i have a little problem i was hoping you guys could help me with. i am 42 years old and have very pale skin. everything i read says that women my age should use matte eye color. but, when i do they make me look sick and washed out. but the high glitter ones dont look good on me either. i was wondering if anyone else has that problem and what y'all might recommend. thanks for your help.

Your signature indicates that you already love the Eye Plush collection, so when you say "high glitter," what do you mean? Frosty sheen? With tiny sparks of shimmer? Metallic? I have a sense that you don't mean true polyester glitter (polyethylene terephthalate), so I'm trying to figure out your threshold for reflective finishes that aren't matte.

It's my understanding that no other Aromaleigh collection has the same finish as the Eye Plushes, but other forum members and Miss K should correct me if I'm wrong!

I agree with Celine; if you're liking the plushes that's a good near-matte finish.

I do my mom's makeup sometimes, and she always warns me beforehand: "Remember, ladies my age look best in mattes!" I respect that opinion, and agree that mattes can be more forgiving, but I try to sneak in a little glitz on her eyes from time to time.

From my point of view, a little glimmer in the crease really makes my mom's eyes look glamorous and makes the mattes on the lid look less flat - and as you say, washed out.

For this kind of combination, I'll use my mom's favorite mattes all over her lid, a frost in the crease (something like Aromaleigh Pure Eyes Frost), and anything light (even with sparkles) right under the brow and inner corners.

I think this combo looks great on me, too (I'm 25), even though I avoid mattes. We're both pale women with pink undertones.

I don't know if that's helpful at all, but my two cents all the same.

Actually, shimmer in the right places can help reflect the light away from any imperfections you'd like to hide Don't let your age determine what products you wear -- wear the products that you like to wear! My mom is in her 50's but loves shimmery eyeshadows, even the Elemental and Opulent Lustres which have a bold metallic finish! She has a bit more of a light or medium skintone but I don't think that really matters much.... I have super pale skin but am a bit younger, and I love shimmer

The Eye Plushes have the least amount of shimmer so they're a good choice if you want to wear something that's almost matte but not quite. A few of the Rocks and Pure Hue shadows that are described as "soft shimmer", "low shimmer", etc. are similar (e.g. Suede).

The Elemental Lustres and Opulent Lustres have lots of shimmer, with a metallic finish. Many of the Rocks shadows (especially the ones where it says a sealant or base is recommended) is also glittery. And of course, the Glam Glitters are pure glitter So you may want to avoid these.

Otherwise, if you just want shimmer without glitter, try the Lustres, Frosts, and most other colors really! (Sample first, of course!)

And as PaintedMoogle said, you can also use different finishes in different places. A common look is to use a matte on the crease and shimmer on the lid, but you can experiment to see what you like best!

Also check out #9 in Miss K's blog entry here -- I think it applies to eyes too, not just a matte face (And when you think about it, isn't it a bit silly that "they" always recommend dewy or shimmery foundation but matte eyeshadows once you reach a certain age?)

http://blog.aromaleigh.com/blo...n-a-makeup-rut-.html

Wear what you like, what makes you look and feel good. There's lots of advice out there that tells you "once you're 30 you can't do this, once you're 40 you can't do that."

Our lives don't end when we hit a certain age, we grow and learn and are generally more confident as we get older. Women in their 40's NOW are not the women our mothers and grandmothers were in their 40's. Check your family photo album and you'll see what I mean. Ok, now that I'm done lecturing....

It's true, shimmer may not do as good a job helping you conceal flaws. But our flaws vary, some of us have slight lines that we worry about, others deeper wrinkles, and some lucky ladies have gorgeous, flawless skin.

Are you used to wearing shimmer and are trying to be happy with mattes, or are you not used to wearing shimmer at all? Either way, mix! Add a bit of matte to your shimmer to "tone it down" or add a shimmery color to liven up a plain one. If you're still unsure, add a small amount of a shimmery shadow as a highlight, or a dab in the center of your lid.

I'm also quite pale, and think shimmer can do a much better job of ADDING some color to me than many other products (besides on my eyes, I mean). Because I have rosacea on my cheeks, blush often just doesn't look right, but a bit of shimmer on the tops of my cheekbones makes it look like I have well placed blush on. A little shimmer on my lips, can't resist it!

We all look forward to seeing some fabulous FOTD's from you, wearing what makes you feel fantastic!

I would say definitely check out the Plushes and the Satin Petals. The Satin Petals are frosts, but tend to be less shimmery than the Pure Eyes Frosts. I own both Campanula and Verbena, and I think Campanula is less shimmery, although the two are very close in color. I also think that the Carolina Summer matte shadows glide on silkier than the Pure Eyes matte ones, for some reason.

The frosts are shimmery but do not contain glitter, and the Lustres have a pearl finish. The Opulent lustres and the Elemental Lustres are metallic in finish so you'd probably want to avoid using those except as accent colors.

Most of the Limited Edition shades are frosts and some contain glitter. However, when the En Pointe collection comes back up for sale, I'd highly recommend that collection as those shades are mostly matte with some low shimmer added. (Kristen is bringing each limited edition collection back for two weeks at a time until the final decision occurs on what shades to make permanent).

Oh, and Cin has a great point. Many women here have had luck mixing frosty shades with mattes. (Even dusting matte shades on top of metallic ones. I think that was girl_geek's idea, not sure.)

Tally stole my post! LOL En Pointe and the Eye Plushes are great "mattes with something special" collections.

The Elemental Lustres are very metallic and do accentuate the crease in my lids when used alone, but when paired with a matte or plush, they are fabulous on my 36 y.o. peepers! So don't be afraid to add some sheen to your matte... it will add some "oomph"

HTH
-Melissa

quote:

Tally stole my post!

LOL! Sorry!

OK, I'm -yikes - gonna be 56 (!!%$^) in21 days and I wear shimmer. I like a sheer wash of a shimmery shade - shimmery, not metalic - lightly all over my lid or a matte all over my lid with a little frost under my brow arch and the middle of my lid. Mostly I wear a shimmer or frost with matte in the crease. Just experiment and see what happens.

Woo! Go, Lin! It sounds like you know what you like in makeup (and birthdays are awesome)!

It IS hard to break a fashion rule once you've heard it. My mom (the "let's stick with mattes" one) was a model when she was my age, and learned all kinds of rules that she's never been able to forget - plus it's what I grew up hearing. I can think of lots of times she's criticized (not in a mean way) my makeup, but I don't think it was so much that she thought it looked bad as that she heard that's not how you're supposed to do it.

I can't believe how easily I come to believe in fashion trends myself! For example, I became convinced a few years ago that my wavy hair was some sort of crime and that I had to straighten it before I even opened my windows. I actually spent months HATING my hair because I could never get it straight the way I thought it was supposed to be. All that time spent, and I didn't even like the result. I finally stopped following the crowd and just wear my hair the way I used to - I had forgotten that I wore it that way for a reason: I like it!

Wow, I'm ranting and probably getting way off topic. I guess I'm just adding that sometimes we read a new tip and put a lot of stock in that, but it pays to remember that the established way we did things were probably done for a very good reason, and might still work best.

Haha, sorry to hijack the thread, but I am totally with you, PaintedMoogle, on the hair thing. I have this crazy bushy hair poof, especially when I've just washed it. I used to try to straighten it, but then realized, no one else had this crazy poof, so why not flaunt it

I mostly wore matte e/s before finding Aromaleigh. My first love collection was the Eye Lustres. Many light/mid tone colors to choose from with a lustrous shimmer (not overly frosty) and no shimmer.