New Lipsticks: Drugstore Brights!

I’ve picked up a few beautiful bright lipsticks recently, and what with the bloody awful weather at the moment and the fact I barely have time for makeup in the morning, I really genuinely feel I needed all of these in my life!

Max Factor Giant Lip Pencil in Vibrant Pink: I haven’t bought a Max Factor product in many a year, but Boots are having one of thier 3-for-2 deals on at the moment and this caught my eye. Having not jumped on any of the pencil bandwagons over the last year or so I can’t say what this is comparable to formula-wise but it manages to be bright as balls and still feel very light and balmy on the lips. Sadly the rest of the range is less exciting in terms of brights, but this one is a winner even though it does stain like a bitch!

Maybelline Colour Sensation Vivid Lipstick in Electric Orange: A present from Wendy who knows my tastes very well! It looks much more yellow based in the tube which worried me initially as strongly yellow based oranges look just awful on me, but it actually wears beautifully and suits me rather nicely. I’ve heard mixed things from other bloggers on the range, but based on this shade alone it gets a thumbs up! Again, the formula is balmy and pigmented which is rather nice.

Rimmel Apocalips in Siren: I’ve been TRYING to purchase the red shade of this for weeks, but everywhere I got it’s sold out, so I picked up Siren, which is more of a pinky-red instead. I think the shade is absolutely gorgeous and the finish is beautiful but there is something about this that makes me not want to scream and shout from the rooftops about it – possibly that every time I’ve worn it it’s ended up all over my face and teeth.

Wet N Wild Centre Stage Collection lipstick in Fuschianista: Another gift from Wendy, only available stateside, this is from Wet n Wild collaboration with Fergie, which to be honest I find a bit of an odd one! I was delighted with this shade as it’s very similar to one from NYC which I loved back in the day. While that shade was a measly £2 it absolutely awful smelling and the lid would not stay on – no colour or saving on price is worth a stained handbag! I’m happy to report this doesn’t smell rank and the lid stays on, thank you and please.

L-R: Max Factor Vivid Pink, Maybelline Electric Orange, Rimmel Siren, Wet n Wild Fuschanista

 

Bought anything bright lately?

Non-boring Neutral LOTD with MUA

A lot of people bemoan neutral colours, saying they’re boring. NON. I quite disagree - no makeup is boring! Having been drooling over some lovely makeup for one of the Tom Ford shows this year in which models wore heavy makeup under their eye, I thought I’d do a look with more emphasis on the lower part of the eye. It doesn’t suit me very well if I do this in a rounded style, so I made the shape a little more ‘Arabic’ and quite liked the results!

 

Eyes: MUA Undress Me Too Palette, MUA Intense Eyeliner in Malt Chocolate, MAC Gesso,
Face: Dr Hart+ Water Infuse BB Cream, Illamasqua Loose Powder, MUA Blusher in Shade 4, MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighter in
Lips: Max Factor Vivid Pink

I’m all out of wispy falsies, and while I think the look could have done with some I didn’t want to take the attention away from the lower lashline. I love this look and I think it could easily be amped up a little more for a night out – it just goes to show neutral doesn’t have to be boring at all.

Also, hurrah for cheap drugstore makeup – I’m not entirely sure what I think about duping palettes so blatantly, but I’m clearly not against it enough to not buy them. The quality of this palette is really lovely and the price is obviously great.

March Favourites!

March has been a rather fab month for me… I’ve been enjoying work, been on lots of fab shoots and been having a rather nice time with Boyfriend. I’ve been so busy I’ve not been wearing much makeup, but I do have a few favourites to share! Feel free to link me to your favourites posts/vlogs!

Clockwise from the top:

 

Dr Jart+ Water Fuse BB Cream: I’m not a big BB cream user or expert, but I really, really like this one. Kathy gave me a sample last year and I fell in love. It’s pricier than a lot of non-counter BB creams on the market at £18, but it’s well worth it and I happened to get a surprise discount at the till so this was actually only £11 or so. It’s got SPF 25 which is fabulous as I’m terrible for not wearing sunscreen, and my dry skin absolutely loves it. It leaves a nice dewy finish and just makes my skin look fresh and healthy. I do need concealer with it for blemishes, and prefer to powder my T-zone but it actually lasts rather well.

Maybelline Color Tattoo in Light In Purple: Holy shit, I love this product. I bought it a couple of weeks ago and have managed to use it on four models so far – I should probably put it away! It’s a lovely blue-lilac duochrome and while it is slightly sheer, it can easily be built up and it’s just the prettiest, prettiest base for blue and purple looks.

MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder: A lot of fuss has been made over this product! The sculpted product is really appealing in the packaging and looks a lot like the MAC Extra Dimension Skin Finishes that were brought out this year and the texture is very, very similar as well. I’ve seen this compared directly to Whisper of Gilt which is absolute madness – W.O.G is a bright gold, this is a pearlescent pink. It looks more champagne online and in the pan, but translates on the skin as pink, not dissimilar to Benefit Highbeam. I love this type of shade and to have it in a powder form for just £3 is great!

Urban Decay Primer Potion in Eden: I was gifted this as it didn’t work for the original owner (thank you, Joey!) and I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve not bought UDPP for a long time after discovering a cheaper alternative that I preferred, but I actually really like how the yellow tone in this dials down the veins on my eyelids and allows me to wear a light wash of colour without having blue veins peeking through.

Makeup Store High Tech Lighter in Stardust: I’ve reviewed this here, so you may as well go check that post out if you’re interested. Great stuff, want more, nuff said.

Le Maq Pro Petite Palette Concealer (Light and Medium tones): Man, these things are freaking awesome. Tiny palettes not much larger than a credit card, filled with all different correcting and concealing cream makeup. They’re about £25 each from PAM, and they are SO worth it. So handy for my makeup kit and everyone is very intrigued by them! I’ll do a full review and swatches for these if anyone would like.

Darling Girl ‘Honey Love’: This is a beautiful pinky-nude lipstick shade, and while it’s not my favourite lip colour ever on myself, it is an absolutely perfect cream blush colour and I’ve been carrying it with me in my makeup bag for ages!

 

L-R: Dr Jarts, UD Eden, Maybelline Light in Purple, MUS Stardust, Darling Girl Honey Love, MUA Highlighter.

What are your current favourites?

In Which I Get Drunk And Forget How To Use A Camera

Look, y’all. Don’t lie, I know you’ve done it too. You do awesome makeup for a night out, or you have a few beverages, and you forget to take a photo of your banging face. As I’ve been a busy bee and it’s been raining like a rainy thing here in the U.K, I’ve no proper blog posts lined up, so have some crappy phone pics of makeup what I done did.

 

Eyes and brows were all Sugarpill, lips are Illamasqua Apocalips.

Eyes are all Inglot with Collection2000 black liner and Kryolan Pearlweiss glitter. Lips are MAC CYY.

I kind of wish I’d taken proper pictures. My contouring for the first look is whack, but the eyes look good. Funnily enough my skin looked boss for the second look even though I jacked up the liner a bit. Ah well!

Lip Maths: S is for ‘Sleek’

I really love the Sleek Eau La La Liners on the lips. They are dry, but some of the colours are so perfect for the lips! Pumpkin in particular gets a lot of use…

Sleek Eau La La Liner in Pumpkin + MAC Impassioned =

I wore this combination by accident when I picked up the ‘wrong’ lipstick a week or so ago and I actually really loved it! I don’t know how to describe the colour – it’s a weird coral-y kind of thing. Somehow Impassioned STILL managed to stain my lips, even through the orange liner! I think this is going to be a great combo for summer!

Makeup Transformation!

There’s been lots of posts flying around with people’s before makeup and after makeup photos this week. I always find before and after photos endlessly fascinating – I know the power of makeup and what it can do to change someone's appearance, so I’m more interested in it as the way people choose to express and present themselves.

I quite often do shoots where people are just meeting and getting together to try new things and network and these shoots sometimes won’t a theme. When I work on somebody else without having a specific brief, it’s up to me to interpret that person and make sure everyone involved is happy with the look. My model for this shoot was very young and fresh-faced, so I wanted to do something fun with a pop of colour but nothing too overwhelming or blocky.

Model, Becca Edwards. Photographer, Amir Dotan. MUA, Robyn Skinner.

This  is the lovely Becca who I’ve had the pleasure of working with a couple of times and she is an absolute doll. The first shot is a no-makeup makeup look– a little blush, a little lipstick mixed with balm, some light foundation and concealer and a little eyeshadow just to help define her lashes. I groomed her brows slightly and added mascara and she was done. The second look is more full on and I didn’t change her skin too much (I added a very light contour and some more base) and did a nude lip, just the eye makeup and false lashes alone really changes her look – I used the Sugarpill Heartbreaker palette to do a simple cut-crease cat eye.

 

1st Photo, Photography by Nicole. 2nd photo, photography by Darren Flynn. Model, Francesca Love. MUA, Robyn Skinner.

These two shots are both the same model as well, and there was a specific brief for each of these shoots. The first one is an older shot from a ‘Creepy Dolls’ themed shoot we did a long time ago now! The second is from a recent shoot we did where I made all the accessories out of paper. The lighting is very different, obviously, and the retouching is different too (different photographers for each shot) but you’d never guess it was the same person.

Obviously the power to transform someone’s look in a photograph doesn’t just come from the MUA – the models, photographers and stylists all play their part – but I always look straight at the makeup in any shot! ;)

I don’t really have a closing point to this post… I just love ‘before’ and ‘afters’ and different looks on the same person!

LOTD: Smokey Brown Eyes and Red Lips

Again I feel I should apologise for not having anything bright, original or exciting! I really need to stop feeling like that because I actually love this type of look. If I’m apologising for anything it’s for the state of my bloody hair, which I haven’t dyed for a while as my scalp is a little sensitive right now – any tips from frequent dyers?!  Anyway, enough of my melon, on to the look!

 

Eyes: Inglot Matte 32, 328. MAC Gesso. Too Faced Night Nymph.
Cheeks: MAC Lightsweep, MAc Buff.
Lips: MAC Such Flare!, Barry M lipliner.

Yep. Smokey deep eyes, red lips. Classic combo, gotta love it! I love how this looked even if the eyeshadow application was a bit dodgy – getting used to a new eye primer, blah blah.

 

What combinations have you been rocking lately?

Pop of Aqua LOTD

I did a really cute smokey blue look with brighter blue liner with my friend last week and being the lazy bint that I am, I wanted to recreate it this weekend.

Eyes: Lid: Inglot Pearl 402. Crease, Inglot Matte 337  Highlight. Inglot Matte 330 and MAC Gesso. Blue liner, dark blue ‘crease’ colours from Wet N Wild 'Blue Had Me At Hello’ palette over Urban Decay pencil in Perversion. Aqua liner, GOSH Fine Art Liner in 11.
Cheeks: MAC Cream Blush in So Sweet, So Easy
Lips: MAC Viva Glam Gaga, MAC Lip Conditioner

I so rarely wear light pink cheeks or lips, but I really like it with the smokier eye.  I actually really like this blush too – before I wished that it were more pigmented, but I actually love the finish and I’m using this type of colour more and more now that I’m contouring with foundation most days. Same kinda deal with the lipstick – I always found VG Gaga very hard to wear personally, but once it’s sheered down I actually really like it, and now I’m wishing I had bought a back up. I can’t believe it was actually my first MAC lipstick!

I thought the pop of blue was really fun, and I was going to wear false lashes but actually, in real life my lashes showed up perfectly fine against the blue liner, so I left it without. Sadly I forgot how much of a pain in the arse the GOSH art liners are to apply - Very pretty, but a total pain in the arse!

Manicure Mondays: Zoya Robyn and L’Oreal Top Confettis

I’d been searching high and low for the new(ish) top coat from L’Oreal and finally found a lonesome one in Boots Westfield. I know it’s not the most unique offering anymore and that tons on indie companies have released similar glitters, but in the UK we’ve not been able to easily purchase anything like it. I love how it looks over the blue crème and I’ll be trying it over some more pastel colours soon!

Feel free to share your current manicures!

My Makeup Book Collection!

Hello all! I recentley filmed a video doing a quick run through of my makeup book collection and thought I'd share with you all. I get asked lots of questions by my friends on what books are useful so hopefully this might help some people!

What are your favourite makeup books/mags?

My YouTube channel is a collab channel with a few other fabulous blogging ladies - we don't have time to have our own channels so we do tags and things together there - check us out!