Show your true colours Colour cosmetics are huge in Ireland. We like to dress up and paint the town red — and we’ll have lipstick to match, thank you. Smoky eyes, false lashes and fabulous jewel-coloured eye shadows are our weapons of choice. We’re using make-up to cheer ourselves up during the recession, hence the popularity of high-quality brands that make fabulous colour collections. Mac and Bobbi Brown can’t keep their limited editions on the shelves, and we’re crackers for Smashbox, Benefit and Lancôme. Leonard Lauder was right on the money with his Lipstick Indicator — sales of Mac lipsticks in Ireland have increased by 6% during the downturn. Myth (right, €17.50) and Viva Glam V (€17.50) are particularly hot property.
A brand new injection of colour comes from Make Up For Ever, with an addition to its Aqua range, Aqua Cream (€21). Highly pigmented and really creamy, use these on the face or body to create blasts of colour. Perfect for getting that Natasha Khan (Bat for Lashes) festival look that won’t wash off, no matter how hot and sticky it gets. They also look great as eyeliner, and eight of the shades double up as lipsticks and blushers.
When it comes to the celebrity whose look we’re loving, Elaine Flaherty of Blush Make-up Boutique, in Galway, tells me that Megan Fox, above, wins hands down. Re-creating her screen-siren look isn’t difficult. Flaherty recommends sweeping the eyes with white or gold shadow and adding charcoal grey or navy to the crease to give depth. A slick of black eyeliner and a red lip add impact.
Orange, for face or body, is the one colour to avoid. With no real summer for what seems like for ever, the temptation to bronze it up is understandable, but overdoing it is a no-no. Step away from the mandarin-tinted bronzer: if Lindsay Lohan can just say no, then so can we.
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Can’t live without
False lashes are so widely worn that it’s funny to think they were once the preserve of drag queens. Girls Aloud by Eylure batted falsies into the mainstream, and now Irish make-up artists report the attaching of lashes as their most requested service. Find feathered, glittery and coloured falsies at make-up counters and lash bars, and if you have a steady hand, you can try at-home versions from Mac, Shu Uemura and Make Up For Ever. Get it right, though: there’s nothing worse than one plopping into your drink halfway through the night.
Eylure Hestia lashes, €175; harrods.com
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Eye shadow palettes
Drink it up
Whoever came up with the name Brandied Bronze deserves a gold star. It sounds good enough to eat (or drink). With sunset shades of pink and purple through to buttery gold and bronze, this is one limited edition you’ll use and use. Clinique Brandied Bronze Eye Palette,€31 Summer Haze Dior’s classic 5 Couleurs Iridescent palette has had a tropical makeover for summer.
Just the thing to take bright, sparkling day eyes into cool summer nights with the flick of a brush. Dior 5 Couleurs Iridescent Eye Shadow in Crush Glow, €54 Get Stripped Buy the empty Color Strips holder (€5) and choose one of four colourways. This means you get shades that suit you and removes the eternal problem of palettes with one horrid colour that you never use. Bobbi Brown Color Strips (lip strip, €21; eye strip, €24)