glow, baby, glow

I've become a bit obsessed with figuring out how to nail the glowy ethereal eyes of the spring runway- it's the perfect and foolproof look to rock when you've stayed up to all hours and have something/someone you need to look devastatingly fabulous for the next day.

It seemed to me that some sort of white pearly highlighter would be just the thing to reflect light without looking sparkly, so I combed through the July, August, and September Allure for answers. July's "Makeup Artists' Secret Weapons: Their 5 Favorite Products" confirmed to me that a white highlighter is definitely missing from my stash.

I browsed the counters for options, but I almost immediately knew that I would be going home with MAC Cream Color Base (shown at left in Virgin Isle) in Luna. These are all-over highlighter creams that give skin a brilliantly subtle light-reflecting sheen, they're lovely used anywhere on the body including the center of the lips. The Cream Color Bases are often marketed by MAC sales associates/makeup artists as an eyeshadow base, which is just bizarre- this stuff will crease in a matter of seconds if you don't prep your eye first. Luna in particular is a sheer pure white with icy shimmer, and with skin underneath it looks a little golden. The point of this look is achieving a subtle pale light reflection, so if Luna shows up too white on your skin try Pearl or Fawntastic or one of the bronze shades on dark skin (although Luna or a comparable icy shade is worth owning for highlighting the inner corner of the eye and the center of the lips).

To get the look- If you're going to wear mascara (and you don't have to, this look is gorgeous with bare lashes unless you have extremely fair hair) put it on first or you risk muddying the eyelid. I recommend saving your blackest black mascara for other days, and use brownblack, brown, or even clear if at all possible. Prep the eyelid, undereye, and inner corner around the tear duct with Urban Decay Primer Potion. Let it set for a minute, then go over it with foundation or concealer if you need to cover any darkness or veins. Either way finish with a dusting of finishing powder like MAC Blot. Use your finger to lightly dab on the cream color base until your eye is covered just up past the crease. Don't frost the brow bone, but blend the cream upwards so it fades subtly. Dab some on your inner corner (best achieved by closing your eye and gently pull the outer corner to get your lashes out of the way of your tear duct and using the tip of your finger to apply the cream). If you have a little time, or aren't completely out of it, you can use a clean small eyeliner brush to trace some cream along the top roots of your bottom lashes. Dust over the whole thing with more setting powder.

You can also use cream color base on cheeks in the absence of blush, blended on the upper part of the apple of your cheek. It's also lovely traced along the top of the bow of the upper lip, topped with a little clear shiny balm or sheer nude lipcolor.

What rocks about this look is that afterwards you look utterly fresh and awake, even if you feel like garbage. And it really only takes one trial to nail the application technique, which means you can do this in complete zombie mode first thing in the morning- especially if you skip tinted mascara and lining the lower lashes- and it only takes about 3 minutes, so you can be done within 5 if you spend time with foundation and concealer.