The Savvy Girls Guide To Purple Shaded Eyes

I noticed the gorgeous Katerina Graham wearing bright purple eyeshadow at the Teen Choice Awards earlier this month. It's a very bold look, definitely not one for shrinking violets. But Kat carried it off beautifully. The striking violet colour complimented her green eyes. She wisely kept the rest of her make-up very subtle, with dusky rose blush and nude lips.

Recreating this look can be quite tricky; you don't want people to stare at you and wonder if you've done your makeup in the dark. 

Choose a matt eye shadow for daywear and a shimmery one for night time. Try a pale lavender to start, if you like the effect, you can experiment with darker shades like plum or mauve. 

Here are some tips on how to keep it classy and pull it off as well as Kat.

Get The Look

1. Use an eye primer or concealer to hide any dark circles under the eyes & brighten up lids.

2. Sweep a light lilac shade over your entire lid, stopping just under the brow bone.

3. Layer with a darker shade of purple, starting at the outer corner of your eye, blending inwards to the middle.

4. Add a shimmer or highlighter to the inner corners of your eyelid. Gold or silver works well. 

5. For more definition, line eyes with a dark grey or black eye pencil.

6. To get Kat's complete look, use a purple eye pencil or the same shade of purple eye shadow to line your bottom eyelids. Alternatively, you can use a silver-grey liner. 

7. Finish off with a good coating of black mascara. 

8. Keep the rest of your make-up toned down with lightly blushed cheeks and clear lipgloss.

Nice To Try

Top Row

Kanebo Eyeshadow palette ES04. Four blendable shades including a shimmery aubergine and soft pink highlighter.

Stila eyeshadow duo in Orchid. Two complementary shades of purple.

Yves Saint Laurent Ombres 5 Lumiéres in Lilac Sky. Five harmonious colours in brighter and lighter highly pigmented purple shades.

Middle Row

Make Up Forever eyeshadow in Deep Plum. A matt texture with a satin finish and a hint of shimmer.

Maybelline Expertwear eyeshadow quad in Amethyst Smokes. A crease proof quad that instructs you where to place each colour.

The Body Shop Baked to Last eyeshadow in Amethyst. An iridescent indigo eyeshadow duo.

Last Row 

Dior 5 Colour Eyeshadow in Petal Shine. Pastel shades for a more subtle look.

Clinique Colour Surge eyeshadow quad in Plum Seduction. Pretty purple powder shadows that can be used separately or all together.

Lancomé Colour Design 5 Shadow & Liner Palette in Mauve Cherie. Long wearing shades to create a seamless, smokey look.

These eyeshadow palettes are available in department stores like Edgars or Stuttafords, and at Sephora, SAKS and Harrods overseas.





Celebrity Inspired Looks



These looks show that purple shaded eyes suit all skin tones, hair and eye colours. Notice that the rest of their make up is left soft and natural, with a dash of pale pink lip gloss.

Top Row

Rachel McAdams' orchid shaded eyelids work wonderfully with her blonde hair and blue-green eyes.

Redhead Emma Stone wears a shimmery lilac highlighter that extends up unto her eyebrows.

Keri Hilson's hazel eyes are brightened by a vivid violet colour.

Scarlett Johansson combined pink and purple to create a pretty and eye catching look.



Bottom Row

Emily Browning wears a smokey aubergine look that accentuates her green eyes.

Katy Perry, who is always one for the bold and unusual, mixed bright violet and lime.

Model Frida Gustavsson shows off dramatic purple smeared eyes at Jason Wu's Spring 2011 fashion show.

Eva Longoria bats her false lashes under a richly pigmented violet shade.





This is not a look for everyday, but instead for an occasion where you would really like to stand out. It's also projects a youthful, playful image. I have yet to find the courage to wear it out in society. What are your thoughts on this beauty trend? 

A Romantic Makeup Collection by Chanel

Les Aquarelles de Chanel

Makeup Collection



Chanel's new makeup collection is an ode to vintage romanticism; doe-eyed beauties fluttering their delicate lashes, with flushed cheeks and rose-tinted lips. During Paris Couture Fashion Week, Chanel awed audiences, not only with their delightful dresses, but also by the ballerina-inspired makeup worn by the models. 



Inspired by a 1920's watercolour painting of Coco Chanel, Les Aquarelles de Chanel reveals a softer, feminine side to makeup. Created by Chanel's makeup genius, Peter Phillips, this beautiful collection features 6 limited edition pieces. 

The Look

Eyelids shimmer with an iridescent tinge of ivory, gold and grey. Cheeks are abloom with misty pink blush, blended to create a natural rosy flush. Lips are tinted in pastel pink. I love the addition and precision of the black winged eyeliner, which perfectly balances out the soft opalescent shades. The final look is dreamy and striking at the same time. If I were to have a signature makeup look, this would be it.

Top Row

Le Vernis. A sugary pink nail varnish that duly corresponds with this feminine look. The formula is strengthening and nourishing, giving you colour that is resistant to chipping.

Ombrés Tissées. The star of the collection is this scintillating eye shadow palette in a woven tweed design. With luminous shades of pink and beige that beautifully reflect off the light, it bestows a youthful glow upon eyes and cheeks.

Stylo Yeux Waterproof. Add drama to eyes with a soft-textured, silicone-enhanced and smudgeproof pencil that is easy to manoeuvre, creating smooth lines. It comes with a built-in sharpener.

Bottom Row

Jouse Contraste. A silky powered blush for natural looking cheeks, providing seamless colour that can built up to achieve the rosy hue thats right for you. There are two shades available, Rose Pétale and Pink Cloud.

Rouge Coco Shine. The Hydrating Sheer Lipshine glides on easily, and has a lightweight, moisturizing formula. Royallieu is a cherub pink lip-tint with a hint of shimmer.

Ombrés Essentielle Gris Exquis. A dove grey eye shadow that defines eyes and adds an air of mystery to your romantic look.

If I had these few products in my makeup box, I wouldn't really need much else. You can create a versatile day-to-night look that is timeless, understated and enhances your natural beauty. The products range from about R203 to R503 ($28.50 to $75), and can be purchased from the Chanel website.

Rimmel Glam'Eyes

Glam'Eyes Eye Shadow

by Rimmel London



UK makeup brand Rimmel have released a new exciting range for eyes called Glam'Eyes. Get creative with a choice of 49 shades from sweet and playful to bold and daring. The shadows come in mono, trio and quad palettes.



The silken powder formula blends easily and lasts for hours. And you won't have to deal with unsightly creases. The colours are highly pigmented for a fearless, attention grabbing look. Model Georgina Jagger (top right) wears vivid shades of purple and turquoise from the 'State of Grace' quad.

Some interesting colours to try out in the single shadows are the dusky pink Precious Rose, warm Spicy Bronze, ice grey Night Jewel or dark grey Enchantment, natural Smokey Quartz and crisp blue Posh Pack. With the mono's, you can buy the colours you like then mix and match shades.



In the Trios, chose Twilight for a smokey eye, Lynx and Orion for earthy tones or Dreamy for varying shades of purple (bottom right).



The Quads offer 4 quilted colours. Sun Safari will give you a bronzed glow. Get a garden inspired look with Urban Flower. Beauty Spells is my favourite pick, with shades of amethyst, grey, pewter and black.

It's also better to use an eye shadow brush instead of the applicator it comes with. Experiment with radiant Rimmel colours, available in stores now.

The Savvy Girls Guide to a Smokey Eye

How to create the Perfect Smokey Eye



The smokey eye is a timeless and glamourous look, seen on runways, models, celebrities, in magazines...and now on you. If you've always loved this smouldering makeup look, but didn't know how to achieve it, this guideline is especially for you. My friend Shakira is a talented Johannesburg-trained, Cape Town-based makeup artist. She shares her steps on how to create the perfect smokey eye.

Step 1: Choosing a base that will keep eyeshadow flawless is very important. Apply foundation around your entire eye area. Then apply concealer one shade lighter than your skin tone. The ideal consistency for this is a cream concealer. Set with loose powder - which will also help catch all the shadow that falls underneath your eyes. Alternatively, you can use an eye primer - MAC 'paint' is a great one.



Step 2: Starting with the eye shadow - choose a highlighter in either a matte finish for the day or shimmery finish for a night time look. A white, cream or pearl coloured highlighter is ideal. Wipe the highlighter over the entire eyelid, up to the brow bone.



Step 3: Use a darker colour and line your eyes with an eyeshadow brush. You're not restricted to just black, you can choose any dark colour you like - blue, purple, green, brown or grey (as pictured above). Use the same colour to line the bottom part of your eyelids, just under the lash line. Then use a cotton bud to softly smudge the top and bottom of your eye line.



Step 4: You will need an even darker colour shadow to create a full smokey effect (such as the black one pictured above). Softly pat the eye shadow with a brush over your eyelids, making sure to stop before the crease. 



Step 5: Remember that the key to a perfect smokey eye is to blend. Take a flat shadow brush and blend. You don't want to see any definite lines.



Step 6: Take your shadow brush and dip it into the darker coloured shadow. Close your eyes, put the brush tip into the crease, then open your eyes (with brush still in place) and sweep it from half way to the end of the crease.



Step 7: Use the highlighter again, and brush on to the brow bone, following the eye brow shape.



Step 8: You can now choose to be more dramatic by taking a black liquid liner and lining your top lashes. For extra 'Oh la la' use an eye pencil to line the bottom eye lid. You can stick to black or a dark colour you prefer. Make sure you wipe away any excess powder that's underneath your eyes.



Step 9: Mascara, Mascara and Mascara...layers of it. You can use a lash curler to curl your lashes upwards first, for that Va va voom appeal. 



Step 10: With a brow brush, comb your brows neatly into place. You can even colour them in with black or dark brown shadow. Set with brow gel.



Remember to keep lips natural. When applying strong makeup, keep the focus on either lips or eyes - never both.





Here are some celebrity smokey eye looks to inspire you. As you can see, this style of eye makeup suits any hair colour, eye colour and skin tone.

From the Top: 

Keira Knightly lined her bottom lash line with pencil and used a dark brown eye shadow. 

Dianna Argon bats her eyelids under smokey eye shadow. 

Jennifer Lopez used a charcoal and steel eye shadow blend, which works superbly with her dark lined eyes. 

Camilla Belle used a soft brown shadow underneath her bottom lashes. 

Mila Kunis wears a sultry smokey eye better than most, darkly rimmed with black eye pencil.

Taylor Swift uses dramatic black liner and silver highlighter to bring out her blue eyes. 

Kim Kardashian amps up the volume with curly fake lashes. 

Notice how all these smokey stars kept the rest of their makeup simple with pale rosy blusher and nude glossy lips.

Try out these 10 easy-to-follow steps to crease your own irresistible smokey eye. Good Luck!

Quite Cute by MAC

'Quite Cute' 

Spring 2011 Collection

by MAC Cosmetics



MAC's colourful makeup inspiration for Spring 2011 is called 'Quite Cute'. 

If the promo picture (bottom right) is anything to go by, we can can expect a supremely girly range. It's like getting lost in a pastel coloured candy shop. This supersweet collection includes shimmery eye shadows, three new nail lacquers, candy gloss colours, five bubblicious lipsticks and three blush compacts.

The Mineralize Blush comes in sweet shades of pink, lavender and beige. The design is adorable with two colours of pearly blush, the darker shade placed in a tiny heart in the middle. Get rosy cheeks with Giggly, which is a frosty shade of pink (top right). The beige blush shade, Miss Behave, is a bit baffling, as it comes with a green heart highlighter. What is one supposed to do with it? 



The PlushGlass lipgloss is available in a pale pink, nude, soft lilac and peachy pink (top left). Nail Lacquers are 'cutie-fied' in Little Girl Type lavender, Ice Cream Cake pink and Mischievous minty green (pictured above right).



The sugary shaded Eyeshadow Quad has a satiny pink Goody Goody Gumdrop, a shimmery Boycrazy lilac, Moshi Moshi frosted white gold and Azuki Bean violet. 



The lipstick colours are bright, unusual and not for the reserved. They range from a peachy pink Playing Koi, Saint Germain pastel pink, bright lilac and deep violet to a neon pink Candy Yum-Yum (bottom middle).



MAC's new collection has undoubtedly carried the 'Quite Cute' theme to it's full colour potential. It looks pretty but are all the shades wearable? Maybe if you're throwing a Princess party for 5-year-olds.



MAC's Quite Cute range will be available worldwide from 7th April 2011 . 

CustomEyes by Revlon

CustomEyes Your Look With Revlon

When I visited my (not so local) Clicks store this week, the first thing I noticed was the new Revlon CustomEyes stand, with actress Jessica Biel wearing the latest shades of eye shadow. As you can see from the photo on the left, her eye make-up is quite bold and edgy and a bit too outrageous for everyday use. Not many people will be willing or daring enough to try it out, in fear of looking like an escaped circus clown.

On closer look at the display, I saw that there were six different eye shadow palettes in this collection, from subtle to striking shades. The quilted design on the shadows is a winsome selling point. Each palette contains 4 eyeshadows and one liner in shimmery colour that can be blended and built up to achieve the intensity you're most comfortable with.

Above are the 6 palettes available in this range.

• Create a fashion forward look with Metallic Chic


• Party Pops can be used to recreate Jessica's jazzy look above. (If you're gutsy)


• I like Naturally Glamorous for a toned down natural eye


• Subtle shades in Sweet Innocence are great for a simple daytime look


• Use Smoky Sexy to get a dramatic smoky effect that works well at night


• Shades of purple will draw attention to your eyes with Rich Temptations

With so many versatile sets to choose from, you can mix and match colours and experiment with different looks.  What I like about this collection is that you really can Customeyes your look according to your personal preference and sense of intrepidity.

Complement your eyeshadow with the new 

CustomEyes Mascara, also from this range.

You can create two looks with the innovative twist brush - 'length & drama' or 'length and definition'. 

The first setting aligns bristles for long and dramatic lashes. While the second setting defines eyelashes. Personally I don't really see the difference between the two. But I do like the flexible brush for precision and avoidance of clumping.

The Revlon CustomEyes range is available from Clicks stores countrywide.

A Gingham Spring by Make Up For Ever

Trés Vichy Spring 2011 Collection

by Make Up For Ever

Step into Spring 2011 with this gorgeous and girly gingham makeup collection by Make Up For Ever.  It contains the beauty essentials you will need for a 50's inspired look, made famous by style icon Brigitte Bardot.

This candy coated collection features sparkly Star Powder Diamond shadows in sweet shades of pink, green and white. The limited edition Trés Vichy Palette for cheeks and eyes comes in an adorable pink and white checked case. Flutter your eyelashes with the super cute pair of faux lashes, complete with tiny gingham bows. I can see Katy Perry wearing these.

Get the Pin-Up Girl look with the chic and stylish Make Up For Ever Trés Vichy Spring 2011 makeup collection. It is due to release in February on the overseas make up scene. Here's hoping it will reach SA shores within this year.

A Tartan Tale

Holiday Make Up Collection

by MAC Cosmetics

I adore all things tartan, so when I discovered A Tartan Tale by MAC Cosmetics, I was delighted. It is a beautiful make up collection inspired by the Scottish Highlands, Celtic Charm and Posh Punk. Royal jewel tones and pretty patterns combine to create an interesting quilted collection with fanciful names like Follow Your Fantasy, The Faerie Glen, Magical Mist, Noble Knights and Storybook Ending. Plaid printed eyeshadows are the highlight of the collection, with my favourite being Golden Crown. The Pearlglide Intense Eyeliners are easy to apply and the glittery Pigments provide an iridescent glow to eyes. My pick from the 5 shades of Dazzleglass Crème is Gone Romancin', which is a lustrous lavender lipgloss. You can also buy the set of A Lady and Her Tricks make-up brushes which come in a cute checkered cling bag. 

Add these opulent shades of purples, greens, greys and golds to your make-up bag for the Dashing Lassie look. Go to your nearist MAC store to get this limited edition collection or visit www.maccosmetics.co.za for more information.