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.

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

Faces of the Week - Holiday in St Ives

Hello lovelies!

I do hope you're well and that you had a fabulous weekend!

Today I'm going to share with you the make-up I wore each day of my holiday. This, like my holiday OOTD's, will be quite a long post and also quite a picture heavy post. I know that not everyone likes this sort of thing, but it's a good way for me to share the kind of make-up I enjoy wearing, and hopefully it does appeal to some of you. I'm hoping to start writing a few more posts about things I'm buying and also some reviews. But I hope you do enjoy this post all the same!

Sidenote - All the eyeshadows I've used are from the Urban Decay Naked palette. I thought I'd tell you that now so I don't have to repeat it every time. I also got back into curling my eyelashes - WHY HAVEN'T I BEEN DOING THIS FOR LONGER?! Gosh!

So, this was the first day and I wore my usual foundation/concealer/powder combination which is Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow liquid foundation, Fakeup concealer and Hello Flawless powder all by Benefit. I wanted to keep my eyes fairly simple so I used Virgin eyeshadow from the Urban Decay Naked palette all over the lid, in the inner corner as a highlight and under the brow bone, applying this with a simple shadow brush from Boots (cheapie but goodie). I then went in with Buck from the same palette in the crease and outer third, applying this with the Good Karma Shadow brush by Urban Decay (this was the free brush I received with the Naked palette). I then used a Sigma E30 pencil brush to blend these together. I then used Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner and the brush that came with it to line my lash line, together with Bourjois Kohl & Contour black pencil liner in the water and tight lines. Finally I finished off with Benefit They're Real on my top and bottom lashes.

So, this was . So, same foundation/concealer/powder/eye pencil/mascara combination as always. Virgin all over the lid, inner corner and up to the brow bone. I then applied Hustle to the crease and outer third of the lid, applying a little of Toasted to the middle third of the lid.

I actually wore the same make-up on the next two days because I really liked the combination of shades. So, same foundation/concealer/powder/eye pencil/mascara combination as always - these are my staple products that never really change. I started with Virgin all over the lid, up to the brow bone and in the inner corner. I then used Smog all over the lid and Darkhorse in the crease. Then, just in the middle third of the lid, I applied a small amount of Halfbaked to create some more colour and sparkle - brighten up the eye a bit. I then used my Illamasqua Sculpting Duo kit to contour and highlight, with their blush in the shade Ambition. On my lips (and I actually wore this everyday but apparently took photos before I applied it on every other day apart from this, doh!) I wore a new addition to my make-up collection which is part of the L'Oreal Paris Color Riche Collection Privee. This is Cheryl Cole's lipstick in the shade Barely Greige by Cheryl. I absolutely LOVE this lipstick. It's very moisturising and very subtle. You do have to reapply it throughout the day, but that doesn't bother me too much. Over time I hope to buy the others in the collection because they're all so pretty, especially Barely Peach by Julianne Moore. So lovely!

Again, same foundation/concealer/powder/eye pencil/mascara combination as always. I used the eyeshadows as the day before, except more of Darkhorse and no Halfbaked. I kept it more natural on this day - so didn't use any blush or contour either.

(Apologies for the inconsistent flash in these photos - I officially HATE my camera!)

Aaaand once again, same foundation/concealer/powder/eye pencil/mascara combination as always. I applied Virgin all over the lid, up to the brow bone and in the inner corner, as I often do. Then I used Toasted all over the lid. I did this look when I went to Leeds, post here, and as I talk about in that post, I LOVE this eyeshadow. You can use it on it's own because it is iridescent and looks more built up. Great if you don't want a heavy look. Illamasqua contour kit and blush was the same as the other days.

Hope you enjoyed this post!

IOTD - Courteney Cox. I watched a few episodes of Cougar Town last night, I really enjoy it, makes me giggle A LOT.

SOTD - Moi Je Joue by Brigitte Bardot

Leeds FOTD

Hello!

So a few weeks ago I went to Yorkshire to visit my sister and a few of my friends, taking a trip to Leeds during the weekend I was there. I'd never been there before, but it's a great town with some fantastic shops and interesting things to look at. I went to Illamasqua for the first time which blew my tiny mind - I wanted EVERYTHING! I'll be posting a "What I've Purchased Recently" post in the next week or so, so you can see what I bought in there. In this post though, I thought I'd share with you the make-up I wore that day. It was really quick and simple, but looked nice, so perfect for a day out shopping.

I started with Diadermine cleanser and moisturiser, then used the Porefessional, Stay Flawless and Oxygen Wow foundation - all by Benefit, followed by Fake Up concealer on blemishes and dark circles.

I only used one shade of eyeshadow which was Urban Decay Toasted from the Naked palette. This coppery colour is iridescant so it looks more built up in colour than it actually is. Eye trickery, that's what it is. And I'm lazy. So I love it. Haha!

I lined my water and tight lines with my usual Bourjois Kohl and Contour black eyepencil.

Then coated my lashes with Benefit They're Real mascara. Apologies that you can see my contact lens in this photo - it happens.

On my lips I used Aquaphor lip balm to prevent chapping - it's bloomin' cold up north! On top of that I used Benefit Kiss You lipgloss from the Glossytown set.

Et Voila! C'est Fini!

IOTD - Anouck Lepere

SOTD - Dancing on My Own by Robyn

Winged Eye

Hello people!

I'll be showing you a winged liner look today, with both a light pink and red lip. Hope you like it!

So, it's a really simple, but elegant look. I've always like a winged liner as it makes my eyes look bigger - something I always strive for!

I used Urban Decay Virgin (a very pale white/pink colour) all over the lid and brow bone, then I used Urban Decay Buck in the crease and blended well. Then I lined my upper lash line with Maybelline Lasting Drama gel liner in black, then used a black pencil liner in the water and tight lines. 

For the pink lip I used a Clinique Chubby Stick in Mighty Mimosa with Rimmel Vinyl Gloss in 110 Keep a Secret.

For the red lip I used Rimmel Lasting Finish lipstick in 22 from the Kate Moss collection - which I applied with a brush because otherwise red lipstick ends up in all the wrong places - can I say clown?!

And that's it!

IOTD - Alyssa Milano. I got my hair done today and this was the picture I took with me for my hairdresser. My hair had such a blunt and straight cut so I had some long layers cut in to give it more movement. I'll do a full post on this in a few days.

SOTD - Buzzcut Season by Lorde

Brown Smokey Eye

Hello kind people reading this! Hope you're well.

Today I thought I'd show you a brown smokey eye look, a little heavier than others I've shown you, but I'm quite pleased with it.

Here's how I did it using the Urban Decay Naked Palette:

Virgin on the brow bone,
Sin on the inner third of the lid,
Toasted on the centre third of the lid,
Darkhorse on the outer third of the lid and along the outer third of the crease,
Hustle all the way along the crease,
Buck above the crease,
Half baked on the inner corner.

I used (as usual) They're Real mascara on my top and bottom lashes with Borjois Kohl and Contour on the water and tight lines. I used Maybelline Lasting Drama gel line along the top lash line.

So yeah, that's pretty much it. Hope you like it!

IOTD - Queen of the smokey eye, Cheryl Cole!

SOTD - Merry Go 'Round by Kacey Musgraves - you really should check her album out, it's so good!

Festive Drinks Make Up Look

Hello!

What's this? Another blog post so soon after the last one? It couldn't possibly be!

WELL IT IS!

A wonderful friend of mine hosted some festive drinks at her house a few days after Christmas so I thought I'd show you the make up I wore for that as it was a little different to what I normally wear.

Face: Diadermine moisturiser, Benefit POREfessional, Benefit Stay Flawless, Benefit Hello Flawless Oxygen Wow foundation, Collection 2000 concealer.

Eyes: Urban Decay Naked Palette - Virgin on the brow bone and inner corner for a highlight, Darkhorse all over the lid with a heavier layer in the crease and outer third, Smog on the middle third of the lid. Then I lightly dragged Smog along the lashline. Benefit They're Real mascara on top and bottom lashes and Bourjois Kohl & Contour liner on water and tight lines.

Lips: Eucerin Aquaphor to stop chapping and Benefit Glossytown in Foxy Lady.

Aaaaaaaand, that was it!

IOTD - Jennifer Aniston. I always look to her make up when I want a look like this - she's always rocking very natural and sophisticated make up.

SOTD - A Real Hero by College and Electric Youth

Face of the night

Hello!

I'm going out for dinner tonight with some friends and thought I'd post my very first make-up post. Here is my very simple make-up for this casual night out:

The make-up I used:

Benefit Hello Flawless foundation in the shade ivory

Urban Decay Naked Palette Virgin all over lid, crease, inner corner and brow bone

Urban Decay Naked Palette Buck on outer third of eye lid and crease

Benefit They're Real on top and bottom lashes

Bourjois Kohl and Contour in 01 Noir Expert on tight line and waterline (only about 2/3 of the way across)

Very casual and natural, I tend to keep my make-up this way unless I'm getting really dressed up! Please excuse my eyebrows - they badly need to be shaped but the salon I was going to has closed down! Need to find someone else ASAP as I can't stand tweezing!

Song of the day: Only You - Hurts

Inspiration of the day: Amanda Seyfried