blue) with the light and dark side of your brush! It's like magic, I tell you! (On the right you see how the two colours look once they have been blended.)


Now, take an even darker blue! Here I am using Poison Berry--a colour from the Birthday Collection. A collection that is currently still available! Like you did with the blue before this, pat it next to Sapphire and blend it like you did with the Brad/Sapphire.


Because, at this point, you've just been focusing on getting the colours nice and strong on the lid area--you'll want to blend these colours out to the crease area before getting involved in the black/darkest parts. Switch to a fluffy domed crease brush (a brush like this will really do most of the work for you--because its bristles are less dense than the shader brush you were using before, it will apply the colours much more lightly and will help them fade from the lid to the crease in a nice way).


Go back to your blues in the same order (lightest to darkest) and apply them on the edge of the harsh line you've created between your lid and the crease.

(Brad, then Sapphire, and then Poison Berry!)

At this point, you'll have something like this:

(See how the colours fade out a bit toward the crease? That's what you're going for!)

Now, dip that same domed crease brush into Time Warp (a lovely matte black with very pretty blue glitter). Touch this colour to the outside of your eyelid, concentrating on angling it from the lid toward the end of your eyebrow (and not just straight up an down). On the right you'll see--that is the colour just as I've placed it--before any blending. With blacks you'll want to start with a small amount--you can always add more later--but it's harder to take some away, trust me!! :)


Using the same magic domed crease brush, you're going to blend the black in toward the Poison Berry. You don't want to take this into the crease, really--because you want the blue gradient to stay lightest in the inner eye and then to fade all the way to black. So keep this black at the outside of your eye.


At this point, move on to your lower lash line. First, take a white eyeliner pencil (I am using my Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On pencil in "Yeyo") and line from your inner duct area all along your lower lash line to where the black liner begins.


Like you did when you blended out the blues on the lid, apply them in the same order to your lower lash line--but this time use a smaller brush! This is me applying the Brad and then the Sapphire. As you move from one blue to the next--gently blend the seam so the gradient is seamless.


And here I am doing the Poison Berry and then, finally, Time Warp. When you get to that black colour, be sure to join it up with the black on your outer lid. Because you have so much dark going on at the other lid, I find I don't need to line my upper lid with black eyeliner--but you can (at this point), if you're addicted to black eyeliner! ;)


This next part is relatively optional...When I do these looks with black as a pretty dominant colour, I like to line my waterline with black. Here you can see I have already lined it with my black UD pencil in "Zero" (on the right side of the waterline) and on the left I am "setting" that black liner with a matte black pigment (I used the Up in Smoke collection's Matte Black--but Mo is offering a matte black in her new "Shade Short Stack"!). By setting the liner with a black pigment you are helping it to not fade away--as your waterline is a pretty...watery...place! Using a very small angled liner brush, I pressed the black pigment all the way along the waterline.


For your duct--use a sparkly white. Here I am using Sparkle Motion, a very sparkly white.


I'm not sure why I left my brow highlight to last with this look, but I did. Using MSC's Birfday Suit (a nude (for white people!) matte), I applied it to a slanted angled brush and then put this colour all along my brow bone. I also concentrated on marrying this colour with the lid colours to further help them fade out to the crease.


Now. If your duct colour got a little out of hand (as mine apparently did!)--here's a secret: QTips are your friend. Take some makeup remover (one that is NOT oil based) on the QTip. Starting at the inner part of your eye, where you want to do the clean up, "roll" the QTip from that part and all the way along your lower lash line. If you don't want your lines to be too "crisp" you can just use it to clean up around the duct--but if your blues down at the lower lash line got a bit lower than you wanted them to, you can use this QTip to fix that. You could also use it to sharpen up the edge of the black at your outer lid, if you so choose. I like to keep my black pretty soft and fade-y--but sharp edges look fun, too!


Apply some mascara, and you're done!


I do hope you enjoyed reading this tutorial! As I said, I have done this same technique a number of times using different kinds of colours. It always works out and always looks pretty bad-ass, if I must say so myself. :)

And now to continue with the: "Interesting fact you didn't know about me" section: This summer I had a goal to run my very first 10km run! Not only did I accomplish my goal, but I think I ran it about 6 or 7 times!! YAY! I am by no means a "fast" runner, but I was pretty darn proud of myself for doing something that I never thought I'd be able to do. Back in elementary school I had a gym teacher yell at me and tell me that a snail could run faster than me...ever since then I've had a pretty big complex about my running style. But. Did I ever show him! Sure, I didn't run it "fast", but I did it and I did it because I wanted to!

Madd Style Cosmetics: Three Colour Combos!

Helllloooooo internets!

Today's Madd Style Cosmetics tutorial is brought to you by the colours: Psychobilly Freakout, Sexxxy Rexy (from the Empire Records Collection) and Princess Buttahcup! These three colours are going to participate in a very fun (and pretty basic) look that I like to do--and the neat thing about it, is it's soooooo easy to mix and match colours. (As you'll see at the end--I'll post two other looks I did using the exact same techniques.)

To begin, collect the supplies!

(Left to Right, top to bottom: NYX Eyeshadow Base in "White"; Gabriel Color Mascara in "Black"l Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-on Pencil in "Yeyo"; Urban Decay's Ink for Eyes in "Zero"; Madd Style Cosmetics pigments (clockwise from the green): Psychobilly Freakout, Sexxy Rexy (Empire Records Collection), Birfday Suit, 3rd Wish (Sham ROCK Collection), and Princess Buttahcup; Small Shader Brush; Fluffy Crease Brush; Angled/Slanted Shadow Brush; 2 Angled Liner Brushes (or just one if you want to clean stuff off!); and a Domed Crease Brush. I just realized that I completely forgot to include my primer in the photo! It's Too Faced Shadow Insurance!)

Start with a clean eye (as always!):

(BIG clean eye! I mistakenly didn't use my flash for a few of the early pictures, but they'll get better--I promise!)

Then you'll want to apply your primer and base. I used Too Faced Shadow Insurance as my primer and applied it all over my lid and then I applied NYX's Eyeshadow Base in "White" over the primer after giving the primer a few seconds to set. I applied the primer and base the same way that I did in my previous tutorial, found here.

Next, take a white eyeliner pencil (here I used my UD 24/7 pencil in "Yeyo") and line your lower lash line--from the duct all the way to the outside corner of your lower lashes.


For the fun part, extend the white liner at the outside edge at the same angle that your upper lash line would create, if it continued on its downward slope (I realize that not everyone has the same shape as eyes that I have, of course--so you would want to draw the line to be at roughly 8 O'clock, or probably between 7 and 8, really--if you imagine your eye as a clock!). In the middle picture, that's what you'll get after you draw the line. And then what you need to do is kind of "fill in" that triangle a bit so you don't have two lines meeting at an angle--create more of a gradual slope from the line you just created toward your lower lash line (as is pictured on the right).

(Ah, the flash! Welcome to the party!)

Now is time for the first piggie! Take a small shader brush and dip it into MSC's Psychobilly Freakout (a lovely green with an aqua shimmer). Press the pigment into the bristles of your brush by using the inside of the piggie's jar's lid. Once you have the pigment evenly dispersed on your brush, pat or press the colour on to your lid. Continue patting the colour on the whole lid until it's all covered--take the colour up to your crease, but don't go above your crease just yet!


Then, switch to a fluffy crease brush and dip it into Psychobilly Freakout! With the fluffy brush you want to fade out that harsh line that is at your crease--and by changing to a fluffy brush, the brush will pretty much do all of the work for you! Starting at the outside corner of your lid, apply the colour into your crease using a wind-shield wiper motion. Don't take the colour too high--you're just wanting to create a more faded effect at the edge of the colour. Then, at the outside of your eye, using the fluffy brush, wing the colour out a bit to create a triangle at the outside of your eye (as you can see in the right most picture).


Now, to help with blending out the Psychobilly Freakout even more, we're going to use some Birfday Suit as the brow highlight. Using a slanted brush, dip it into Birfday Suit--and distribute the colour throughout the bristles using the inside of the lid (as you did before). Apply this colour directly under your eyebrow--concentrating on also blending the colour down into the line where Psychobilly Freakout ends.


Now to work on the lower lash line. Take an angled liner brush and dip it into Sexxxy Rexy (a GORGEOUS strawberry pink colour) and apply this over the white liner you applied as the base. Don't forge the little outside triangle! (Leave the duct bare for now, we'll get to that in a minute!)


Now for the surprise addition of a third colour! I know, you're all wondering--where is there room for a third colour?! No, not the duct! Line your waterline with the same white pencil you used before. (The waterline is that bit of skin that is next to your eyeball--before your eyelashes.)


Using a different angled brush (or clean off the one you used to apply Sexxxy Rexy), dip it into Princess Buttahcup (a lovely shimmery butter yellow). Carefully press this colour into your waterline! Princess Buttahcup works well for this because it doesn't have any glitter in it--you don't want glitter that close to your eyeball! I find it adds a nice little "pop" of unexpected colour when its hidden on the waterline. :)


Lastly! Take a domed crease brush and dip it into 3rd Wish (this colour is no longer available, but if you have Thunder Snow or just any sparkly white--that would work perfectly too). Dab this colour right into the duct. I've found, lately, that using a larger domed brush like this does a good job of applying the colour and also blending it out a bit on to the inner upper lid and inner lower lash line--again, the brush does all of the work for you!


Apply some mascara (I used my trusty Gabriel Color Mascara) and a winged eyeliner (UD Ink for Eyes) and....you're done!


As I mentioned at the beginning of this tutorial--the extra fun thing about this look is that it's super easy to swap out these colours and try any three colours!

For example:

I did this using Amethyst (from the Dark Crystal Collection) on the lid, Ecto Cooler on the lower lash line, and Foux du Fafa on the waterline. (Opal, from the Dark Crystal Collection in the duct.)

Bi-Winning (from the Sheen Dream Collection) on the lid, Mr. Roboto on the lower lash line, and Lust (from the Love and Hate Collection) on the waterline. (Sparkle Motion in the duct.)

Fun stuff, right?! :)

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial and I hope it'll inspire you to put to colours together you wouldn't think of putting together--and then throwing on a surprise colour on your waterline! Be sure to check out Madd Style Cosmetics, if you haven't already.

And now for my "random fact you didn't know about me" section! I grew up in a small town of around 6,000 people! The town is in a gorgeous valley where I was able to go downhill skiing--which I miss a lot. There's nothing quite like having your face burn off in the cold wind while going up the chair lift! Cross Country skiing though--NOT my thing. Kind of like how yoga will never be my thing. I am not patient enough for that stuff!!! :)

Nearly 100 Followers!

Horray! I am *almost* at 100 followers!! Can you believe it?!

I have, for you all, a short video detailing the items I have so far in my possession for a give-away (featuring, of course, Madd Style Cosmetics)! I will not be starting the give-away until I have reached 100 followers--but I imagine that is *just* around the corner!

This was my first time trying to edit a video--so it's CHOPPY at the splice! I had to do it though, I accidentally called a product by the wrong name! Oops. I also make a comment about Frankencake being "literally" sweet. I totally thought it was sweetened, but I lied to all of you! I hope you'll forgive me.

Anyways, I hope the video gives you some smiles and that if you aren't already a subscriber/follower, that you'll become one!

Thanks again so much to the 95 of you who read what I write. :)

Oh, and here is the look that I used All That Glitters in (it's the colour on the lid)!

(The rest of the MSC colours I used: Wander Lust in the crease, Disco Biscuit on top of that, Sally to blend out the Disco Biscuit and Love & Rockets in the ducts and as brow highlight!)