Whilst I love to spend time playing with eyeshadow, trying out different colour combinations, blending to my hearts content, but there isn't always time. Sometimes, day to day, you just need one product you can slap on your eyelid, blend out and be done. I'm usually more of a palette kind of girl, but sometimes it's easier just to have an individual product for this, especially when you're as indecisive as me (it takes me a good ten minutes to pick a shade in a palette, and that's not even counting the time it takes me to pick the palette in the first place).
When it comes to products that work well on their own, I like something with a bit of dimension to it. I usually favour shimmery formulas as opposed to matte shades for this, since they tend to have more dimension anyway.
You guys know I'm a big fan of taupe shades. I love to pair a simple taupe eyeshadow look with a pink lip, it's my go to look really. I've spoken about the Maybelline Eye Studio Eyeshadow in Iced Fudge recently, it's a good drugstore find, a pretty brown based taupe shade packed with sparkle, it's really easy to wear and looks pretty on the lid. For a higher-end alternative, I love MAC's Satin Taupe, a very similar shade to the Maybelline offering, but it has more of a grey base to it. This is probably my favourite eyeshadow, I wear this a lot, it's so flattering. Another taupe-y offering is the Rimmel Scandaleyes Shadow Paint in Rich Russet, a liquid eyeshadow that gives you just enough time to blend out the edges before setting rock solid, and staying put all day. A good long-wearing option to have in your stocks.
I have four cream shadows that I like to reach for on these sorts of days. I'm pretty fussy when it comes to cream shadows, I like formulas that really set. I have a few MAC Paint Pots, and there are two shades that I love to wear alone on the lid, Rubenesque is a beautiful golden shimmer shade that I tend to reach for more in the summer, it's not as orange as it looks in the picture, it's much more golden, and it's slightly sheer on application, but it looks gorgeous with a slick of bronze liner on the lash line. The other colour I reach for is Constructivist, a gorgeous metallic chocolate brown shade, I like to apply this to my eyelid, blend it with a natural bristle brush, and then smudge a little under my lower lash line. It looks really nice and like you've actually bothered, also, the fact it's dark means it hides any red veins from lack of sleep! Occasionally, I'll reach for the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On and On Bronze although I haven't much recently, I just find it a bit shimmery, but it is a beautiful taupey bronze shade. A newer addition to the ranks is the Topshop Eye Gleam in Bronzed, which has a more moussey texture to the others. The shade is a deep gold with quite a heavy shimmer, I like it, but I don't find the wear time to be as good as the others.
The last two products are a duo I reach for when I want an easy smokey eye. I take the Rimmel Scandaleyes Eyeshadow Pencil in Bulletproof Beige all over the eyelid, and then the shade Bad Girl Bronze in the crease and outer corner. I then just blend it all out and it takes literally 30 seconds. The foolproof smokey eye.
What are your favourite easy to wear shades?
