Hot Cocoa

I've never been much of an eyeshadow person. It's been straight up black mascara and black liquid liner for years and years. A few days ago I treated myself to a Tom Ford eye shadow quad to break out of my comfort zone and be a bit more daring around the holidays.

I chose a fairly safe quad called Cocoa Mirage. As the name suggests, it's a palette of soft warm browns and a light beige for the base color.

The design and feel of the quad itself is simple and elegant. It has a nice weight to it, and comes with a special pouch to keep it from getting all scratched up. 

I began by sweeping the beige all over my eyelid with a larger brush, then did my crease with the next darker colored shadow with a special angled brush. I finished by giving myself a bit of a cat eye with the darkest of the browns. For this, I used one of the sponge applicators that came with the quad. I did this all with a very light hand, as it was for daytime and I am not very skilled at the smoky effect.

It's funny how different your face looks when you forgo your usual makeup routine. I think I look very different without my black liquid liner.

It's probably time to look at some eye shadow tutorials on ye olde YouTube so I can get a better handle on how to go darker with confidence. I have found over the years that when it comes to makeup, it's all about practice, really. And the best advice in eye makeup of course begins and ends with this lady.