You’re watching NBC, of course you are. Maybe it’s women’s beach volleyball or one of the breathtaking track and field races.
Golden Girls, Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor, win their 3rd Olympic Gold Medal
One of the highlights is having a look at the bronze silver and gold medals these elite athletes have worked their whole lives to attain.
Happily the rest of us can participate and score some bronze silver and gold of our own without a life’s worth of effort.
Lest you think metallics are “too Vegas”, chew on what Francois Nars told me in a long ago phone interview,
“Makeup is for experimentation and to have fun with. You can always wash it off and start again!”
Some of the best metallics around are by Urban Decay. You fans of this edgy brand know that their shadows stay put, even if you forget to put primer on. After a field trip to Sephora, I got to work creating my verison of the Olympic medal look using the Urban Decay shadows Alison Brod PR so kindly provided me with. Some great colors to try: baked, half baked, Freelove, SWF, Foxy, Maui Wowie, and Midnight Girl.
Below, my “Golden Eye”, using Urban Decay’s freelove, baked, half baked, and Eldorado liner.
Golden Eye, using Urban Decay Shadows and liner
Urban Decay Shadow, “SWF”
Urban Decay, “Eldorado” 24/7 glide-on eye pencil
A week later, in Miami, at the Mercedes Benz Star Lounge, high up on the Raleigh’s 7th floor, Make Up For Ever stylists, were giving touch ups and generously doling out makeup advice for how to wear metallics and bold color together, such as Purple 92.
Getting Makeup Tips from a Make Up For Ever artist at Mercedes Benz Miami Fashion Week Swim
In addition to your three eyeshadows, you’ll need a really good eyeliner that doesn’t bleed-out. If you’re going for the gold, it’s Urban Decay’s “Eldorado”. If you want even more definition, Make Up For Ever’s Aqua Shadow Waterproof Jumbo Eyeshadow Pencil in Matte Black [Shade OE].
Below, my eyes, before applying the Aqua pencil, using Make Up For Ever Aqua Shadows for a bronze look.
Metallic Eyeshadows without Eyeliner
Tip: to create the Olympic medal look, you will need three shadows and must extend the color all the way up, to just below the eyebrow.
Ginger Sunglasses by Maui Jim at the Aqua di Lara Show
Once your makeup is done, add that perfect pair of sunglasses. Imagine the impact once you take off your new sunglasses and reveal those gorgeous metallic eyes you’ve created! There were some great pairs of sporty options at the Oakley Swim Show and some retro inspired frames at the Aqua di Lara show by Maui Jim. If you’re committed to color, try Oakley’s “Beckon” limited edition iridescent fades in “grape juice”, [$120].
Gretchen Bleiler Beckon Oakleys in “Grape Juice”
A week after I returned from Miami, I fell madly in love with a pair of SAMA Eyewear “Gossip” sunglasses [$545] Anne Hathaway aka “Catwoman” wore in New York City on a rare day off. “Gossip” is designed with cutouts on the stems, perhaps a new take on the oversize black shades Jackie O. popularized in the Seventies?
Anne Hathaway wears SAMA eyewear, “Gossip” sunglasses, August 3, 2012, NYC
As Meredith Garcia of The Fashion List says, the bigger the better!
- Vivian Kelly