Age of the Amateur: XSparkage’s Colorific Style

XSparkage (aka Leesha) does a look using the colors of the Cheshire Cat, from the Disney animated movie.

Every time XSparkage (also known as Alice/Leesha) begins her tutorials she greets viewers with a “Helllooooo Everybody!” in a girly, quirky tone. 

One look at her constantly changing hair—fire engine red bob to curly blonde locks—instantly hints at her funky, artsy style. He signature looks are characterized by a combination of acid-bright colors and pop culture inspiration. When she does her tutorial, it feels and sounds like you and your makeup-obsessed best friend locking yourself up in the room trying on her arsenal of products that resembles the 88-color Crayola Box you coveted as a 3rd grader. 

Donning golden oranges, reds and coppers for fall.

As such, Leesha is actually my favorite makeup guru. Her warm demeanor, cool attitude and adventurous approach to makeup makes her seem more approachable than other gurus. When she hasn’t updated in a while or is not as hyper as usual, she goes on to make a full verbal apology, explaining herself against the backdrop of her room’s lilac walls. At other times, she also admits to not having been able to perfect her liner.

If you’re interested in going all-out, Leesha’s looks are perfect. On the flipside, some people complain that the bright-on-bright eyes and lips can have a hooker-like effect. I think the costume looks are more apt for a themed party but then again, makeup is all about having fun and experimenting! Sometimes, she skips through the parts where she’s doing difficult eyeliner or false lash application and will do supplementary videos to show you how to put on these products. 

Leesha lists down every color she uses for eyes, cheeks and lips at her site, www.xsparkage.com

To achieve her Spiderman or Disney Princess-inspired look, you’d need to have a pretty diverse collection of shades and products, from lime green to neon pink, glitter powders to false lashes. However, her tutorials are more focused on eye looks, hence the step-by-steps don’t include foundation application or brow-shaping, except for the occasional beauty tips and skincare videos on skincare.

For starters, I personally recommend the 88-color Eyeshadow Kit from iMakeup (an adult counterpart to the Crayolas?) My professional makeup artist friends use this because they swear by the high pigment. Purchase one online from this site: http://irsarches.multiply.com (PM Isabel for availability of iMakeup palettes).

Going back, some of Leesha’s tips and tricks include:

* Using fingers to dab on color, smudge liner, fix mistakes – I love that she isn’t completely dependent on brushes.

* Cleaning up red lips with concealer around the edges.

* Using primer on lids or creams shadows to act as a “glue” for powder formulas.

* Combining bright eyes with lips (A vacation from the smokey eyes/pale lip or bright lip/neutral eyes rule–check out her Cheshire Cat tutorial.)

..and some favorite products (She lists every product used for every video at www.xsparkage.com)

* MAC  Foundations, Pigment Powders, Cream Colours, Lipsticks, Glosses, Brushes (at local MAC stores and Marrionaud, SM Mall of Asia)

* Ben Nye Lumiere Palley

* Eyeko 3-1n-1 Illuminating Cream

* Too Faced Shadow Insurance (www.sephora.com)

* Benefit Makeup (get  them locally at Benefits Style Salon along Connecticut St., Greenhills)

* NARS Makeup (Essenses, Rustans Makati)

* Makeup Forever (at Makeup Forever, Shangri-la Plaza or online at www.sephora.com)

* Mario Badescu for skincare (Essenses, Rustans Makati)

I decided to try one of Leesha’ superhero looks, Silk Spectre (of Watchmen): yellow shadow and black gel liner paired with nude lips.

Silk Spectre look inspired by the Watchmen hero's yellow and black suit.

Check out the tutorial below!

And here is my version of the look! I tried taking pics with my point-and-shoot camera but the yellow wasn’t showing up so I took a pic on my laptop. As a variation, I used a purple gel liner to contrast the yellow and combined it with a little black liner. It was difficult to extend the line towards the inner corners, something I had never done before and took me about 15 minutes perfect. To make the look more dramatic, I extended the line more towards the outer corners. 

Overall, I think this effect highlights Asian eyes differently from doe eyes--nevertheless I loved it!