Beauty obsession: Colourful eyeliners

Back in January of this year, rather than put pressure on myself to exercize more or be more organized, I decided to got with a new year’s resolution that would be fun and stress free: I resolved to improve my eye makeup skills and experiment more with trendy or bold eye makeup looks. Does improving ones makeup application talents seem like a frivolous choice for a what’s supposed to be a yearly commitment to better oneself? Maybe. Has it been fun and stress-free? Definitely.

One makeup look I’ve always admired on others’and that was all over the fashion runways for this spring and summer’is a bold streak of bright, colourful eyeliner. But the application on my own lids has always had me a little perplexed: Do I smudge & blend with a similarly-toned eyeshadow? Pair it with a neutral shadow? Or focus the look with a precise liquid line, shadow-free? I’ve always been a lip girl’ I’ve no fear or bright reds, fuschia, or orange. But eyes require a steadier-hand. Well, I’ve been practicing, and I’ve discovered that for my new prefered look’ a bold, simple line along my upper lashes, with nearly-nude makeup for the rest of my face (or a touch of balmy-lip colour in complimentary tone)’ a soft, saturated, gel-like pencil is easiest to work with for. One of my newfound favourite products: In celebration of their 15-year anniversary, Urban Decay has released a box set of 15 shades of their long-lasting 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencils. And I’m in love. With cheeky names like Stray Dog (a chesnut brown), Ransom (a royal purple), and Electric (a bright ocean blue), the set includes six brand-new hues, while the other nine are old favourites. There’s also a bonus sharpener.

At $110 for the set (at Sephora and select Shoppers Drug Mart stores), it ain’t exactly cheap, but if you’re a die-hard fan or new pencil lover looking for an easy way to build your shade range (like me), look it at like this: The pencils retail individually for $22, so buying in bulk gets you 66 per cent off.