Veiny face Effect?

If you have really good eye-hand coordination, try black eyeliner on some of the undersides of the blue veins. That will give a 3-D shadow effect and make it appear that your veins are popping up. Works well on neck veins, temple, and back of hands, where there might be naturally more 'poppage'

Black eyeshadow is also great for creating "hollows" in the neck, under eyes, and the hollows of cheeks. But use a matte powder. L'Oreal makes a super black eye shadow with no sparkle. Practice with this though because it tends to go on very dark and heavy at first and is almost impossible to wipe off. I use a broad "blush brush" to apply (lightly) then dab with a cotton ball to take up excess.

Another tip for "setting powder": Apply powder liberally, then dust off excess. Rub a small bit of face cream (regular daily moisturizer) on your hands until they are just moist but not greasy. Then "pat" and "press" your palms to your face firmly but gently. This is a final touch to give you a more realistic skin texture and set all the makeup.

If your eye pencil is not working I do have another suggestion - but it's not exactly "hypoallergenic". Blue fine point marker on naked skin (Sharpie makes a new fine point "pen" that is very fine and blue), THEN do a light cover of foundation and powder after the ink has dried. To remove the marker afterward use rubbing alcohol (and take care to NOT do this around flame or cigs, rubbing alcohol is super flammable like rocket fuel, and stay away from eyes, duh).

A friend of mine did this and it looked great, but the ink sort of lingered a day later. Actually, it looked even better faded the next day. But she had to go to work looking half-dead

OK. Seriously, this really is a last resort, if you get totally frustrated with real make-up and don't have sensitive skin. I've known one person to draw big tribal tattoos on their face in thick black Sharpie, though I really wouldn't recommend going that far. It's not fatally toxic or anything but it's sure hard to remove.

ladygrimm said:

I actually like the idea of blue liner the best. But red over purple would darken the value, just don't know if the actual color is what you want, it'll probably look like the color of a bruise, which could be cool too. Blood is blue until oxygen hits it. So for under the skin veins blue really is the best.

Click to expand...

I had to mention this. I'm not wanting to hurt anyones feelings, especially not Ladygrimm. I just want good information out there, and I understand that sometimes we get bad info from trusted sources, so please don't think I'm judging.

It's an urban legend that blood is blue until oxygen hits it.
Blood carries oxygen, that's its job.
Here's a more complete explanation. It will also explain why bruises are blue or purple. It's all about color perception due to light.

"Blood is a bright red in its oxygenated form (i.e., leaving the lungs), when hemoglobin is bound to oxygen to form oxyhemoglobin. It's a dark red in its deoxygenated form (i.e., returning to the lungs), when hemoglobin is bound to carbon dioxide to form carboxyhemoglobin.

Veins appear blue because light, penetrating the skin, is absorbed and reflected back to the eye. Since only the higher energy wavelengths can do this (lower energy wavelengths just don't have the *oomph*), only higher energy wavelengths are seen. And higher energy wavelengths are what we call "blue."

In an experiment, glass tubes were filled with blood and immersed in milk, milk having a similar ratio of fat, proteins, and water in emulsion as skin. At a certain depth, the tubes appeared blue.

As a phlebotomist (a person who draws blood) at the local university hospital, I drew hundreds of samples of venous blood. Almost all samples were dark red. Those that weren't were usually because people were on enriched oxygen systems.

At the same time, respiratory therapists drew blood from an artery, not a vein. These samples were characteristically bright red, unless the patient was having difficulty breathing (asthma, people with one lung, pneumonia, emphysema, whatever).

So, your veins may look blue, but even a blueblood will bleed red."

Here's my source, but google the topic of blood being blue and find others if you don't trust this website...
The Straight Dope: If blood is red why do your veins look blue?

On another note, if eyeliner pencils are proving too hard, You could use a fine-tipped brush and apply pale blue cream makeup lines, or even eyeshadow. There is a reason Ladygrimm's friend did her ink lines under the foundation, she wanted to fade and blur the harsh lines. You want a suggestion of veining, that is all.
And even though blood is red, veins look blue, so use a medium to light blue. Purple will look like a disease, and red will look like a severe infection or stryations from a massive spider bite.