Two Great (and Unexpected!) Eye Shadow Looks

Beauty Kuel Category Expert: Elise Marquam-Jahns

If There Ever Was a Time to Have Fun Playing With Makeup . . .

I’ve often wondered if there’s only just one personality trait that really separates us: those who are cautious and those who are willing to take risks. 

My dad worked in the marketing division of an oil company and for years boarded a train headed for downtown Chicago to his office on Wacker Drive. What he’d always really wanted to do was operate his own gas station. But, having grown up during the Depression, he’d certainly grown averse to risk-taking so the office on Wacker Drive remained his work destination until he retired.

“In many ways the “caution gene” has served me well.”

There’s no question his youngest daughter (me) inherited the “caution” gene. (Not surprising, is it, that I too retired after spending 35 years with the same company!) In many ways the “caution gene” has served me well, but it has meant that moving out of my comfort zone often feels more like conquering a mountain rather than a mole hill.

Experimenting with something, even as seemingly innocuous, as different eye shadow colors can sometimes feel daunting. For many of us it can also feel uncomfortable because just a few things have changed over the years in our eye area. In addition, the workplace environment we inhabit can often dictate the need for a more neutral, subtle eye shadow look which means we often fall into a comfortable eye shadow routine of wearing the same colors and creating the same look.

“ …tip toeing beyond our comfort zone can just be fun”

Now, don’t get me wrong. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with this. But sometimes tip toeing beyond our comfort zone can just be fun, freeing, and even darn therapeutic. Now that we all have a little more time than we normally do, I hope the two eye shadow looks I’ve created in today’s video will provide some inspiration and encourage you to take some time to play and have fun with makeup and color.

Here’s a technique I recommend to get you started. It was created by a wonderful beauty YouTuber by the name of Emily Noel and is called “eye shadow palette bingo.” Pick an eye shadow palette you have that has colors in it you’ve rarely—if ever—used. Then count the number of eye shadows in the palette and number them. Next, go to your phone or computer and use a random number generator to pick three or four numbers between one and the number of total eye shadow colors in the palette. The challenge is to use all of the colors you pick in an eye shadow look. Yes, it’s scary to do, but also fun . . . and hey, it’s only makeup and you can always wash it off!  Check out the video above to see how I used  five colors from two different nine pan eye shadow palettes ( that I’d never used together before) to create two different looks.  By the way, for five tips on how to make colorful eye shadow wearable, check out this other video I created on my Boomer and Beyond Beauty with Elise YouTube channel.

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About The Author:

Elise Marquam-Jahns is a professional, working makeup-artist who is passionate about helping women 45+ get their glow back.  In addition to her work as a makeup artist for a major cosmetics line, she founded Boomer and Beyond Beauty and recently launched “Boomer and Beyond Beauty with Elise” –a makeup and beauty YouTube channel specifically for women 45+. Subscribe to Elise’s YouTube makeup and beauty channel specifically for you:  “Boomer and Beyond Beauty with Elise.”  Elise is also an author and speaker and hosts Normandale Community College’s monthly Learning Well Edge Talk Radio show where she interviews experts in the field of health and wellness