reindeer cosplay/makeup ❤

Just because it is Christmas doesn't mean I have to do "normal" makeup! boredom hit me so I became a reindeer and I kinda like the result. As usual I will list all the products used to create this look and if you have any questions please don't hesitate to leave a comment or tweet me.

Products used;

MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC20. Due to the fact I am ghostly pale I used a foundation darker than my normal shade so the highlighted sections look brighter.

MAC Pro Longwear concealer in NC20.

Snazaroo Facepaint in White. I used a slightly damp stippling brush to apply a thin layer of facepaint over my eyes, forhead, bridge of my nose and my chin to create a highlight. If you have a darker skintone that me you can use a lighter concealer in these sections instead of facepaint.

NARS laguna bronzer. I applied the bronzer all over my cheeks kinda like a blush but really heavy and I also applied the bronzer around my temple and a small patch on my chest. 

Illamasqua Eyeshadow in Heroine. I used the eyeshadow to contour my face as usual and to heavily contour my nose.

Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade in soft brown.  I filled in my eyebrows as normal, it was a little tricky to do on top of the facepaint.

NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk. I applied dots on top of the bronzer, you can do as much or as little as you like.

Revolution Amazing Eyeliner in black. I used this to create a simple winged eyeliner with a pointed inner corner, a cute nose and to fill in my top lip.

Flawless base for pale skin ❤

As you all know I am deathly pale, I am whiter than snow and finding foundation, concealer and powder matches has always been hard for me.  I have searched high and low in Superdrug and even gone to every high end counter in Manchester to find my perfect foundation and I think I have finally found the ones for me.

I have combination skin, I have dry spots on my nose and cheek and I do get a little bit oily on occasions on my t-zone.  Despite having dry spots I do like to have a matte foundation, not everyone likes matte foundations but I think it does work best for me.  All products I list may not work for you but the great thing about make-up is that if it doesn't work for you it can just be washed off!

Products I love for my perfect base;

Primers what work for me;

Benefit Porefessional

Revlon PhotoReady 

Maybelline Baby Skin 

Smashbox Photo Finish 

Don't forget before applying primer apply a moisturiser 20-30 minuets prior to help reduce foundation clinging to dry areas.

Concealer;

Collection lasting perfection concealer in Fair 

Illamasqua concealer in 115

MAC pro longwear concealer in NC15 (too dark for me but great coverage)

Contour and Bronzer; 

Collection Bronze Glow in Radiant 2

Illamasqua eye shadow in Heroine 

Foundation;

Revlon PhotoReady in 110 ivory 

Illamasqua Skin base in 02 

These are my holy grail base products, I am always on the lookout to add more items to my list so if you recommend any products for pale skinned ladies please comment them below.

Long lasting make up ♥

Last Friday I went to a good friend’s wedding.  I was also the make-up artist for the bride, mother of the bride and bridesmaid.  That also meant that I had to be ready first and be in a full face of make-up for well over 12 hours. 

Products I used;

Base;

Johnsons daily essentials day cream

Revlon Photo ready perfecting primer

Absolute New York eyeshadow primer

MAC pro long wear concealer in NC15

ELF high definition powder in transparent

Revlon colorstay foundation in 110 ivory

MUA matte effect concealer in fairest

Illamasqua concealer in 115

Collection bronze glow mosaic bronzer in 2

Revolution vivid baked highlighter in golden lights

MAC vanilla pigment

Illamasqua eyeshadow in heroine

Revolution blush palette in hot lights

Brows

Brow bar to go

Elf brow mascara

MUA brow define mascara in fair

Eyes;

Illamasqua gel eyeliner in infinity

Revolution redemption palette in iconic 3

Naked basics; naked 2 and faint

Loreal colour infallible eyeshadow in 016 coconut shake

Lancome hypnose star mascara

Benefit they’re real mascara

GOSH gold glitter eyeliner

Lips;

Nivea pearl and shine lip balm

ELF long wear lip liner in Spice

Whitening lightening lipgloss in Coral Craze 

Here are a few photos of the lovely wedding and myself throughout the night with no make-up touch ups, as you can see my make-up lasted pretty well and it still looked good at the end of the night.  

When you need make-up to last long make sure you use products you know what work for your skin.   Don't try new products on event day or a few days prior to an event as it may cause irritation or not last as long as other products.

Ombre lips tutorial ❤

I have been asked a few times how I do my black and red ombre lips so I thought I would do a little step by step guide in how I do it and what products I used.  

1. cover your lips with your foundation, concealer or lip eraser, this step isn't essential but it may help clean up later on!
2. line your lips with a black lip or eye pencil and add extra black to the corner of my lips
3. apply lipstick straight from the bullet or with a brush and blend the colours together with your lips 
4. clean up is optional! if you want a precise look you can go back with your concealer brush and some concealer and clean up the edges
5. next step is personal choice, I love to add gloss with any ombre look but that is totally up to you.

Products I used;

Jelly Pong Pong 2 in 1 eyeliner & shadow pencil in black

MAC Ruby Woo lipstick 

Gerard Cosmetics lipgloss in Candy Apple

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, let me know if you try it out!

FOTD! #Neutral

I have been wearing a lot of bright lipstick recently so I thought I would try more of a natural look and I love it!  I think I will be wearing this look more often as it compliments my eye and hair colour.

Products used:

• Benefit It's Potent! eye cream
• Nivea Rich Moisturising Day Cream (dry & sensitive)
• Revlon Photoready primer
• Revlon Colorstay in 110
• Illamaqua Neutral Palette (only brown called wolf used)
• MAC all that glitters eyeshadow (applied with a wet brush)
• Illamaqua gel eyeliner 
• Sleek pout paint in Peachy-Keen  
• Benefits they're real!
• Benefit First-class blusher 

Perfect brows in just four steps

Filling in my eyebrows is a must for me, a strong brow is my trademark look.  Filling in your eyebrows defines yours face, makes your make up look complete and it also enhances your eyes. 

"you must never underestimate the power of the eyebrow" – Jack Black

Start off with tamed brows! Try and wax or tweeze your eyebrows often so they keep their shape.  I personally get my brows waxed once every 6-8 weeks and I tweeze them in between to keep the shape. 

If your brows are naturally light dying them will make them stand out a little more.  You can buy home dye kits from Boots and Superdrug, just make sure you follow the instructions correctly so you don't end up with dyed skin.

Items I used;

Spoolie 

Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in 001 dark brown

MAC Eye Shadow in Coquette

MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle

 

1) Outline the outer part of your brows with an eyebrow pencil. 

2) Fill in 3/4 of your brows with either an eye shadow or an eyebrow pencil leaving the inner part of your brows bare.  I use a wet real technique’s brow brush and MAC eye shadow in Coquette.  The wet brush dampens the eye shadow just enough to make it easier to apply and to create a sharp brow without using the concealer method.

3) With a clean angled brush feather out the eye shadow or pencil into the inner part of your brows to reduce the harshness of the line.  If you want your brows to look more natural keep brushing them through with a clean spoolie.

4) Add a highlight on your brow bone!  Highlighting the brow bone creates an illusion and draws light to the areas which creates the appearance of a lifted brow.  I personal favourites are MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Soft and Gentle or MAC eye shadow in Nylon.

How much is my face worth? TAG

So I recently watched Emma Pickles How much is my face worth video and it got me thinking.  How much have I actually spent on make up? So I decided to do the tag! Here is a list of products I used on my day to day natural make up.

Nivea Rich Moisturising Day Cream	£3.99
Maybelline Baby Skin	£7.99
Maybelline Baby Lips in Hydrate	£3.99
Illamasqua Concealer in CC 130	£13.00
Benefit Lemon Aid	£16.50
Illamasqua Light Liquid in LF 140	£27.00
MAC Pro Long Wear Concealer in NC20	£21.50
MAC Mineralize Skin Finish Natural in Medium Deep	£22.00
MAC Studio Fix Powder in NC20	£21.50
NARS Blush in Super Orgasm	£22.50
MUA Colour Blast Eye shadow Tint in Stay	£3.00
Illamasqua Neutral Palette	£34.00
Illamasqua Gel Eye liner in Infinity	£18.00
MAC Eye shadow in Coquette (for brows)	£10.00
MAC Eye shadow in Nylon (brow highlight)	£10.00
MAC Mineralize Skin finish in Soft and Gentle	£22.00

 Total £249.47

I'm really shocked with the total and I have come to realise that I am a make up addict!

I Tag; Brodie, Georgia, Becky & Jodie !! I look forward to seeing your total.

Makeup of the day

I get many questions about what makeup I use when I post selfies on Instagram or Tumblr.  To make things easier for you and me, I've decided to post my makeup of the day.

For this look I used;

• Revlon Photoready Face Perfecting Primer, applied all over the face with clean hands.

• Benefit Lemon Aid, applied with ring finger on the eyelids.

• Chanel Foundation Teint Innocence in 05, applied with a Real Techniques Expert Face Brush.

• Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in light, blended with a Real Techniques Base Shadow Brush. 

• Rimmel Eyebrow Pencil in 001 Dark Brown.

• MAC Eyeshadow in Coquette, for eyebrows.  Applied with a Real Techniques brow Brush.

• MAC Eyeshadow in Nylon, for inner corner and brow bone. Applied with a MAC #239 Brush.

• Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner in Infinity, applied with a MAC #210 Brush.

• Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner in Black.

• Bourjois Volumizer Mascara.

• Rimmel Match Perfection Loose Powder, applied with a Real Techniques Duo-Fiber Face Brush.

• MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Medium Deep, applied with a MAC #168 Brush.

• NARS Orgasm Blush, applied with a Real Techniques Blush Brush.

• MUA Highlighter, applied with a Real Techniques Blush Brush.

• No7 High Shine Lipgloss in Coral Kiss.

2013 Favorites

2013 was a year of new beauty finds.  Most of them are not new to the beauty world but new finds to me.  I still use all my holy grail beauty products, these have just been added to the vast collection.

NARS Super Orgasm blush £21.50*

NARS Super Orgasm is my day to day blusher. Great for the girl on the go, the gold shimmer adds just the right amount of highlight to the cheekbones and the peachy-pink colour adds the perfect flushed look.

Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner in Infinity £18.00*

For many years I religiously bought MAC Blacktrack Fluidline.  However, I hated the fact it dried out so quickly, I never got to finish a full pot before it had dried out and I needed to replace it.  A friend of mine recommended the Illamasqua Precision Gel Liner and I have fallen in love with it. Its best used with a MAC #210 fine liner brush. Lasts all day and night and you will still need to use eye makeup remover.

 Mac eye shadow in Coquette £10.00*

Coquette is my most used eye-shadow of 2013. I use it to fill in my eyebrows and it is the perfect crease colour for my skin tone.  I currently have ginger hair and its the perfect brown to fill in my eyebrows, this paired with the Rimmel eyebrow pencil in brown creates a perfect strong brow.

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Eyeliner in nude £3.99*

This is my secret weapon for tired or hungover eyes.  I used to use white eyeliner in my inner waterline to cancel out the redness but this works so much better and look more natural.  It lasts all day and is easy to apply and very smooth.  I've even used this eyeliner to cover dry acne, the creamy consistency is the perfect base for your concealer on the acne.

 Avon SuperShock Gel Eyeliner Pencil in Black £6.00*

I received the eyeliner in a magazine during 2013 and I fell in love with it as soon as I tested it on my hand.  I have very sensitive eyes and it takes me a while to find the perfect intense eyeliner.  This is the blackest pencil eyeliner I have ever tried and it lasts for 12 hours and I still needed to use eye makeup remover.  This truly is the best eyeliner I have ever used and I will recommend it to anyone. 

 Physicians Formula Organic Wear Jumbo Lash Mascara £12.95*

2013 was the year of mascaras for me, I tried so many and so many failed to live up to my expectations.  For most part of the year I was using Benefit they're real, but I felt like it dried out too quickly and after a few hours wear my eyes would become itchy and sore.  I have seen so many Youtubers rave about Physicians Formula and I finally got my hands on the mascara and It is just like the Benefit, but it doesn't make my eyes sore.  If you are looking for a Benefit dupe this is it. 

 MUA Undress your Skin Highlighting Powder £3.00*

I have never been a fan of highlighters till June this year when I purchased MAC Soft and Gentle.  Ever since then I've used some sort of highlighter daily.  I was looking for a rose gold highlighter and I stumbled across this on Superdrugs website and I had to try it.  This is my go to highlighter, I can guarantee it will go with every makeup look I do, plus it actually makes me look like I have cheekbones.

These are just a few of my favorites of 2013, I do have many more, if any of you are interested please let me know. 

I hope everyone has a good 2014 and let there be lots of new beauty finds.

*All prices were found on the internet 

MAC Retro Matte Lipstick Ruby Woo

Today I will be reviewing one of the bestselling lipsticks from MAC, Ruby Woo £15.00. Every woman should have at least one red lipstick in there makeup collection and this has to be one of my personal favourites.  It is the perfect retro red with a matte finish, the blue undertones help make discoloured teeth look whiter, which is a bonus in my eyes. 

Ruby Woo

Ruby Woo is perfect for all seasons and looks good on most skin tones.  They are many positive aspects of this lipstick but perfection does not exist (sadly).  I personally find the lipstick extremely drying, which also tugs on your lips while applying. 

me wearing Ruby Woo

Pros
• Perfect for any season.
• Matte finish.
• Highly pigmented.
• Long lasting.
• Does not transfer.
• Leaves a nice red tint after fading.

• Perfect for most skin tones.

• Makes discolored teeth look whiter

Cons
• Can be drying.
• The lipstick tends to tug your lips while applying.
• Availability might be a problem

Before applying any matte lipstick I make sure my lips are exfoliated and moisturise to reduce the dryness.  Ruby Woo also looks best when paired with Cherry lipliner also from MAC.