Bare Escentuals Tutorials: Smoky V Eye

During a recent browse through my local Ulta store, I noticed a stand filled with Bare Escentuals makeup included a box for the Smoky V Eye Tutorials. The cute little box, which contained two loose eye shadow powders, one eye shadow brush and instructions, claimed to give me a simple and easy smoky eye. Interested, a picked up a box to try at home.

Once opened, the box contains the Bare Escentuals Bare Minerals Pacific Heights eye shadow (a light shimmery gray-lavender), 1990s Glimmer (a dark shimmery gray-purple) and a double-ended eye shadow brush with one end of the brush in a V-shape (as shown in the picture above) and the other end in a regular eye shadow brush shape.

The tutorial in the box initially instructs the user to use the regular shaped brush to blend the Pacific Heights shadow all over the lid. Then the dark 1990s Glimmer shadow is applied using the V-shaped brush by aligning the lower point of the brush along the lashes (i.e. as one would apply liner) and by aligning the upper point of the brush along the crease. Eventually, with a few additional steps, the user should be left with an easy smoky purple eye.

On the whole, I felt this product was a bit gimmicky. Maybe because I already know how to do a smoky eye, I thought using the V-shaped brush was in fact more difficult to use than just regular eye makeup brushes. I don't quite understand how one V-shaped brush is meant to fit all eye shapes and sizes!! If anything, I didn't use the V-shaped brush at all and used the regular shaped brush which I found quite soft and nice.

One thing I did like about the product was their choice to use eye shadow colors in the purple range rather than the same old charcoal and black shadows. Shades of purple shadow are great for smoky eyes on all skin tones and eye colors (even brown eyed girls like me!) and are not as harsh as grays and blacks. I quite like the Pacific Heights and 1990s Glimmer shadows included in the packaging so if you're interested in creating a purple smoky eye, I would consider purchasing these shadows independently of this product.