Friday 18 November 2011

Boots Christmas Makeover Evening

Last night Andrea, Hannah and I went to a Christmas makeover evening hosted by Boots in Worthing. On arrival we received a great goodie bag of samples, the contents of which are below:



Clarins towel hair wrap
Lancome Renergie Lift Volumetry x 2
Clinique Dramatically Different Moisturising Lotion (one bottle, one tube)
Clarins Gentle Eye Make-Up Remover Lotion
Clarins Eau des Jardins
Clinique palette of Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Pink Slate and Blushing Blush Powder Blush in Iced Lotus, with Clinique brushes
Clinique High Impact Curling Mascara
Clinique Long Last Glosswear SPF 15 in Air Kiss



Andrea had her makeup done by Estee Lauder, and Benefit madeover Hannah and I. I was really happy with the look created on me as it was natural and subtle. Two Benefit products I'm now craving are Watt's Up, a new champagne-coloured liquid highlighter which gives a radiant glow and dewy complexion, and Some Kind-a Gorgeous, an oil-free cream-to-powder foundation that blends incredibly easily and matches to your natural skin tone.

Saturday 12 November 2011

monotux

Monotuxes (monochrome tuxedo jackets) are the hottest tailored piece this season. I recently bought the H&M one below and I love it, the fit is perfect and I think white blazers add a luxe touch to any outfit.


H&M, £34.99


Both River Island, £65, £45


New Look, £34.99, Mango, £54.90


Asos, £60 (currently on sale for £48)

Tuesday 8 November 2011

stardust



I created this look using two coats of Barry M Nail Paint in Navy and an old No7 nail varnish in Silver Sparkle on top. The glitter is really fine and looks silver in some lights and rainbow-coloured in others, it's lovely to use on dark base colours.

Monday 7 November 2011

Glacial Glamour





I think these images by Chris Nicholls for December's issue of Flare are stunning. Hyoni Kang, styled by fashion editor Elizabeth Cabral, looks gorgeous in edgy make-up by Simone Otis and mixed textures of eveningwear and winter jackets.

Find more from the shoot here

Friday 4 November 2011

winter open evening

Last night Andrea, Clare, Hannah and I went to an open evening at a local beauty salon, Health and Beauty Rooms in Worthing. We were greeted with pink bubbly, which was topped up throughout the evening, and delicious cupcakes provided by Truffles. We were also given a goodie bag of Dermalogica samples, so I'll do a review post once I've tried them all out! After relaxing in the salon, I had an ESPA mini-facial (30 mins), which was amazing. I've never had a facial before so thought it might be similar to my own exfoliate, cleanse, tone, moisturise routine with a mask, just someone else doing it for me, but it was absolutely lovely - so relaxing as the products used on me were from the ESPA aromatherapy range, and included a face and head massage. I definitely feel encouraged to get regular facials as I've noticed an improvement in my skin already, with it looking brighter and clearer.
I also had a taster St. Tropez spray tan on my face, chest and arms. This was another first for me as my skin tans easily so I've never felt the need to use fake tan, apart from occasionally using moisturisers that build up a tan, although I tend to find that they reach a point where they turn orange. Straight after my St. Tropez spray, I could see the difference in my skin tone, the tan being a lovely golden brown. After leaving it overnight, I woke up with the tan being a lot darker but once I'd washed it off the colour was perfect. Again, I feel encouraged to go for this treatment. I wouldn't go regularly as I think the cost isn't worth it considering they only last 5-7 days, but I might get one before I go home for Christmas or at the beginning of summer to get a head-start on a tan and give me some confidence in getting my pale winter legs out! Overall, I had a lovely pampering evening which was nicely rounded off with some yummy cocktails.




Thursday 3 November 2011

I'm wearing...



I'm going to an open evening at a local beauty salon this evening, followed by cocktails, so I'm wearing dark blue skinny jeans from Topshop, my Zara blouse, Zara cardigan and Debenhams black wedge boots.
On my face, I'm wearing No7 Perfect Light Loose Powder in 15 Medium, YSL Touche Eclat, Soap & Glory Solar Powder, No7 Natural Blush in 20 Honey, Urban Decay eyeshadow in Sellout, Barry M liquid eyeliner in black, Masterpiece Max mascara in Black and Pout Paint in 156 Peachy Keen.

Tuesday 1 November 2011

black swan, raspberry nails

Happy Halloween (for yesterday)! I love this time of year when everyone really gets into the spirit of spooky dressing up and then there's bonfire night and Christmas lights switching on, I feel so festive!

I went to a Halloween party on Friday night, and, with very little time to decide on/make a costume, I opted for Black Swan. My costume consisted of a black vest top, black leggings, ballet pumps and a black feather hair clip from Accessorize (£18). I bought a black eyeshadow, white eyeshadow and lipstick from the MUA make up range at Superdrug, and as each item only costs £1 and there was a 3 for 2 offer on, I picked up three pieces of make up for just £2! Obviously the quality isn't brilliant, but it was absolutely fine for the purpose: it was relatively easy to apply and it stayed on all night.
I powdered my face with talcum powder first, applied Benefit Thrrrob blusher to the apples of my cheeks and then drew the black feather outlines around my eyes, covering my eyebrows. I filled the outlines in with black eyeshadow and then wet an eyeshadow applicator before using the white eyeshadow to flick white lines across the black. Wetting eyeshadow brushes is a great trick to transform an eyeshadow into an eyeliner and create neater lines of colour, as using dry eyeshadow to line the eyes usually creates smudgy edges.




These are my nails this week:



The colours don't look quite like this in real life, they're actually rose gold and burgundy. The nail varnishes are Rimmel Lycra Pro in Golden Totem and Barry M Nail Paint in Raspberry. I really like the raspberry varnish as in some lights it looks really pink and in others it looks like more of a red wine colour. I achieved this look by painting my nails with Golden Totem and then starting from each corner of my nail bed, sweeping the raspberry polish up to the tip.