My Makeup: Brown, Smokey & Sculpted

Over this weekend the usual intense smokey eye here, failed to make an appearance due to lack of time. I drew on the Autumn Winter 2012 trends, where more of a wash of colour all over the lid was seem. A lived in, messy and undefined smokey eye. 

Being someone who favours a defined crease and smoking out my lash line this was completely out of my comfort zone. As opposed to choosing from a palette of 12 eyeshadows I only used two shades, shocker I know! I contested my undefined smokey eye with some heavy contouring and highlighted cheekbones and opted for a berry stain on my lips.

Skin

- Started off with YSL Le Teint Touche Eclat, covering my under eye area with Maybelline Dream Lumi Touch Concealer

- I skipped out on blush and sculpted my cheekbones with the Hourglass Illume Creme-To-Powder Bronzer Duo in Bronze, the jury is still out on whether it's worth it so stay tuned...

Eyes

- Using two eyeshadow shades from Natural Collection, sweeping Milk Chocolate all over the lid and following with Asteroid making sure to blend out any harsh edges so everything looked very lived in and smokey. For £1.79 these eyeshadows are an absolute bargain, they are a tad chalky but amazing none the less

Lips

- I dabbed a bit of Topshop Lipstick in Inhibition on my lips with my finger to act as a stain

Are you a fan of the seamless smokey eye or prefer more of a defined look?

Wherever you go, there will be love.

Hello darlings, my day so far has mostly involved caffine, reading all your darling blog posts, a sneaky nap that snuck up on me, and of course these gorgeous little polka-dot nails.

I'm not sure if I'll be posting for the next couple of days, I'm packing up to move in with the mister tomorrow. Then we might try and get out of the city this weekend, perhaps in the countryside at Goldaming or maybe France (a 30 minute drive away, why not?!).

Anyway, nails. Polka-dot nails, an oldy but good, yes ladies? You don't need any fancy-smanshy nail art pens or transfers to re-create this look, no siree!! Just grab your 2 favorite varnishes, a top coat, and off you go...

1. Apply 2 coats of your base colour, wait to dry completely. (I used 'Milkshake' by Topshop)

2. Take your 2nd colour and use the very tip of the brush to create little round dots. Don't overload the brush with varnish, it's easier if you don't have much to work with. (I used Nail Tip Whitener by Rimmel)

3. Wait for all the dots to dry completely.

4. Apply a clear top coat to avoid chips. (I used Forever Strong Pro by Maybelline). TADA!!

Budget Buy: Maybelline Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner

I've been obsessed with my Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Eyeliners for a while (post here) but the joys of being a beauty addict, when something finishes you want to try something new! Gel Eyeliners are the formulas that I favour for the conditions which I wear eyeliner in, at night most likely combined with some sort of smokey eye. I went on a hunt to find a decent drugstore gel eyeliner and success - I did! I picked up three , L'Oreal, Collection & Maybelline  and if you've been a bit of a detective and realised from the title of this post the winner is Maybelline you are correct       

Firstly gel eyeliners dry out ALL the time and the Maybelline pot had a screw on lid that was very secure so I knew I wouldn't be unable to use a full product in a couple months time. The reason why I love Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner is the blendablilty of the eyeliner, meaning I can apply it and blend the line to make it less harsh and a little more smokey so the line between my eyeshadow and eyeliner is less obvious. Which is something the Maybelline allowed me to do with ease, like the Bobbi Brown.

Second of all the Bobbi Brown colour pigment is really really black, which I love. When compared to the Maybelline it almost made the Maybelline look brown, only slightly and only noticeable when comparing the colours side by side so I let that slide.

Thirdly, the longevity of the Bobbi Brown is what really makes it stand out as a fantastic gel eyeliner. As I tested out and compared the longevity of both eyeliners, the Bobbi Brown on one eye and Maybelline on the other after five hours they both looked the same. No smudging and fully in place!

When it comes to application I just apply it the same as I would normally, with an angled brush from Sephora but you can pick up a similar one from Mac and blend the line with a matt black shadow and a pointed eyeliner brush like Louise Young LY13.

Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner 24H is £7.99 and available from Boots here and Superdrug here 

Beauty On Location: A Wedding

Wedding season. Makeup things to consider before slapping on some products...

1. Makeup must last from when the ceremony starts (in this case 5pm) to the early hours of the morning

2. Must be photo ready hence contain no SPF or light reflective particles

3. The ultimate challenge of staying shine-free while popping to the bathroom to blot & powder as little as possible 

4. Lastly, combining makeup with the outfit (aka what these 'Beauty On Location' posts are all about!) for example, with my bold red dress I personally would not pair that with a bold red lip.... Just the (yes, you guessed it) usual smokey eye and a nudey pink lip!

In this case, being a special occasion, I do tend to prolong the getting ready process by slapping on a few extra products than usual. This look contains my favourite pieces, the ones I know will deliver & can rely on, mostly 'luxurious' little goodies I don't tend to use on a daily basis.

Eyes

Seeing as smokey eyes get a bit messy I like to do them first as to not ruin the foundation. 

- Starting with applying Mac Painterly Paint Pot all over the lid as a skin tone evener/eyeshadow primer to ensure eyeshadow lasts all night

- I used a combination of two Dior 5 Colour Eyeshadow Palettes, Grege 734 and Royal Khaki 454. If I was ever stuck on a desert island and had to choose two eyeshadow palettes to bring with me, these would be it. They cover every shade I would need as well as being amazing quality

- As well as the two Dior Eyeshadow Pallettes I used L'Oreal Colour Infallible Eyeshadow in 012 Endless Chocolate, stay tuned for more on this - it's a goodie!

- For eyeliner I used Maybeline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner and blended that out with a matt black eyeshadow and a Louise Young LY13 brush

- I coated my lashes in Dior Lash Primer & Serum (link to post here) followed by my holy grail mascara, Giorgio Armani Eyes To Kill (link to post here)

Skin

- Outcome the trusty primer, the perfect one for me to keep me shine-free! Givenchy Mister Matt, aka my over 6 hour makeup saviour

- For foundation I used my trusty Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk (link to post here) for a photo ready base applied with what I call the 'Flawless Face Brush', Shu Uemura Goat 18 (link to post here)

- To conceal my horrendous dark circles I used Giorgio Armani High Precision Retouch (post here) and blended that into the foundation using my Beauty Blender (link to post here)

- Down the centre of my face I set my foundation using my damp Beauty Blender and Chanel Natural Finish Loose Powder (and kept the compact in my handbag for touchups!)

- To bronze up my skin and add some colour I used a matt bronzer, Guerlain Four Seasons in 01 Blondes just below my cheekbone and on my temples

- I mixed two blushers, Mac Well Dressed and Laura Mercier Lush Nectarine for some subtle colour and a girly glow

Lips

- I used a combination of L'Oreal Rouge Caresse in 501 Nude Ingenue followed by L'Oreal Glam Shine Fresh in 186 Aqua Grapefruit on top

Hair

- Done by the amazing Bruno Lotufo at Rosanno Feretti Salon, review & more information here

What products do you rely on for a party?

Budget Buy: Maybelline Dream Touch Blush

Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 02 Peach

There's not denying that cream based products look a lot more natural than powder as they give the appearance that the colour is actually your skin rather than sitting on top of it. I find this to be particularly true with blush! The problem I have with cream products is they end up ruining my foundation so when I find one that doesn't it's a treasure!
I've recently been using Maybelline Dream Touch Blush in 02 Peach, which is a very light natural peach shade. The texture feels almost watery and the colour is not very pigmented so would be perfect for very light skin tones but probably wouldn't show up on darker skins. I apply with my fingers just dabbing it into my skin and blending outwards to make sure there are no streaks. What I loved most was it didn't seem to sink into my pores and end up highlighting them! You can what it looks like on my skin here 

Available at Boots for £6.49 here