couple of FOTDs

The first look is quickly becoming my go to look. I used to go straight for the pale skin, winged eyeliner and either neutral or red lip. I am getting older now and I am finding that the winged eyeliner does not look as good on me as it used to. I am also a lover of a strong eye and love playing with colour but lately I have been loving the taupe as an easy and quick eye look.

Products used -

Base

Loreal wrinkle filler eye cream

Illamasqua cream pigment in emerge under the eyes

Clinique Super City Block

Stila angel light powder foundation in the lightest shade.

Eyes

UDPP

Boots NO7 simple eyes compact. Lighter shade on the inner third and the taupe blended across the lid and up into the crease.

Eylure eyebrow pencil in Medium/Dark

Chanel platinum rose eyeliner under lash line

Bourjois volume fast and perfect mascara

Cheeks

Illamasqua cream pigment in emerge

Lips

Clinique chubby stick in whoppin watermelon

In the next one I can't remember exactly what products I used but I took the photos because I was trying out a new eye product for me. A friend at work gave me some Gosh products that she wasn't getting the use out of and I was excited to try the eyeshadow base.

It is in a stick form and is a sheer white with a slightly bluish flash it was too pretty to cover up completely so I just blended in a colour from the 17 metallic nudes palette and finished with a little eyeliner under the lashline smoked out with the same shadow.

Make up looks of the week

I have been making more of an effort to try a different make up look everyday at the moment. Normally I get in a bit of a rut and tend to stick to the same few things day in day out. The first look is from some of my fav mac makeup at the moment.

Base

Shiseido prefect refining foundation in 100 (this is so good I didn't use any concealer)

Bourjois mineral radiance powder in vanilla

Eyes

UDPP

Mac boy crazy all over the lid and under lash line

Mac aduki bean outer corner and in crease

liner avon supershock gel liner in plumful

mascara collection 2000 big fake in ultra black

eyebrows rimmel dark brown eyebrow pencil

Blush

mac sakura

Lips

Guerlain rouge automatique in cherry blossom

The next look is a bit more of an evening one.

Base

Max factor weightless foundation in 40

Bourjois mineral radiance powder in vanilla

Eyes

UDPP

Accessorize illusion merged eyeshadow in cocoa all over the lid

No7 autumn palette used to blend and highlight

liner avon supershock gel liner in plumful

mascara collection 2000 big fake in ultra black

eyebrows rimmel dark brown eyebrow pencil

Blush

Illamasqua cream pigment in Emerge

A couple of slightly different looks for me

Ok so I am a creative person and and i'm not afraid of colours but there are certain looks and styles that stray out of my comfort zone. There are few things I avoid because I know they look wrong for me things like tanned skin and liner on the water line. Now there are ladies out there who rock this look effortlessly every day and look like wonderful godesses but on me it just doesn't feel right.

Lets explore shall we.

What started this was a little sample bag from MaxFactor (I think they were given away at christmas) The foundation samples are always in medium or nude which is about 2 shades to dark for me but I was interested to see if the formula for lasting finish was the same as this is what I used all through school and uni and loved it.

Products used

Max Factor lasting finish in 106 natural beige all over the face and jaw line

The I contoured like crazy through the cheekbones, jawline, temples and nose with Illamasqua in hollow (I can't begin to tell you how much I love this product) and then highlighted with a Tokidoki.

I then lined the waterline with a black Maxfactor Khol which I hate doing as it never stays put and I end up with little black globs in the corners of my eyes and them looking red and watery.

Shaded in my brows with my normal Natural collection shadow and put on a coat of Collection 2000 Big Fake.

The gloss was also in the give away bag and it is Vibrant Curve Effect in Majeste, which smells really strongly of Melon but is quite nice not sticky and quite long lasting.

Next up we have a bright lipstick, and I mean really bright which is a long long way from my classic red. I am not one to shy away from a bold lip but this is very different for me so here in all it's glory is Mac Candy Yum Yum and I LOVE it!

Please excuse the goofy face and nerdy specs

FOTD and An Experiment

So lets start off with a very quick face of the day.

Products used

L'Oreal Collagen Eye Filler

No7 Protect & Perfect Day Cream

Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation in 100 (very light ivory)

Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral Concealer 01 (nude beige)

Bourjois Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder 02 (vanille)

Eyebrows - Natural Collection eyeshadow in Midnight

Urban Decay Primer Potion

Eyeshadow - Boy Crazy all over the lid, Azuki bean in crease and under lower lashes, Moshi Moshi to high light in the centre of the lid.

Cheeks - Mac Sakura Blush

Lips - Poppy King for No7 in Confidence

Mascara - Collection 200 Big Fake in 17 (ultra black)

Now on to the experiment!

I blogged a few days ago about the amazing staying power of the Integrate nail polish I had tried and how I was unsure if it was the polish or the Orly Bonder that cause the phenomenal wear. I decided to set up an experiment I gave myself a new manicure using a cheapy Polish (actually it was free with the big fake mascara) from Collection 2000, it's one of their new "hot looks" and the colour is 43 fruit salad.

The experiment is as follows, the left hand is Orly Bonder and the right hand is OPI Natural Nail Base Coat.

Right Hand - OPI

Left Hand - Orly

Pretty colour huh. Both were topped with my normal Seche Vitte, Let see the damage from Saturday morning to Tuesday night.

Right Hand - OPI

Left Hand - Orly

As you can see the thumb and the index finger on the OPI have chipped a little but but considering I am right handed thats not bad going.

Right thumb

Right index

I am a little bit bummed about this to honest I wanted the exceptional wear to be down to the Orly Bonder (I have decided there was no clear winner they both wore about the same) but it does seem to look like the Integrate is just a really really good polish. Is it crazy that I would consider flying back to Japan just to get my hands on some more bottles of this.

FOTD and things i'm loving/hating right now

Konichiwa :D

Lets start with things I am love, love, loving right now.

Spring - it's awesome, sunny, warmer and cute baby animals.

Illamasqua Emerge cream pigment as a blush, perfect peaches and cream complexion - so pretty

Cherry Blossom - I'm a little bit obsessed with Sakura and I am finding a new Cherry Blossom tree everyday.

My Hair, growing out the black and going back to red.

Joan Harris - she pretty much rocks and I totally would!

Mac Candy Yum Yum lipstick, where have you been all my life Mwah x

Having some things to look forward to - Mani/Pedi booked, Red Panda feeding and possibly Royal Ascot Woo Hoo.

Things I am Hating (hate is a strong word but they definitely make me a sad panda)

Spring - time to break out the SPF and the Hayfever tablets lol

Cherry Blossom - it's pretty much over and every time I see a tree that was stunning last week with no blossom now it makes me want to cry

Mad Men - I have watched all 4 seasons and now they have put it on hiatus, I need my fix.

Whats happening in Japan - It is one month today since my world shook, luckily I had a home to return to. There is this phrase "your god never gives you more than you can handle" seeing the Japanese people act with such grace, humility and patience I have never felt this more.

So on the the very simple face of the day

This is my daytime work look at the moment

products used

L'Oreal Collagen Eye Filler

No7 Protect & Perfect Day Cream

Shu Uemura UV under base mousse in beige

Shiseido Perfect Refining Foundation in 100 (very light ivory)

Maybelline Pure Cover Mineral Concealer 01 (nude beige)

Bourjois Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder 02 (vanille)

Eyebrows - Natural Collection eyeshadow in Midnight

Cheeks - Illamasqua Cream Pigment in Emerge

Lips - Guerlain Rouge Automatique in 161 (cherry blossom)

Mascara - Collection 200 Big Fake in 17 (ultra black)

FOTD for a saturday out

So today I was off out to watch a preview of the new twilight movie eclipse and since it had been a rough week I decided it was time to dust off the makeup bag and do myself up a little.

I was a little worried that since have been walking to work I had taken quite a lot of colour to my face but to my relief my factor 50+ is holing true and my foundation still matches.

So the base was

No7 protect and perfect eye cream

No7 protect and perfect intense serum

No7 protect and perfect day cream (only a tiny amount on my drier patches)

Then I used my faithful Garnier tinted eye roll on under the eyes.

Foundation - just a touch of the Bourjois healthy mix foundation in 51

Concealer - Bourjois healthy mix, a pinhead amount of this in 51

Powder - Bourjois mineral radiance in 02

The eyes and the rest was

Primer - Urban Decay Primer Potion

Eyeshadow - Togetherness from the MAC in the groove collection.

light lilac all over the lid

intense purple on the outer part of the lid and on the lower lash line

grey in the crease and also on the lower lash line

Eyeliner - Doir liquid liner on upper lash line and Urban Decay Binge on lower lash line

Eyebrows - Clarins eyebrow kit

Mascara - Bourjois Elastic

Then to finish I used a very very light dusting of MAC petticoat mineral skin finish which is also from the in the groove collection.

Oh and yes I thought the same of the movie as I thought of the other good but hard going and doesn't do justice to the book.

FOTD, OOTD and a camera comparrison

So most of the pictures on this blog have been shot with my little Panasonic Lumix DMC - LX3 but I have a life long love of cameras and all of my photography use t be done with my Canon EOS 400D see my Flickr for further reference. So today as we were off to Taste of London today I thought I would dig it out and get a few pics of the day. This led me to a little experimentation into which takes the best pics for the blog.

The Lumix

The Canon

I am actually not even sure I think I like the Lumix the best, it is a lot handier to use and does give a slightly warmer/softer picture but on the other hand the lens on the Canon makes my eyes look bigger.

So anyways onto the look, keeping it really simple for a nice sunny day out in the fresh air.

Skin prep

N07 Protect and Perfect eye cream

N07 Protect and Perfect Intense serum

N07 Protect and Perfect day cream

Base

UNE - soft minerals powder foundation M03

Garnier eye roll on in fair

N07 powder blush - soft apricot

Eyes

Cover girl lash blast fusion

Benefit eye bright (just on the very inner corner of the eye)

Lips

17 mirror shine Bee-Hive

Like I said really simple, I may review the UNE at some point because it is quite a nice product. Now finally onto my outfit of the day, this is not going to be a regular thing (I hate my body) but the hubby snapped a pic of me just as we were leaving so I thought I would share.

The dress is Next and should have been £40 but I got it on sale for £15 (707-197-x45 incase you are interested) The boots are last season from Evans I can't remember what the cost. What you can't see is that under the dress I have some grey lacey almost cycling short things on which are ace for under dresses as it saves you flashing your pants should the wind catch you or if like me you end up sat down on the grass cross legged somewhere.

Couple of make up looks and a review of Revlon Photoready

So this is a look I did back on the 2nd of January, It's using the Guerlain Bird of Paradise Quad except this time I left out the liquid eyeliner and added the orange to the crease and the brown on the lower lash line. It's a fairly 80's look but I love it as it makes me feel like spring is here. The eyebrows as always are Clarins eyebrow kit and the blush is n07 in soft apricot, I had to contour a lot with the Benefit 10 kit. Mascara - I am still loving the Bourjois 1001 in Black Quartz.

First attempt

The next look is using Urban Decay from their book of shadows Volume 2, Sphinx is on the inner of the lid, Ecstasy on the outer of the lid and AC/DC in the crease. I used the Rockstar liner on the lower lashline and blended it out with the shadows. Dior liquid liner to wing out the eyes and the rest of the make up is as before.

Second attempt

Ok so onto the review of the Revlon. It is taking a lot at the moment to tear me away from my Bourjois Healthy Mix but I have heard so much about this (good and bad) that I just had to try it. It was already on sale at Boots and the lovely Jo from Music and Make Up, My Obsessions! gave me a voucher that got me another £2 off.

They finally had my shade which is 02 Vanilla, I had swatched it a couple of weeks back as advised on a lot of blog and wandered around with it on my hand to check it in different lights. Now don't get me wrong this is very sparkly for a foundation but not so much that it put me off.

My first attempt at applying this I was a bit dubious about the shimmer so I decided to try and temper it a little with mac prep + prime powder which set it quite well but left me looking very very pale. I applied it over my Nivea Co Q10 which was way too greasy for this dewy foundation. I was scared of spoiling the twinkly effect so I made sure to conceal my imperfections before I applied the foundation. The coverage is very sheer and it did not last well over the Nivea.

My second attempt after learning from the mistakes of the first time I applied this over La Roche-Posay Hydraphase Light which is an oil free fluid that hydrates normal to combination skin. This time the foundation stuck fast and the coverage was a little better, I went for foundation first as normal and then concealed afterwards. I also took the plunge and gave into the sparkle so I set it using the Guerlain Meteorites Illuminating Power and to my surprise rather than adding to the effect it actually seemed to even it out a bit.

Coverage - quite sheer up close but far away and in photos it does really even you out.

Staying power - if you are at all oily you are going to need to be careful with this one but it does last over the right base.

Twilight Effect - it is definitely there as you can see in the photos I am quite pale and it does flatten out the contours of your face so make sure you are defining with blush or bronze.

Overall - Actually like it more the more I use it as I am the pale and interesting type anyway it does suit my look and you can't deny it photographs well.

Michelle Phan eyes

Scouting around blogland recently I stumbled across the beautiful Michelle Phan. She is a master with the old slap and has some absolutely awesome looks. Her tutorials on Youtube are a joy to behold so check them out, this is my humble attempt at her striking eyeliner for making your eyes stand out from behind your frames. I hate my glasses for one reason and that is they always over power any eye makeup I wear. It seems the the key is lots and lots of eyeliner so enjoy the shots of geek me!

L'oreal - 180 purple obsession

If ever a coloured was named for me then this is it, I was over at the L'oreal website the other day checking out what the fuss about youth code was when I spotted a gorgeous promotional shot of the beautiful Evangeline Lilly sporting some intense blue/purple eyes.

That's it I though I HAVE to have that colour, so off I trotted to Boots and looked for the colour (180 purple obsession) I picked it up and though hang on that can't be right this is most definitely a pink/purple. As I turned it in the light I could See it was shot through with a slight blue tinge but not what I was expecting.

In reality this is a far more accurate shot of the shade.

(sorry about the tiny picture)

This is my take on the look and boy does this stuff have some staying power I really like the look and might grab some more colours from the range sometime soon.

FOTD - actually this was tuesday

Sorry it is taking me so long to catch up on my makeup looks this week, but as the title says this was tuesday, still playing with my Sunday haul I decided to give the Bourjois mini pots a try

The shadow is nice and blends well, it varies from shade to shade how pigmented they are but the do last really well over a good primer and there was no creasing. I will look out exactly what shade I used at some point and update this post.

Base

Nivea co q10

Garnier eye roll on in fair

Bourjois healthy mix foundation in 51

Bourjois healthy mix concealer in 51

Bourjois mineral powder in 02

I contoured me cheeks today starting with

No7 blush in soft apricot

then I blended with the benefit 10 powder highlighter on top and the bronze underneath the cheek bones.

Eyes

Clarins eyebrow kit

Bourjois mini pot colours

Bourjois 1001 lashes in black quartz

Lips

Revlon lipgloss in Firecracker

FOTD - actually this was Monday

The hubby is away so playing a lot with makeup this week and I have had a different look everyday. People comment a lot on my makeup at work and how it is always changing, I guess I just like to keep it fresh and match my look to how I am feeling on the day.

Keeping it quite light today with lilac and a colour theme.

Base

Nivea Co Q10 cream

Garnier Eye roll on in Fair

Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation in no 51 vanille clair

Bourjois Healthy Mix concealer in 51 eclat clair

Bourjois Mineral Radiance Pressed Powder in 02 vanille

Bourjois mini pot blush in No 7

Eyes

Clarins eye brow powder

Revlon wild orchid Creme shadow

Dior Style Liner Intense Liquid liner

Bourjois 1001 lashes mascara in Black Quartz

Lips

Revlon lipgloss in Lilac Pastelle