The world of khaki with TheBalm All About Alex and Urban Decay 24/7 Smog Liquid Eyeliner

“I think the world just fell off its axis” – this is a quote from my blog partner Lisa when I told her that my new obsession with eyeshadows is now KHAKI. I have a feeling that everyone that knows me from my 12 years of writing about cosmetics will be saying the same thing. For years I was known as the “queen of purple”. I owned every purple eyeshadow that I could find. If it was purple, it was mine. So how did I go from that to khaki? Well it all started with Rouge Bunny Rouge’s Absynnian Catbird. I became totally enamored with that shade and me being me, I kept on going. I am just a little  pretty obsessive when it comes to eyeshadows. I want to try every nuance of a shade that’s available. This is the reason why you’ll be seeing a lot of this shade in my reviews from now on.

One of the shadows I had to have after seeing it on blogs is All About Alex from TheBalm ($16).  I started searching for the color to see how others described it and if I should get it. Temptalia is always raving about TheBalm eyeshadows so hers is the first blog I checked out. I then found Delicate Hummingbird and Vampy Varnish and I was sold. I needed to feed the obsession. So what do I think??

I think it’s wonderful!! This is described online as a ‘golden khaki olive’ which I think is spot on. There’s enough green in it to satisfy this new fascination of mine but enough brown in it so that I don’t feel like I’m really wearing too much green. All About Alex goes on like a dream. There is absolutely no fallout from the shadow. It glides on like silk. Even though the shadow itself is soft in texture it’s not powdery. If Goldilocks were judging this one she’d be saying “It’s just right!” There’s a very subtle shimmer to this that I notice more in my 10x mirror than I do in real life.

I’ve been playing with it to see what combinations I like with it so here are a few picture of ones I’ve found. I’ve been rediscovering several shadows in my collection since this is such a change for me.

Above 3 is my well loved but broken Rock & Republic Exile eyeshadow along with TheBalm All About Alex. In all pictures I’m wearing UD Smog eyeliner.

Above is Beauty is Life in Marakkesh which I’d describe as a safrron shade (review upcoming) along with The Balm AaA and UD Smog.

Now that I have another fabulous khaki eyeshadow in my collection I needed just the right eyeliner. Almost every eyeliner shade I use looks the same on me. I have very dark lashes so everything looks sort of dark brown on me. In my collection the only liner I have that is close to khaki is MAC’s Superslick in Desires and Devices. I was interested in the new Urban Decay 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliners from the first time I saw them on blogs and Smog seemed to be the color closest to a khaki. It’s described as a deep brown with golden shimmer and iridescent sparkle. Surprisingly I see the sparkle and shimmer in Smog; I usually don’t without looking in a magnifying mirror. But it’s so subtle that it just adds interest rather than a startling look for someone of my generation.  Smog looks like a khaki in some lights but in general it’s got more brown than the olive green that a khaki should have. The comparison picture shows MAC Desires and Devices and UD Smog. I’ve shown two shots since in the first one they look much more similar than they do in a close up. I then swatched two browns (Stila and MUFE #12) so you could see that these two liners aren’t quite brown, that they do have the green undertone that makes them more khaki-like.

(Liners shown are MAC Desires and Devices, Urban Decay Smog, Stila All Day liner in dark brown, Make Up For Ever #12 Aqua Liner in Mat Brown)

What I like best about Urban Decay’s 24 7 Smog eyeliner is how long it lasts. I’ve worn it on extremely hot and humid days and it looks fresh from start to finish. I also like the brush – it’s thin enough to get the line that I prefer yet firm enough to make the eyeliner easy to apply. I like the color of the MAC slightly more but I often get it in my eyes since the formula is so wet and the brush isn’t nearly as easy to use. I’ve yet to have that problem with Urban Decay’s. At $18 it’s also a good price for this type of liner. There are some good swatches at Pink Sith for all of these UD 24/7 Waterproof eyeliners if you want to see all the gorgeous shades. Even though UD says they are waterproof I use my regular eye makeup remover to take them off. They come off in flakes but they still come off easily.

Expect to see lots more reviews on khaki. I still think that Rouge Bunny Rouge Absynnian Catbird is about the best shade I’ve seen but it’s expensive and not easy to get. Since I want to have others in the poor house with me, I need to find more than just these two beauties to tempt you with in the future. — Marcia