Wednesday 7 March 2012

smokey eyes using urban decay 24/7 eye pencils.

hi friends. i am happy to report that i am slowly figuring out how to do a smokey eye without butchering it up completely. gone are the uneven eyes and looking like taylor momsen! for a ~blogger~ i really am clueless and have the make-up proficiency of a chimp, so please do cheer for me in light of this breakthrough. i suppose i can attribute this new-found success to the fact that, after a long, long journey,  i'm starting to vaguely come to terms with the fact that the crease brush from urban decay is better suited to my eye shape rather than a mac 217. and for the record, i love urban decay brushes as they are soft, never shed, and are cruelty-free. a dream combination.

jumper - vivienne westwood.


face: no 7 beautiful skin day cream, sephora base subliminatrice, illamasqua skin base foundation (10).
eyes: urban decay primer potion, nars eyeshadow palette (arabian nights), urban decay 24/7 eye pencils (covet and lucky), maybelline gel liner, max factor false lash effect mascara, collection 2000 lasting perfection concealer (#2), mac eyebrow pencil (stud), the body shop brow & lash gel.
cheeks: illamasqua cream pigment (hollow), mac blush (ladyblush), no 7 illuminator (peach).
lips: revlon (mauve it over).

i used a lot of cream products on my skin to make it look more natural & dewy. to me, heavy-handed powder products and matte skin just look too harsh against the eyes. unfortunately, i wanted to go for a green liner rather than a bronze (i love the combination of green and black), but this is through no fault of my own. now, before i embark on a massive bitchfest of a review, i just want to restate that i love urban decay. i am a serious fangirl and love everything they bring out. if i remember correctly, it started when i 16 and happily discovered that there was a product out there which would stop my eyeshadow from slipping off. hell, i even remember the days where i'd derive happiness from buying so much of their stuff in heathrow terminal 5 - back when they weren't so widely stocked! so yeah, this love goes way back.



however, one thing pisses me off. and it pisses me off a lot. in fact, i think we need to sit down and talk about it. my source of anguish is this: their 24/7 eye pencils. fantastic pigmentation? incredible colour range? creamy to apply? easy to blend? you're probably sitting there thinking "gurl, what's your problem" - and what my problem essentially is, is that there is this fantastic product encased in terrible packaging. i feel like a monkey seeing a banana except the banana is surrounded by lasers and i just can't claw away at it. with the pencils, it is essentially the same thing. their packaging is so tough and impractical that i simply cannot use the product. i can't sharpen the pencils without cracking them and causing a mess. today, it was in fact my sharpener which broke this time instead of the pencil - one which lasted me for years

see what i mean?

it really does hurt me to say this, because i love the pencils. it's not like it's rubbish both inside and out. it's in fact the best eye pencil i've ever used and now i can't use it anymore because of this. :( why must do you do this urban decay? WHHHHHHYYYYYYYYY? so if anyone has any recommendations for industrial-strength sharpeners, please do let me know.

6 comments:

  1. I love this look on you, it's simply gorgeous.

    I haven't had it that bad with the pencils sharpening-wise. Your sharpener broke?!! How on earth did that happen?

    I've been using one from Tesco (I think it was Barbara Daly for Tesco) for years (so classy and glam to admit that), but it does work! LOL

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    1. thanks jian, that's so sweet. and seriously, these things are strong - borderline CEMENT i'd say. sharpening them is absolutely impossible, hence why my sharpener broke. and hahaha, no tesco bashing please, i use their face wipes! we're both class in a glass. ;) x

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  2. Wow I've only used Zero but I didn't have that issue. I use my MAC and UD sharpeners.

    One eyeliner did break one of my sharpeners though, but for the life of my I can't remember which of my liners did that.

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    1. thanks for this - i'm going to check out my sharpeners. the sharpener i had lasted for years, but maybe i need something super tough. i wonder if it'll be weird if i take these pencils and ask the shops if i can test their sharpeners beforehand, ha. thanks for commenting. x

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  3. I have a Bobbi Brown sharpener which is fantastic!! My mum passed it onto me a few years ago and she has been using it for years. It's seriously fantastic (even on my Urban Decay pencils)

    www.flossyblossom.blogspot.com

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    1. awww man, i wish i saw this sooner! i got one from mac yesterday! i'll bear that in mind if it's rubbish though, so thank you. :) nice blog. x

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