Disclaimer: Some PR samples; see bottom for full disclosure
Parts of this post originally appeared in the Burlington County Times, in the Beauty Beat column, January 3, 2017.
Pastels are starting to make a comeback, and it’s not nails that get to have all the fun this time. It’s the eyes!
Last month, Kat Von D posted a video of a new eye shadow palette called Pastel Goth, teasing on her Instagram account that the “eye shadow palette you thought I’d never make,” was coming soon. It’s not as pastel-y as I’d hoped, but still. It’s soft and feminine!
Then, when I stopped into Ulta while shopping after Christmas, and I saw brand new displays of NYX Cosmetics goodies including eight pastel eyeliners called “Faux Whites.”
The Faux Whites are a variety of nearly-white pastel liners in shades of blue, green, purple, pink and yellow. I picked up a couple, but knew I had some similar liners at home, including white liquid eyeliners. While it’s about to have a moment, brands like Stila, Kat Von D, ColourPop, Too Faced and Jesse’s Girl have already produced pastel or lightly-colored liners, and judging from the look of my eyeliner and mascara drawer, I’m a fan.
We’re going to see a lot of “PhotoShopped” pictures on social media featuring beautiful pastel eye looks. But how do I pull this off in real life, for everyday?
To me, the key to making pastel eyeliner work is subtlety and pops of color. Pastel or white eyeliner might not be the right liner to use when you want to line your upper lid on a daily basis, especially if you’re working in a corporate environment.
But you can have fun with this trend! Line your lower lid – or your waterline – with a pastel liner complementary to the makeup on your upper lid. In one recent eye look, I smudged the eye shadow I used on my eyelid at my lower lash line, and then I added a complementary pastel liner color at the water line, which brightened my peepers.
Do put a pop of pastel liner along the inner or outer corner of your upper lid and create a winged look with black liner over it. It just looks cool; and I recommend laying down the pastel liner first, and finishing with the darker liner. It will look crisp.
Also, do smudge pastel eyeliners in the inner corner of your eye, again, to brighten your eyes.
The new NYX Cosmetics Faux Whites pencils are $7.99 at Ulta. They glide nice and they’re easy to use.
From left to right: Seashell, Baby Powder, Mint Cream and Vanilla.
Jesse’s Girl Liquid Eyeliner is $6.99 at Rite Aid, Amazon.com or jessesgirlcosmetics.com. and the pastel choices are Snow White and Violet.
Jesse’s Girl Liquid Eyeliner in Violet.
ColourPop Crème Gel Liner is $5 at colourpop.com while Kat Von D Ink! Liner is $20 at Sephora.
Heart-shaped white liner is Kat Von D Ink! Liner in Neruda and the squiggly line is NYX Cosmetics White liquid Liner.
Too Faced Sketch Marker, which has a couple of darker pastel choices in its lineup, is $20 at Sephora.
Too Faced Sketch Marker in Papaya Peach.
Stila had a couple pastel liners – a yellow called Canary and a light green called Mint Julep – in its Smudge Stick Waterproof Eyeliner line, but I don’t see these options any longer. They do sell a pure white matte called Alpine for $22 on their site at stilacosmetics.com.
Are you onboard with the pastel eyeliner trend? Are you going to try it out? Have you already? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
Disclaimer: I received the Jesse’s Girl Violet liner, NYX White Liquid Liner and Kat Von D Ink! Liner for honest consideration previously, and purchased all other liners. Please visit my Disclosure tab for more information on how BeautyJudy.com keeps it real!
