I thought about popping this Art Deco eyeshadow crayon in my upcoming September favourites blogpost, but, frankly, it’s so good, I know I won’t be able to keep it short enough for a favourites mention: So it gets it’s own blogpost. Yeah, it’s that good.
Whenever I’m in Farmers I feel a magnetic pull to the Art Deco stand, which, sadly, is usually tucked away somewhere out of the way. I say, sadly, as everything I’ve bought from Art Deco makes both my cheque account and I happy (there’s bargains galore) and yearning for more.
I spied this NZ$22 new release eyeshadow crayon in Wellington’s Cuba Street Farmers and promptly tried out all six colours on my arm. I thought “oooh these are pretty, but I don’t need one” until I asked the sales assistant for a tissue to remove my sparkly art work. Holy crap: I couldn’t remove said art work and that’s when I had a change of heart. Simply, I realised, I needed one of these. If you’ve been following my blog for a while you’ll be sick of hearing me bang on about my oily eyelids and the necessity for me to wear a decent eyeprimer. Well, these Art Deco High Performance Eyeshadow Stylos (crikey that’s a long name! I’m going to call it ‘the crayon’ from here) are the first eye product I’ve chanced upon that do not budge and, better still, do not require an eyeprimer as a base! This bad boy, applies super pigmented, sticks like concrete and doesn’t crease even after all day wear. What a winner! I’ve got a feeling this product will come into it’s own in summer, I’m predicting it might stand up to swimming with my head under.
I have one grumble though – not all Farmers’ Art Deco stands are stocked with this goodness. Rotorua Farmers, for example, doesn’t have them. I’m a bit dark about that. Rest assured: They are worth trying to hunt down.
Choosing the crayon colour was the hardest bit: A real design fault of my personality type is that I’m horrifically indecisive at small decisions (big decisions, like life changing decisions such as moving from Napier to Rotorua, are, by contrast, usually a piece of cake). I dithered at Art Deco’s stand for at least 15 minutes until a little voice in my head yelled and swore at me and forced me to pick #22, a taupey/chocolate shade with the perfect amount of pearly shimmery goodness. Of course, now I’ve had a decent play with this, I want to get another couple of colours (I think there’s six different colours, but don’t quote me).
How to wear this bad boy: Apply the eyeshadow crayon all over your eyelid – one eyelid at a time because, like I said: It SETS – and blend it in with your finger. Colour not strong enough? Repeat this step. If you are partial to a bit of eyeliner on your lower lashline, apply it here too. Crikey, if you really want to go to town apply it to your lower waterline. Stop there if you like to keep it simple. This colour is a great all day, neutral, “not too much” colour – i.e. I’ve been rocking it to Saturday morning kids’ soccer (I get paranoid I’m going to be judged for wearing makeup…. Makeup wearers seem to stand out like dog’s balls here in Roto-vegas…).
As for the picture of me featuring this wonder product above, you know me, I’m not great at keeping it simple, so, in the photo I’ve applied a matt brown eyeshadow in the crease (Makeup Geek’s Creme Brulee, just for a change…. Not) and a little bit of a dark brown eyeshadow at the outer corner for a bit of a smokey effect (MAC Embark). Oh, and I whacked on some eyeliner (Essence Long Lasting Eyeshadow), curled my lashes and applied mascara (Lancome Hypnose Doll Eyes). Talk about quick though – the ‘eyes’ in the photo took approx four minutes (honest!). When I’m keeping it easy (i.e. when I sleep in on a weekday) the ‘whack the crayon on and blend’ method is a two minute job. I have done this, at Wellington Airport’s bathrooms at 7.00am a few months back.
So, an eyeshadow product that is water resistant, quick to apply, no sharpening required (it’s got a wind-up mechanism), you can use it as an eyeshadow, an eyeliner. Look, I’m liking this a great deal. It occured to me after I’d been playing at Farmers that the lighter colours (there’s a golden colour and a pinky one) could be used as skin highlighters on the top of the cheekbones (so long as you blend the colour out fast), or they would be ideal as an inner corner eye highlight (the quickest way I know to fake a good night’s sleep along with Clear Eyes). Pricewise, these usually retail in Farmers for NZ$22, but, as you know, I’m partial to a bargain and I made the most of the 25% off Art Deco deal. Hence, this little gem of a product was a NZ$18 purchase. Awesome.
Lastly, if you are a bit sensitive (not the emotional kind, silly, we are talking about eyes), these eye crayon puppies are suitable for sensitive eyes and contact lense wearers. Oh – they are fragrance-free, paraben-free and mineral oil-free. Good, eh?
