Get The Look: 80's Pastel Bright

Sunday 13 June 2010



It's my 80's themed birthday party in a couple of weeks time, and as my mother is coming up to visit next weekend and I'll be tied up, I decided this weekend, while my boyfriend was glued to the world cup, was the perfect time to have a trial run of the make-up look I'll be wearing. Mainly because I've never done a look with so much colour, and I wanted to make sure I'd practiced something before the day, because if it all went hideously wrong then, I won't have much time to sort it. I'm also getting ready at my co-host's house, so I needed to figure out what kit to take with me ahead of time.

To be honest, I'm a little apprehensive about it all. I don't go in for big parties as a rule, but the girl I'm co-hosting with has big ideas.
It seems like she's O.D'ed on 'My Super Sweet Sixteen', and wants a big, technicolour affair like that (even though it's my 25th, and her 30th!). I've been getting slightly cold feet about the spectacle she wants to make- from the original idea the party seems to have grown incredibly- but its too late to back out now, so I've just got to embrace it.

On to the make-up. As I'd spent a while researching 80's make-up, I had an idea of the basic elements I wanted to achieve with my look.

Skin

I evened out my skintone using Bourjois Fond De Teint Pinceau in 32 Rose Clair. To achieve an ultra-matte effect, I followed up with some Maybelline Dream Matte Mousse in 008 Light Beige, which I blended along my T-zone and out to my cheeks. I topped it all with a dusting of Bourjois Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder in 02 Vanille. This ensured my skin looked flawless in that almost mask-like 80's way seen in pop videos of the time.

Eyes

I'd decided I wanted rainbow bright eyes with a graphic black element too. Starting with Urban Decay Primer Potion on my lids, I used several shades from the Sustainable Shadow palette. First, I blended 'Grifter',a lavendar shade with silver glitters across the lid. Then in the outer diagonal, I applied some 'Kiddie Pool', a strong blue shade. This I blended into my socket line as well, above the lavendar shade. I pushed some 'Uzi' (white with strong silver glitter) into the inner corners as well. Then I made a strong graphic angle using Urban Decay Ink for Eyes in 'Zero', winging it up and out. I dusted over this with the 'Oil Slick' shade from the palette to set it. Underneath my bottom lid, I also used my angled liner brush with some of the shade 'Flash', a vibrant purple. I followed with two coats of black Lancome Hypnose mascara for maximum, more-is-more 80's impact, and then used Rimmel Extra Super Lash mascara in 103 Electric Blue, on the very tips of my r lashes. I also experiemented with an amazing pair of feather lashes, which are neon pink with black feather tips, that my party co-host bought for me earlier. These aren't really something I'd choose for myself but I was trying to find a way to make them work.
Cheeks

To achieve that really chiselled, OTT cheek so reminiscent of the 80's, I began with the matt bronzer from my Sleek Face Contour Kit, applying it to the hollows of my cheeks with a Mac 168 brush - the best brush for sculpting a really angled cheek.. This alone didn't have enough impact or that bright pink tone they favoured back then, so I topped it with some bright pink eyeshadow I've had for years in the Collection 2000 Trio Eyeshadow in 17-Allure. This mixed with the bronzer was more the tone I was after. I also used the highlight powder from the Sleek compact.

Lips

I'd found the perfect 80's looking bold pink with a very slight shimmer. So I simply lined my lips and applied it - Carlo Di Roma Pure Lipstick in 'Sweet Orchid'.

The pictures are doing justice to the array of colours and how vibrant they look, but it was good to have a practice and hopefully on the day I'll look 80's enough to do the party justice. I just hope it goes smoothly!

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