Category Archives: make up

Beach Wedding Make-Up Look

30th November 2014
Ok, so this post is going to require a little bit of imagination, on my part and on yours. Firstly let’s pretend it’s not almost winter in England and therefore decidedly grey and cold outside. Secondly let’s look past my big old jumper and imagine what I’m actually wearing is a gorgeous Summer dress, styled to perfection with spot on accessories and perfect make-up. You see, with the help of BlueBay Hotels & Resorts Weddings I wanted to show you what make-up I’d be wearing should I bet jetting off somewhere hot and sunny to attend my best friend’s beach wedding (further imagination required as by no means so I profess to be a beauty blogger, but I do my best!)
Naked face, eek!
Hello eye bags!
First up the products I used: Bourjois Happy Light Primer, Bourjois 123 perfect foundation (love this!), Oriflame eyebrow kit, (not pictured) concealer from Collection, Real Techniques brushes, MAC mineralize eye shadow quad in Golden Hours*, MAC lipstick in Sunny Seoul*, Urban Decay Naked Skin ultra definition pressed powder in light*, Benefit they’re real eyeliner* and Benefit bronze of champions kit*.
I didn’t want too heavy a look as I think keeping things natural and pretty is the best approach especially if you’re going to be somewhere potentially hot and sunny. I started off with a layer of the Bourjois primer which I love as it gives my skin a bit of a glow boost (not that you can tell as central heating has wrecked my chances of a dewy glow!) and a coating of the 123 perfect foundation, with a dab of concealer over any flaws that needed covering.
A golden look was the first thing that came to mind when I was planning how I’d do this look. The eye-shadow quad from MAC was the perfect piece as the colours blended together beautifully to create a softly golden/bronze smokey eye, accentuated with some flicked out liner, courtesy of Benefit. I love this liner as it honestly doesn’t budge, perfect for adding some drama even when things are hotting up! I also added a coat of the “they’re real” mascara from the bronzer kit which added volume and colour to my lashes without making them feel overladen. I can’t stand my eyes feeling heavy when it’s hot and humid at the best of times, let along for a (hypothetical) special occasion!
For my cheeks I followed the guide in the bronzer kit and added a light dusting on Hoola bronzer where I needed it most. I was a bit worried that this would be far too dark on my porcelain skin but actually it seems to be a suit-all shade that means I wouldn’t look so ghostly pale among the wedding crowds! I also added some “watts up” highlighter on my cheekbones, but failed to capture the gorgeous glow it gave on camera!
I fell in love with MAC’s Sunny Seoul lipstick when looking online and knew it had to be a part of the look. I thought a bright and bold red lip would be a bit over the top for a beach wedding but a glowing semi-sheer pink was the perfect replacement. This is hands down my favourite lipstick that I own and should I ever be off to a beach wedding it’ll be the first item in my clutch bag!
Have you ever been to a beach wedding? Or indeed, have you ever got married on a beach? I’d love to know how your perfect make-up would look (and how you thought I did!)

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Everyday makeup with BareMinerals

02nd November 2014
Mineral makeup is something I dabbled with when I was a bit younger, but over recent years I’ve neglected it preferring liquid makeup with what I assumed would be heavier coverage. I don’t have bad skin by any means but I do feel somewhat more confident with a face painted on, but when I was offered the chance to collaborate with bareMinerals at House of Fraser to create an every day makeup look using their “get started kit” in Light I figured I’d give mineral powders another go, afterall, things have to have changed in the six or seven years since I last tried them, right?
I was, as predicted, right. Things have changed a lot. Gone are chalky finishes and the poor staying power of cheaper products I used in my youth. bareMinerals products are silky soft and give a lovely natural looking finish (that doesn’t turn orange over the course of the day) perfect for every day office makeup. The kit is comprehensive, containing everything you need for a flawless face- I was a bit concerned that the warmth all over face colour might be too dark, but applied with one of the brushes in the kit and buffed in it made me look healthier than I have in years!
To complete the look I added a pinky nude lip, neutral eyes from the Makeup Revolution essential shimmer palette and a coat of my favourite Bourjois mascara.
The first photo is my no makeup face, which I’m not usually a fan of plastering around the internet, but sometimes needs must!

As you can see, it’s a really sweet little set and it also comes with a DVD to teach you how to buff your way to perfect skin. I admit I skipped the DVD due to time constraints, but having since watched it I wasn’t far off!

I usually use a Bourjois cream primer so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the bareMinerals prime time which is more of a gel. It’s good stuff though and worth the rave reviews it gets. The makeup look didn’t budge until I removed it at the end of the day, and I found the powder foundations didn’t sink in to my pores like my liquid foundation sometimes does.

You get two shades of foundation in the kit (also available in medium, dark and tan) and I mixed a little of each together to get my perfect shade using the largest brush to buff all over my face and then the smallest brush to touch up blemishes. With medium brush and a light touch I used the warmth face colour to highlight where the sun would naturally hit, focusing on my cheeks, forehead and a dab on my chin. This colour blends beautifully with no harsh lines. Perfect! With such a natural, soft look on my skin I didn’t feel the need to add a dramatic eye, or even liner which is unheard of for me but makes a nice change. The entire face of makeup took me all of ten minutes which makes it perfect for a natural work look, or for lazy weekends to be spent chilling out.

What does your every day makeup look like? I feel super grateful to have had a chance to collaborate with the brands in this post as it’s changed my morning routine for the better and my skin feels like it can breathe more as it’s having a break from heavy liquid products- those I’ll be saving for more special occasions.

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Welcome to the Makeup Revolution

08th May 2014
As much as I love my high-end beauty products I only ever purchase them with Birthday/Christmas money or ask for them as gifts. I’m quite realistic and know that I personally can’t afford to be splurging on makeup right now (although fair play if you can!) and so I’m always on the hunt for good quality and affordable beauty brands. I’d heard a lot about Makeup Revolution on Twitter, Instagram and the many beauty blogs I read, so when they kindly offered to send me some goods to try I had high hopes as the feedback I had heard was very positive!
Firstly I could not believe the prices of these products, nothing in this package cost over £4.00 and they don’t exactly look cheap!
The eyeshadow palette was the first thing I tried (I swatched a few of my favourite shades above- sorry for my rubbish swatches by the way, I am still getting used to this beauty blogger lark!). I was sent the Redemption Palette in Day to Night (£4.00) and I just love it. I often find with palettes I’ll use one or two of the colours and ignore the rest but these are all super wearable. For day I’ve been using the nude shades for a base and then the super bright turquoise as a liner. The pigmentation of these is incredible, often with cheaper products you loose pigmentation but I’m delighted to say this isn’t the case here. This would be so perfect to take on holiday as you have every colour you could possibly want to take you from beach to bar.
The next product I tried was the Liquid Blush in the shade Rush (£3.00). I’ve always been scared of liquid blushers in the past as I’m a bit heavy handed when it comes to colour but this was a lovely, build-able colour which I wore quite sheer for daytime (swatch is the top pink in the first photo). There was no trouble blending this blusher which was my other concern, in short this is every blush addicts dream.
The Velvet Salvation Lip Lacquer in the shade “What I Believe” (£3.00) is probably my favourite product. This went on so smooth and dried to the perfect matte finish which lasted me an entire day of shopping! Unlike many matte products this didn’t dry my lips out and I love a shine free finish so I’ll be stocking up on these!
The other eye product I had was one of the Eye Foils in Rose Gold (£4.00). These are such a genius product and you can’t really see in my swatch just how pigmented and metallic the finish is. This is THE product for a night out, you just pop a little of the liquid primer in to the tray provided and mix in some of the pigment. You get a solid, metallic eye colour that really stands out from the crowd. I can’t wait for a proper excuse to wear this…I’ve not seen anything else comparable on the high street.
Lastly I tried out one of the nail polishes and to be honest, priced at just £1.00 I did not expect much as I’ve had bad experiences with cheaper polishes in the past. It’s always nice to be proven wrong though and I was! Two coats of Maybe Tonight gave a good solid finish which lasted me two whole days without chipping (with no top coat). With 40 shades to choose from I think my already huge polish collection may soon be expanding.
If you’ve tried any of the products I’d love to know your thoughts, especially on ones I haven’t mentioned here. I have my eye on the foundations next so links to reviews on that would be fabulous! As you can tell, I really rate Makeup Revolution and can’t wait to see more from the brand.

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Oriflame- The One

26th April 2014
New product launches from Oriflame always excite me as I can pretty much guarantee it’s going to be good. Recently they launched a range of products called “The One” and although I couldn’t attend the launch event I was lucky enough to be sent some products from the range to review.
The One brings the latest fashion and beauty trends from around the world with three ranges that cater to all your makeup needs. With names such as High Impact, Everyday Beauty and Longwear it’s easy to pick and choose products that suit you and how you choose to live.
The products I was sent came from the High Impact range, designed to create a bold statement and impressive finishes. This is the range I was most interested in to be honest, I like my products to make a bit of a statement, although Longwear and Everyday Beauty also appeal. Basically, I want everything.
First up was the Colour Impact cream eyeshadows in Beige Pearl and Intense Plum. These are really lovely and apply like a dream both with a gentle finger tip or an eyeshadow brush. Beige Pearl made a brilliant base for powder shadows and also looked great alone with a flick of black liner. Intense Plum is a stunning purple shade and initially goes on quite sheer so you can build it up to get the look you desire. My only gripe was that these did tend to crease towards the end of the day, but I find that with every cream shadow on me so I don’t hold it against this specific shadow.
Next came the Power Shine lipstick in Red Ovation; a lovely orange toned red that is so on trend for Spring/Summer. I’m always a bit shy when it comes to red lips but this built up from a really sheer gloss to a much stronger colour with ease so I could take baby steps in to the world of a bold lip.
Last but not least came the Volume Blase mascara. I didn’t actually hold out much hope for this as I’m not a fan of this type of mascara brush at all. It was a pleasing surprise when this turned out to be up to the usual Oriflame standards though and two coats later I had dramatic, volumatic lashes with no clumping. I love it when a product exceeds expectations and this one certainly did!
Overall this is another stunner of a range from Oriflame, is there anything they can’t do? I’d love to try some products from the other two ranges, and if I do I’ll share my thoughts on the blog. Which products would you most like to try? Oh, and any tips for wearing cream eyeshadows without creasing?

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Colour Drop

26th February 2014
I’m really getting back in to make up, after a while of not really caring and just going for a neutral eye with some black liner and a tinted lipbalm I’m now having fun with colour again. Call it new found confidence or put it down to too much time off work with nothing to do but either way right now I’m loving all things bright and beautiful and have had a lot of fun experimenting.
I was recently sent a couple of lip products from Oriflame (which I’ve been storing in my awesome cat tin from tigerlilly quinn). The parcel included Power Shine Lip Crayon in Golden Gloss and the Colour Drop Lipstick in Drop of Fuschia. I’ve never used a lip crayon before but really liked the idea. This one gives a beautifully sheer coverage with a hint of gold and neutral tones- less sticky than a lip gloss (I HATE sticky) yet not as bold as a lipstick. I really loved this but I do wish you got more product for your money, the amount I’ve been using this in the last two weeks has pretty much run it out already.
The lipstick was my favourite colour- pink! I do love me a pink lip and I’ve just started to stray away from my favoured safe baby pinks in to bolder tones. Drop of Fuschia went on like a dream and gave a really buildable colour. You can see in my photo that I’ve played it quite safe, another coat and this gives the most gorgeous bold, bright statement lip. I’m in love. The colour lasted a really long time too and didn’t dry my already dehydrated lips out.
Once again Oriflame leave me impressed. I’m yet to try a product I haven’t liked. The real test will be their foundation or eyeliner, two areas where I know what I like and don’t really stray…

What’s your go-to lip colour? I’m really wanting to try orange but don’t know where to start!

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