Date Night: Outfit and Makeup

Picture this: you're going out on a Saturday night but you don't have anything fabulous to wear! Que horror! So, you decide to just head to the mall and pick up something new to impress your hot date with.

Okay, stop right there.

Now, breathe.

Remember, you don't have to splurge any more than you have to; especially, considering that the next pay day is a lightyear away.

So, what you have to do is check your closet again and I suggest put on a black ensemble -maybe the good ol' LBD ala Audrey Hepburn- then pair it with some simple makeup  to achieve that 'glammed-up' but effortless look.

I say black because we all have it lying around and come to think of it, its magical 'thinnification' effect is not an unwelcome factor either *wink wink*. Another thing is, it makes it easier for us to pull off the polished with an edge style.

Black is the fashion default - you can never look over-dressed or under-dressed with it on.

So, this was exactly what I did when I went out for a dinner buffet (edit: hello! black is love when you're about to get stuffed with good food) a couple of nights ago.

Left photo with flash / Right photo no flash

The Face Shop Four-Minute Smokey Eyes Challenge

When it comes to makeup, I've always considered smokey eyes as this huge enigma: It's like EDSA without the 24/7 traffic or Brangelina without Jennifer Aniston; Twitter minus the incessant flow of TMIs or dial-up Internet in 2012. And for the ultimate punch, it's like Fifty Shades of Grey without all the explicit sexual content. It totally perplexes me out.

Anyway, back to makeup.

I was walking around Glorietta last week when I chanced upon Face Shop's Face It 4 Minute Smokey Kit, which promises that people like you and me would be able to create smoked up eyes faster than the commercial breaks during your favorite TV drama.

The kit contains four shadows (L-R: Black; Golden Khaki; Light Pink and Medium Brown), a couple of double-ended brushes, a black eyeliner and a mascara.

So, I thought maybe I'd try the product out and see for myself if I could achieve the smokey eyes goal within four minutes.

Start out with a bare face - prep your skin then proceed with the eyes:

Using the angled brush from the kit, fill in your brows with the medium brown e/s.

If you have dark hair, keep the brows a couple of shades lighter than your natural hair color.
Otherwise, set the brows one or two tones deeper.

You can also opt to use a brow pencil if you want

First: Rim both the upper and lower lids with a black eyeliner, making a slight cat-eye shape at the end. This doesn't need to be perfect since we are going to smudge it out.