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