I don’t know about everyone, but I often find beauty & fashion mags so jam-packed with adverts, advertorials, editorials & plugs, that I never know whether to trust what Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle or Vogue recommends when it comes to the so-called BEST makeup products. The sheer confusion I experience from the information overload is enough to kill me! Being a die-hard perfectionist, however, I have over the years – through my contacts with international (think Vanity Fair & Sports Illustrated international;) and top-notch makeup artists as well as my own trial-and-error processes, discovered that, which – in my humble opinion – qualifies as the (real) BEST in certain beauty categories.
If you have been searching for an eye liner that is dewy, soft and sexy, but stays in place all day and makes you look sultry (not slutty!) after a long day’s running around, you cannot go wrong with Laura Mercier’s Caviar Stick Eye Colour. It is marketed as a long-wearing, creamy shadow (which it works great as) but I use it as a thin eyeliner which I smudge just enough upon application, before it sets. It can also be applied directly onto the inner bottom and upper lash lids. Use a thin MAC slanted eye liner brush to get the line just right and keep it subtle and blend or smudge with a softer round-tip brush. Unfortunately this item is not available everywhere (which elevates it on my Lust List, just because I like having things not everyone else has!). Next time you have a friend in the UK or the USA, put this baby on your wish list! I brought one back for my makeup guru, Daleen Stewart, who fell in love at first…application and now keeps begging me for a refill every time I go to London! PS My personal favourite colour is Smoke (looks great on brunettes).
Note: this stuff is not the easiest to get off due to its long-wearing formula (but Kiehl’s Supremely Gentle Eye Makeup Remover does the trick for me and is as gentle on my eyes as it proclaims to be).
Clare Wiese-Wentzel 