Smokey Eyed Ninja

Ni-hao everyone (^.^)

In today's makeup post, I'm featuring my go-to classic gray smokey eye. As we know, makeup is meant to enhance our features--not change them--and keeping this in mind, I want to show how the smokey eye can be flattering to asian eyes. I notice that a lot of asian girls use the smokey technique to hide or "conceal" their monolids, applying dark shadow all over and covering the natural cut that makes our eyes so distinct. Not only do I see this as unflattering, I strongly believe that ethnic features should be highlighted and emphasized rather than covered up and downplayed. Anyway, my rant for the day... on to the maquillage!

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^>.>^ Monolids, Epicanthic folds, Almond-Shaped, or Slanted Eyes? ^<.<^

Not all asian eyes are cut the same :) I have a small crease, but I don't have monolids (the absense of a crease), and though my eyes open wide, they're considered slanted and "almond-shaped". My lids are hooded on the outer corners and I have epicanthic folds covering my inner corners. Does that affect my makeup application? Well... sometimes. However, I've learned to work with it and I'm going to show you how I do it (^_~)

For this look, I used 3 matte eyeshadows: Black (Urban Decay Zero), Gray (Rimmel quad) and a Pale Ochre. I started by applying a NYX white base as a primer all over my lid.

1. I lined the outer half of my upper lash line with a black pencil liner and smudged it out and upwards using a black shadow on a smudger brush
2. Taking the gray shadow on a dome brush, I applied it right above the black, blending the two colors together 
3. Because I have hooded lids, I wanted to keep the shape of the eyeshadow somewhat parallel to my bottom lash line which curves up at the outer corners. I concentrated the color on the outer portion of my lid, bringing the corners up, almost like a cat eye. This is the key to accentuating asian eyes.
4. Next, I blended out the inner portion of the lid by applying a light ochre color over it with a dome brush.
5. I finished the eye look by smudging a bit of black shadow under my lower lash line and applying some mascara and lash accents.

On my lips, I'm wearing MAC amplified creme lipstick in Underplay. I love this nude pale peach, it's very flattering on my "asian" skin tone ツ (don't mind the blond euro lock creeping in)

Me so Asian: People often confuse me for Filipino and Hawaiian, and I am always spoken to in Mandarin or Cantonese when in Chinatown... Koreans think I'm Korean, especially when I shop for Korean cosmetics, and I've also gotten Thai and Japanese... I like being a ninja chameleon. Truth is, I'm from Russia, and it's kind of not funny anymore seeing people's reaction to my real ethnicity hehe... People are often disappointed and left in disbelief, because they assume I'm something more exotic. I guess most people don't realize that 75% of Russia is in Asia and that there are over 160 different ethnic groups and over 100 languages spoken within the Russian Federation... Oh well... To make it simpler, I usually tell people that I'm from Russia and classify myself as Eurasian -- part Slavic, part Turkic, part Mongol. I have several blood lines: Russian, Bashkort, Estonian and allegedly some others which I won't get into. My papa is always making discoveries with no solid proof... ツ

Ninja Eyes by Maryam Maquillage

Maquillage tip: Embrace your unique features and let your makeup enhance your natural eye slant, your prominent cheekbones and your yellow undertones. Some things don't need to be fixed, so be you and be proud!

bisous,

Maryam Maquillage

ツ

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