makeup memory lane, #1
Picture it: 2004. Confirmation Day. Olive green eyeshadow.
I was thinking about titling this post ‘a year without glam’ and going into some lockdown beauty lessons, and then I was like… nah, who needs that? You already know what I’m going to say: I miss getting dressed up, my hair needs cutting, concealer is the only thing keeping me from descending completely into the pits of despair. You get it.
Instead, I got to thinking about the colour olive green, which has been everywhere lately — or maybe I’ve just been spending too much time thinking about Katie Jane Hughes’ Spectrum brush set, which I didn’t get because a) beauty no-buy and b) I have many, many brushes already. (Though if anyone has €200 to spare and wishes to spend it on me… you know where I am.)
Olive green happens to be one of the first shades I dabbled in when I got into makeup back in the day. It was 2004, I was 12, and my Confirmation was on the horizon. Confirmation is typically one of the only occasions for an Irish child to make a big splash, style-wise (as evidence, may I direct you to this article I wrote for STELLAR about the phenomenon of the Confirmation outfit, and the incredible Twitter thread that inspired it). I was determined to make the most of the opportunity to express myself. Of course, I am talking about the non-church part. We were not permitted to express ourselves in God's house.
I had come into some matte olive green Maybelline eyeshadow. Memories are hazy, but it was possibly donated by a kindly cousin or friend. It was my first bit of ‘real’ makeup and the pillar upon which I built my ‘look’. On a rare trip to Liffey Valley Shopping Centre (which 12-year-old me would probably have named as her favourite place), I purchased a black kohl eyeliner in Marks and Spencer. M&S wasn’t exactly known for its beauty hall at the time, so I have no idea why I was buying makeup there, but listen. This own-brand black eyeliner pencil opened up a whole new world for me. I loved how it made my eyes look — catlike and mysterious. The ideal beauty look in which to receive the Holy Spirit and level up your Catholicism.
On the big day, I donned the aforementioned Confirmation outfit — wide-leg corduroy trousers, a denim hoodie, and red Converse. A hairdresser scraped my hair back off my face and twisted it into an overly-formal up-do that in retrospect looked like I had a pile of shiny worms attached to the back of my head. I swept the green eyeshadow across my lids with the supplied spongy applicator and applied black kohl to my waterline. No mascara. No foundation. No lipstick. But did I feel glamorous? Hell yeah I did.
While I’ve let go of wormy up-dos, I still really love olive green eyeshadow. Maybe not a single chalky shade swept up to my eyebrows, but a rich, metallic green with depth and sparkle. I decided to revisit my Confirmation makeup ‘look’ using the know-how I’ve built up over the past 17 years — and with foundation, mascara, and lipstick this time.
I have to admit, I don’t know who the woman in this picture is. Sorry to this woman. You put black eyeliner in your waterline for the first time in a year and become a totally different person.
This is a hodge-podge of greeny shades from four different palettes: Pat McGrath’s Mthrshp Mega, NikkieTutorials x Beauty Bay (the shimmers in this one are particularly special), Lime Crime Venus XL II, and the KVD Vegan Beauty Saint and Sinner Palette (limited edition and therefore not available any more but I don’t hugely rate it anyway tee bee haych).
The foundation is Armani Luminous Silk, which absolutely lives up to the hype for me. It feels like you’re wearing nothin’ at all, but it’s robust enough to stay put under a mask. I honestly don’t know how it works, because when I start applying it I always think it’s doing nothing, and at the end I’m like, “Wow, thank u Armani for this angelic skin.” The lipstick is Lisa Eldridge’s Velvet Affair, one of the only browny-nudes that doesn’t wash me out. I’m so excited for her new launches in May (BLUSHES?!) and also extremely worried that she won’t have sorted out EU shipping by then. But I trust in Lisa. She is probably the only woman I’d break my no-buy for.
In normal life, I would wear this olive smokey eye Out Out and feel extremely glamorous. In pandemic life, I wore it to Tesco and felt extremely glamorous anyway. Twelve-year-old Valerie was certainly on to something.
Favourite of the month: Fresh Sugar Lip Balm in Rosé
Hello, this is my nub. I’m annoyed because I could have a very satisfying photo of this completely empty for next month’s #EOTM, but it has to be a fave because we have been inseparable for all of February. At €22.50, it’s expensive for a stick of lip balm, but I don’t think I’ve ever had a better one (and to be fair to it, it’s lasted well). I find it very hydrating — you can feel it on your lips for ages, even under a mask. I wear it over lipliner when I’m doing makeup during the week. I adore the scent. It’s just lovely, and I’m repurchasing with haste.
Empty of the month: CeraVe SA Smoothing Cleanser
I LOVE this stuff. So much so that I had a second one ready to go for when this was finished. I keep it in the shower and use two pumps to wash my face, chest, and shoulders — the salicylic acid genuinely helps to get rid of the annoying little spots that show up in those areas. And it’s €12.50! An absolute steal. I’m also a fan of the corresponding SA Smoothing body cream, which is great for bumpy skin and keratosis pilaris. If you’re looking to build a simple, effective, affordable skincare routine, CeraVe products are a great place to start. They just do the job.
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