Au Natural

 

So the other day I fancied doing something a little different with my make-up. I was feeling really lazy and my eyes were sore from severe lack of sleep and I didn't think they could cope with the full eye make-up works!

I decided to try out a very bare, almost not there look, using just mascara, foundation and highlighter and a simple nude lip. I was going to be out all day so I still wanted the make-up to look good just not too obvious and my poor eyes needed a bit of a rest from eye shadow and eyeliner.

Thus, this look was created! After cleansing and moisturising, I applied my Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturiser in shade Bisque. This gives a nice even coverage and contains SPF so it is perfect if you are out in the sun all day.

Next a applied my MAC Mineralise Foundation and buffed it in with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. The brush ensures an even base and the foundation gives a pretty dewy effect.

Next I used a tiny bit of bronzer. I opted for my Benefit Sugarbomb and swept it under my cheekbones and up to my forehead to give my face a bit of contouring. I used my new Real Techniques Powder Brush for this.

I then dabbed a touch of highlighter on the apples of my cheeks, for this I used a Barbara Daly for Tesco highlighter called Soft Focus.

For my eyes I just loaded them up with my Dior Black Out Mascara. I used this on my top and bottom lashes.

A swipe of Rimmel London's Notting Hill Nude on my lips and the look was complete. Ta da!

What do you think of this look? A nice change or too nude? I quite liked it but it'll take me a while to get used to doing so little to my eyes! Enjoy x

My "Go To" Smoky Eye

Since having my little man, I've had to device a quick and simple, yet still pretty, look, which I can wear everyday (weekdays mind you...on the weekends when hubby can take over for a bit and I have more time, I get a bit more creative).

So I came up with a subtle smoky eye using brown shades and a gentle glowing look. I have to admit, since using Bioderma and Pixi's Glow Tonic (check out the review here) my skin has looked far better, making it look more refreshed and glowing after each use.

The products I chose to create the look are: Maybelline The Rocket mascara, MAC Mineral SPF Foundation, Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer, Benefit Sugarbomb bronzer, Benefit Hervana blusher, Collection Work The Colour Eyeshadow Pencil, Maybelline Master Drama Kohl Liner and my Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman Expert Face brush.

After cleansing and moisturising with Bioderma, Pixi Glow Tonic and Steam Cream, I apply the Pixi Flawless Beauty Primer with my fingers (I picked up a sample of this but will be purchasing it ASAP!) which gives your skin a really pretty dewy glow.

Once primed, I take my MAC foundation and apply it with my fingers before blending it into my skin with my Real Techniques Expert Face Brush, making sure it's blended perfectly into my skin. This foundation leaves a lovely, light coverage and maintains the dewy look.

To give my face a bit more colour, I apply the Sugarbomb bronzer just under my cheekbones (quick tip: roll your brush down your cheek until you feel your cheekbone for the best place to apply) with an E.L.F. brush. This makes your cheekbones pop and gives a nice contoured look.

Then I use the Hervana blush on the apples of my cheeks to add a pop of colour and highlight. Once both bronzer and brush are applied, I use the same brush to gently buff them together to it looks natural. You are then left with a subtle yet defined look.

Onto the eyes. Using the Collection Eyeshadow Pencil, I draw on colour all over my eye lids then using an eyeshadow brush, I gently blend the colour into the sockets and up to the eyebrow, creating more depth at the outer corners and in the sockets.

Using my Maybelline Master Drama Kohl liner I draw carefully over the lash line. This kohl is super soft and blends beautifully. Once drawn on, I gently buff the black kohl so the line is not so intense but creates a gorgeous smoky look, without being too dramatic.

I then take the Rocket mascara and apply to both the top and bottom lashes and with the same brush I used to buff the kohl and eyeshadow into the top lids, I gently buff the bottom lid to give just a touch of the colour and add a tiny bit more definition to the final look.

And there you have it. An easy very wearable smoky eye, which lasts all day and can be made more evening appropriate by simply adding a touch more kohl to the bottom and top lids.

I haven't applied a lip colour yet, as that totally depends on where you are going. For daytime, I use a Benefit crème lipstick, which lasts well and leaves enough colour and sheen to look natural yet gives a bit of a statement.

What do you think of this overall look? Do you have a "go to" look, which you use frequently? Enjoy x

Benefit World Famous Neutrals

Benefit World Famous Neutrals

I've been a bit under the weather recently, so my mum, being the oh so generous mum that she is, bought me a little treat from my favourite make-up haunt, Benefit, to cheer me up...and did it ever!

Benefit launched their World Famous Neutrals kit a little while ago, and I have wanted to try it out ever since, but have never got round to buying it...I always feel a bit naughty when I buy Benefit goodies for myself, I usually save them for birthday and Christmas present wish lists, as the price points are slightly on the high side.

Anyway, back to the product.

The packaging is Benefit at its best - kitsch, cute, stylish and gorgeous, with a beautiful illustration of "Eyenessa" on the front. The sweet little box opens up to reveal a set of 4 pressed eye shadows and 2 cream eye shadows, all in stunning neutral shades, ranging from barely there nude to a deeper natural brown.

"Birthday Suit" is the first cream shadow. It's a slightly nutty brown with almost a hint of plum. It glides on easily and leaves a gorgeous crease free finish. I haven't tried out the longevity of the cream shadows yet, but I have in the past and they all last well, better if you apply a primer first.

"My Two Cents" is the second cream shadow and is a more bronzy shade. Again, it has a lovely creamy consistency and glides on well.

The 4 pressed shadows are "Call My Bluff," a barely there nude, which leaves just a glimmer of natural colour, "It's Complicated," a soft pinky bronze, "Gilt-y Pleasure," a natural, subtle gold and "Kiss Me, I'm Tipsy," a beautiful plummy brown.

The kit also includes a mirror for on the go touch ups and a fold out "Tips and Tricks" guide for ideas on how to create gorgeous day and night looks.

I really love this kit, it incorporates all the things I love about Benefit, with my favourite shades of eye shadows. The best thing, these colours suit pretty much every skin colour, so it's a great treat for you or will make a fab gift.

Have you tried out this sweet little kit? What are you thoughts on Benefit make up? Enjoy x

Christmas Nails

I've got a whole weekend of Christmassy fun planned, including hosting my annual Christmas Eve, Eve, Eve party (weird name, long story). So, I figured to save time on the weekend, when I will be mulling wine and make my delicious (if I do say so myself) hot apple cinnamon...yum...that I would do my nails now.

Hopefully they'll last me to Christmas day - if I have to touch up then so be it! I was puzzling over what to do, but as I have come into some new nail varnish additions to my collection recently, I thought I would use a few different ones to create a simple yet festive look.

Gold and red, sparkles and gems...perfect!

I used a combination of brands, including Rimmel, Maybelline, Nails Inc and new obsession, Nail Art (most exciting nail brand I've used in ages) to achieve the finished look. I didn't want to go too OTT, but I wanted them to have that pretty festive look.

So, here is what I did and what I used step by step. Are you going to do anything special with your nails for Christmas? Do you like playing around with a bit of nail art? Enjoy x

 

From left to right, I used: Maybelline Forever Strong Pro in The Winner Takes it All, Nails Inc in Covent Garden Market, Nails Inc in Fleet Street, Rimmel Lycra Pro in Pink Amazon and Nail Art 3 in 1 kit using the gold shade.

Rimmel Lycra Pro in Pink Amazon

Maybelline Forever Strong Pro in The Winner Takes it All

Nails In in Covent Garden Market and Fleet Street (from the Stylist set)

Nail Art 3 in 1 pen (dotting tool for decorating, nail varnish and gems for decorating)

 

Step 1) After using my Essie bottom coat, I painted two coats of the Rimmel Pink Amazon shade on all my nails, apart from the third nail.

 

Step 2) I painted my third nail with two coats of the Maybelline The Winner Takes it All.

 

Step 3) Once the two shades dried completely I then used the Nails Inc Covent Garden Market (the red glitter) on the Rimmel shade and Fleet Street (the gold glitter) on the Maybelline shade. This gives them a gorgeous sparkly finish!

 

Step 4) Using the Nail Art 3 in 1 pen, I dotted little gold dots on the red nails and used the sweet little gems from the kit to decorate the gold nails.

 

Step 5) Once the nails are completely dry, I used my Essie top coat to finish the nails off and create the glossy finish. And there you have it...sparkly, festive Christmas nails.

 

 

 

Gorgeous Gift Ideas #1

It's getting very close to that time of year! The festive spirit is well and truly in the air, and what better way to get you all in the mood than to do a little round up of some gorgeous gift ideas for Christmas, Chanukah, whatever!

I have very kindly been sent an assortment of fabulous fashion and beauty products to review for this post, and I have selected my absolute faves to create a gift list idea for you. I loved some of the products so much, I'm going to do a couple of separate posts dedicated just to them, in a bit more detail, but for now, I hope you enjoy my round up.

P.S. I'm going to try and film a video for this as well, but my webcam seems to have become poorly, so hopefully I'll get that sorted and then post the vid here and on my youtube channel. Enjoy! x



Mad Beauty is a great little beauty find. Specialising in affordable beauty and make up treats, they are a great place to go to for fun stocking fillers and secret santa presents. I was sent three gorgeous items to try out; one bath product and two make up products.

All three Made Beauty products

Mad Beauty Make Up organiser front view £6.99

Mad Beauty Make Up organiser inside view £6.99

 

 

The two make up products are actually "make up organisers," a sweet way name for a make up palette. The first organiser (pictured above) contains 18 eyeshadows, an eye shadow brush, blusher, face powder and a mirror, all tucked away in a cute hand held organiser. It's the perfect size for popping in your handbag and for touching up throughout the day, and the eyeshadow colours range from soft neutrals to more vibrant shades. At just £6.99, it's definitely worth picking up a few of these this Christmas!

Mad Beauty Vitali Tea £4.99

 

Mmm...I love this. It looks like a tin of fancy tea, and is called "Vitali Tea" clever eh? For £4.99 this sweet tin contains fragrance tea bath salts - this particular fragrance is ginseng and it smells divine. You simply open the tin and scatter a handful of the salts into your bath for a delicious smelling soak, and they apparently leave your skin super soft...hmmm...I'll be trying this out tonight then!

 

Mad Beauty Make Up organiser front view £5.99

 

Mad Beauty Make Up organiser inside view £5.99

 

The second make up organiser comes complete in a pink diamanté finish. A cute gift for a girly girl, this little organiser snaps open to reveal 12 shimmering pressed eyeshadows in neutral and vibrant shades, an eye shadow brush and a handy mirror. Retailing at £5.99.

 

 

 



 

Frontcover is a brand, which is fairly well known and is becoming more and more of a cult beauty brand as the years go on. I've been a big fan of the brand for quite some time, and even found myself quoted on one of their Christmas gift boxes last year (I was very excited about that!).

This year, Frontcover have come up with two real gems and I was fortunate enough to be sent a sample of both of them. I always get really excited when I see their packaging, as they always look like high end magazine covers. The boxes open to reveal a gorgeous selection of beauty goodies, plus tutorials to get whichever look the sets are looking to replicate. Below are the two products - one is called True Colours (£25) and is a fabulous make up and nail varnish set, complete with make up brushes and the other is called Dark Arts (£25) and is an amazing nail art kit.

Dark Arts and True Colours

Dark Arts front view

Dark Arts inside view

Dark Arts is a gorgeous gift for any nail varnish or nail art lover. The set contains: 4 nail varnishes (black, red, orange, gold), 1 top coat, 3 strips of bespoke printed nail stickers, a dotting tool, a striping brush, holographic diamond glitter and metallic gold squares for decoration, scissors, mini tweezers, a nail file and nail glue. It basically includes everything you need to get really creative with your nails and I think it is an absolute steal for just £25.

Nail art is so huge right now (in fact, I have another nail art set below) and I love how Frontcover shows you how to create all their looks. I might not actually be able to give this one away as a gift!

True Colours front view

 

True Colours inside view

 

True Colours close up

 

The True Colours kit contains "a modern romantic concoction of sheer, shimmery and natural colours that emulate transparency and see through fabrics found in almost every collection this season..." This is such a catwalk worthy make up kit, and the colours are truly gorgeous - a selection of lilacs, warm peaches and soft greys. Inside, you'll find: 6 domed baked powder eyeshadows, 5 satin pressed eye shadows, 5 lip glosses, 1 nail polish, 1 nail glaze, 1 double ended mascara, 1 eye shader brush, 1 blending brush, 1 retractable lip brush. Again, an amazing amount for just £25 and the perfect gift for someone who likes to have fun with their makeup.

The eyeshadow colours are right up my street and will suit pretty much any skin tone. Once again, I might have to keep this little baby all to myself! Whoops!

For more on Frontcover, check out their website: www.frontcovercosmetics.com

Vaseline Mini Make Up Bag £5.99

 



This Vaseline kit will make a really sweet stocking filler, or Secret Santa present. Who doesn't love Vaseline, and at this time of year, when chapped lips and hands are all too familiar, this really is a must-have for everyone! The cute, retro inspired zip up bag comes with two cult Vaseline products - the "Rosy Lips" rose and almond oil lip therapy tin and a divine hand cream for healthy hands and strong nails. Perfect for popping in your bag, grab this little life saver for your nearest and dearest.



 

 



Now, I don't know if you're a fan of the Apprentice, but last year, the finalist Susan Ma made a really big impact, and she has been pushing her beauty and skincare range, Tropic, ever since. I was sent a couple of her latest products, and they are actually really nice. One is a firming nourishing cream and the other is an all purpose organic luxury oil.

Click here for more info on Tropic.

The two Tropic products

Tropic Organic Luxury Oil RRP £25

 

The Organic Luxury Oil smells amazing - it's called "exotic and floral" and it really reminds me of that gorgeous smell when you arrive in a exotic location on holiday. It actually solidifies in cooler temperatures, and considering the temperature at the moment, mine was solid when it arrived. However, you just place it in a bowl of warm water and it returns to a liquid state again. You can use this oil all over as a body moisturiser or massage oil or even apply it to the ends of your hair as a deep conditioner. The oils featured are coconut oil, rosehip oil jojoba oil and macadamia oil, so it is a really lovely, natural product and the bottle is so pretty, this would make the perfect indulgant present. 

 

Skin Revive Firming Cream by Tropic £16

This lovely cream isn't perhaps the best present, but it is a lovely treat to give yourself! It's a concentrated face cream containing lots of vitamins, antioxidents and plan actives, which apparently leaves your skin soft, supple and nauturally glowing. I have to admit, it smells beautiful and I'm going to do what it says on the tin (bottle, whatever) and apply it twice a day - especially at the moment with the freezing weather, our poor skin needs all the help it can get! I will report back with my verdict, but it's looking good so far!




Now, how about these for a super special, sparkly present? These stunning tights by Aristoc don't quite break the bank at £35, but you might be thinking, £35 for a pair of tights?! Yes, it does sound a lot, but when you take into account that the back seam is adorned with sparkling Swarovski crystals, you might understand why. They are also super soft and feel like a dream to to put on. They are perfect for any party princesses you might be buying for this Christmas, and will solve the problem of making tights look gorgeous for an evening do. Available from: http://www.prettypolly.co.uk/

Aristoc Jewelled Backseam Tights £35

Aristoc Jewelled Backseam Tights detail view £35

 

 

 

Finally, we have a brand, which I have just been introduced to but am already seriously in love with. So much so, that I will be dedicating a whole blog post to the brand and a selection of its products very soon, so make sure you keep an eye out. This is my second nail art present idea, but, as I said before, the nail art craze is so huge now, a selection of products is definitely needed! The brand this time is, funnily enough, called; Nail Art, and this gorgeous gift idea is called "The Party Pack."

This fun gift set is the ultimate one-stop-shop for all nail art lovers. Featuring three sparkly nail art pens (which can also be used as nail varnish), a wheel packed with all kinds of fun and fabulous gems and sparklu bits (over 500 art embellishments to be specific!) and a glitter encrusted emery board for prepping. Available at River Island, this nail art lovers kit is a must-have and at under a tenner (£9.95) this is a secret santa gift you'll want to keep all to yourself.

Disclaimer: I was sent these products to review but all views are my own and I was not paid to write this post