Monday Inspiration

I thought I'd write about some inspiration on a Monday to start off my week!

This week it's Paloma Faith. I love the fact that she's so unique & has a vintage flair to her style and her work. 

This was a photo from her interview with the telegraph on Sunday (11.10.15).

Her brows are amazing in my opinion. I love how bold they are and they really suit her style. 

This dress is beautiful! I tweeted about this dress a few weeks ago and Paloma is wearing it in this photo shoot, it's no surprise I liked it since I like her individual style. 

The hair is a classic retro style. I never do this style as high as it is with my own hair because I don't like to backbomb my hair too much and back combing would definitely be necessary for this look! (And lots of hairspray)

Overall I think this is my favourite look from the shoot and I'm definitely going to recreate it in the future! 

Clinique Pops Lipsticks

Today I was lucky enough to be sent some of Cliniques' new lipstick range to try, the "clinique Pops" from Dave Lackie.

 'Cherry Pop'

This is a vibrant red, perfect for a vintage style look or to brighten up a little black dress look. It has a creamy consistency  but is very pigmented. 

'Punch Pop'

This is a fuschia pink. Again the same consistency. The lipsticks are packaged very nearly so they are easy to fit in any tiny handbag but there is still a normal amount of product to use.

'Nude Pop'

This is a perfect nude lipstick, not too dark & not too light. I've yet to try it with a lipliner. I think a lipliner would make the colour look more defined which I think is really important with a nude lip.

Here are some swatches on my hand:

(With flash)

(Without flash)

All 3 colours were very easy to remove from my hand so they are not staining on the lips due to the cream consistency. I would recommend definitely using them with a lipliner to prevent the colour smudging or bleeding out with the lip line :) 

You can purchase these lipsticks at www.clinique.co.uk for £16.50 each :)

Mac Velvet Teddy

My new favourite lipstick!

I'm a huge fan of a nude lip and this lipstick is perfect to create that nude but not too nude lip :)

I use it with Mac lipliner Whirl. I also have Soar so I'm going to try that out with Velvet teddy to see what it's like.

Here are some of my looks where I've incorporated Velvet Teddy:

 

PROS: 

It is a matte lipstick which I prefer but doesn't dry out my lips which is great.

Can be worn with different makeup looks.

CONS:

It's so popular it's always sold out! So if you see it, get it! I got mine online at www.maccosmetics.com

Vintage makeup with a modern spin

My ultimate beauty icon would be Audrey Hepburn. From the bold brows, the cat flick liner, contour & pointed lips. These are all beauty styles that I have adapted into my makeup regime for daily and more dramatic looks. 

How to achieve this look:

BIG BROWS:

I would recommend - 

High end: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade or Brow Wiz. Roughly £28 in the UK but a little goes a long way so the product will last so long. The dipbrow is also waterproof which is perfect for going on holiday.

High street: BarryM brow palette. It has a gel/cream at one side then powder. It also comes with a small set of tweezers & a double ended brush to use - since it's an angled brush it is perfect for filling in the brows. I love it! 

CAT FLICK LINER:

I would recommend -

High End: Urban Decay 24/7 Liquid Liner. It's waterproof and really does stay on all night! The brush is the perfect shape to create that cat flick.

High Street: 2True at Superdrugs liquid pen liner. It is a bold black and very handy for beginners as it's just like using a pen! Not as watery as liquid too so not as difficult to apply. 

CONTOUR:

I would recommend - 

High End: Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour palettes in cream & powder. The cream is thick but very blend-able and gives a more natural contour. The powder can be used to set the cream contour and further define it. It comes in a variety of shades and gives 6 colour options in each palette. 

High Street: Sleek contour/blush/highlight palette. £10 and totally worth it. Having the 3 in one palette is perfect if you carry makeup in your handbag (the mirror is a decent size too) and it really is pigmented. The bronzer is matte which is perfect for contouring. 

POINTED LIPS:

I would recommend - 

High End: Mac Cosmetics Whirl lipliner & 'Flair for finery' lipstick. At £12.50 the liner is perfect for defining the cupids bow and giving the lips that noticeable point. I use it all over my lips and it is my go to nude lip. The lipstick is £16.00 but perfect with any nude liner and has a slight shimmer and creamy texture to create the perfect nude lip. It also has that lovely vanilla smell that is specific to Mac.

High Street: L'Oréal Color Riche 'Eva's Nude'. The pointed shape is great for defining the lips and creating that sharp pointy lip like Audrey's. It's also creamy so it glides on the lips easily and keeps them hydrated. 

I love creating looks influenced by Audrey's vintage style but adding a modern spin. My modern spin would usually be adding some false lashes to define the eyes or use a glittery lipstick which turns the vintage inspired look into a more modern creation. 

House of Frasers have the majority of these products, you can find them by clicking the link below:

http://www.houseoffraser.co.uk/Makeup+Make+Up/100,default,sc.html

This is the link for the House Of Fraser Beauty Ambassador competition :)

http://blog.houseoffraser.co.uk/beauty/want-to-be-our-beauty-ambassado

Half face makeup - 3 'Must Haves'

My 3rd most important makeup item would be concealer. 

I have quite purple user eyes so concealer is a must for me when I'm not wearing any fake tan. I usually just wear a little tan sometimes but it seems to do a good job in neutralising the colour under my eyes quite a bit.

If I'm being lazy (which if I'm honest is mostly all the time) I just wear concealer. I apply it under my eyes then on my nose as it's usually a bit red and that's me. I usually have quite clear skin but if not I just cover up any spots or blemishes too.

My favourite concealers right now:

Anastasia Beverly Hills cream contour palette in light. I use the palest shade as a concealer. 

L'Oréal Paris Touche Magique in the lightest shade. This is L'Oréals take on the YSL Touche Éclat and it is good but wouldn't recommend for under eyes if you're going to be taking lots of photos because it will have a white flashback with flash photography.

Fake tan post coming soon xx

L'Oréal Infallable 24HR Foundation

I have been trying this out for a few weeks now and I must say I do really like it. 

Pros: It smells good!!! This is a pro for me because I have a really good sense of smell so things need smell good for me to like them :D 

It has a medium/full coverage. This is important to me when I have blemishes I like to just have a foundation that does all of the work instead of having to use alot of concealer, and I like full coverage sometimes. 

It does actually last! I refuse to buy a foundation that I have to top up during the day, it should last all day if you use a good primer & setting powder. I'm going to wear it to the gym soon and we'll see how it lasts then!!!

It looks good on the skin - it does'nt look too thick or heavy on the skin, it has a soft finish. It's not too dewy so if you like that look it may not be for you.

Also the main pro is that I didn't have to wear concealer... At all!!!!! This is a big YES for me because I'm paranoid about my purple under eye area. 

Cons: May be too thick and full coverage for some people. It does cover freckles etc. so if you have some lovely freckles it may hide them! But I'm sure if you mixed it with a moisturiser it won't be as heavy.

Also, if you're pale like me I think even the palest shade I had to blend it with some bronzer on my neck, so that's something to remember. 

Hope you found this review helpful! If you have any more questions, my email is:

Muartistrybyjen@gmail.com 

Half face makeup - 3 'Must haves' pt.2

The 2nd most important makeup item I need on a daily basis is liquid liner.

EYELINER:

I love liquid liner especially with the pen style brushes. I think it makes it so easy to apply to yourself and gives the best cat like flick at the corner of the eye. It gives the line a bold look and it has great staying power. If you can keep your eyes open whilst you apply it you will definitely get a better line.

The only bad things I can say about liquid liner is if you have shaky hands (like me) then it makes things a little difficult! Also, if you're a cryer (not like me lol) then it will run/smudge much worse than a gel or pencil liner.

I have an eyeliner post a couple of posts back on my favourite liners :) 

Half face makeup - 3 'Must Haves' pt.1

As you can see in this photo I have half makeup on & half on. 

This is just to show you the way I wear my makeup everyday compared to my natural face. I love brows, vintage style eyeliner & perfect concealing - my 3 most important things when doing my own makeup. Here are my must have Brows, the following 2 blogposts will be on eyeliner then concealer. 

BROWS:

I love thick shaped brows. Mine are a good shape on their own but I feel they are too gappy so I fill them in. My go to brow products are Anastasia Beverly Hills dipbrow pomade & Barry M brow palette.

The Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow comes in several shades, I use Medium Brown and it's a perfect match for my hair colour. 

It's more of a cream consistency and is best applied with an angled brush like this - 

It can also be used subtly or boldly depending on the look you are going for. During the day I make mine slightly more subtle by just using a little less product on the brush and applying it lightly. For a more defined and bold look I use more product on the brush and apply it with more intensity. I still like to go lighter on the inner corners however which gives the brows a more natural look and no harsh fake lines.

I also really like the Barry M brow palette because it has a thick cream also and 2 powders. To be honest I don't use the lighter shade because I feel it's too yellow for highlighting the brow bone (which I assume it's there for??) but just as an eyeshadow. However, I do use the cream then the powder on my brush for a darker bolder look. I just use the powder for the inner corners to again avoid harsh lines. If you have a thin angled brush you can use the cream to draw in hairs, which I do sometimes at the inner corners as I feel one brow is slightly fuller than the other at that part.

I hope you enjoyed this post and keep an eye out for my eyeliner & concealer posts coming soon! 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contouring

My previous post focused mainly on the contour palettes for concealing, so this post is about contouring the face.

I'll be honest I'm not a huge fan contouring the whole face really extreme. I prefer a more natural contour but I'm going to try out every kind anyway. 

This look I tried is more natural. I have shown the before photo to show the difference the makeup makes, but doesn't change my face either.

As you can see I have quite a bit of redness & some spots so I used the yellow concealer and the palest tone to cover that. I apply my foundation first then the contouring & concealing on top. The foundation used here is L'Oréal Paris True match in Porcelain. 

I used the warmer colours to contour since I'm pretty pale at the moment so the darker ones would have been too extreme. I used my concealer brush to draw the line down my cheekbone, temples & jawbone, then used a Beauty Blender to blend it in. 

I didn't contour my nose or forehead so I'll try that out in another look soon.

Next I set my face with powder and used my contour palette to set the darker tones with a darker powder. This gives the contour a softer and more natural look and ensures it will stay on longer.

I PROMISE I will do a youtube tutorial soon, I know I keep saying it but I haven't had the time recently :) xx

Batiste VS. Herbal Essences

I use dry shampoo a lot, so I like to try new ones every now and again just incase a better one comes along!

The most recent brands I have tried are Batiste & Herbal Essences. 

So I'm going to compare the two and tell you which is the best choice in my opinion.

Batiste:

I have used Batiste for a long time now and I can always rely on it. My favourite is the Floral & Flirty Blush. It has a pretty scent which is important to me, and really does make the hair look better when you're in a hurry and don't have time to wash it. It's great for festivals over the summer too! 

It also comes in a smaller bottle which is perfect for travelling or fitting into your handbag, I definitely use my smaller one more often. 

It's handy when back combing the hair instead of using a hair spray, because of it's texture it helps hold the volume in the hair, but I wouldn't recommend using it as a substitute to hairspray completely because it only really helps with back combing. For holding stray hairs in place, big updos and curls I'd definitely stick with hairspray.

I'm still not too sure on the 'Hint of Colour' version, because I think sometimes it dulls the shine on your hair a bit more than the non tinted ones, and it's a bit risky when you're spraying it near your roots because it shows on your scalp. I used this in a hurry once and realised in the car 20 minutes later that my forehead was a shade darker than the rest of my face - because I had sprayed it all over me! So this one is a bit too much hassle for me, I'll stick to my Blush.

(Hairspray review coming soon)

VS. Herbal Essences:

I saw this and bought it because it was new and I thought I would try it..... I wish I didn't even bother! It does smell lovely, that's the only good thing I can say about it to be honest.

When the product is sprayed it's far too concentrated, so it comes out almost wet. I thought maybe it went on like this then dried but it didn't. It made my hair look greasy and dirty when it wasn't, and I was away to a hotel for the night and hadn't brought shampoo or conditioner with me. As a result I ended up having to wash with my hair with the hotel shampoo and conditioner which wasn't good, but was still better than what it looked like using the Herbal Essences spray in shampoo. 

My hair never looks good when I use Herbal Essences products but my sisters hair always looks great using it, so I asked her to try it just incase it was just me. But she was the exact same and we ended up just throwing it in the bin!! 

WINNER:

Batiste!!!!

 

If you have any other dry shampoos you love please contact me & let me know, I would to try them!

Jen xx

Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour palette

I finally got my hands on the Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour palettes in cream & powder. 

It's pretty expensive from the UK so my cousin was going to New York & kindly 

hunted through Macy's & several Sephoras to get me the items on my list. So even on Times Square many of the items were sold out which shows just how in demand these products are! 

In this post in going to focus on the concealers. I will do a follow up post next on using the palette to contour.

Cream Contour palette:

This palette surprised me because the creams are really thick, which isn't a bad thing but if you're in a hurry I doubt you would have time to use this palette! It did take more time because of the texture however it does blend very well with a beauty blender. If you blend properly using a dabbing motion (if you pull the skin you will just rub off the product and it's bad for your skin!), there will be no harsh lines at all and you will have a perfectly smooth finish.

Here's a look at my eyes before using the concealer then after. I have very pale skin and they tend to be quite purple around the eyes and I have a bit if redness. I used the yellow to cancel out the purple then the lightest skin tone on top. 

Then after:

I was really impressed by how even my skin tone looked afterwards and although it is very thick it doesn't feel heavy on the skin.

Powder Contour palette:

I did use one of the lighter shades to set the cream concealer under my eyes but I wasn't too sure about it. I think I need to practise more with it and see how to work it properly! 

Full face contour post coming soon :) xx

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade

I FINALLY got the dipbrow pomade by Anastasia Beverly Hills. I have genuinely wanted to try this product for over a year! It didn't disappoint!

My brows are quite fair naturally so I like to fill them in. I have an alright shape to them (I just tweez them myself after one too many traumatic experiences with beauticians waxing them off), but I like to fill them in and make the shape more arched and rounded to avoid any unnatural looking jaggy corners. I went for 'Medium Brown' to match my hair.

It's also a good idea to outline the shape you want first then fill them in. Try keep the front corner of the brows (nearest the nose) lighter and more sparse to look more natural. 

Here's an example of my brow transformation using the dipbrow:

It's more of a gel substance. It's not a powder and not a liquid.. If that makes sense! It's a thicker consistency so it's great for filling in parts of the brow that are quite 'gappy'. 

You can also use it with less product on the brush for a more subtle effect or you can apply with more product on the brush for a bolder look.

I learned to use it sparingly!!! Don't load lots of product onto your brush because you really don't need to and it will just go to waste. 

I got mine brought over from New York so I got mine at an American price which definitely worked out cheaper! But I think on average to buy it from Amazon.co.uk & other UK sellers you're looking at around £25 upwards. 

I'd say it's worth the money because you only need a little to do each brow so it should last quite a while!

I am going to make a Youtube tutorial soon on how to use it :) xx

Mac 'Whirl' lipliner

'Whirl' by Mac is my favourite lipliner for a nude lip which is my everyday look.

Here it is all over the lips with a clear Mac lipgloss over it lightly to give it an extra 'plumped' look.

The Mac lipliners are definitely worth the money, I have yet to come across a lipliner I like better!! (I will do a blogpost if I ever do).

'Soar' is also really good for a nude lip, I'll do a post on that one soon too :) 💋 

Bridal fashion show event

On Thursday night I attended the Bridal fashion show event at Eleganza Sposa in Glasgow. It was a charity event raising money for the Beatson Cancer Charity. It was for such a good cause and there were lots of amazing raffle prizes donated. It is such a beautiful boutique and the canapés & cocktails were lovely! 

 I did 2 makeups which were based on this smokey eye/ pink lip look on Cara Delevigne:

Here are the looks I created on my 2 models:

It was my first big event and I'm happy to say it was a success! Here are some more photos from the runway:

L'Oréal Brow Artist Genius Kit

In my kit of wonders from L'Oréal this week I got to try the new Brow artist Genius Kit. It has wax at one side and the eyeshadow at the other. 

The brush is my favourite part; it has an angled brush at one end (a little thick for defined lines if you are drawing on hair strokes but perfect for filling in gaps), and a mascara stye wand at the other end to groom brows into shape before styling. 

The mini tweezers are handy for those looking for make up to carry on the go, and they all fit nicely into the neat packaging. 

I got 2 colours:

•  'Light to medium' - a lighter brown which if used sparingly could be used on darker blondes. 

• 'Medium to dark'  - a darker brown which is quite light at first so if you want it darker you're best to make sure you have more product on your brush and build the colour. 

To get my brows in the picture below I used the darker shade and applied around 3 times. 

I also used the Brow Sculpting mascara which I will do a review on soon :)