Q & A | Part II: What's in My Make-up Kit? (Eyes)

Q: Rhia, what's in your make-up kit? (...continued)
A: Now, that I've owned up to all the beauty products I use to bring my skin to a normal-and-ok-to-go-out-in-public state, we move on to our next segment of what make-up products I use for the eyes. If I'm running short on time in the morning, I normally opt to cut off steps from the skin and face routine, but never from my eye make-up routine! Anybody that knows me and my make-up technique knows that I love to focus on the eyes on myself and my clients. I'm inclined to believe that even in the case of an emergency, I would reach for my eyelash curler and mascara before dashing out! (Can you say intervention?)

Part II | What’s in My Make-up Kit: Eyes
Here are my daily essentials for the eyes in the order that I apply them:

EYESHADOW BASE

MAC Paint – Bare Canvas
I once heard that MAC Paints were going to be discontinued with the introduction of MAC Paint Pots, and my heart skipped a beat. I swear by MAC Paints - I use them in all my applications in my own routine and in my client appointments. I use Bare Canvas paint as a base applying it from lashline all the way up to the eyebrow to help prolong the daily life of my eyeshadow. Bare Canvas is a pale colour that lives up to its name as it neutralizes the eyelid and in doing so also helps the true colour of your eyeshadow to come through. I cannot say enough good things about MAC Paints! Definitely a personal kit staple!

EYELINER

L'oreal Lineur Intense
I've had a love affair with this product since high school, but we did have a rocky start. My hand wasn't always so steady; I have some questionable photos of liquid liner rimmed lids from high school (think thick black liner nearly shaped like a thick rectangle on the top lashline. It might look half decent on the runway, but it was an attempt to disguise my shaky hand by drawing on thicker! In fact, too thick). The thin brush of Lineur Intense does take precision, practice (and obviously) patience. But once you've got a handle on it, you'll see that the tiny brush is the best part! I use it tight against the top lash line and then I tightline the bottom lash line. Read more of my review on L'oreal Lineur Intense here.

EYESHADOWS

Inglot Eyeshadows and MAC Eyeshadows (too many to mention)
My eyeshadow look usually varies with how much time I have to get ready in the morning and on what I’m wearing, etc. For as much as I would rather sacrifice sleep to have more time to get ready, some days my body just refuses and wants to sleep in! I usually opt for a more neutral coloured look for the day when going to the office, and kick it up with colour at night using any of the colours from my Inglot eyeshadow palettes.
One eyeshadow that I do use daily is MAC Starflash Eyeshadow in Grand Entrance. I use this colour to highlight the inner corner of the eyes and help them appear larger.

CREAM EYESHADOWS

MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist, Artifact, Quite Natural, and Blackground
So, I've already detailed my love for MAC Paints and their crease resisting charm. MAC Paint Pots are the next generation of the Paint, and versus its predecessor, Paint Pots are a lot more user friendly. With the Paints, you have to work with them really fast and blend or else you end up with uneven colour. Paint Pots allow more room for movement and do not set as quickly making them easier to blend. I like to layer the Paint Pots atop my eyeshadows to soften the powder for more of an airbrushed and slightly diffused effect. Depending on what eyeshadow I have used, I match either Constructivist, Artifact or Quite Natural and concentrate it in the crease of my eye and lightly pat to blend it outward using my finger. I use Blackground whenever I want more of an intense smoky eye: I smudge it tight to the lash line and blend it with a pencil liner to create more depth and interest for the eyes. See more on my love for Paint Pot here.

EYEBROW PENCIL

Rimmel Dark Brown Pencil
Rimmel's eyebrow pencil is an absolute kit essential for several reasons:
1. I only have 1.5 eyebrows without it - I need it to make my brows presentable!
2. The waxier formula is perfect for doing the feathery strokes of a great filled-in brow. See here.
3. A pricepoint of $7 for a brow pencil can't be beat.
See more of my product review for it here.

EYEBROW BRUSH + EYESHADOW

MAC 208 Angled Brow Brush + Inglot Eyeshadow in a matching dark brown
The angled brush works great for doing the light feathery strokes and blends out any unevenness in the pencil. The eyeshadow acts as a powder and helps to keep the waxy eyebrow pencil in place all day long!

EYELASH CURLER

My eyelashes tend to do the Asian thing and grow straight and then downward. Thus, an eyelash curler is a definite prerequisite before applying mascara. Applying mascara without it would do the opposite effect of what we're aiming for - longer, plush lashes that make our eyes look bigger! Lesson learned. Curl those lashes before applying mascara!

MASCARA

Since mascara has a high turnover rate, I use this as an opportunity to go out and try something new. I would rather not spend $30 on a mascara, but some days--guilty as charged--I submit. On these days, you'll see me picking up either Kiss Me Mascara or Dior Diorshow. But I'm also a sucker for drug store mascaras and love trying out the latest claims of 500% more lashes, 98% thicker, (enter exaggerated claim here), etc. As much as I like to try new mascaras (more of my faves here), a tried and tested kit staple that I know I can always revert back to is L'oreal Voluminous.

Check back to see all installments of the What’s in my Make-up kit Series for:
Part I | What’s in My Make-up Kit: Face
Part II | What’s in my Make-up Kit: Eyes
Part III | What’s in My Make-up Kit: Lips
Part IV | Auto-Pilot

What do you use? Feel free to comment and tell me what make-up products work (or don’t work) for you!