High Tide – Perfect Eye Shadow Colors

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We don’t know how soon we’ll find a rental that suits us. So, we’re scaling down the everyday items that we’ll carry in our suitcases.

For me, that means haircare and skincare products, as well as makeup.

Shopping at Ulta for travel-sized shampoo and conditioner, I stumbled onto something wonderful. It’s eye shadow in colors I haven’t seen since my early 20s.

They’re colors I’d loved. Colors that match my eyes. But when Aziza discontinued those colors, I never found anything similar… until now.

They’re part of a palette called “High Tide” by ColourPop. (It’s not available at Amazon.com right now, and – with the risk of the cakes cracking if handled roughly during shipping – I recommend visiting an Ulta store instead.)

The “Currents” shade (top center on the palette) works well on my eyelids, but I apply it very lightly and then whisk most of it off with a makeup sponge/wand. What’s left is just a hint of color… Something people may not notice.

The darkest shade in the palette is a smoky teal color that works well to suggest eyeliner, though I still use a dark brown liquid eyeliner. Meanwhile, I’m not using anything on the browbone.

My husband is amused that I’m so giddy over eyeshadow, but really, I’d been looking for these colors – in a quality product – since forever. (The cheaper versions…? “Mutton dressed as lamb”* and truly garish colors comes to mind. lol )

Also in the photo, clockwise:

• the Balm’s Instain blusher – the color is Swiss Dot, and it will flatter almost any complexion.
• My mother’s hand-carved jade necklace. She wore this almost every day. Now I do the same.
• Sally Hansen “Pure” brand nail polish (pale pink) – Be-gone-ia (begonia… get the joke?) It’s vegan and wears well.
• Sinful Colors nail polish – the color is Wonder Mint (another pun). I wear it on my toenails and people almost always do a double-take, seeing the color.
• NYX pencil eyeliner in Gypsy Blue – A very soft, waxy eyeliner. I use it along the lower eyelid rim, to offset redness. If you’d used and loved a blue “brightener” eyeliner pencil – like the one by Neutrogena – that was discontinued years ago, this is a good replacement.
• An inexpensive, stretchy, beaded bracelet that matches my makeup colors. I’m not sure where I got this, but I wear it a lot.
• Lancome lipstick in “Code Red.” It’s a red with a touch of coral, and that color was discontinued long ago. I think L’Absolu Rouge is fairly close to it, but while we’re all wearing masks… well, I rarely bother with lipstick.

So, silly or not, I wanted to share that discovery with you.

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*Speaking of that whimsical/snarky expression, “mutton dressed as lamb,” I recently bought and read Ari Seth Cohen’s books, Advanced Style and love-love-LOVED it. I also read Advanced Style: Older & Wiser, and it was fun and inspiring, but not as much as the earlier one.

I followed that by reading Life in a Box: Traveller. Antiques Dealer. Mother. Model. Iconoclast., by Sarah Jane Adams, and I was dazzled by her style… and envious of her collections.

If you’re looking in the mirror and not thrilled, or if your style feels faded or dated, I recommend the first Cohen book, and then – perhaps – the Sarah Jane Adams one.

(The latter is more for lifestyle inspiration and sheer fascination, as opposed to something to adopt yourself. Well… maybe. I’ll share more of what I’m doing with style, after we’re settled in our next home.)

And though she’s far younger than me, I like the honesty in the blog, “Not Dressed As Lamb.”  Her blogroll is good, too, though some of those blogs haven’t been updated in some time.