More of my favourite things...

I haven't updated here in ages as I always seem to know what I want to write about but struggle to actually word it! I guess practise makes perfect so I should make the effort more often. Especially now I have the app on my phone.

Anyway I thought I would ease myself back in with a straight forward post about some of my prized possessions in my makeup

Firstly, I adore my three Urban decay palates; naked, naked 2 and smoked. I recently invested in naked as it contained two of my favourite shades, virgin and half baked as well as many other beautiful shades like sin and side car. There are some fab YouTube tutorials on using this and the other two palates! 

Secondly in this picture, you will see my MAC studio sculpt foundations in 4 shades which I tend to use on clients as they can be mixed to achieve an ideal shade (hint McDonald's stirrers are great mixers and the white paper cups which sauce can be dispensed into make great mixing containers). These foundations give a medium to full coverage while still feeling light.

However, my personal favourite foundation is Estée Lauder double wear . It gives me enough coverage to tone down my freckles without making my skin look too flat. Eventually I will buy more shades to use on clients as I build up my business as I think it is better for maturer skin than the MAC studio sculpt.

In this picture here I must firstly give a special mention to my favourite gel polish of the moment... flower blossom by NSI polish pro. It's such a pretty pink girlie colour which complements any outfit.

Now onto the brushes. I did done research reading other blogs in search of good dupes for MAC brushes with a lower price tag. These four, I feel, do a perfect job. From left to right they are... A wide, flat brush by GOSH which is great for packing shadow onto the lid, a chubby fluffier shading brush by crown which is also great for applying base colour to the lid but also for blending too as it's thicker and fluffier than the GOSH. Next there is a bullet shaped brush by crown which is great for adding detail to the socket line and creating a smokey eye. The final brush by GOSH does a similar job but with a softer effect as it us a fuller, fluffier brush.

Ok so that was my first post in ages... It wasn't actually too bad once I got into it!

Xxx

Some recent additions to the makeup kit

Last weekend I nipped to Liverpool, my main mission being to gain some foundation samples to use in my makeup kit.
I firstly went into the MAC store in the Met Quarter. Despite it being very busy in there, the staff were very helpful. I explained that I was looking to invest in foundations for my makeup kit but would firstly like to try some samples in a range of colours before I decided what to go for.
I was made up to be given four little pots of MAC Studio Sculpt which apparently gives medium build-able to high coverage.

I have not yet used this product out on myself but have applied it on my sister as she was my model at college this week and two ladies who I did a wedding makeup trial for. I must say, I was impressed with its level of coverage. It gave a lovely flawless look and my models commented that it did not feel heavy on the skin.

I think I will be purchasing this in a light, medium and dark shade for my kit and will be trying it for my own use-see if it can give me a freckle free flawless cover.



I then headed to my favourite store... Debenhams and was immediately drawn in by the Urban Decay counter. Urban Decay, closely followed by Benefit is my favourite Makeup Brand. Although my reason for visiting this counter was to purchase a couple of base shade eye shadows, I thought I would try my luck in asking for more samples.
I was given three shades of Naked Skin. I have not heard of this foundation before but having used it once on myself, I am quite impressed with it. I would say it gives quite a medium coverage. My freckles were still visible through it but I would say on someone with good skin it would give a nice flawless look.

As for the eye shadows, I am already lucky enough to own Naked 2 and Smoked palates but wanted some neutral base colours to use along side the more dramatic colours on these palates, I ended up buying both Virgin and Laced. Although both colours are great, my favourite is Virgin. I think it will provide a brilliant base colour for a variety of eye shadow looks.



Laced                                                       Virgin


Finally, after recommendations from my tutor and follow students on my fashion and photographic makeup course, I decided to try a few Barry M Dazzle Dusts.

I bought a shimmery white one and an aqua blue. Obviously aqua blue is a bit of a bizarre colour to go for, but I bought it deliberately to use for my snow queen fantasy makeup look.


 

Although you have to be really careful not to either knock the pot flying or load up too much product on your brush, I was impressed with the pigmentation of these and looking at the fab range of colours and reasonable pricing, I can safely say I will be buying more of these!

Some of my favourite products...

Some of my favourite products...

 Clarins BB Cream

I really like this BB cream. I used it for most of the summer as it contains SPF 25 and gives even enough coverage with plenty of warmth for both day and night time looks when you have a bit of a tan (or in my case freckles). 

It has a really nice creamy texture and goes on smoothly when applied with with fingers or a foundation brush.

Estee Lauder Double Wear Foundation and Concealer and Benefit Eyes Bright

Now much as I do love my Clarins BB cream as a base, there are times when I do like a fuller and more flawless coverage; especially now my summer glow is rapidly fading. Double wear gives medium coverage whilst still feeling nice and light on the skin with no greasy residue. 

The only issue I have with it is it doesn't have a pump dispenser, meaning that it is easy to 'over pour' the foundation and waste some. I guess this could be remedied by using a spatula to scoop out the required amount. This liquid foundation is definitely one to apply with a foundation brush or sponge rather than fingers.

When I purchased the foundation I was persuaded by the Estee Lauder lady to buy the double wear concealer. It is a lovely liquid concealer which gives excellent coverage and also makes a good base to even out my eyelids before applying eye shadow.

Now I am not quite a sure why I photographed my benefit eyes bright with these two Estee Lauder products but I shall go with it and give it a mention here. A simple tiny dot of this product in the inner corner of the eye is all that is needed to give a more wide awake look and draw further attention to the eyes. It can also be used as a highlighter along the brow bone but I prefer to keep it nice and sharp and simple use it in the inner corner.

Urban Decay Smoked Palate 

This is my most recent addition to my eye shadow collection and I am so in love with its versatile and highly pigmented, blendable shades. The two paler shades 'Kinky' and Freestyle' are perfect to use as a base on the lid while the darker shades such as 'Mushroom' and 'Barlust' blend nicely into the socket line to create a lovely smokey look. The black shade 'Blackout' can be used on its own to create a really intense smokey eye look or may be used as a liner. I am still experimenting lots with this palette but it is currently my main focus for both day and night looks (Sorry Naked 2)

Urban Decay Naked 2

Now before I purchased 'Smoked' this beautiful 12 shade palate was the love of my eye shadow life. However, as you can see my favourite shades have now all but been used up so it was time for a change. I love Urban decay as the colours are so easy to blend. I prefer Smoked to this palate though as the colours in Naked 2 tend to be a little shimmery. However I am starting to experiment and add them in with shades from Smoked.

Urban Decay Brow Box and Body Shop Smokey Eye Palate

I am a firm believer in the importance of strong dark eyebrows to complete a look. My own eyebrows are naturally fair and to achieve such a look I like to use a dark brown powder to brush over their natural shape. I have included both these products as until I discovered brow box, I simply used the dark brown shade in this body shop palate to colour in my eyebrows. It did the job nicely as I am sure any brown eye shadow with good pigment would. However, when I saw brow box I was drawn in by the cute little box with a slide out drawer containing mini tweezers and angled brushes. It definitely gives a longer lasting colour than simple using a brown eye shadow and setting the colour with the wax gives a sleek HD brow look.

I wonder if in years to come we will look back at this strong brow trend and thing 'What the eff?' 

Estee Lauder Sumptuous  Mascaras

As I wear semi permanent Lash extensions on my fair, very short lashes, I need very little on my top lashes. However, Mascara is still an important part of my Make up kit as it is essential to add it to the bottom lashes to balance them with my long top lashes. Also, when I am due a top up on my lash extensions, sumptuous does a perfect job of filling in the gaps.

In the days before I discovered lash extensions I tried virtually every mascara going and sumptuous is by far the best for creating long, thick but still natural looking lashes!

What are your make up box essentials?