Cinders

It’s been a while since I did a beauty post and since my life is mainly surrounded with beauty now, it’s become more business than anything else. But I still love the joy of testing out products and discovering a product that actually works! Last month I tested out a new beauty addition to my closet and was so excited to get into this brand as it has such a wide variety of products and cool shades. Sigma Beauty is a make-up brand from the United States that started in 2009. They had their first store in the Mall of America in Minnesota and have since been "innovating beauty" and are famous for their make-up brushes using SigmaTech fibres. For us, Sigma Beauty is mainly an online destination as they are yet to launch a stand-alone store in the country.

I wanted to change the way I did reviews and felt that mixing it up with a bit of fashion rather than just rolling out a set of product images and shade swatches was a better way to engage readers into the product. Reviews just started to feel like it all has been done before and not everyone can sit through a whole post on just a single product. Since I love photography and editorials, what better way than to create “beauty review editorials” where I use the product and it can inspire a specific look or feeling or even outfit. This look was inspired by the Sigma "Smoke Screen" eyeshadow palette. The shades used in this look are “Almost Jet” and “Cinders”. Immediately when I saw these shades, I thought sultry evening look and created a simple yet effective smokey eye with a slight exaggeration on the wing. This paint-splatter print top almost looks like it was smeared with ash or black paint which complimented this black eyeshadow. Had this idea to shoot in a bath tub for a crazy editorial effect. Sometimes editorials can be so bizarre and ingenious at the same time and I wanted to create that feel.

I quite liked the darker shades in the palette as the colour pay off was really great. I did feel that the other more neutral shades in the palette applied on too faint and not as bold as they appeared. Those shades would definitely need a good eyeshadow primer just to bring out the colour more. Be sure to apply a powder or place some tissue under the eye when applying this shadow as its formula is quite fine and particles will settle on your cheeks which means *eek* smudges.

Create this look:
1. Start with “Cinders”, a grey shadow with a semi-shimmer on the inner corner of the eye and work up to the middle of the eye.
2. Apply “Almost Jet”, a black almost matte shadow from the center of the lid to the outer corner and extend as far as you want. You can be quite dramatic with this one.
3.Finish with mascara and liquid liner to add more drama.

Photography: Londam-Holland
Instagram: @londam_holland_ / Bloglovin: Londam-Holland
Outfit Details:
Shirt: Tiger of Sweden/ Pants: Truworths
Beauty Details:
Make-up: Sigma Beauty (@sigmabeauty) using Sigma Smoke Screen eyeshadow palette and Lip Base in “Indulgent”.
available on Sigma Beauty website (here) or Turquoise Studio (here)