Good thing about single-shade pots of shadow? Low-risk, high-impact experimentation. The bad? A night of joyous jiggling on the dancefloor is often all it takes to pulverise them into sorry shards in the pan. Feeling me yet?
Planning to toss said containers of crumbly colours into the trash? DIY the dewy lidded look and try this cool trick instead. Stir in a generous dollop of your go-to lip balm into otherwise unusable pot of powder and stash the mixture in a clean empty tin.
The result is a custom cream concoction that’s perfect for prettifying your peepers with. It’s multi-purpose, too: A judicious dab on your cheeks and nose bridge will do very nicely as a “wet” blush or facial highlighter, depending on the hue of the shadow used. (Obviously, chestnuts and coppers work best for this purpose.)
Raring to go? A couple of things to note if you’re game. First, sieve through the ingredients label of your lip balm for irritants like cinnamon or capsicum derivatives; avoid those as we want beestung lips, not lids.
Product recommendation-wise, let's kick off with my monthly repurchase list, which often includes Ettusais’ excellent Lip Essence. This luscious little tube’s stuffed with moisture magnets hyaluronic acid and jojoba oil, both of which will comfort chapped puckers and peepers at the same time, if you so wish.
Lacquered lids also tend to work best if they’re sexily smudged, so don’t be too precious about keeping the shine within your socket.
Take a gilded leaf from Chinese supermodel Liu Wen and run with a beautifully burnished bronze; I like playing around with RMK’s incredibly pigmented Ingenious Eyeshadow N in 08 Pink Beige, which is subtly shimmery worn “dry” and intriguingly incandescent when incorporated into a lip balm.
Now, high-shine eye glosses (custom created or otherwise) may seem like quite the intimidating high-fashion accessory, but they’re a cinch to pull off if you do a matchy-matchy. Pair a wet eye with an equally wet lip and gun for a lippie in a low-key nude, which doesn’t fight for attention with your lids. I’m such a sucker for VDL’s smacker-licious Expert Color Lip Cube in Caramel Sand, with its squared edge making it perfect for precision application.
Oh yeah, and in the spirit of the DIY slant of this story, said Lip Cube doubles up like a dream as a terrific cheek tint. In fact, go right ahead and play around with all three products in any number of configurations, Transformers-style. Have fun!
Ettusais Lip Essence, $31, is available at all Ettusais stores. For more information, visit www.ettusais.com.sg and follow the brand on Facebook.
RMK Ingenious Eyeshadows N in 08 Pink Beige, $36, is available from all RMK counters. For more information, visit www.rmkrmk.com/global and follow RMK Singapore on Facebook.
VDL Expert Color Lip Cube in Caramel Sand, $35, is available from all VDL stores. For more information, visit www.vdlcosmetics.com and follow VDL Cosmetics Singapore on Facebook.