Ever had a conversation with yourself that sounded kinda like this:

"Self, that lavender shade in my eyeshadow palette sure looks pretty! But no—I can't wear that, are you crazy? I'd look ridiculous. Like a clown! No, that's why I always stick to [sigh] beige."

No? Okay, maybe that was just me in my pre-beauty editor days. Not that I wear much colour now. In fact, yesterday I had a deskside and got asked—AGAIN—why beauty editors never wear makeup. And it's true: they (we) don't. The reason, I think, has more to do with sheer laziness than anything else. (Remember, magazines are staffed almost entirely with females and gay men, so there's not a great deal of incentive to get dolled up everyday.)

BUT! If we DID want to execute coloured eyeshadow, you can bet your B-cups we'd know how to do it! (See, <a href="http://beautyeditor.ca/2009/09/01/just-in-case-this-blog-has-you-thinking-about-a-career-in-magazines/" target="_blank">employers might not value editing and writing skills much anymore</a>—as evidenced by the magazines folding left, right and centre these days—but at least I can say I learned SOMETHING from hanging around enough photo shoots and makeup artists.)

So. These purple eyes at Versace are a just-about-perfect version of coloured shadow. Forget the sheer application and just sweeping it on the top lid only—that look, to me, is a little too play-it-safe and out of date. No, you want to use it almost like a liner, rimming both the upper AND lower lash lines. Finish with lots and lots of mascara, blush and a pretty clear gloss.

<em>Photo: Style.com</em>