After what feels like the longest winter ever (and perhaps the shortest spring), it’s safe to say summer is pretty much here. Now, though this may mean sweltering temps and soaring power bills are coming, it also means it’s time to shake up your cam look and start serving some serious color!
Nothing lifts a mood more than a bright look that translates to camera beautifully. So, between summertime and work, this is the perfect excuse to experiment with some bold eye palettes and brighter ranges in general.
Summer pop requires primer
This season, we will see some stunning launches from a range of brands — meaning there is a summer palette for cammers of all budgets to play with. It doesn’t have to cost the earth to look dynamic, but there are a couple of pro tips to remember when playing with brights, especially if you’re used to neutrals.
Firstly, to make that color really pop, you need a good base. A shadow primer is a fantastic way to lock that product in and avoid wishy washy shades. Urban Decay and Too Faced both sell awesome shadow primer, but they are quite pricey.
A fantastic drug store alternative is NYX’s Proof It, which is a fraction of the price and does the job just as well. For an even cheaper alternative, a little concealer across your lids can also help to lock color in.
Super bright shadows will stain your eyelids if you don’t prime them first, so before popping that neon pink into your crease get priming!
Clean up, gurl
Another important thing to remember, which seems like a no brainer but many of us have ruined a look by forgetting it, is to make sure your brushes are clean. If you’re dipping in a gorgeous sunny yellow and your brush is full of a previous blue or pink, that’s going to be one messy lid. Keep your brushes fresh and clean for sharp, bright colors.
If brights aren’t your usual choice of shadow, remember to have a play with them before wearing them for camming. Brights require more blending than neutrals, so practice makes perfect for that rainbow camming eye.
Don’t forget to apply a little translucent powder under your eye before shadow application. This prevents rainbow shadow fallout from ruining your base. You simply kick it off after with a brush.
And most importantly — let yourself get used to the bolder shades. Your summer vixen is coming out of hibernation, but it takes a beat to adjust.
Summer favs
My favorite super bright palettes to start the summer with are as follows:
Juvias Place – The Festival Palette
This nine-pan palette screams summer. These highly pigmented brights include beachy sunset tones of red, orange and pink alongside a beautiful Mediterranean aqua blue. Four of the nine shades have a shimmer to them, adding a little sparkle to your color.
This high color payoff palette is perfect for experimenting with a high impact look. A steal at £20, it’s a budget friendly option too.
BH Cosmetics — 88 Color Eyeshadow Matte Palette
Right off: 88 shadows for £16.00 is ridiculous. (Like, ridiculously awesome.)
The choice of colors in this collection is stunning, ranging from base shade and neutral transition colors to the brightest pinks, mauves, blues and greens in an array of hues. Although the pans are quite small in this palette, the amount of shade choices more than compensates for this. The range of shades mean you can create a bunch of cam looks from this one palette and at a price that your bank manager wouldn’t even mind.
Violet Voss — The Rainbow Palette
This ten-shade palette features the brightest jewel-like shadows alongside a white and black for highlights and contrasting. The shimmery shadows are infused with Jojoba oil, meaning they are great for your skin too.
£28.00 for ten shades is a little pricier but the color payoff on these is fab.
Morphe — 35B Color Burst Palette
Truth: 35 shades ranging from neutrals for transition shades to super brights in both cool and warm tones. This palette serves look after look, in highly pigmented super soft matte and shimmer shadows. This a perfect palette for learning to play with color, as the pans are a decent size and the color range is awesome.
£23 is excellent value for a palette of this quality. This is one of my favorites
Viseart — 08 Editorial Brights Matte Eyeshadow Palette
The twelve shades in this neon-colored palette create myriad rainbow looks with serious long-lasting impact. There is super pigmentation to every shade resulting in dramatic looks with every use.
At £64, this is very high end — but if you’re looking for a reason to splurge the aesthetic of this palette alone is tempting.
Celebrate the sun and brighten up your shows with some dramatic color this summer!
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Katy Seymour is a super-sex-positive writer in the U.K. who believes kink is life. Email her at katy@ynotcam.com.
Image via Afonso Lima.
