Fun with gun(metal)

As mentioned previously, I am currently in the middle of moving house, aka hell on earth. As also mentioned previously, the only perk so far to all the packing has come in discovering all sorts of products I forgot I'd owned. It's like shopping, but with money I've already spent on items I've long since banished from my mind.

And if Saturday's excavation is anything to go on, I went through a very keen Bobbi Brown period in 2001, but quickly lost track of all my purchases before I got much chance to use them. In addition to the very useful Lip Palette 2001 (containing various lip colours, lip shines, and lip shimmers in: berry, sand pink, brown, shell pink, peony SPF 15, cocoa SPF 15, cassis, salmon, raisin, and crimson), I also had quite a lot left of my Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick in Sand. But my favourite rediscovery was a Bobbi Brown Eye Palette 2001, a collection of five eye shadow colours: bone, slate, sable, gunmetal shimmer wash, and raisin summer wash.

So after a long day of packing, wearing no makeup and with my hair scraped back into a ponytail, I thought I'd treat myself to some playtime with my new (old) products.

I quickly realised why I must have stopped using the Bobbi Brown Foundation Stick - while the coverage is fantastic, it's a tad too dry for the areas of my face that are prone to slight peeling. I can see it being a very good option for the sweltering summer months, though, if used in combination with a decent mattifying moisturiser (and if you know of one, do let me in on the secret). What I did really like, though, was using the raisin eye shadow as a blush - it's dark, so fast and furious blending is definitely necessary. Lining my eyes with a black Lancome pencil I thought I'd lost forever, I swiped the sable shadow up to the socket and layered it with gunmetal shimmer blended up towards the brow bone. More gunmetal on top of the black liner on my lower lids, a few coats of Marks & Spencer Just Perfect Lash Lengthening Mascara, a lick of Bobbi Brown peony lip colour, and I was done. For once, I skipped my eyebrow grooming routine, as it's been suggested to me that my brows are perhaps so overpowering of my other features that they can take over any look I may try.

I can't say I was overwhelmed by the resulting look, but I can't say I'm overwhelmed very often when I look in the mirror, anyway. I had fun playing with my makeup, though, which is something else I'm rediscovering. It used to be all about the fun, with the looking nicer thing as pure bonus, and with age and the creeping self-doubt of adolescence, the emphasis completely changed. Now I'm feeling more like the 8-year-old who thought that red, yellow, and blue eyeshadow worn together was the ultimate look, and that a woman couldn't go wrong wearing peach shadow all the way up to the brow with blue eyeshadow on the socket, just like Barbie had. (Yes, I was allowed to wear makeup when I was that young. No, I don't think this did me any harm. No, I don't think all children should be allowed to wear makeup so young.)

Being a grown-up is hard. We should take our fun where we can, especially in those areas where it's supposed to be the most important aspect to begin with.

Comments

[rock chick]

My last move unearthed a trove of Nars which included no less than three tubes of Fire Down Below. What was I thinking?

[Donna B]

Yum, love Nars packaging - very sleek & stylish. Not as fond of the lipstick colors, but have never seen Fire Down Below...

Jackie, I'm not sure about this result. I don't think it works, but I don't know why. You definitely have the smudgy smoky eyes, here, so perhaps with no blush and a more icy or blue lipstick, it would be a good dead look. But this is an attractive lipstick color, so it looks funny with the extra-dramatic exagerrated eyes. Just a few very scattered thoughts...