Super Shimmery Eyeshadow - Perfect Holiday Item?

Good Monday everyone! Happy Chanukah to all of you who celebrate, and I hope your festivities are going wonderfully. Luckily I got the rest of my holiday shopping done, so I don't have to step foot into a mall unless I decide to lose my sanity for a bit.

My family, boyfriend and I visited New York City and Rockefeller Center this Saturday to see the tree, and boy was it FRIGID! I did notice a couple of beauty trends as I was walking around and going into all the best cosmetic stores...two of which were neon pink blush (no bueno) and ridiculously shimmery eyeshadows.

First off, the blush I saw on some women as I was strolling the streets was slightly horrifying. Nothing is more frightening to me than hot pink or bright peach blush layered onto lovely faces. Please, NEVER, EVER apply more than just a slight hint of color to your cheeks. I'd love to give these women the benefit of the doubt and assume it was a combination of blush and bitter cold that gave them this baby doll look, but I don't think that's true...

Now, onto a trend I'm kind of falling in love with: super shimmery eye shadows. The Sephora home page for the month of December greets you with an adorable model who's eyes are bedazzled. Even when watching the NYC tree lighting on TV last week, the shimmery eye shadows were blowing my mind! So what are the pros and cons of this glittery shadow?

PROS:

• Feeling like a glam princess! Nothing screams glamorous more than bright, glittery shadows that make you look and feel like you're a diva.
• Catching everyone's attention. With eyes that capture the light and shine on, you will surely get everyone to check you out. And as long as you apply to your lid and slightly over your crease ONLY, it'll be for all the right reasons.
• Allowing your gorgeous face to get as much attention as your super sequined outfits. The big fashion trend right now is sequins on everything. Sequined dresses, sequined leggings, sequined sequins...how do you get people to look at your face when you're wearing clothes that make you look like a disco ball? Give your eyes a little sparkle and see how quick the attention goes to your pretty peepers.

CONS:

• Shimmer everywhere! If you're not careful with your application, you can get glitter everywhere...your cheeks, your forehead, and if you're like me, even in your eyes. You have to be extra careful when applying these shimmery shadows, since they have bigger particles that can get into your eyes and actually scratch your corneas if you rub (this has happened to me, and take my word for it, it's horrible). Getting the shimmer on your cheeks and rest of your face is an easy fix, but getting it in your eyes, not so great. If you don't have a brush that holds your shadows tight during application, go for a cream or gel shadow that won't budge. One of my favorites? Sephora's Glitter Cream Eyeshadow. They have a set of four on sale now for $20!
• Not-so-great pictures. When your eyeshadow shines, great pictures could be a tricky thing to achieve. Think of that flash that blinds you after you take a picture, and imagine it reflecting right off your eyelids. It doesn't wind up so pretty. Holidays are a big time to get pictures with your loved ones, and you don't want to be the one asking for another picture every time that shutter goes off. How do you avoid this? Try to angle your face slightly down and look up into the picture to avoid getting too much of your glittery eyelid in the picture. You can also try to shut the flash off if it seems plausible.
• Over-Doing it. Nothing is worse than seeing someone with the same color eyeshadow up to their eyebrows. Same goes for these shadows. When you have extra glitter on your eyes, remember that you can stop slightly above the lid and get a great look. You don't necessarily need to blend different colors together or even use a contour color in your crease. Take it easy with these shadows and remember that fewer colors lead to better results.

Try out a couple of different application techniques and see what works best for your eye shape and size. Not sure what color to try out? Silver works great with almost everyone, while blues and greens work great on those with darker eyes. So would you want to try out wearing these crazy shimmery eyeshadows? Go for it!