FOTD - Valentine's!

Hi everyone :)

The other night my university held a Valentine's Ball which was really good fun. I thought I would show you all my makeup.

Face:

- Mac StudioFix Fluid in NC15, Mac Select Cover Up Concealer in NW20, Chanel Loose Powder, Estee Lauder Bronze Goddess Bronzer and Nars Madly Blush.

Eyes:

Mac eyeshadows in All That Glitters, Honey Lust, and Satin Taupe placed in the Crease. Chanel's Sculpting Brow Pencil in Blonde Clair. Lancome Hypnose Drama in Black, L'Oreal Superliner in Carbon Gloss and Urban Decay's 24/7 Liner in Zero.

Lips:

Mac Lipstick in Creme de Nude (rediscovered my love for this!)

Lady Danger

I tend to steer clear of bright colours on the lips, going for nude, peachy-toned hues instead. However, at uni I have absolutely loved Mac's Lady Danger on certain nights out. Red lipstick is actually great for when you want to look fabulous, but don't have much time to get ready. This is because, as your lips are what I like to call 'statement lips,' you don't have to wear much makeup other than the lipstick. I will wear a light blush, and usually no eyeshadow or a very natural one.


In the picture below, I am wearing Mac's Lady Danger with Revlon's Colourstay Lipliner in Red - original name!



More soon xx

Mini Mac & Nars Haul

So a few days ago I went shopping for more sensible things such as clothes or shoes...what did I come away with? Yet more make up! However, I am not being too critical of myself as they were items that I have wanted for a long time, and bought with some birthday money, so my mini haul wasn't too naughty!

^ I picked up Mac's Eye Kohl in Teddy, Nars Single Eyeshadow in Cyprus, and Nars Cream Blush in Penny Lane.

^ Nars Eyeshadow in Cyprus. Cyprus has been described by some bloggers as 'the perfect neutral,' and that's exactly what it is. It is a lovely golden-beige shade that is perfect for the daytime as an all over wash colour, but can easily be paired with a darker crease colour for the nightime.

^ Mac's Eye Kohl in Teddy. A very pretty rich, golden brown shade that will make a softer change from black eyeliner.

^ Nars Cream Blusher in Penny Lane. This is GORGEOUS! It gives a beautiful dewy finish to the skin without making it look greasy. I wore this the other night and it just made my skin look as if it had a bit of a 'glow.'

More soon! xx

My Mac MSF Collection

I know a lot of people find Mac's MSFs, otherwise known as Mineralise Skin Finishes rather confusing and/or intimidating. I thought that by showing you my collection of MSFs, and explaining how I use each one, I might be able to help some people.

Going clockwise...

^ Top Centre - Cheeky Bronze, Sunny By Nature, By Candlelight, Stereo Rose, Soft and Gentle, Porcelain Pink.

^ First up is Summy By Nature. This works really well as a bronzer as it is one of the few matte MSFs, and is the only matte MSF I own. I tend to use this at night, when I don't want shimmer in my bronzer for the sake of photographs...and flash photography!

^ This is Porcelain Pink. This is definitely one of the prettiest MSFs out there, in my opinion. This works as a lovely blush colour on my fair skin.

^ This is By Candlelight, recently repromoted in the In the Groove collection. I use this MSF to highlight the cheekbones and as a brow highlight. A little goes a long way with this MSF, though!

^ Cheeky Bronze. A gorgeous bronze colour with incredible veining! I tend to use this one to contour the hollows of my cheekbones as it is too dark to use on my skintone as a blush, and too shimmery for a bronzer.

^ The famous Stereo Rose. Does it live up to the hype? I don't know. All I do know is that it gives a nice flush of coral to the cheeks and will be used by me as a blush!

^ Last but not least, this is Soft and Gentle. Fairly similar to By Candlelight, only this has more of a beige-gold undertone, whilst there is more of a pink hue to By Candlelight. This is also used as a highlighter.
More soon :) xx

A Few Buys & Ramble

Hello again everyone! I have really been enjoying the weather in London. On Saturday and yesterday it reached 32 degrees Celcius, which might not sound that hot, but in England it gets very humid! I have been adapting my makeup to suit the weather - I tend to wear full face makeup, so foundation, blusher and bronzer, but now little or no eyeshadow and brighter lipsticks.

A few days ago I was in London, shopping, when I stopped by the Mac counter in Harrods. I just picked up two things - Stereo Rose from the In the Groove collection and the Lady Gaga Viva Glam lipstick.

^ Stereo Rose - such a GORGEOUS shade and I really think I will get lots of use out of this MSF as it can easily be used as a blusher

^ Finally got my hands on this wonderful shade - a toned down, less cool version of Saint Germain, which I love!

More soon xx

My Go-To Products

Hi everyone :) I thought I would do a quick post today about my go-to products after I saw a number of beauty bloggers and youtube gurus do it. Just to clarify - these products are not necessarily my favourite products (although a number of them are!) - they are the products I reach for most often.

^ The lipsticks. From L-R, YSL Rouge Volupte in No1 Nude Beige, Mac's Snob, Mac's Creme de Nude and Mac's Hue. The YSL lipstick is a pinky-nude, and the colour and finish are absolutely beautiful. Snob is an amazing blue/lilac-toned bubblegum pink which I wear an awful lot. Creme de Nude is a very flattering nude, and Hue is another pinky-nude which is lovely and sheer.

I do love more 'fun' lipsticks such as YSL's Rouge Volupte in No7 Lingerie Pink or Mac's Saint Germain, but those colours are more difficult to wear, so these are my most used lipsticks. Now onto my 'Go-To' blushers...

^ Mac Well Dressed. This is a very light baby pink, which gives a lovely light pink hue.

^ Illamasqua's Katie. Very similar to Well Dressed - another baby pink, perhaps slightly more blue toned.

^ Nars Bronzer in Laguna. This is the perfect bronzer for my pale skin. Unlike a lot of bronzers on the market, this bronzer is bronze and not orange!

^ Mac Studio Fix Fluid Foundation in NC15 and Mac MSF Natural in Light - these two products are the real stalwarts of my collection. I have oily, blemish-prone skin and the Studio Fix foundation provides me with great coverage, leaving me much more confident about my skin. The MSF Natural is a great finishing powder, but unfortunately on me it doesn't photograph well, so that is my only gripe.

^ Mac's Studio Finish Concealer in NC15 and Select Cover Up Concealer in NW20. The Studio Finish concealer is great for covering up blemishes and discolouration on the face, and I love to use the warmer shade of the Select Cover Up to conceal my under eye circles!

^ Mac's Paint Pot in Painterly. This is the perfect base for any eyeshadow, and it also does a great job at concealing any veinage in the eye area! I reach for this every single day.

That's it, thanks for reading! xx

A Bit of Concealer ;)

Not a pretty post today, I'm afraid! This is what happens when you keep your concealer for too long:

The nice, new concealer that I rushed out to get on Friday is on the left, the horrible one is on the right (as if that needed pointing out!)

I couldn't work out why the colour had gone off and why the consistency was slightly strange - it was only when I paid a closer look at the packaging that I noticed that it should be tossed within six months - mine was nine months old! Eeeek! Let that be a lesson to you ladies, DO pay attention to use by dates for your basics, ie mascara, concealer, foundation etc

I also picked up a concealer brush on Friday:

The Mac 195 brush will be perfect for applying under eye concealer and applying cover up for blemishes :) xx

FOTD

On Friday I went to a bar in London to celebrate my friend's 18th birthday. I wanted to show you what I wore makeup-wise, though you can also see the top I wore, which I paired with jeans and heels!

My face is a bit shiny here, which I don't really like! haha

Face:

Mac Studio Fix Fluid in NC15

Bobbi Brown Face Touch Up Stick in Porcelain

Mac Select Cover Up in NW20

Nars Laguna Bronzer

Benefit One Hot Minute powder

Nars Deep Throat Blush

Dior Amber Diamond Shimmer Powder

Eyes:

Lancome Hypnose Mascara

Lancome Artliner in Black

Mac Paint Pot in Rubenesque

Mac Eyeshadow in Naked Lunch on lid

Nars Eyeshadow in Lola Lola in crease

Lips:

Mac Fleshpot Lipstick

YSL Rouge Pur Shine Lipstick in Frozen Mango

That's it! More soon xx

Mac Eyeshadow Palette

I am sorry that I have been so useless with blogging lately. I am working towards my A Levels and the work is just piling up!

Anyway, I wanted to show you my Mac neutrals palette which is gradually being filled up!

Top Row L-R: Yoghurt, Crystal Avalanche, Vanilla, Gesso, Shroom,

Second Row L-R: Naked Lunch, Ricepaper, Phloof, Brule

I am really loving using all these colours in the Spring months. I find that in the Spring I move to brighter and bolder lip colours, so I need a neutral eye to carry the look off with my fair skin and hair!

What are your favourite Mac neutral shades? Let me know if you would like me to show you my Mac palettes - I have three other eyeshadow ones and one blush palette. More soon xx

Organisation and Storage

Hello everyone! I am back from the residential charity camp week that I mentioned in my previous post. I can quite honestly say that it was the best week of my life so far.

Today I decided to show you my make up organisation and storage :)

^ This W H Smith set of drawers is where I store all my makeup

^ This is where I keep my brushes and Mac Palettes. I have five palettes - four eyeshadow palettes and one blush palette, although they are not all filled.

^ These are the top three drawers of the W H Smith set. The far left drawer contains a few eyeshadow palettes, the centre drawer contains Mac and Barry M pigments and Mac paintpots and the drawer on the right contains a mish-mash of eyeliners, mascaras, lipliners, eyebrow pencils etc etc. I also keep a few loose eyeshadows in a box on top of the set of drawers which you can see in the first photo.

^ My 'Lip drawer.' In here I keep my lipsticks, balms and glosses.

^ This is the drawer in which I keep my face powders, foundations and concealers.

^ Finally this is the drawer in which I keep my blushers, bronzers and highlighters.

I hope you enjoyed this post. I appreciate that this might seem like a lot of makeup, but recently I have been buying less and using more.

I will be posting again soon! xx

Mac Give Me Liberty of London

Yesterday I also went to Mac to have a peek at the Give Me Liberty of London collection. Needless to say, it did not blow me away. I debated over whether to purchase a beauty powder, but in the end I only bought one lipstick - in the shade Blooming Lovely.

I missed out on getting Lavender Whip and the Hello Kitty lilac lipsticks, as I was not collecting Mac back then, so was thrilled to be able to get my hands on this shade! It is a very flattering dark lilac/lavender hue, and in my favourite finish - Amplified Creme, so I had to get it! xx

Mac Cream Colour Bases

So, I have been lusting after the Mac Cream Colour Bases for quite some time, and yesterday I finally decided that it was time to invest in my first two! The two shades I bought are Pearl and Hush.

^ Pearl is on the left, Hush is on the right.

Mac describes Pearl as a 'soft pale gold with an icy shimmer' - and that is a fairly accurate description. Do not be put off by the 'white' in the shade, as when applied to the skin it simply leaves a pearly gold sheen.

Hush is referred to as a 'soft pale peach with an icy shimmer' - I think Mac could have done a bit better than describe them all in exactly the same way! Hush is, however, a lovely light peach , and a shade which can be used for such a variety of things. You can use it as a blush, highlight and eyeshadow primer. The possibilities are endless!

If you have CCBs, do check whether you are able to apply them on the eyes/lips as some of the CCBs are not reccommended for use in those areas.

More soon! xx

Mac Too Fabulous and Spring Colour Forecast

Hello everyone! Yesterday I went to Oxford Street in search of Ripe Peach Blush Ombre, Azalea Blossom Blush Ombre and Rhapsody In Two Mineralise Blush. Unfortunately, as I suspected, both Mac stores I visited had sold out of Ripe Peach. I did, however, still pick up the other two products!

^ Azalea Blossom & Rhapsody in Two

^ Azalea Blossom (from the Spring Colour Forecast collection) is absolutely gorgeous. It fades from a baby pink at the top ( which is similar to Well Dressed blush) to a light lilac, and then finally to a violet colour. It is such a beautiful product, and very unusual. I think that the best way to apply this product is simply to press your brush into the powder lightly 2-3 times, and then apply straight onto the apples of the cheeks/wherever you want to apply the blush.

^ Mineralise Blush in Rhapsody in Two - beautiful golden yellow colour mixed with a peachy pink. I know this has been one of the most popular buys from the Too Fabulous collection and I can see why. You can apply these colours separately, but when mixed it creates a lovely champagne pink colour. Highly recommended! xx

February Favourites

A little late, but better late than never! I have been steering more towards the pinks this month, perhaps it is in my desperation for Spring to hurry up! As I write this, sun is pouring through the windows, so perhaps my efforts have helped...

^ My favourite lipsticks of the month - (L-R) Illamasqua Liv, Fable and YSL's Rouge Volupte in No7, Lingerie Pink. All rather similar and I have previously talked about all of them, so will only briefly refer to them now. Liv is a lovely matte, lilac/blue toned pink, Fable is a gorgeous rosey pink, and the famous Lingerie Pink is yet another bubblegum, blue-toned pink.

^ Benefit High Beam. I really don't use this enough. Such a pretty pink highlighter with a subtle silver sheen.

^ The face/cheek products I have been using a lot (L-R) : Mac Studio Fix Powder in NC15, Mac Mineralised Skin Finish in Porcelain Pink and Nars Blushers in Deep Throat and Madly.

I have been very busy this month, in particular preparing for a music event in order to raise money for charity. With so many rehearsals, I didn't have time to apply liquid foundation, so just used this powder instead. Studio Fix powder is great because it is quick to apply, yet still provides good coverage. I have been using Nars Deep Throat on the apples of my cheeks and Madly to contour - a quick, simple routine which I really like.

More soon xx

Shameless Posing - FOTD

Today I met up with my friend to go shopping in London - Kings Road to be precise! We did a bit of shopping and I bought a gorgeous pink blazer from Zara which I intend to post about at the weekend when I can photograph it in daylight.

I am wearing..

Eyes:

Lancome Hynose Mascara
Lancome Artliner in Black

Face:

Mac SFF in NC15

Mac MSF Natural in Light

Mac Studio Finish Concealer in NC15

Mac Select Cover Up Concealer in NW20

Nars Blush in Deep Throat (applied to the apples)

Nars Blush in Madly (to contour)

Nars Laguna Bronzer

Lips:

YSL Rouge Volupte in No1 - Nude Beige (a new buy!)

I apologise that this is such a simple look, but I had applied it all in a rush, hence the no eyeshadow! Hope you are all well, and I will be posting again very soon :) xx

My Mac Pigment Collection

Before 2010, I didn't own any Mac pigments. I had tried and used them on many occasions, but never bought one as I could never see myself using up a whole jar of pigment. However, when they brought out the smaller containers, I thought that I might finally be able to use them! I have an aunt in the US who kindly offered to send me these as they are cheaper over there - we are ripped off by Mac in the UK! I did of course reimburse her :)

This is my current pigment collection. From L-R: Kitschmas, Tan, Melon, Silver Fog and Violet.

^ Kitschmas - a 'Light airy shimmering pink/mauve pearl' and a lovely shade. Very versatile as it goes with a lot of different colours. I like putting this on top of Mac's 'Beautiful Iris' shadow to make it a little more interesting.

^ Melon - 'Soft bright golden peach' - this reminds me a lot of Rubenesque paintpot. A beautiful peachy-bronze colour.

^
Silver Fog - a 'Platinum silver' - this is a Pro shade which means that it is only available at Mac Pro stores or if you order it online/over the phone. I struggle with silver as with my fair complexion and blue eyes I often think it isn't the colour for me, but this is actually an incredibly flattering hue.

^ Tan. Tan is a 'Muted bronzed pinky brown.' It is such a gorgeous shade of brown. Tan and Melon go very well together and I have created a few looks with these two. Tan is a very safe colour - by that I don't mean that it is a boring colour, but that you can't really go wrong with it. Love it!

^ Violet. A 'Vivid bright violet-purple.' Now, in my opinion, this is not violet at all. I would definitely term this as a purple and quite a dark purple at that. It is, however, such a pretty shade! It adds that extra something to a purple smokey eye.

So that is it. I love the Mac pigments - they are of exceptional quality. Nevertheless, they are £15 in the UK, which is rather expensive (this is why I seek my kind Aunt's help!) If you are looking for something similar for a lower price, I would always go for Barry M's Dazzle Dusts :) xx