What's On My Face #3 - Everyday Makeup

 I've been favouring a more natural look recently, peachy nude lips and a gentle smokey eye with a slick of pink blush has been what it's about.

On this particular day I used my Real Techniques Buffing Brush to blend Max Factor's Facefinity foundation into my skin. This is my favourite high street foundation, incredible coverage but still looks natural. I used my NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer under my eyes to brighten them up. I would usually use my Bourjois Healthy Mix Concealer too on any blemishes or red areas, but I was surprisingly blemish free, and this foundation covers redness incredibly well.

I then took my Nars Laguna Bronzer on a Real Techniques Powder brush under my cheekbones, and on my temples to add a little colour and give my chubby cheeks a slight contour. I then patted the Chanel Creme Blush in Revelation onto the apples of my cheeks with my finger, and blended it out with the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I've tried loads of ways to apply this blush, and this is by far my favourite, it gives a very flawless finish and you can build it up this way too. 

Then onto my eyes, I skipped brows, just combing them through with a spoolie, and setting them in place with a clear mascara. I then took my Naked palette, and ran Buck, a medium matte brown, through my crease and outer corner, blending it loads with a fluffy brush, before packing Toasted, a shimmery pink, onto the lid with my MAC 215 which is my favourite brush for that. I blended it all again before adding a tiny bit of MAC Sketch into the outer corner, because I decided I wanted a little more definition. I also ran this under my lower lash line on a detailer blush. I then used my Max Factor Kohl Liner to tightline my eyes, as well as a little on my upper lash line for definition, and then added a little of the Max Factor False Lash Effect Mascara to my upper and lower lashes. 

I then took my Real Techniques powder brush again, this time with the Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Dim Light to set my makeup, it gives the most flawless finish. I also took a tiny bit of Incandescent light under my browbone and on the inner corners of my eyes to highlight. Finished off with the Bobbi Brown Sheer Creamy Lip Colour in Tutu, which I am obsessed with at the moment. 

What do you think of this look? Have you used any of these products? What makeup have you been wearing recently?

Top Five High End Blushes

Continuing with the Top Five series slowly but surely, today I thought I'd share with you my favourites from the pricier end of the blush spectrum. Blush is one section of my collection that isn't all that big, I know what I like and I stick with it, and generally I only wear these ones. You'll see that they are all fairly similar, nothing too wild!

 Sugarbomb has been my go to blush for about a year now, it's just so easy to wear and it goes with every makeup look. The colours swirl together to create a lightly shimmery deep coral, that leans towards the pink side of things. A little of this on the apples of the cheeks really brightens the complexion, and gives a super natural flush to the cheeks. The wear time is great as with all Benefit Blushes, and it smells amazing too. 

The most luxurious of my picks has to be the Chanel Creme Blush in Revelation. I've been banging on about this since I got it but I just love it that much. I'm not big on cream blushes, I generally find them fiddly to apply and the lasting power tends to lack, but this I just adore. The colour is my perfect blush colour, it gives me a true 'just been out in the cold' or 'awww don't make me blush' pop of colour. It's really easy to apply too, I just pat this onto the apples of my cheeks and blend with my Real Techniques Expert Face brush. With a good primer underneath, this lasts all day. 

I didn't want to include a limited edition blush in this but I couldn't help myself. This is MAC's Ripe for Love from the Temperature Rising Collection at the beginning of the year. It's similar to MAC Peaches, but a little darker, I tend to skip bronzer when I go for this. This is gorgeous with a bronzey smokey eye and a coral or nude lip. It's a dark peach with no shimmer, but it still adds a fair bit of dimension to the skin. Looks beautiful with Benefit Sunbeam over the top, or the Hourglass Ambient Lighting powder in Radiant Light.

 Another Benefit blush, because I just love them, Hervana is more of a pinky, almost lilac blush, a bit more wintery than all these corals I seem to have included. Like I said, I love the formulation of Benefit blushes, they're really pigmented and last so well on the skin. I also have Coralista which I love (obviously, it's another coral).

Well I couldn't not include a Nars blush could I? Infact, I could have included every Nars blush, but I was restrained (ha!). I'm so glad that Orgasm was in this palette, since I lost my beloved Orgasm Blush a while back. This has been one of my favourites for a few years now, it's the perfect coral, with a hint of golden shimmer. Love love love.

Have you tried any of these blushes? What are your favourite high end blushes? Are there anymore Top Fives you'd like to see?

 

September Favourites 2013

Firstly, I should apologise for the lack of posts this week, we've had some serious problems with the internet in our flat, that have left me Wifi-less since Monday. Just take a moment to consider how awful that is. Anyway, I snuck into a friends flat to shamelessly use their internet and SodaStream, so here are my September favourites!

Let's try and do this in some kind of logical order shall we? Starting with primer, at the beginning of the month I picked up L'Oreal's latest launch, their Skin Perfection Perfect Blur primer and I've used it pretty much everyday since. It's a lot thicker than any primer I've used before, which means it covers any pores, a nasty cut I had on my nose, and any other imperfections you would rather were blurred out of existance. I'm not sure that it really makes my makeup last any longer, but it does give my skin a more perfected look. On top of that, I've been reaching for Bourjois Healthy Mix foundation (not to be confused with the Radiance version) which is so light on your skin you barely feel like you're wearing a base, but with good coverage.

The two newest Chanel products in my stash just had to have a mention, Les Beiges and the Creme Blush in Revelation. Les Beiges gives your makeup some serious staying power, whilst giving that Hourglass powder effect of being airbrushed, whilst the blush is just a beautiful, natural colour, with great wear time.

Two eye products that definitely deserve a mention, the Bobbi Brown Rich Chocolate palette is the only eyeshadow product I've used all month. It contains every shade you could ever need, the colours are gorgeous and the formula is very soft whilst being super pigmented. Worth every penny if you can get your hands on it (I found it in Duty Free). I've only had MAC's Constructivist Paint Pot for two weeks of the month, but it definitely deserves to be included. This is a gorgeous gorgeous cream eyeshadow, if, like me, you are after a darker shadow that can easily be swept across the lid for a smokey winter look, look no further. 

The last makeup item is Urban Decay's Revolution Lipsticks, I have Fiend and Turn On here. These lipsticks are just fantastic, Urban Decay have gotten these spot on. They have great pigmentation, they are creamy to apply but not glossy, and they last longer than any other lipstick I own. I will definitely be picking up a few more of these! (You can even enter my giveaway to win one here.)

One skincare favourite, and it has to be the coveted Trilogy Rosehip Oil, this stuff has done wonders for my skin. It's kept my skin hydrated, but not greasy, it's a lot plumper than it used to be, and if I get any spots it makes them heal and disappear much faster. Definitely worth the pennies.

A haircare favourite that I mentioned in this post. I inherited this off my boyfriends' mum, who didn't get on with it, but I absolutely love it. It's by Tigi and it's their Haute Iron Spray from their Sleek Mystique Collection. I spray this on each layer of my hair as I straighten it, and it leaves my hair glossy, frizzless and protects it from the heat too. The other haircare product I've been loving is the Phillip Kingsley Elasticizer, which has saved my hair.

A random favourite too, my new phone case! It's green and blue dip dye effect, and it's bumpy so it looks like it's wet!  I really like it!

Also, I must put in a special mention for the drink I've discovered and been addicted to this month from Starbucks! It's Hibiscus Blend Tea, and is lovely on a cold autumnal morning.

What have you been loving this month?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win an Urban Decay Lipstick here!

What's On My Face

I seem to have settled into a little bit of a makeup rut routine recently, I'm reaching for the same products pretty much every day at the moment, a lot of newish products to my stash, so I thought, hey, why not share them with you guys.

I tend to start with a primer, partly to disguise those big 'ol pores, and partly because the foundation I've been reaching for doesn't have the greatest lasting time. I've been trying out L'Oreal's Skin Perfection Magic Blur Primer, which does everything I wanted Benefit's The Porefessional to do. It completely smooths out your skin (I've had a cut on my nose this week that has been totally disguised by this) and makes your makeup last all day. It's much thicker than any other primer I've ever used, but it doesn't feel heavy on the skin. Next I go in with my Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation (not to be confused with Healthy Mix Radiance Reveal), which is the latest addition to my foundation wardrobe. It's very light, lighter than the Serum foundation, with fairly sheer coverage. It's quite moisturising and the colour match is perfect for me. A bit of concealer on the undereyes, and any nasties, I'm loving the MAC Mineralize Concealer. On top of this, I go in with my Bourjois Bronzing Primer in the hollows of my cheeks to give me a little definition. This is a super easy product to use for contouring, I just dab my Expert Face Brush from Real Techniques into the product, take off any excess in the lid, and then push the brush up under my cheekbones, and then blend the colour out. The colour of the product is great, it's not orange like it appears, and it's pretty foolproof, and very hard to go over the top with. For blush, I've been using my Chanel Creme Blush in Revelation, which I just love. I take a little bit of this onto my finger, and tap it on to the apples of my cheek, and then use the Expert Face Brush (it's been getting a lot of love recently) to blend it out and up my cheek. You can really build this blush up, it can be a natural flush or a more striking pop of colour for night.

Onto the eyes, and I've been keeping my brows super simple, and just setting them with the Maybelline Brow Drama in Dark Blond (yes I know I'm not blond, but the colour is more like a light natural brown, which is perfect for days when I'm not after a bold brow, just a little definition) which just fills in any sparse areas and keeps them in place for the day. Then it's onto lids, and I've been keeping things really simple, just packing on my MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist, and then blending it out with my Real Techniques fluffy eye brush. I then use a detailer brush to take a little under the eye too, which I find just defines everything a bit more. Slap on whatever mascara I have to hand, this time it was Maybelline The Rocket which I bought a) because it's the closest I'll ever get to something with my name on, and b) because everyone and their dog seems to love this mascara. To be honest I'm not sure about it yet, but I haven't fallen in love at first stroke. We'll see.

I finish it all off with a bit of Soap and Glory's Glow All Out highlighter, which I dust onto my browbones and the top of my cheeks, for a subtle shimmer, and set the t-zone with my beloved Chanel Les Beiges. The only part of the routine that has really changed has been the lipstick, this time it was my Urban Decay Revolution lipstick in Fiend which is my perfect natural lip, but I've also been reaching for my Rimmel Notting Hill Nude and Maybelline Colour Sensational Lipstick in Pink Punch when I want something a bit brighter.

So that's the lowdown! When I write it all down it does seem like a lot of products, but what I'm left with is a natural look with a smoky autumnal eye, that literally takes me about five minutes in the morning.

What products have you been loving recently?

Don't forget to enter my giveaway to win an Urban Decay Lipstick here!