Eye Makeup Application Mistakes

Do you often make mistakes when applying your eyeshadow? Do you put too much on and it falls all over your eyelashes? Is your winged eyeliner a constant failure? I'm gonna share with you simple tips and tricks about how to make these mistakes work in your favor, straight from makeup artists I've worked with in the past.

What I've been told numerous times is that the more messy you are with your color application, and the more you blend it out, the better it will look. Does that mean you should apply a ton of color at once? No. It does, however, mean that you can apply whatever is on your eyeshadow brush fairly liberally without worry, as long as you're hitting your target area pretty closely (ie. if you're going for color on your eyelid, make sure you don't put the eyeshadow up to your eyebrows). This is someone anyone with basic motor skills can accomplish, but did you know how to fix your mistakes? If your color spills too much over your eyelashes, what do you do? Do you try to comb it out with a lash brush or pick it out with your fingers? You should do neither of these things because you are likely to irritate your eyes if you fidget with them too much. A simple and aesthetically pleasing thing to do is to get a good thin formula for mascara (such as Clinique or Lancome's mascaras) and apply it in thin coats over your eyelashes that have been covered in powdery eyeshadow. This seems like it would be a bad idea but it isn't because the powder will add much needed volume to your lashes, so rather than having to put on fake eyelashes, you can simply amplify your own this way. The powder will not budge once you have thoroughly coated it in mascara. Make sure not to over-apply the mascara because you don't want bulges and flakes of it.

I always apply my eyeshadow first so that I don't have fallout of whatever color I'm using (usually the darker toned colors are more problematic) on my cheeks after applying my foundation and blush. For this reason, it is always wise to do your eyeshadow first and your concealer, foundation, powder and blush last. You also want to be able to rest your hand on your face so you can anchor it steadily when applying your eyeliner as it will help with the accuracy of your application.

Do you mess up your eyeliner a lot when trying to get that winged look? My simple solution is using a q-tip dabbed in a little bit of makeup remover solution and cleanly removing it, waiting for it to dry, and re-attempting the wing. However, if you make a mistake over your eyeshadow on the eyelid portion of the eyeliner line, you are better off covering your mistake with eyeshadow and a very fine-pointed brush for precision, and then re-applying your liner in a cleaner way. I hope these simple tips helped and you will be less frustrated when making mistakes! You also shouldn't feel like you have to begin all over again because you've made one tiny mistake, there are always ways to fix it.

Lancome's Newest Collection: Roseraie de Delices

Lancome's latest Spring 2012 collection by Aaron De May, their artistic director who is known in the industry as somewhat of a beauty genius (although he somewhat resembles the crypt keeper, see below for reference images), is an absolute beauty to behold. I want every single item they have put out for the collection and I'll show them to you so you can 'oooh' and 'aaaah' yourself.

Crypt Keeper

Aaron De May - Artistic Director of Lancome

As if Lady Gaga hadn't already told us in her latest music video for 'Marry the Night', mint is definitely going to be the huge color trend for Spring 2012 (she had insider information from Calvin Klein, Chanel and the likes) and that's okay with me because it is a delicate, feminine and fresh color. Without further adieu, I present to you the fabulous 5 color all-in-one shadow and liner compacts in Vert Tendresse and Rose Romance!

There's so many options with these! There's lid, crease, shadow, highlighter and liner in each of these, you can mix and match the colors for many different looks and combinations. The rose palette consists of peach and rose tones with a burgundy liner, while the green palette containing mint and forest greens with a darker grayish green liner. I love all of the colors because they have a shimmery iridescence to them that feels youthful and joyous. However, the cost of these is a little steep (as to be expected with Lancome products) at $48 each.

Now, I present to you what *really* caught my attention in this collection, the illuminating smooth powder which is a mixture of rosy pink and pastel shimmers. It's an all-in-one product for the cheeks and face, so you can use it as your face powder and blush, as well as highlighter (the parts that are more shimmery). The cost is, again, steep at $42, but it is such a beautiful item that appears to look like a bed of roses that it almost makes it worth the price.

My least favorite items in this collection are their waterproof eyeliner pens in green and white, I'm not a huge fan of their formulation, it's a little greasy for my taste,  but some people like that. Also, they're expensive at $25.50 each and you can probably find something similar in a drugstore.

The lipstick in this line is kind of adorable because the limited-edition packaging for the cotton candy shade and the color itself are the cutest. However, the 'Le French Touch Absolu Nu' lipstick costs $35 because of the packaging, while the rest are $29, $6 for packaging, Lancome?? Really??? I know that packaging didn't set them back anything so why are they overpricing? 'L'Absolu Rouge Nu' comes in the colors 'Sweet Marmalade' and 'Rose Petal'.

L'Absolu Rouge Nu in Sweet Marmalade

L'Absolute Roughe Nu in Rose Petal

Limited Edition - Le French Touch Absolu Nu in Cotton Candy

Urban Decay NAKED 2 Palette Review

If you know me, you may know that I am a huge fan of the original Urban Decay Naked palette. Such a huge fan, I've been using it since it first came out and love it so much that I try to use a bare minimum of the colors so I don't run out (I realize it's now back in stock, but it wasn't for a really long time at one point!). So imagine my excitement when there was an announcement on Urban Decay's website about something new arriving to do with the Naked line. I instantly rushed to the conclusion that they were going to have another palette, as did many of my fellow makeup junkies. However, many called up the company and were repeatedly told that it would not be another Naked eyeshadow palette. They were lied to. Behold, the new Naked 2 palette by Urban Decay:

Extras that come with the Naked 2 palette

Let's start with the main differences: The Naked 2 palette comes with a dual-sided brush, one side is a shader and contour brush, while the other side is a regular (but very well made) eyeshadow brush. These brushes are of the highest quality and they are from the Urban Decay Good Karma brush line, consisting of the Crease brush and Eyeshadow brush, I have provided links if you are interested in purchasing them separately. This is a nice touch over the dual-sided liner that you got with the original Naked palette, just because people are likely to purchase both and you don't really want to double-up on liners, especially since almost all of their palettes come with the 24/7 pencil eye liner. You also receive a travel-sized lipgloss from their Lip Junkie line in the color 'Naked', this is a really cute added bonus and fits perfectly in your purse for on-the-go touchups. Online, I received a free sample with the order and it was a mini 24/7 glide-on eye pencil in ElDorado. I'm happy about this eye liner because it's a shade I've never tried and am excited to experiment with! However, you won't be getting this necessarily, you may get other samples or colors if you order the Naked 2 online (Sephora won't be giving out free samples with purchase when it hits stores).

If you're looking for a giant change in this palette, you won't find it. The colors are not astonishingly different, they are in the same line of products for a reason. There is an overall neutral theme, but Urban Decay claims that there are more taupe and greige shades in the new palette. I wouldn't say that this is true, however, because the most prominent color is probably bronze (as 5 of the colors learn more towards bronze). There is most definitely a movement away from the overwhelming bronze overtone of the original Naked palette. I will go over every new color and tell you what the comparison is between the new and old one. Foxy is a new and unique shade and is not duplicated whatsoever. Half Baked, unfortunately, is exactly the same in both palettes (this was kind of a cop-out in my opinion, they could have attempted to make a new color here). Booty Call is very similar to Virgin from Naked 1 but it might be a tad more on the peach side. Chopper is orangey and does not appear to be similar to anything other than a lighter cross between Half Baked and Suspect. Tease is a brand new taupe and is matte, but it would be very similar to Sin (Naked 1) if it was shimmery. Snakebite appears to be a shade in between Half Baked (Naked 1) and Smog (Naked 1). Suspect appears unique like a slightly less glittery version of Sidecar (Naked 1). Verve and Pistol appear to be unique colors, they are lighter and are more along the greige spectrum Urban Decay was looking for. YDK is like a mixture between Sidecar (Naked 1) and Toasted (Naked 1). Busted is really just very similar to Hustle (Naked 1) but slightly more maroon. Blackout is unique because it is a matte black eyeshadow and Creep (Naked 1) was sparkly.

Naked Palette (Original)

Naked Palette 2

 I hope you found this review helpful when considering if you would like to purchase this palette or not. It retails for $50 and it really is a great deal because you're getting 12 full-sized eyeshadows (which normally retail for $17/each from Urban Decay), two eyeshadow brushes (which each retails around $26), a free lip gloss, and a free sample from their website. The deal on this is phenomenal and it would make a great Christmas or Hanukkah present for that special girl in your life. I promise you nobody would be disappointed if they received this as a gift. I am ecstatic, my husband purchased this for me as a birthday gift and I couldn't be any more over the moon. I'm a long-time fan of their original and I love this one too. These shades are really practical and you will use this palette every day because it is so versatile.

Side by side comparison of Naked 2 palette (top) vs. original Naked palette (bottom)

Black Friday madness

So, after am enormous Thanksgiving meal, those of us dedicated to shopping, haul our fat butts out the door and waddle on to our store destinations. We do this, hoping against hope that we'll be amongst the first ones there. This is almost never the case, as people have been camping outside of the most popular stores (like Wal-Mart, Target, and Best Buy) for days in advance even in suburban localities outside of Seattle. So without any hope of ever reaching a cash-register within the next 12 hours at any of these stores, my husband and I moved onto ULTA. This store was the complete opposite, it had cutesy deals, very few ladies inside, no pushing or shoving, and we could easily reach the cash register. To me, the decision was simple, I'm a much larger fan of cosmetics than I am of technology anyway, so I picked up a few things.

They had this collection of items which were all just $1, so I grabbed 5 CHI Silk-infusions bottles for $5 because I love the way these make my hair feel (a small bottle usually retails for $14). Then, I purchased a mint lip-balm, swirl lipgloss and 3 ULTA nail polishes for another $5. Most of the items are $3 each, so the savings is of 66%. I purchased two Stila eyeliners in a pack, one being gold (named Koi) and one being silver (named Silver Dollar) as this was on special for $10 when the regular value is around $40, you can still get this deal here. I thought it was a great deal and Stila's smudge stick eyeliners are absolutely fabulous. The pigmentation is strong and they glide on very smooth and easily, they are absolutely perfect for the holiday season. I spent $20 in total on these items and ULTA gave me $5 Bonus Cash, which can be redeemed on the next $25+ purchase at their store. I was very happy with the overall experience.

Colors: The Jungle Look, Alter Ego, Scene Steel-er

I was drawn to the nail polish because the color was very pigmented and festive, also the price was right and I was looking for more colors to perform my 'water-marbled nails' look! This is a fun and funky way to set yourself apart from everyone else.

The next day, armed with new ambition and rigor, we headed out to Southcenter Mall in Renton, Washington. This place was controlled chaos. The parking lot was chock full of cars, there were tons of security guards throughout the mall, but if you can stand feeling claustrophobic, it was a fine shopping experience. The lines to cash out were not that long, especially at MAC. I went to use their BACK2MAC program where I recycled 12 containers and got 2 eyeshadows of my choice, in the colors Brown Script (matte2 finish) and Swish (frost finish). These colors are both very beautiful, and best of all, they were free! The color pay-off is great, as with all MAC eyeshadows and you can de-pot them (which I did) and then recycle these containers as well when you have 6. I only purchased a 15-color palette to house my colors.

MAC's Brown Script (Matte2)

MAC's Swish (Frost)

I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving and I would love to hear about your Black Friday deals! Stay tuned for our IKEA haul in an upcoming post!

Sephora Mini-Haul and Product Reviews

Lately, I find myself drawn to a particular texture of makeup rather than one brand or another: silky. Silky means that if you rub the makeup mixture in between your fingers, you feel as though your fingers are coated in the finest layer of silk with no bulges, imperfections, or obtrusions. I think powders with this texture will give the most airbrushed makeup look that you can achieve without actually using an airbrush (or even better than an airbrush, depending on which one you have). I used the VIBDREAM sale at Sephora for the holiday season (20% off all items purchased for Nov. 11-14th) for Very Important Beauty Insiders (people who have spent $350+ in a calendar year at Sephora). I was part of this program because my husband bought me the TEMPTU airbrush system as a wedding present, although we ended up returning it multiple times because of all the defects it had, but that's a story for another time.

I bought myself a tried, tested and true favorite: Diorskin Shimmer Powder by Dior, and then I decided to replenish my depleting quantity of Urban Decay's Grifter, feeling adventurous I purchased Kat Von D's Saint palette and the elusive Korres' Wild Rose Compact Powder (because Sephora is usually out of these). I'll be posting photos of all the products and swatches, as well as my impressions of all of them.

Diorskin Shimmer Powder
The original retail value of this shimmer block is $44, which is quite a hefty price, but it was definitely worth it with my discount. I personally buy the Rose Diamond set because of my skin's undertones, since it comes in either pinkish hues or beige/tan hues. Photos do not do this product justice, it is extremely stunning and flattering. This is one of those products that you can wear every day, even though it is shimmer, without looking like you belong in a nightclub. When applied to the cheeks as blush and above for a highlighting effect, it allows your cheekbones to stand out and people will wonder how you're so naturally beautiful. The sign of a great face product is that it looks natural when you put it on, and this is exactly that. The texture is soft and the color payoff is amazing, the colors are not too bright, like some of the Tarina Tarantino or MAC colors tend to be, it is the right amount of color and there is no fall-out or waste. The product is a generous size and there are four shades of color to choose from. There is a highlight white tone, a ballet-pink shimmer, a mauve-rose blush and a fuschia pink blush. However, the fact that you can mix them all together in whichever way you want allows for uniqueness and creativity on your part. I highly recommend this product, it's one of those that get 100% from me.

Urban Decay Grifter Eyeshadow
This is one of my favorite eyeshadows. You have to realize the gravity of that statement when I say this about an eyeshadow that is not from MAC. Urban Decay's color payoff in this shade is brilliant, you get exactly what you see, you can wash the color out a little bit by applying it with a light hand or you can increase its potency by using a mixing medium or Visine when you apply it. Regardless, this is a product that looks great on fair skinned girls with brown eyes. It's got a quite a bit of pizzazz, some may not be comfortable wearing it at work because of the glitter inside of it. The glitter speckles can be quite large and if you have sensitive eyes, then I do not recommend this eyeshadow. I'm lucky enough to be able to wear it and I love it. This product isn't quite as silky smooth as the others I bought this haul, but it's not bad either. It's a good product for a good price ($17 retail) that you will get a ton of usage out of (I get hundreds and hundreds of applications from one of these pots). Just because it might not be for everyone and it's not from the best company ever made, I'm giving this product an 85%, but I would definitely recommend this to you.

Kat Von D True Romance Eyeshadow Palette in Saint
Not particularly liking Kat Von D's style in general, I was reluctant to purchase her makeup and that's why I've waited until I completed my thorough research and asked as many opinions as I could about her products. Can I just say that I was blown away by the quality of this palette especially when comparing it to the price (it retails for $35). The similar predecessor of this palette is Urban Decay's Naked palette, which I also have, and the difference here is that Kat Von D's formula is a lot softer to wear while the colors are vibrant and beautiful, you probably have to use less of this product to get the color you want than of the Urban Decay one. Don't get me wrong, I love them both, but this palette seems a little more practical to me because it has a lot less glitter-specks (only the color '<3' and 'bookworm' have them) and they are very sheer. The palette also comes with her autograph pencil liner in black and this formula is comparable to the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner. This palette gets a 95% on my scale and it only doesn't achieve perfection because I wish there were even more colors and the palette was a little larger. However, the packaging is darling, the tin is made of metal and not cardboard like most palettes out there. I do wish that 'Pray For Me' was a little darker when swatched and the camera did not pick up the intensity of '<3' but trust me it really does look like the color you see in the palette.

Korres Wild Rose Compact Powder

I have read stellar reviews on Korres products in general but I've never been drawn to them until I randomly was walking through Sephora and touched this powder out of curiosity. Swatching this item feels like you are running your finger through a cloud. It most certainly is a far cry from MAC's studio-finish powders which are a little harsh to the touch. I don't yet know what kind of coverage this gives, but I tend to use my powder after foundations and this will work perfectly for me. Another bonus is that their 02 Golden Fair color is exactly my skin-tone and I rarely find my exact warmish pinkish hue in any makeup brand. I'm thrilled to try this out, you basically can't even see the powder on my skin in the swatch, but I assure you it is there. I give this product an 80% so far because I have yet to try it and I wish it had a little bit of shimmer in it for an even healthier glow (although I realize it's not practical to wear shimmer everywhere, I'm going to try to impress upon you that we should all always be wearing a bit of shimmer). Also, this didn't rate as high on my scale because I just can't get as excited about a powder as I can about eyeshadows, and the packaging was just bland. It opens up to reveal a little sponge underneath the product, which thoroughly annoyed me, because I thought there was going to be a lot more product (as the case would lead to believe) than there truly is. However, this is one of those products that is healthier than the rest because it is formed without parabens, aluminums and other nasty chemicals we shouldn't be putting on our faces, so I guess beauty and quantity suffer for health. It has a pleasant scent, sheer coverage and reduces shine, all bonuses when it comes to powder compacts. It's also $28 which is not quite as much as some of the other powders on the market.

The Kate Middleton look

Want to look like the lovely Duchess of Cambridge? I've found the scoop on what her favorite look is and how to achieve it yourself. She goes for fairly neutral, natural tones with a slight mauve tint to her eyeshadow, accentuated with lots of black eyeliner. To achieve the look of her skin, you'll want to consider bronzer and a light pink blush. She is a fan of Bobbi Brown cosmetics and her wedding day makeup was entirely done by her with their line of makeup products. I have found duplicates of their colors in other lines so that you can easily access the shades she has used. I suggest starting off with your eyeshadow so that you can easily manipulate your eye makeup without rubbing your foundation off with your hand.

Use concealer on your eyes (eyelids and under your eyes) to give them a uniform, refreshed look that can act as a blank canvas for the color application. Then, take an ivory or very light bone colored eyeshadow and apply it all over the eye from your eyelashes to your eyebrows. I used MAC's Sweet Eyes from the Devoted Poppy holiday palette (the one in the top left corner), but you can use any nude color that suits your skin. To cover your eyelid, use MAC's 'Under Your Spell' eyeshadow, the lavender-silver side of it with a flat shadow brush and pack the color in. Afterwards, apply Elizabeth Arden's 'Vintage' eyeshadow in the crease of your eye and don't forget the next step to blend it in thoroughly with a fluffy brush (a brush that is not as dense as those you put your shadows on with) so you can feather out the color. Make sure you also apply this color to the lower lash line.

After blending out the contour color, use an angled brush to place black eyeshadow on your lash line and extend it out to the corner a little bit. Kate Middleton does not create a cat-eye with her liner but does extend her darkest shadow out past the corner of her eye, so if you want to achieve her look, you should do the same. Blend out the black so that it is not stark and obvious. She uses either a gel or liquid liner, but since the appearance is similar just use whichever you are most comfortable with. I used a liquid liner because it was faster and lined my eye all the way around just as she does. She applies the black liner to the bottom lash line and not the waterline. This is the look she goes for, although it is not the most flattering because lining your eyes all the way around is a dated look and will make your eyes appear older than they are. Regardless, I did it to show you the exact way she goes about doing her makeup!

After this all you need is a coat of black mascara and use some darker eyeshadow or an eyebrow liner to fill in your brows. Kate has dark eyebrows and it appears as though she fills them in from close-up photos of her. My brows are much more arched than hers because hers have a more straight appearance, if you can get your brows to go in straighter then you will achieve a look much more similar to hers than I ever will. Make sure to fill in your brows with a darker color because it makes a big difference to the overall look. For your face, apply foundation in a natural color, then contour your cheeks as well as up and around your hairline and forehead with a bronzer. Kate has quite a tanned facial complexion when she applies her makeup so this leads me to believe she uses quite a lot of bronzer, and some light pink blush on the apples of her cheeks. She has quite a matte look to her face so I don't recommend using any shimmer powder or cheek highlights if you're going for her exact look.

She doesn't wear lipstick, just a coat of a nude lipgloss you think is attractive on you will work great. It's a pretty low-maintenance look that's easy to do in the morning if you want an appropriate work look (though I would skip out on the black liner all across the bottom lash line). Hope you have fun making yourself look like Kate Middleton!!! :)

Tarte for True Blood eyeshadow palette review

If you know me you know that I have a very profound love affair with eyeshadow palettes, whether they be Urban Decay, Estee Lauder, Tokidoki, or any other brand under the sun. Just the concept of so many brilliant color combinations with endless customization and room for individuality makes me a giddy girl. I've never purchased anything else from Tarte so I didn't know the quality of their products beforehand, this review is going to be completely unbiased, I don't have stock in the company and I'm not a long-term lover of their products. Truth be told, I bought the Tarte for True Blood palette because it had beautiful shades that I wanted for my wedding day and I'm a huge fan of HBO's hit True Blood!!!

First glamoured impressions
I was thrilled with the packaging, the cutesy miniature drawer that slides out to reveal a miniature mascara, eye primer and black eye liner (which is remarkably amazing and slides on as smooth and easily as butter) and the fact that you're getting 17 eyeshadows for $52. While the mascara and primer are nothing to write home about, they're great filler bonuses that are much appreciated, the company could have just given 17 eyeshadows and not included that adorable drawer with its perks.


Upon further fanged inspection
The colors that you find in this palette are anything but the radical tones you would expect from this goth-inspired packaging. The pigments are surprisingly neutral and very blendable, they are silky in texture and very smooth on the skin. Some have matte finishes, others have a mild sheen, and a few even have sparkles inside!

I have swatched the shadows so you can get a clear view of the color payoff on the skin of my hand, but keep in mind that this is without a primer or base and the photos were taken with a flash on because the lighting was poor. Therefore, the colors are far less saturated in reality. I particularly love the most neutral shades from the top two rows of the first swatch set (such as Fairy, The Light, Dusk, Dawn, and Waitress). 'The True Death' is a medium silver tone that is one of the most accomplished shades of gray I've seen in any makeup line.

The true death-verdict
I would recommend this palette to anyone who is considering starting an eyeshadow collection because it covers a lot of the basics (neutrals, blacks, matte.shimmer... you get base, highlight as well as contour shades). You also won't be making too many mistakes because the formula is very forgiving and easily blendable. If you are a collector, then definitely do not miss out on this limited-edition beauty. It has made me consider Tarte as one of the makeup brands to watch.

Depotting your single eyeshadows

Do you ever get annoyed at all the single eyeshadows and blushes you have and wonder how you can consolidate them? Are you looking for an easy way to put all of your eyeshadows together in a palette? Well, look no further because I have all the tips and tricks to do it right in this post!

All you need to depot your eyeshadows:

• your eyeshadow of choice
• a straightening iron (any old one will do)
• parchment paper (traditionally used for baking on)
• a fine-tipped knife that you don't mind getting dirty

Turn your straightening iron on and let it warm up while you're getting a piece of parchment paper and cutting it into something small enough to cover the bottom of your ceramic iron. Make sure you lean the iron down on a flat side, not with the ceramic portion actively touching your bathroom or kitchen counter. I suggest you do not put your iron down anywhere that isn't heat-proof, you may want to find a tile of granite to do this on. The purpose of the parchment paper is so that none of the plastic of the eyeshadow container will melt onto your iron and get it all gunky and gross. If you perform the steps as written, you will have nothing to clean up and your eyeshadow will be depotted!

Place your single eyeshadow compact onto the parchment paper that you have laid on top of the ceramic of the straightening iron, and let it sit for 30 seconds-1 minute, depending on how hot your iron gets. This will cause the glue underneath the eyeshadow pan, which is holding it to the plastic compact, to loosen. You can then wedge a fine-tipped knife between the pan and the plastic, along the outer edges of the circle, to loosen it out of the plastic casing. If you don't care about the plastic, you can really puncture the bottom with the knife and push the pan out very easily. But you won't want to do this if it's a MAC eyeshadow and you plan on sending it BACK2MAC (their recycling program where for every 6 containers you get 1 lipstick/lipglass of your choice). 

You can use a little bit of antiseptic alcohol or acetone to clean off the glue from the bottom of the pan, then you can attach a magnet on the back (one that has a sticker on the other side) and place it inside a Z-palette or MAC eyeshadow palette. Make sure if you do not have eyeshadows that all fit in the same size as MAC, you will want to buy a Z-palette or UNI palette from Amazon or a beauty-supply store so you can place them in. I'm currently looking for one for all of the assorted things I have depotted below. I will also be getting a MAC palette to place the tons of MAC eyeshadows I have and easily reach for them when I need them.

Happy depotting everyone!

Easy Eye Transformation

Do you ever wonder how to do a simple and foolproof winged liner that's appropriate for every day and work? Well look no further, in this post we'll discuss the proper order to put on your eyeshadows and how to easily apply your eyeliner! Firstly, you want to prime your eyelid all the way up to your eyebrows and under your eyes. This is because the eyeshadow won't stick properly all day long if you don't have a base for it. I used Benefit's Stay Don't Stray primer because I like the thick consistency of it, but a good substitute is a Mac concealer that fits your skin-tone, or Hard Candy's Nobody's Perfect concealer (available at Walmart for a whopping $6, including 6 shades!).
Rub the concealer in with your brush or fingertip, using your ring finger to apply the least amount of pressure to your eye (this avoids excessive wrinkles, ladies and gents).

This is a neutral look so I used the Urban Decay 'Naked palette' and MAC's 'Nylon' eyeshadow. For the base eyeshadow color, 'Naked' is a great option because it is just slightly darker than my skin-tone and shows barely a hint of color. This was applied with a regular eye-shadow brush and the color was packed on. Then, I used the color 'Buck' for the contour, going in a crescent shape around the ball of my eye, and you don't have to be too clean when you apply these colors because they will be blended together at the end. For the highlight, I used 'Nylon' from MAC because it's got a frosty sheen and is visibly lighter than my skin, attracting light underneath the eyebrow and away from any dark-circle. This makes eyes appear bright and refreshed.

Base (Naked), Contour (Buck), and Highlight (Nylon) eyeshadow application

For the winged-eyeliner application, I'm going to advise that if you are not experienced in this, you should use either an angular eyeliner brush or a brush-tipped applicator. I'm going to use the latter because I'm obsessed with Stila's 'Stay All Day Waterproof Liquid Eye Liner' (wow, that name is quite a mouthful). The tip is very fine, but the pen rests very stably   in my hand because, especially if I balance my arm on the table during my application. You should always rest your elbow on a flat, immovable surface when you do your eyeliner because otherwise the line will turn out shaky.

If you don't know where to start and you want to achieve an even winged look that is the same on both of your eyes, use these simple guidelines. The first line I draw is from the outer corner of my eye and points upwards to the end of my eyebrow, you can go as far with this line as you want to, it really depends how dramatic of a look you're going for (the farther, the more wingy it will be). Then, I go back to the inner corner of my eye and begin the contour of the line. Do not attempt to fill in as you're drawing the contour because you will not get as smooth of a finish, you want to get the contour done in one smooth stroke. Connect your contour to wherever you like on the winged edge (I go to halfway of the line that I first drew). Then go back underneath your line and fill in from your eyelashes to the outline of your liner. 

Wing, contour, and fill-in eyeliner application

Now apply your mascara of choice and voila, you have a pretty look that is appropriate for anytime of day or night!

Let me know if there's anything any of my readers would like to see in the future! Hope you had fun reading this post :)