6 MAKEUP SHIMMER DO’S

February 16, 2008

In the article published on January 18, 2008, entitled 10 Wrong Ways to Use Shimmer in Makeup, … well, I made it sound as though there was no right way to use shimmer in makeup.

Not true. Shiny products have the ability to bring out the best (as well as the worst). It only takes a little caution and a lot of restraint. As pretty as the shiny stuff looks in the container, or on your hand, or on 17-year old skin, women of our age need to learn exactly how to add iridescence to our faces.

Luckily, today’s technology can create particles of shimmer that are so finely ground that the effect is more illuminating than frosty. Still, as you’ll see below, I find it difficult to find the perfect sheer highlighting product. I always favor lotions because powders are much harder to control and can not be applied with as much precision.

Choose NOT MORE than 2 of the following

1. A small area of shimmer on the center of the upper eyelid, near the eyelashes, blended with a neutral matte eye shadow over the entire lid is a look that works. It will add some nice depth and interest to the eye in a very subtle way.

2. A tiny area of pale shimmer cream at the very inner corner of the eye can have a youthful glow, the way light hits a child’s face. I apply it with a cotton swab. At the inner corner of the eye, you can extend the product very slightly up along the inner rim of the upper lid, but do not extend it along the lower lid or you’ll highlight any creasing there. Pearl or oyster white or pale gold works well.

3. In a circle that begins on the round part of the cheek and is carried back and up toward the ear and temple, a little shimmer is attractive. Do not allow it near the entire area under the eye where the skin creases. Also, do not drag it down low on the cheek. Keep it along the apple of the cheek and along the top edge of the cheekbone.

4. Along the top of the collarbones (this one can be combined with any of the other suggestions), shimmer can be pretty when coordinated the same product high on the cheeks.

5. In a pale lip gloss, better worn either on its own or over a neutral lipstick, and with no shimmer elsewhere on the face, this is an understated way to enhance the mouth. Do not wear this with colorful lipstick since sparkle with strong color is theatrical. For women with thin lips, a light shimmery gloss can make the lips a little more prominent in a tasteful way. You can blur the real edge of the lip line so the lips appear a little more generous.

6. Just above the bow of the upper lip, in the little valley near the lipline, just a small spot of shimmer is subtle and very attractive.

The best illuminators

Now, here comes the really tricky part : finding a good product. You would think, with the beautiful effects they can create these days and the flood of shiny product out there, that it would be easy to find a great highlighting product. I think it’s quite challenging.

Paula’s Choice Sheer Shimmer Illuminating Liquid

I’m presently using Paula’s Sheer Shimmer Illuminating Liquid in Bronze and Opal. I have both and they are just fine. The Opal is one of the few good off-white shimmer products out there. Both colors are very sheer and will not add significant color. You will look a little ‘enlightened’, never a bad thing. They are in the clearance section so I assume the product is being discontinued. At $5.48, you will not beat this deal. I hope something newer and better is on its way.

Clinique Uplighting Liquid Illuminator

Clinique Uplighting Liquid Illuminator is more like a sheer blush. This is not a bad product, but more neutral colors are needed to use it in the various areas of the face listed above.

Kevyn Aucoin The White Liquid Shimmer

Kevyn Aucoin White Liquid Shimmer has one of the few sheer white highlighters. A sheer white is the best for the inner corner of the eye and the bow of the lip, though it can be a little too bright on the cheeks.

It causes me pain to tell you that I have not personally seen Kevyn’s makeup. I hope to rectify that situation soon. I cannot imagine that it would be anything less than superb. I think it looks spectacular online. His sense of color was undeniably inspired.

It is not reviewed in Paula’s Don’t Go To The Cosmetics Counter Without Me, nor is it in Beautypedia.com. I am not sure why it was excluded. So Paula, if you read this, please tell us why you didn’t review this most interesting and promising line. I am aching to own some of it. Check out the colors of any of the products. It’s not a huge line but it doesn’t need to be, and the colors are fantastic.

MAC makes Cream Color Base . It works pretty well. It is a cream in a compact and easy to blend. Hush, Pearl, Luna, and Shell are decent pale colours to give a glow to the area they’re applied. I prefer this consistency to powder of any sort, but its creaminess prevents it from drying as well as the liquid products. It can move from where it was applied, it can migrate into creases, and it does not last well around eyes or mouth.

Posted by Christine Scaman | Filed Under Makeup, Paula's Choice