Pan Am makeup with 3 Custom Color - warm lilac eyeshadow, aurora liner and poppy cheek stain

3 Custom Color released a mini collection with the makeup used by Patricia Regan in the PAN AM series. They created those shades based on her specifications and funny enough, being a tv show, the collection has few items. I have the warm lilac eyeshadow, the aurora opaline creme eyeliner and the poppy lip and cheek stain. There were two more eyeshadows included in the collection and another eyeliner. I've never tried any 3 Custom Color makeup before and I was pleasantly surprised with the quality. 

The eyeshadow can be used wet or dry, in the swatches you can see how much more intense it is when used wet. Warm lilac is exactly what it says on the tin; the powder is very smooth (not exactly SUQQU level of finely milled but it is better than similar price points) and it lasts all day when used with a primer.

Poppy lip and cheek stain was created to match exactly the description of the PAN AM manuals and it is a pretty coral stain. I understand it's a stain, but it is too creamy to last on the lips and requires some layers to show up the same as in the pan. When applied to the cheeks without layering (or if you blend much) it shows more pink than coral. I'm torn on this one, love the colour but can't get it to look like that on my skin.

The Opaline liner is the star product in my opinion. It's a deep black base with subtle blue shimmer, much more subtle than the Tom Ford noir absolute. But it comes through shiny and so pretty. Great lasting power and creamy enough to apply in one swipe. Loved this! But I guess I am partial to eyeliner.

The PAN AM look is very clean and office safe with a hint of colour. Patricia suggests applying the eyeshadow all over the lid, lining the upper lid and applying the blush liberally to the apple of the cheeks. She also suggested a matte foundation, but I only had the Make Up For Ever face and body foundation at hand (and I should have used a nude eyeliner on the rims to hide the redness).

Thanks to Marina from Makeup4all for releasing the information about this collection, otherwise it would not have registered on my radar. In the UK Cult Beauty stock an edited selection of 3 Custom Colors.

Can't really end this post without a snarky comment! To those who never heard of this series, PAN AM arrived on the wing of Mad Men to revive the nostalgy for the 60's (see what I did there? that was a failed pun). It follows the women who worked as cabin attendants on PAN AM, when the airline was at the top of their game and cabin attendants were meant to be eye candy first and crew members second. As you can probably guess I don't like the series, mainly because it perpetuates the notion of those times of prejudice, descrimination and civil rights struggles as the "good old days, when men were men and women knew their place". Having said that, the makeup is very gorgeous, attention to detail is amazing as with most American period series and it's not like women in the 60's had many more employment choices. But I still don't like the glorification of those times even when done in style.