What's On My Face: The Berry Eye

I've been trying to be a bit braver with my makeup, stepping out of my usual comfort zone of champagne eyes and nude lips. The darker shades in my Lorac Pro were just dying to be used, so I've been experimenting, and surprisingly, I quite like this look.

I started with the Soap and Glory One Heck Of A Blot Primer, which is growing on me on a daily basis, before going in with my Charlotte Tilbury Magic Foundation, which I'm still in the process of trying. I used the Estée Lauder Double Wear Brush On Glow BB Highlight under the eyes to add brightness and neutralise any dark shadows. 

I was nervous of using blush with this tone eyeshadow, so I kept things simple and used my Collection Highlight and Sculpt Contour Kit, to carve out cheekbones, give me a little colour and glow. 

I started eyeshadow by taking the shade Cream from the Lorac Pro Palette all over my lid and up to my browbone, before taking Garnet along the lid up to the crease, Sable in the crease for definition, and a little of Espresso on my lashline. I blended this for ages so it wouldn't look to scary, but I actually really liked the finish result, Garnet has just enough brown in it to not look too red. I finished it off with lashings of the Essence Lash Princess False Lash Effect Mascara on my top and bottom lashes, and a coat of the Rimmel The Only One Lipstick in Naughty Nude.

I'm getting braver! Would you brave a berry toned eye?

How I Wear Red Lipstick

Sometimes, a red lip is just necessary. In the interest of full disclosure I should probably tell you I'm a little bit terrified of red lipstick. It's a rare occasion that I slap it on, but when I do I always love it.

My favourite red lipstick is the NARS Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Cruella, a gorgeous deep red that's super matte and long lasting, but not drying at all. This is by far the most long lasting lipstick I own, it never fails to impress.

The trick with red lipstick is figuring out how to make up the rest of your face. I like to keep things pretty basic and tend to go in with a good coverage matte base. I opted for the Jouer Matte Moisture Tint which you guys know I'm currently totally obsessed with. Just because you're after coverage and a matte finish doesn't mean you want to skip out on the glow, so I used the L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer to brighten up my skin before the base, and then the YSL Touche Eclat under my eyes to perk everything up. I find that red lipstick can wash out the skin a little, so whilst you don't want a strong blush colour, a little something something is often required to fix that. My go to is the Benefit Rockateur Blush, and a little of NARS Laguna in the hollows of the cheeks, which adds a bit of colour back to the complexion and definition. I also tend to add a tiny amount of TheBalm Mary Lou Manizer to the tops of my cheekbones to give a little glow.

Eyes are a simple affair, you want lips to be the sole focus. I primed the eyes with the Smashbox Photo Finish Eye Primer, and then went in with the Wet and Wild Walking On Eggshells palette, taking the cream shade across the lid and the brown shade lightly in the crease. Finish off with the Soap and Glory Supercat Liner along the lash line, and lashings of the L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara. A little of the Anastasia DipBrow Pomade to fill in the sparse areas of my brows, but not too much.

And as far as the red lips go, the NARS Pencils aren't the most precise for application, so I take a little lipliner, the Rimmel Exaggerate Liner just to make sure the edges are precise.

How do you wear red lipstick?

What's On My Face: A Simple Spring Look

 Awkward smiling face is awkward. Sorry, best of a bad bunch there.

Right now I'm reaching for products that give a bit more of a subtle look. From about the age of fourteen I could probably count on one hand the number of days where my eyes haven't been rimmed with dark kohl liner, or sporting a smokey eye, I never feel quite right without heavy eye makeup. Recently, however, I've put down the darker shades and have been reaching for something more natural, so I thought I would show you how I created it!

I've been using the L'Oreal Lumi Magique Primer non-stop recently, it's just so, so good. It really brightens the whole face, and makes me look alive! On top of that I used the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua Foundation, which you guys know I love, natural and glowy. I used the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer around my nose and on my chin, and then mixed a little of that with the primer for under my eyes. I love mixing these two at the moment, it's just really counteracts dark circles! I don't normally set this foundation but I just felt like it on this day, so I just took a little of the Rimmel Stay Matte Powder across my t-zone. The MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade has become a staple for setting my under eye concealer, I take it in a big triangle underneath my eyes and that makes a massive difference to how my skin looks, as well as doubling as my day-to-day highlight. 

I haven't been wearing bronzer all that much recently, but when I have I've been taking a little of The Body Shop's Honey Bronzer in 001 on the Real Techniques Blush Brush into the hollows of my cheeks and along my temples. I find this brush doesn't pick up that much product, so it gives a much more natural, subtle look. For cheeks, I'm totally obsessed with the Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso, it's the perfect peach blush, so pretty! I'm seriously impressed with the wear time of this too.

I kept eyes pretty basic and primed them with the Urban Decay Anti Aging Primer Potion. So far I can't really tell a difference between this and the original, but every little helps in the fight against eye wrinkles, right? I then used the Wet and Wild Walking On Eggshells Palette, basically in the way it tells you to. I took the cream shade along my browbone and as an inner corner highlight, the pink champagne shade across my lid, and a tiny bit of the brown shade in the crease. I then decided I wanted to add a tiny bit of definition (old habits die hard) so I took the smallest amount of the Smashbox Eye Liner in Bronze Citrine along the outer corner of my lashes and smudged it in.

I've fallen back in love with my eyelash curlers and have been using them pretty much daily paired with the L'Oreal Volume Million Lash Excess Mascara (yes I realise it's not done up properly, it's bugging me too), which is my current lash love. For brows, I just combed them with a spoolie and then took the pencil end of the Soap And Glory Archery through the sparse areas.

And lastly, I went with a swipe of the Bobbi Brown Sheer Lip Colour in Tutu, a colour that looks fairly bold in the bullet but applies as a sheer peachy nude, that can be built up, as above!

What's your go to Spring look?

What's On My Face: Pink Lips and Eyeliner Flicks

 I decided to mix up my makeup a little the other day, and I really liked the outcome, so I thought I'd share with you the bits I used. I'm not normally one for a bright pink lip, so this lipstick was a bit of a silly purchase, it was the first Chanel lipstick I ever bought and I think I just got a bit delirious at the counter, but I actually really like it!

I started by using the Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation to even out my skin tone, I really like this foundation but I don't think I've ever reviewed it properly on this blog, so I might have to do it properly! Since my skin is pretty good right now, I just used the MAC Mineralize Concealer under my eyes to brighten the area. I have gotten into the habit of setting my under eye concealer with the MAC Mineralize Skin Finish in Lightscapade which I actually love, it really brightens my under eyes and gives me a natural looking glow. For the rest of my makeup, I used the Tarte Amazonian Clay Airbrush Powder to add a little extra coverage and mattify my skin, because I always prefer matte skin with matte lips!

For cheeks I of course used my Body Shop Honey Bronzer to add a little definition to my cheeks, and then the Tarte Amazonian Clay Blush in Doll Face to add a little pink. I really like the combo of these two products, they look super natural but really pretty.

I used the Urban Decay Primer Potion to prep my eyes for eyeshadow, and while that set I dealt with my brows. I actually forgot to include it in the picture, but I used the Anastasia Dip Brow Pomade, which I am totally in love with, it really fills in your brows whilst keeping them natural looking. For eyes, I used the Rimmel Glam Eyes Quad Eyeshadow in Smokey Brown. I used the light cream shade under my brow bone and in my inner eyes, and then the taupe shade all over the lid. I used a very small amount of the darkest shade in the crease, and along my lower lashline. I used my Soap and Glory Supercat Liner as well, just to add a thin line on my upper lashline, that is slightly thicker at the outer corner, not so much winged liner, just with a little flick. If I'm wearing a bright lip you can pretty much guarantee I'll be wearing flicky liner. I polished off the eyes with my favourite mascara, the L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic.

And last but certainly not least, on my lips I wore the Chanel Rouge Allure Velvet in the shade 37, L'Exuberante which I think I have worn maybe twice since I bought it. Like I said I think I got a bit delirious when I bought it, since I never really wear bright lips, and definitely not Pink. But I actually really like this look, and this lipstick is just define, it's matte but really soft, so it's not drying and it doesn't pull on the lips at all. The wear time of this is amazing too, and it doesn't really transfer at all. I really need to wear this more. 

Also, do you like my hair here? I woke up with mental curly hair and I really didn't want to straighten it, so I pinned part of the sides back, and plaited a little section that wouldn't co-operate, and then stuck a few random curls in the strands around my face, but I really like it! I feel like I could wear my hair like this to a wedding. 

Do you wear bright lipstick a lot?

What's On My Face: The Birthday Edition

Happy birthday to me! Today is my 20th Birthday, god I feel old! I don't feel grown up enough to be twenty, I still have to ask my mum how long to cook chicken for... I'm not really doing anything super exciting, it's deadline week so getting time to relax is much more important than a big party. Today my parents are coming up to London to spend the day with me, I'm not really sure what we are going to do, I'm happy to just spend some time with them. Then hopefully my boyfriend and sister will be joining us for dinner, they both have classes during the day! Then I'm planning on greasy burgers and tasty cocktails for Friday night with my friends at Meat Liquor. 

So for today's post I thought I'd show you my current go-to makeup look, which no doubt I will be sporting today. It's pretty simple, a slightly smokey taupe eye, a little pink blush (which the lighting has totally washed out, but I promise is there!) and a nude lip. This is the look I've been wearing pretty much everyday since the beginning of the month!

I started by prepping my skin with the Maybelline Baby Skin Primer, a product I've worn every day since the middle of February. This smooths out the surface of my skin and creates a barrier so the makeup doesn't break me out - pretty important because I've opted to use the MAC Studio Sculpt Foundation, which always breaks me out if I use it alone. I've mixed this with the Laura Mercier Oil Free Tinted Moisturiser, a third of the MAC offering with 2/3s Laura Mercier. This mix works really well for me, the Laura Mercier gives a lovely finish but the MAC bumps up the coverage, they work really well together. I took a little of the NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer on my chin and nose, where I seem to be a bit red at the moment. For my under eyes, I used my ring finger to pat a little of the Illamasqua Under Eye Concealer in 105 in an upside down triangle shape. This is a pinky white concealer that really brightens my undereyes, and counteracts any dark circles. Just to bump up the coverage, I topped it with the Rimmel Match Perfection 2 in 1 Concealer and Highlight, which I also ran under my eyebrows later on. I set my undereye concealer with the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Lightscapade, which stops it from creasing as well as brightening it. 

The lighting has really washed out the colour in my cheeks, but I took The Body Shop Honey Bronzer in 001 underneath my cheekbones and up around my temples to add in some colour, and then the Creme Blush de Chanel in Revelation above that, my go to pink cheek. I also took a tiny amount of the Revlon Photoready Skinlights just along the top of the blush, to add a little glow. 

I then went in with the Urban Decay Original Primer Potion* to prep my eyelids and make my shadow last longer. Whilst that set, I lightly filled in my eyebrows, using the MAC Brow Pencil in Strut, and then set them with the Maybelline Brow Drama, you guys know by now I like my brows to look pretty natural. For eyeshadow, I haven't put down my NARSissist Eyeshadow Palette since I got my mitts on it, and I went for my favourite combination. I covered my lid in Ashes to Ashes (1), then took Bali (2) through the crease. I added a little of Pandora (3) along my lash line just to add definition too, and then ran the Max Factor Kohl Eyeliner in Black along my waterline to really intensify the look. All finished off with lashings of the L'Oreal False Lash Telescopic Mascara, my favourite. 

I finished the whole look off with a slick of Chanel Rouge Coco Shine shade 54 Boy, because if you can't wear a Chanel lipstick on your birthday, when can you?

Would you guys be interested in seeing this sort of thing as a get ready with me style video? Let me know!

What's your go to makeup look at the moment?