Historical Roguemance: A Wearable 60’s Inspired Eye with the Tarte MATTEnificent Palette

Greetings from the mystical time portal, fellow rogues!

Many of you have been kind enough to request some looks with the Tarte MATTEnifficent Palette, so I thought I would put on my big girl rogue britches and make the attempt! We’re going to start with something simple (er, so that *I* could start with something simple) and take a stab at a look inspired by the ’60s.

As soon as you look at the pictures below, you will be immediately struck by several things. Firstly, I am so pale that even a pale eyeshadow kind of blends into my face. Secondly, I don’t own false eyelashes, so I’ve done the best I could with the lashes I have and a good mascara. Thirdly, I am not wildly experienced at taking photos of my own eye (you should have heard the cleric sniggering at the faces I was making trying to get the right angle).

HOWEVER! None of these things is a problem, because I wanted to bring you a look today that I feel is quite wearable and quick to achieve. The ’60s, with its penchant for colour blocking and bright eye makeup was not (I feel) a particularly rogueish era. In order to help you avoid a negative modifier on your stealth rolls, therefore, I have toned this look down. If you wish, however, you can easily amp it up to sorceress levels, and I’ll mention how as I go.

Without further ado:

Eye veins, unplucked eyebrows, camera reflections in the eyeball – it’s all for you, dear readers. You know you’re getting the unvarnished truth when your rogue blogger doesn’t even *own* Photoshop!

 

This look was also inspired, I should mention, by one of Lisa Eldridge’s excellent videos. I highly recommend you check out her blog and YouTube channel, as the woman is actually a wizard. No, seriously.

So: this look is essentially an eyelid/browbone full of a pale neutral shadow, with a dark shadow blended just into the socket line. Add some black liner and a metric trolltonne of mascara, and hey presto! The ’60’s live on, but in a wearable way. How does this tie into the Tarte MATTEnificent palette? Read on, fellow adventurers!

 

Pardon the ‘rogue after too much mead’ expression here…

 

The first step is to apply your favourite eyeshadow base, if you use one. I like Urban Decay’s original Primer Potion, but go ahead and use whatever you prefer – if it’s kind of pale tinted, or paler than your skintone, this is a bonus.

Step two is to cover your whole eyelid, up to the browbone, in a pale eyeshadow. Here I’ve used Pink Outside the Box from the MATTEnificent palette. If you have a deeper complexion than mine or a different undertone, you might prefer to use Sand out From the Crowd or Peach for the Stars, or another less starkly white-based shade. Because I’m so pale, I’d probably have to wear pure TiO2 to have it stand out, so adjust the shadow you use to suit your skintone and the level of drama you’re going for.

I do both of these steps with my fingers, but you can use whatever brush/finger/gryphon feather method you prefer.

 

A rogue never sleeps – this is just for eyeshadow demonstration purposes. YES I CAN SEE YOU, HILARION! Put the cookies down!

 

Step three is to take a pointy-ish brush, like a pencil brush or (in my case) the flat end of the MATTEnificent palette’s brush, and use the edge/tip to blend a line of Don’t Stand Black all along the socket line. Don’t go too far in at the inner corner, and don’t wing it out at the outer corner – it’s just that half moon over your eyeball. Don’t Stand Black’s softness and its less than extreme pigmentation actually work really well for this, as it’s difficult to dump on too much black shadow and end up with a much more dramatic effect than intended (or a mess). Keep going gently over this half moon line to smoke out the edges  and soften it.

Alternatively, you could use Two Plums Up for a purple take on this, Dream in Chocolate for a brown one, or any other dark/black shadow you like.

 

I wonder if this is what all the locks that I’m trying to disarm see of me when I’m working. Just a big eyeball (with fabulous makeup, obviously, except for that one little clumpy lash tip DAMMIT!)…

 

Step four is to take your favourite deep black liner, preferably liquid or gel, and line your upper eyelid all the way across from inner corner to outer corner. You could do a flick of some sort if you wanted. but I was going for less drama here – the contrast between the pale shadow and the (relatively) thick deep black liner is enough for me. I used Lancome’s Liner Plume, my favourite black (01 Noir) liquid liner.

Lastly, curl your lashes (I use Chanel‘s eyelash curler), and apply a banshee’s worth of mascara to your upper and lower lashes (I used YSL Volume Effet Faux Cils Waterproof in black). If you have appropriate false lashes, you can use those, and go a little easier on the mascara – you’ll get a much more strongly ’60s, party eye kind of effect.

If, like me, you want more lashes but don’t have falsies, fret not! There are a few measures you can take to give your look some extra rogue-factor.  Use your liquid or gel liner to get as close to your lash roots as possible, even pressing liner in between individual lashes. Then line your upper waterline with a black liner (I used Urban Decay’s Zero pencil in this look). This will help to make the base of your lashes look super thick and lush without adding clumps. You can do the same with dots of pencil liner (I used Zero again) along the lash roots on your lower lashes.

Congratulations, you’re done! This look is suitable for any dungeon (use waterproof liner and mascara if you think there will be dampness/fishmonsters involved), and equally for bardic performances in small tavern or adventuring settings. You can easily give it a boost into party/feast territory, and you can change the colour scheme to suit your mood. Enjoy!

The practicalities: All the bolded product names are links to the relevant website where you can see/purchase the item. If you’re in Middle Earth, you can obtain Urban Decay easily from the UD website with YouShop, the MATTEnificent Palette with the methods described in the practicalities section of this post, and YSL, Lancome, and Chanel from the appropriate counter in Farmers/department stores.

Until next time, fellow adventurers, don’t forget to check for traps!

Syl

I am an adventuring rogue, not a mercenary for hire, and as such, all opinions expressed here are my own, based on a genuine fondness for/interest in this product. If you have any queries or suggestions, please do not hesitate to pin your parchment to the board (contact me) at thepaintedrogue [at] gmail [dot] com., or use the contact form provided!