Vice 3 Smokey Eye

Hello again!

What's this? Another blog post? That's right pals!

Today I'm going to show a look I did using the Urban Decay Vice 3 palette. I kind of forgot about this one for a while, but I found it again (not that I'd actually lost it, I just fish it out of the drawer) and decided to have a little play.

These shadows are suuuuuuuper pigmented, but very soft so they're easily blended - just like all UD shadows. They're very pretty jewel like tones so great for these colder months.

As I was just playing around, I didn't end up lining and putting mascara on both eyes, so apologies for that. But you get the idea. So, here's what I did!

Face

Foundation was Benefit Big Easy in 01 Fair

Concealer was Rimmel Wake Me Up in Ivory

Powder for setting for Benefit Hello Flawless in Ivory

Contour powder was Heliopolis from the Sculpting Duo Palette which I applied in the hollow beneath my cheekbones

Blush was Benefit Rockateur

Highlight was Lumos from the Sculpting Duo Palette which I applied just above my cheekbones, looks so pretty with Rockateur

Eyes

Truth (a matte peachy/pink) was applied to the entire lid, up to the brow bone and in the inner corner

Last Sin (a shimmery taupe) was applied all over the lid

Angel (a shimmery brown) was applied on the outer third of the lid

Bondage (a dark slightly shimmery plum) was applied over Angel and into the crease

Lots and lots and lots and lots and lots of blending using a clean fluffy brush - seriously, blend the crap of these colours!

Then I applied Bourjois Volume Clubbing liquid liner in Ultra Black to the upper lash line and winged this out

I tight and waterlined using Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Perversion

Maxfactor Clump Defy False Lash Effect mascara on the top and bottom lashes

Lips

EOS pomegranate lip balm

Rimmel Vintage Pink lipstick

And that was it! I hope you like it!

IOTD - Khloe Kardashian

I feel like this is quite a KoKo-esque look, and she's awesome, sooo...

SOTD - Intro by The XX

Everyday Make-Up

Hello lovely people!

I thought I'd show you a really easy, simple, but still pretty make-up look that can be worn on an everyday basis, or for an evening out by adding a bright lip. I hope you like it!

So I used shadows from the Urban Decay Naked Palette, which I absolutely love! It's probably my most used eye palette and has so many combinations of colour and effect. You can stay pretty neutral in your make-up with this one, which it predominately my "look", but because the shadows are highly pigmented, you can build on them to create something more dramatic and creative if you want to.

Whenever I get a new palette, especially one as well known as this one, I generally hop on to YouTube pretty quickly to watch some tutorials and other looks people have created, just to see how other people are finding it and the sorts of things you can do with it. I got this one back in 2011 as a Christmas present and I've loved it ever since! One of the tutorials that I watched was by Anna Saccone from TheStyleDiet. She's a neutral gal like me, so I was drawn to this tutorial which I'll pop below:

 

This routine has pretty much stuck with me since then and is the basis for my go-to look. I don't wear it every single day, but it's one I go back to pretty often. Anna's is fairly dark, I keep mine softer, especially if I'm using liquid or gel liner on the upper lid.

So I'll just leave a list below of what I used and where I used it. 

Face

Foundation was Benefit Big Easy in 01 Fair

Concealer was Rimmel Wake Me Up in Ivory (I think - the label has rubbed off, hmp!)

Powder for setting for Benefit Hello Flawless in Ivory

Contour powder was Heliopolis from the Sculpting Duo Palette

Blush was Benefit Rockateur

Eyes

Virgin all over the lid, inner corner and up to the brow bone

Sin over the lid

Buck in the crease and down onto the outer third of the lid

Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner on the upper lid

Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Perversion in the tightline

Maxfactor Clump Defy False Lash Effect mascara on the top and bottom lashes

As you can see, I left out a few steps from Anna's original tutorial and I kept my brushes in very, very, very light contact with my lids to keep this look soft and natural. You want the brush to barely touch the skin and you want to blend really well using a clean fluffy brush. 

Lips

EOS lipbalm in Pomegranate

(I was doing an interview/observation day when I wore this, so I wouldn't have been able to keep reapplying lipstick. Lipbalm was the next best option!)

I hope you like this look, and this new list form of what I used. I'm going to try it this way for a while just because I think it looks a bit tidier and cleaner on the blog, and it stops me rambling on about products - ha ha!

IOTD - Anna Saccone. She was one of the first beauty bloggers I found, and she heavily inspired me to start my own blog. Her message has kind of always been "Change your style, not yourself" which is a message I like. Experiment with fashion and make-up, but stay true to who you are.

SOTD - Showstopper by Brandon & Leah. I've been watching a lot of Kim & Kourtney Take Miami and this is the theme song. Brandon Jenner is their stepbrother and he has this band with his wife. They have a couple of EP's on iTunes and I really like them.

Theatre - Wicked at London's Apollo Victoria Theatre

Hello everyone!

Back in December, me and 2 of my best girl friends decided to do something special together before Christmas. We've all known each other for 10 years but now they both live in London so I don't get to see them as often as I'd like to because of work and social schedules not fitting together. 

Last year, 2 of us went to see The Nutcracker and we had such a great time! You might remember my blog post from back then - you can see it here. I was so excited when the idea to do it again came about and started searching for the perfect thing we could go and see. Unfortunately.... I didn't actually find anything that looked good - there's a lot of weird shows in London!

But as soon as my friend suggested Wicked, I knew we had to go see it! I've always seen the posters and adverts, but have never actually got my act together to see it (act...theatre...see what I did there?) but I'm really happy that we did!

I didn't actually get to take any photos outside - too much chatting and catching up! And obviously I didn't take any inside either, it's not exactly the done thing to start snapping whilst the performance is on! I'll insert some that I found on the official website so you can get some idea of what it looks like and what it's about.

The show takes The Wizard of Oz and turns it on it's head, telling the stories of the good and bad witches from the classic story. It's the tale of an unlikely friendship between two witches with polar opposite personalities. 

This is taken from the synopsis from the Wicked London website - 

"Following an encounter with The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, their friendship reaches a crossroads and their lives take very different paths.Glinda's unflinching desire for popularity sees her seduced by power while Elphaba's determination to remain true to herself, and to those around her, will have unexpected and shocking consequences for her future. Their extraordinary adventures in Oz will ultimately see them fulfil their destinies as Glinda The Good and the Wicked Witch of the West." 

As you can imagine, I was blown away! It was one of the best London shows I've ever seen. The costume and set design were incredible. It was like an industrial themed Wonka factory which to me is what dreams are made of! The plot and script were so clever - and SO funny! I would highly recommend this muscial to every single person I know, even people that wouldn't normally enjoy a typical West End show. There's something for everybody in it and it truly is fantastic.

Here's a video of the trailer so you can get a further little taste of the musical -

Please, please, please go and see Wicked - you won't regret it!

http://www.wickedthemusical.co.uk/wicked-london.asp

SOTD - Defying Gravity by the cast of Wicked

IOTD - Jennifer DiNoia, the actress playing Elpheba