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.

Benefit Easiest Nudes Ever Review and Mini Tutorial

Hello everyone!

Here's a little review and mini tutorial of a Benefit kit I got from my sister for Christmas. Everyone that knows me knows that I'm a huge Benefit junkie! I'm slowly building up to owning EVERYTHING they make! I love the make-up, it's great quality in my opinion and the packaging is always so cute! I put a few things of theirs on my Christmas list but obviously didn't know if I'd get any, and if I did, I didn't know what it would be so I was really excited to get this kit! I already had the Most Glamourous kit and really, really like it (blog post to follow!) so I knew I'd like this one too!

Disclaimer #1: I'm not sponsored by any of the brands or companies that produce the products that I've used. I wish I was, but no, sadly not!

Disclaimer #2: You might notice that eyeliner wings are slightly uneven. I experimented with Scotch tape and positioned one of them slightly different than the other. If any of you have used the gel liner that I used, you'll know that it's one of the most stubborn liners to remove, so to be honest, once it's on me, it's on. I ain't going back in there to correct that! Also, my eyes are actually quiet uneven anyway, so they're never going to look 100% symmetrical.

Disclaimer #3: My roots are disgusting. I know that too ;)

This is the make-up with the flash on.

So, inside the kit you get 2 cream shadows and 4 powder shadows. It also comes with a mirror in the box and a few little hints and tips, which is something Benefit include in pretty much all their products. I think that's a really nice touch because if you're experienced with make-up or just starting to use it, there might be something there that you pick up.

The cream shadows are in the shades RSVP and No Pressure. RSVP is a soft pink-ish copper colour and No Pressure is almost a shimmery cocoa kind of colour, although it's not super dark as you can see from the photo below. The cream shade is Call My Bluff and is great as a base or subtle and matte highlight. Then there's a very light pink called Pinky Swear, a shimmery brown called Thanks a Latte and a dark brown called Quick, Look Busy.

Sorry that RSVP (pictured left) is used. I was so excited to try these out on Christmas day that I didn't think about taking blog photos, I'm afraid. But never mind, you still get the idea of what they look like!

Here are the swatches that I took. I am so in love with Thanks a Latte and Call My Bluff! They are a great combination to wear for daytime and create a really quick eyeshadow look! 

No flash.

So here's my little tutorial. Hope you like it!

Start by applying moisturiser to your entire face and neck, concentrating on any patches of skin that might be dry. For me, it's the space between my brows and nose that can get quite peely.

Next, I like to apply colour correcting creams so that my foundation goes on in a more flawless way. To do this, I apply the green cream concealer from the Coastal Scents Eclipse concealing palette -  which I got from amazon - to any redness on my skin, which could be on blemishes or areas that get over stimulated through washing my face, cleansing and moisturising. I then take Benefit Lemonaid which is a yellow toned concealer cream perfect for neutralising areas of skin that are purple toned - 2 words people: DARK CIRCLES! This is a great product, but I'm not 100% sure if you can still easily buy it. I got mine from Debenhams, anyway, so you'll probably be able to.

You'll end up looking a bit crazy after the colour correction, so that's where foundation will come in. I apply Benefit Big Easy in 01 Fair to my entire face, making sure I cover the colour correction, using the Real Techniques foundation brush which is the thin slanted brush. I then use the expert face brush to buff it into my skin.

I follow this with concealer, I'm using Rimmel Wake Me Up and then I contour using the Illamasqua sculpting duo. After this, I apply blush which at the moment is Dandelion by Benefit.

I then took the Easiest Nudes kit and started on my eyes. First, I apply RSVP to my lid and crease of my eyelid. I then applied a little Call My Bluff on my lid, brow bone and inner corner of my eye. After this, applied Thanks a Latte to the crease, outer third and just on my lower lid close to my lashes. I used a slanted fluffy brush from Real Techniques which is great as it helps create more of a slanted, cat eye effect with your eyeshadow, blending it towards the end of the eyebrow. I applied Pinky Swear to the inner third of the lid.

I then lined my tightline using Urban Decay 24/7 liner in black and applied winged Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner on my lid. I experimented with Scotch Tape to create a nice, sharp, straight line. It worked so well on my left eye because I took my time! I rushed the right eye a bit and it was at slightly the wrong angle. Oh well, no harm, no foul!

I finished with a few coats of Max Factor Clump Defy False Lash Effect mascara, a generous application of EOS pomegranate lip balm and then Go Guava lipstick by MAC, which is part of the Trend Forecast Spring 15/Lip and Cheek palette.

All done!

SOTD - Flawless by Beyonce

IOTD - Caroline Flack

Make Up Haul

Hello!

Today I'd thought I'd show you some of my most recent make up purchases. I've been building up my collection for the last few months, and thought it was high time that I showed you and gave you a bit of an update of what I'm using.

So, I'll start with my trip to Colchester back in January where I picked up some pieces from Benefit. The Benefit counter in the Debenhams in Colchester is probably my favourite of the ones I've visited. The staff are so friendly and helpful, and I never feel like I'm sitting through a sales pitch. I feel I actually WANT to buy something, rather than that I should because they're telling me to.

I bought Hello Flawless Powder Cover-Up in the shade "Ivory: I Love Me", which is the second lightest. It's comes with a small brush underneath the powder section of the compact, which has a mirror in the lid, so it's perfect to have in your bag as you don't need to take a separate brush or mirror. The powder has a very silky texture and contains SPF 15, which is always handy. I use this to keep shine at bay and so far I'm loving it. It's very light, but doesn't offer a huge amount of cover up. Paired with a concealer it would be good for anyone that feels comfortable going foundation free, but if not, it goes excellently over the Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation, which is also from Benefit. I'm looking forward to using this powder over the summer so I can mattify my face when it's hot.

Retails at £25.50

I also bought a new concealer as the I felt the Rimmel Hide the Blemish stick I was using was a bit chalky. I didn't blend as well as I'd initally though and ended up looking quite cakey. It was also quite drying on my skin, which isn't great as I already have very dry patches of skin. When I relayed all this to the lovely girl at the counter, she tested a couple of different concealers on my hand for consistency and I went for Fakeup in the shade "Light 02" which is a hydrating, crease control concealer. Surrounding the pigmented section is a hydrating balm, so with every application comes a moisturising layer that helps to stops blemishes and other dry areas of skin becoming more dry. I bought it for my dark circles and so far, it works like a dream!

Retails at £18.50

Finally, I picked up the PoreFessional: Agent Zero Shine which is a real game changer! It's described as a shine vanishing pro powder, and I really think it's lives up to name. It's a one shade fits all, and I can vouch for it matching it perfectly with my pale complexion, can't be sure what it's like on darker tones. It minimises shine and the appearance of pores - both things I'm after in a product. When worn with the PoreFessional primer balm, it works wonders! I absolutely LOVE it! To use it, you twist the cap to open up the holes and tap a small amount into the lid. The bottom of the container twists off to reveal a small powder brush - like Hello Flawless, another handbag space saver. You simply swirl the brush in the product and apply to the face. Benefit are marketing the product as the pore (4) o'clock face saver, which is generally the time your make up might have started to slip off, or you might be feeling the shine. That said, you can obviously apply this at any time of day and see brilliant results.

Retails at £23.50

Next I'll talk you through products I bought when I visited Leeds back in February. I went to Illamasqua for the first time and fell in love with eeeeeeeeverything! Like Benefit in Colchester, the staff in the Leeds branch of Illamasqua are seriously lovely as well. I didn't feel products were being pushed on, just that she wanted to show me how they worked and looked. I genuinely got the feeling she just enjoyed peoples make up and making them feel good.

I picked up the Sculpting Powder Duo in the shades "Heliopolis and Lumos". Heliopolis the the neutral colour used to deepen cheek bones and create more definition to the face. It could also be used for slimming the forehead, chin and nose. Lumos is used to highlight and illuminate, which it does beautifully. These are very highly pigmented, which allows for layering if you prefer a heavier look. So far I'm really loving it. I've always thought I have chubbier looking cheeks but this helps me create the defining features of a more angular face, which I really like.

Retails at £26.00

I have bought a few items from Amazon.co.uk as well, which is simply because it's more convenient than travelling to get certain things, especially if you already know what the product will be like.

I bought an Evolution of Smooth lip balm in the pomegranate and raspberry flavour. I saw Kim Kardashian raving about this a while ago and wanted to give it a try. To be completely honest, these aren't anything that special in my opinion. I do prefer the shape as opposed to a regular lip balm tube, but I don't find the product itself to be that amazing. It's not very long lasting, but it smells pretty good. They are just an average lipbalm. I may repurchase but it's not at the top of my list.

Retails at $3.29 from the EOS website

I also bought some Real Techniques brushes. I've wanted these for ages, and it got to the point where quite a few of my brushes needed replacing anyway, so I finally got to try them. I wasn't disappointed as these are brilliant brushes! I bought the powder brush, blush brush, setting brush for contouring, a retractable lip brush and a couple of shading brushes. I particularly like the shading brushes as they're the perfect size for defining the crease of the eye lid.

These start from £7.99 in Boots

I also bought a Sleek lipstick in the shade "Stiletto". It looks like a seriously bright red in the tube, but it can be used over lipbalm for a softer raspberry colour. I like how versatile the colour is but I wouldn't say it's any better than any other lipstick I've used.

Retails at £4.99 from Boots.

Last, I went to Birmingham to visit another friend and took a little trip to Selfridges & Co, and Boots.

When I'd been to Illamasqua in Leeds, I tried the Powder Blush in "Ambition", a pink with gold tones. I didn't buy it then but kept wishing I had, so picked up when I was in Birmingham. I don't use a lot of it as it is very pink, but it does beautifully with the Sculpting Duo so I'm really happy with it. It gives you that rosey look you get when you're outside, very pretty colour.

Retails for £18.00

Finally, I went to Boots and picked up my first 2 Real Techniques brushes which were the Expert Face brush for foundation - perfect shape and size for buffing liquid foundation into the skin - and the Fine Liner brush, which has a silicone brush, much easier to clean and helps create a finer, neater line when apply gel liner.

As mentioned before, these retail from £7.99 upwards in Boots.

So that's everything. If you've stuck with me this long, I officially love you!

Have you bought anything I should try? Leave it in the comments!

IOTD - Greta Gerwig

SOTD - Season of Love by Shiny Toy Guns