making faces :: the allure of anastasia

it's so easy to fall into a rut. you go through places where you normally admire all the pretty things and you stick to those areas that are familiar and somehow they leave you feeling unfulfilled. and then one day, you wander just a little astray and you come in contact with something magical that piques your interest, arouses your passion, begs you to embrace it. or at least put it on your eyelids.

this is what happened to me in a recent trip to sephora, when i stopped to swatch some of the eye shadow duos from anastasia, known chiefly for their brow grooming products, something which, i'll admit, i don't invest in. [since i stopped dyeing my hair black, my eyebrows have been very lonely and unattended. i'll pluck a few weeds from the garden, but that's really it.] but as soon as i touched the soft shades of "my bedford", i knew that i had found something truly special from a company i knew relatively little about.

"my bedford" is, if i'm being totally honest, a combination of colours that would look stunning on ladies with deep brown eyes. yes, i'm fond of plum-type shades, but the fact is that while they might look nice enough on me, they really pump up the volume on the rich tones of brown. consider this my moment of jealousy towards all you brown-eyed lovelies.

the two colours are incredibly rich and smooth in pigmentation and blend together seamlessly. the first shade is a peachy neutral with a sheen that's a little deep for a highlight on me, but looks amazing on the lids. it's the sort of colour that brightens and "wakes up" your eyes. i think it would work well on its own for a very natural sort of look.

natural light

with flash

there are similar shades out there, although none i could find that exactly duplicated it. the lighter side of chanel's "sable emouvante" duo is deeper and more orange. urban decay's "sin" is pinker.

l to r [natural light] :: chanel sable emouvante, my bedford, urban decay sin

l to r [with flash] :: sable emouvante, my bedford, urban decay sin

the true superstar here, though, is the deeper shade. it's an intense, truly intense currant-y purple, lighter than a real eggplant shade but in the same range. it has a definite sheen that reflects a little bit more pink than the base. what can i say? these sorts of velvety rich, aristocratic, decadent purples own my heart. 

natural light

with flash

in terms of comparisons, i was certain that i had about six or seven duplicates, but as it turns out... nothing even particularly close. mac "nocturnelle" is lighter and pinker and has feeble colour payoff in comparison [to be fair, it works better on the eyelid]. le metier de beaute "fig" was closer, but is deeper and browner. mac "star violet" is lighter and looks kind of orange in comparison.

l to r [natural light] :: mac nocturnelle, my bedford, lmdb fig, mac star violet

l to r [with flash] :: mac nocturnelle, my bedford, lmdb fig, mac star violet

the duo was so lovely and so easy to work with that i felt i must be dreaming and, indeed, there was one aspect of use that pulled me back to earth. unfortunately, while the paler shade performs like a trouper, the deeper shade, that lust-inducing purple, has some serious fading issues, even applied over a primer. within two to three hours, it's a much meeker shadow of its former self and after eight, it's really no more than a nondescript contour. it starts out so wonderfully that it's really disappointing to see such a faltering performance.

i will say that the price of $30 per duo makes it easier to forgive this flaw, because that puts the duo at roughly the same price as a single shadow from chanel or nars and still less than a duo from mac. the colour selection from anastasia is limited, but impeccably curated- each duo and palette is exceptionally beautiful and the quality seems consistent throughout. they also boast skin care benefits, but since i can't commit to wearing one brand every day [cue insane cackling], i can't really comment on those. [perilously pale theorised that her shadows disappeared quickly on first use because her lids were soaking up all the benefits... that works for me.]

so here's a quick look featuring "my bedford", which is also an oddity for me, because it features super-light lips, not something that i do that often... not sure that these photos make me inclined to do it more often, although it is a sort of look that i quite enjoy, when i tire of my signature "neutral eyes, dark lips" thing...

the base
marcelle beauty balm "light/ medium"
gosh liquid concealer "light"
lush colour supplement "jackie oates"

eyes
anastasia e/s duo "my bedford" [shimmering light peach, rich aubergine plum]
makeup forever concealer pencil "light/ medium"
benefit bad gal mascara

cheeks
mac blush ombre "springshine"* [light tan]
mac mineralize skinfinish "perfect topping"* [pearly beige]

lips
mac l/s "outminxed"* [semi-sheer sparkling gold]

*suggested alternates :: springshine = benefit hoola [deeper, browner]; perfect topping = edward bess south of france [lighter, pinker]; outminxed = mac gel

anastasia products are available at sephora.