Bronze Panda

Tramanh and I have a running inside joke about how some makeup artists and celebrities OVER-wear bronze makeup and end up looking like bronze pandas.  Imagine just smudges of browns, bronzes, and coppers all over and under their eyes, plus bronzer on their cheeks. I thought, "There HAS to be a way for us to wear these colors without looking like a bronze panda."  I was also looking to do a "softer" look, normally my makeup can be pretty harsh (dark eyes, bright lips, plus cheeks), so in lieu of Valentine's Day, here's a softer version of the smokey eye.

And on a rarer note, this is one of the first makeup posts (in a long time) that I'm not wearing liquid eyeliner - I have to admit, it took some getting used to...it felt so...un-precise.

What I used:
+ NARS Mykono cream eyeshadow
+ MAC Mulch eyeshadow
+ MAC Glamour Check eyeshadow
+ MAC Honey Lust eyeshadow
+ Kat Von D black eyeliner
+ Stila Brushed Gold loose bronzer

Working with just bronze eyeshadows, I focused on gradiating the eyeshadow - from lightest to darkest starting from the inner eyelids to outer.

+ With your ring finger, apply NARS Mykono eyeshadow to the crease of your eye, it won't be too obvious, since the pigment isn't very much, but it does create a nice base for your eyeshadows:

+ Next, apply MAC's Mulch over the same area:

+ With MAC's Glamour Check, apply the darker brown to your outer edges, along your crease, and against your lashline - it should create a "V" on your outer corners:

+ Honey Lust is a VERY shimmery (almost glittery) gold eyeshadow, so be careful when applying because it tends to fall on your cheeks and everywhere else.  Apply to your inner corners of your eyes but make sure to PAT down, versus sweep as the eyeshadow is pretty messy.  I'm pretty comfortable with extending the inner-corner eyeshadow high, because I think it makes my eyes look bigger but I know that some girls prefer to "color in the lines," so do what's comfortable for you:

+ Using a thin, straight eyeshadow brush, apply Glamour Check to your lower lashline:

+ To keep this look softer, I opted for pencil liner instead of liquid liner and I think it makes a pretty big difference, especially if you smudge it a little with a stiff angled brush:

+ I skipped out on mascara, though if I was going out somewhere nice, I definitely would have applied 2-3 coats:

+ Applying a light layer of bronze (to not over do it), the Stila bronzer is great - although it's loose, it's still really pigmented so a little goes a long way:

Finished!

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