AD. This post is in conjunction with Boots UK but all thoughts are my own
Last Autumn/Winter season, I felt like I lost all my makeup creativity. We were in and out of lockdown, and I was also in my third trimester of pregnancy. I would leave the house only to go to the post office and swing by the local Starbucks drive-thru – how exciting! Other than that, I was mainly stuck at home, shuffling around and living for loungewear and a bare face.
Fast forward to Autumn/Winter 2021, and I’m totally turning it around. I’m living for making plans, dressing up and enjoying wearing makeup, and being more creative with it too. I usually opt for a subtle or no makeup makeup look, but the Winter season really allows me to up my game a little.
I’ve always enjoyed trying new makeup looks, but there’s something about the run up to the festive season that makes me enjoy refreshing my makeup collections and trying out new products, brands and looks. So that’s exactly what I’ve done this October!
After a long period of time spent with just a light brown eyeshadow washed over my eyelids and perhaps a bit of brow pencil ran through my brows, I’ve been revamping some of my eye makeup products to start creating a bolder, more dramatic eye look to make my blue eyes pop! The new items are all from the extensive range of makeup brands found at Boots.
Shopping for makeup at Boots
You’ll notice that some of my makeup products listed in the step-by-step below are by MAC, a brand most are familiar with as being high-end. It’s so great to see MAC now available at Boots, as at one point, the brand wasn’t that easy to get hold of!
I’ve always loved MAC for their high quality and professionalism but used to rely on them more for foundation and blushers. So for this seasons eye makeup look I’ve been experimenting with, I decided to explore a MAC liquid eyeliner (MAC Brushstroke), shimmer eyeshadow and mascara, to help create some long-wearing, dramatic looks.
For the actual eyeshadows, I went for a brand I haven’t really experimented much with before. TooFaced is often raved about across beauty bloggers and makeup artists alike, so I decided to get my hands on their Peach Eyeshadow palette, basically as the array of colours are fabulous for all occasions. I also love nothing more than a trusty palette that has a variety of shades that can work for both day and night, so that I don’t have to rely on switching up palettes or bringing numerous ones away with me, for example.
I have to say, choosing eye makeup at Boots has been a pretty tough task because believe me when I say, Boots got reeeeally good when it comes to the brands they stock. I found myself battling between Smashbox and Sleek, to NARS and No 7, before settling on some gorgeous makeup pieces from MAC and TooFaced.
Warm Brown and Gold Party Eye Makeup Look
I’ve decided to share a step-by-step eye make up tutorial below, using the products from my Boots eye makeup haul. I started off my applying a BareMinerals foundation, topped up with an Urban Decay concealer under my eyes and over any spots. Then I set with a Revlon setting powder, and finished with ‘Laguna’ bronzer from NARS, and a pop of ‘Orgasm’ blusher also from NARS. Then comes the eyes….
Step 1:
Using the Too Faced Sweet Peach Eye Shadow Palette, I applied a light application of shade ‘Peaches and Cream’ all over the upper lid, and right up to the brow bone. It’s a light shade just a tad warmer than a skintone shade, so it works great as a base.
Step 2:
Taking the ‘caramelized’ shade, which is a bronzy, shimmery brown, I used a fluffy eyeshadow brush and applied the shade to the outer corners of my eyelids, blending around the crease.
Step 3:
I then tapped my eyeshadow fluffy brush into the ‘Summer Yum’ shade, which is a matte, warm brown, and blended it into the outer corners, on top of the shimmery bronze to add more depth and drama to the outer part of the eye. Plus, warmer brown shades really make blue eyes pop!
Step 4:
I broke away from the eyeshadow at this stage to run a Smashbox brow pencil through my eyebrows (you can get this one from Boots, too, which I discovered from browsing their brow pencils selections) to thicken and shape them up. The next step was to use the shimmery gold MAC pot, and using a flat eyeshadow brush, I patted the glittering gold onto the eyelid lightly. You could mist a makeup setting spray or rosewater onto the brush for a more intense finish to the gold if you like, but here I’ve applied it quite lightly.
Step 5:
Then, taking the MAC eyeliner, I drew a smudgey black line on my lower lashline. I then replicated the same smudgey line the upper lash line. Then taking a very small head eyeshadow brush, I dipped the brush into the Summer Yum shade from the TooFaced palette again, blending in a subtle warm brown shadow to the bottom of the eye. It’s crazy how well the stark black and the warm brown go together so well to bring out the eyes and really make the blue of my eyes look bright and sparkly!
Step 6:
Using the MAC mascara, I applied lashings to both the top and lower lashes, and then finished off by blending the eyeshadow shades with a touch of ‘Nectar’ from the Too Faced palette.
The soft creamy gold shades blend into the bronze and warm brown to create a lovely party look, that can suit most colour palettes of clothing and suit all occasions that require getting a little glam this Autumn/Winter!
To make lashes stand out even more, you could ramp up this look with a pair of fluttery false eyelashes. There are lots of quality lash brands available at Boots, included Eylure, Ardell and Huda. Eylure are a personal favourite of mine, especially the accent ones that sit nicely to the outer ends of the lashes.
The best bit about this eye makeup look is that the effect isn’t difficult to create! And if you are a little unsure when applying the different shades and blending, even if you just layer the gold over the brown shades, you’ll still get a super pretty, evening glam look. All products mentioned can be picked up at your local Boots UK or online at Boots.com
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