EOTD: Yes, You Can Sail The Seven Seas

In the US, now, there's a new whatsit you'll all probably be aware of which says bloggers have to disclose when they've been given a product for free. Since I'm English it doesn't apply to me, but I'm going to do it anyway, because I like to be upfront, and I'd hope my blog is synonymous with honest writing, among other things.

I've supported Beauty From The Earth in the past, and I'm even happier to now that they're labeling all their repackaged products as "Primary Pigments" and discontinuing a great many of them in favour for the 175+ colours they've created themselves. Crystal Lampe, BFTE's owner, sent me a bunch of stuff from the new line they've got coming out, which features some really nice, muted matte eyeshadows.

Really digging Patriot, Main Stage, Yo Momma, Evergreen and Panurple.
Swatched in natural light (no flash) over primer.

Matte eyeshadows can be tricky to get right, because typically they're hard to blend or get good pigmentation with. My favourite BFTE shade is matte, though (Mint) so I've always liked their matte formula. The new colours are no exception, and although they're not as bright as I usually go for, I really like the kind've military feel they have. Particularly, I was really into the slate blues, so I used them in this EOTD just to show the shades off a bit.

Yes, You Can Sail The Seven Seas - Step-by-Step

This is a horrendous picture, and also the only one I have, sadly.
So ignore the hair/grossness, please.

This looked really nice on, it's a shame I didn't get any better pictures, but I was being strong-armed out the door to B&Q to buy wood. That wood you see in the background there.

• Apply primer! Mineral make-up, like any loose powder, has adhesion issues and mattes are worst of all, so a good sticky primer is a must. I used Urban Decay's Primer Potion here.
  


• Using a MAC 239 (or my GOSH Flat eyeshadow brush) foil (apply wet) Main Stage all over the lid. Dry the brush and re-apply it dry, over the top, to cover any gaps.


• Using a stiff-dome brush (MAC 217, or the Revlon Contour Shadow brush is great for this) shade in Patriot, dry, into the crease, blending out the Main Stage with it and working it into the crease and outer-half of the lid.
  


• With the same brush, use Night Train to darken the crease/outer-V and blend it out toward the brow-bone.


• Highlight the brow-bone, I used MAC Shroom and then the lightest shimmery white shade from the Sleek iDivine Safari palette under the very highest point of the eyebrow arch, both with the MAC 219 (Gosh Round eyeshadow brush).


• Add eyeliner to top & waterline (Urban Decay 24/7 in Zero). You can't see this, but I also then applied Night Train with the MAC 219 brush under the eyes, along the lower-lashline and blended with a second, clean 219 (any small brush will do) to add some smokiness.
  


• For lashes, I used Urban Decay Lash Primer and L'Oreal Telescopic Explosion mascara, but they look pretty crappy in that picture.
  
  

Eyebrows were Illamasqua brow cake in Thunder (which I love) and I think my lips got neglected entirely.

I always find matte eyeshadows pretty tricky to work with, but I think BFTE do a good job with these. I really dig the colours, because I love the greyish slate-hue they all have, and the pigmentation is great. With a little practice, they're blendable and although they look a bit clumpy in the jar, they go on creamy, rather than chalky and washed-out like a lot of mattes. They do take more work than the shimmery eyeshadows, and I still prefer BFTE's shimmery products, but nevertheless, it's one of the best matte formulations I've tried.
Even so, though, if you're unused to working with mattes, mineral make-up or make-up in general, they're not very novice-friendly.

Crystal tells me they've got over 50 new matte shades (in addition to the great many gorgeous shimmery ones), eyeshadow pressing medium, and have more lip products, brush cleaner etc in the works. They're also working on a new website - I've seen a sneak peak of it, and I think it looks great and seems pretty easy to navigate.

Honestly, after the whole repackaging-LimeCrime-blaaaagh thing I wasn't sure how I felt about BFTE, particularly as I'd supported them publicly in the past and have bought around 50 of their eyeshadows. I've had days when I've worn BFTE's shimmer eyeshadows out in a look, and people have stopped to ask me if I'm wearing MAC, so I've always been pleased with the quality of the product, but had concerns about repackaging.

Crystal personally took the time to comment on my blog (you can find it, if you look hard enough) telling me that yes, some of their stuff was repackaged, as that was what they started selling, but that they've moved on and had over 100 of their own colours, as well as a ton of other unique products. Now they've discontinued the vast majority of their repackaged colours entirely, and labelled the ones left, so I'm really chuffed at the direction they're moving in, and I've already got my eye on some of the new shades.