Easy Fresh Spring Makeup

Another YouTube vid, another FOTD post...

A few weeks ago, I got a request to 'do something' with MAC Sumptuous Olive E/S. This is a shadow that can easily become muddied if too much smokeyness is added, so I kept the inner corner light and just blended the Sumptuous Olive out at the crease. Teamed with glowing coral cheeks & lips, this kept the overall look fresh and spring-like.

I know I wasn't pouting when I took this pic, so not sure why it looks like I was !!

Chanel Pro Lumiere

Sleek Primer Palette

MAC Sumptuous Olive E/S

AVON Gel Shock Liner

Clinique Naturally Glossy Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara

MAC Omega E/S (brows)

MAC Select Cover-Up Concealor NW20

DIOR Capture Totale Loose Powder

Benefit Coralista

Estee Lauder Blazing Sun Crystal Lipstick (available online from 28th Feb)

FOTN - Birthday Dinner

Dinner, Dancing & Cocktails

This is the makeup I wore last night; embracing my K$sha-ness, I went for a rock chick smokey eye, with a perky pink nude lip. A video will be up later on YT, but in the meantime, here are few piccies!

Products used were...

FACEAtelier Foundation

MUFE HD Cream Blush in #6

Chanel Bronze Universel

NAKED UD Palette: Sin all over the lid & as a highlight in the inner corner, Gunmetal over the lid & Creep in the crease. I also ran the 217 along the lower lash line, so a mix of the 3 went underneath.

AVON Gel Shock Liner in Khaki on the waterline

MUFE Aqua Smokey Lash

Clinique Fine Brow Pencil in Soft Blonde

Estee Lauder Lip Gloss in 'Nude Rose'

And this is my outfit! I'm still not brave enough to do a OOTD type thing - whenever I have taken pics, they are awful - so Polyvore will do instead! This is not my exact outfit - the blazer for example here is £1000 from Net A Porter and I think mine was from Tesco! I kept it black & simple! (ps the top I'm wearing above is just a pyjama top...)

My black skinnies were from New Look

Black mid-length sleeve top from Zara

Black patent pumps from Dorothy Perkins

The feather bag pictured is my actual bag from ASOS which I think is like 2 or 3 years old

My current favourite earrings from V Westwood

Beauty Blogging Blonde is 1 year old! - CLOSED

** CLOSED**

I can't believe my little baby blog is 1! As per usual, thanks to you all for reading, commenting blah blah blah... Lets get to the good stuff! This isn't just a birthday, this is a Chanel birthday!

I wanted to do a special giveaway to give someone the opportunity to win a product they wouldn't necessarily be able to buy themselves and give back to you all with a little touch of luxury. On that basis, I decided not to gather half a dozen prizes & instead picked one of my top faves, from my all time favourite brand...

So, for one of you, you will be winning a Chanel Soleil Tan De Chanel powder bronzer! I usually use the cream version of this, but unfortunately it was sold out! Everywhere - gone! So, I picked the powder version (the shade is the same one as the cream version).

(I've popped a promo photo up as your one is already all gift wrapped in Chanel ribbon.)

The Rules

A) You must be a follower (Duh!) I will check!!

B) Please leave a comment on this post saying 'Happy Birthday'

C) That's it! I would love to have time to be able to allow more than 1 entry, but I don't have time to check tweets etc. Please do feel free to tweet about it, but 1 follower - 1 entry.

D) Competition closes 11.59pm Tuesday 18th January.

E) I will pick a winner at random. I will contact that winner by email & you will have 48hrs to respond. If I do not get a response, I will pick another winner.

Please play by the rules & everyone will be happy!

xxxx

Nude Nails!

I think I must be ill or something because last night I looked at my gorgeous dark purple manicure and just shuddered - I wanted something light, natural and fresh. It was like, at that moment, I was just so over all the christmassy, wintery dark cold colours.

I ripped the gel overlays off (I didn't even soak them!), gave them a bit of a buff and headed upstairs to my stash to look for Chanel Particuliere nail polish, but I couldn't find it. So, I plumped for Chanel Inattendu instead.

But after painting 3 nails, my fingers looked grey & horrid - the Inattendu is such a warm peach that it really brings out the blue in hands. I guess it's a summer colour! So, I took that colour off, renounced the designer polishes and settled on a bottle of £2.99 polish from H&M. This is 'Latte To Go' and was the perfect nude grey that I was looking for.

Sorry for the crap pics, but I was taking them on my iPhone. And yes, that is a Maoam sweetie you can see..

I'm really pleased with my mannequin hands! Was just the effect I was after.

What about you? Are you over glitter & dark shades? Ready for spring??

Bobbi Brown & Chanel Brushes

**Warning! Pic Heavy!**

Decided to treat myself to some new brushes... I've used both Chanel and Bobbi Brown brushes in the past (I do already own a few) and I've found them to be reliable, easy to use and stay in top notch condition after washing time and time again. So they were a natural choice for some new investments!

BB Bronzer Brush

Probably my favourite out of the bunch, this has a super chunky handle and is amazingly soft. It's called a bronzer brush, but would be fine as a powder, blush or just as a general face blender.

Retractable Lip Brush

This isn't actually retractable - instead it comes in 2 parts, so when you're finished using it, you just pop it back in it's cap!

Eyeliner Brush

Bobbi Brown actually do a couple of really nice liner brushes. This is a firm, flat synthetic brush that would be suitable for lining both wet & dry, could probably be used for applying concealer to blemishes and for applying cream eyeshadows.

Eyebrow Brush

Super stiff angled brush for filling eyebrows. Made from goat hair, this would not be suitable for using on the eye area as it would be too scratchy, but it will be great for shaping brows!

Foundation Brush

Chanel Synthetic Concealer Brush

This will be a general brush for creamy eye products for me. It's beautifully soft so will be great for concealing around the eye area.

Mascara Spooly/Brow Comb

Random new pot of gel liner from Clinique!

FOTD with Chanel Bronze Universel

Hi lovelies,

Hope you are dandy!

Just a few pics to share some new products I am loving at the mo...

I've a bit of a early summer tan just now, so invested in a summer bottle of Pro Lumier in shade 30. I usually use 10, but 30 matches me much better just now. Whilst at Chanel, I decided to pick up some of the much talked about Bronze Universel to see what all the fuss is about!

I've been a massive fan of Benefit's One Hot Minute bronzer for ages, so didn't think even Chanel could tempt me with a different product, but oh it has been so worth the investment. I can't even write how much I love it! It looks way scary in the pot and it took about 2 hrs of Twitter chat to decide which brush to use to apply it (I settled on a BE Kabuki), but it's absolutely brilliant!

So, this is me with foundation only - Chanel Pro in 30

it looks really solid and orange, but it actually just blends away into a lovely natural glow and is more of a moussey texture. You get a heck of a lot of product for your cash too

This is a Victoria Jackson palette I have and the blusher (looks pale pink here, but is actually a lovely coral shade) is AMAZING!!! I usually use Benefit's Coralisat and this is almost the same colour, but it's matte.

And this is the finished face! The only other products I have on is some Barry M lipgloss and my Eylure lashes.

Loving the more natural, summery look!

What do you think then? Have you tried Bronze Universel? Do you love it or loathe it?

Mini Mondays... Giveaway! and Chanel Les Pop de Chanel Summer Collection 2010

There's been a buzz around beauty blogosphere about this collection for a while now and it's finally arrived!

Chanel's summery offerings include Limited Edition nail polish shades and lipglosses which, for me, absoloutely epitomise summer. Just looking at the display in John Lewis had me transported to another world where I could wear beach jewellery, sip ice cold Mojitos and where me in a white bikini wouldn't have small children crying in fright...

Unfortunately, Chanel are not miracle workers and I had to settle for taking home the last remaining bottle of Novelle Vague, the minty fresh turquiose pictured below, a shade which will go some way to helping me live my beachy, summer dream.

I'm thinking this will be perfect on my nails for my city hen do in London in June, or for my extended honeymoon taking me from the beach in Hawaii to the slick city streets of New York. As long as it's warm, this colour will be fab!

In other news (Giveaway!)...

Whilst I was at Chanel, we got talking about the blog (I had to tell her otherwise she would have though I was weird for taking pics of the display...) and she kindly gave me 5 copies of the Limited Edition collectors book celebrating the release of the Rouge Coco lipstick range t giveaway to my lovely followers! The book is a must for any Chanel fan, with some beautiful photography and graphics.

To win one of these books, you need to be a follower (I will check!) and just leave me a comment telling me your favourite thing about summer! Competition will be open until Midnight Sunday 16th May and winners will be picked at random.

Good Luck!

Chanel Mini Haul

Following on from yesterday's post, here is a quick look at some of the things I picked up at the Chance party...

First up, Chanel Ombre Essentielle Eyeshadow in Quartz (£19.41). Fiona, the MUA who was tasked with brightening up my face, choose this shade and teamed it with some grey eyeliner (not in the pic below). Although I didn't take the eyeliner, I fell in love with the gorgeously baby soft velvety feel of this little shadow and the shade just made my eyes so blue!

I can't enthuse enough about how soft and dense the application and pigment is. The colour is like a neon pastel, with the soft summery baby pink, with a much deeper, brighter undertone peeking through.

Quite pricey for a single e/s, so any future ones will definitely be a treat but really pleased with this one!

Next is another addition to my ever-growing Chanel foundation collection! This is the Vitalumiere Eclat Comfort Radiance Compact (about £42 I think, I couldn't get onto the Boots website to check).

Although this is more like a pressed powder compact, Fiona used it as a foundation alone. I normally think my skin is oily but Fiona said it seemed to be a bit de-hydrated and that even though the compact is powder based, it's still suitable for dryer patches and it looked fab! Very natural with a lovely day-time coverage. I received a free compact in my goodie bag, so the mini-version will go into my travel kit. Perfect!

This little card was one of the mini-freebies in my goodie bag, which has 4 little pots of Rouge Coco lipsticks. I haven't tried these yet, so am saving them for when I'm off on a night out or something to give the shades a whirl! Sorry about the pic, I forgot to turn it when I was editing...

Last, but not least! Chanel La Vernis Rouge Noir. My HG nail polish since I discovered it in 2005. Other colours may come and go, but Rouge Noir will always be there!

FOTD & Happy Birthday Mum!!

Last week my mum celebrated her fif...shhhh birthday, but she was in Dublin for it, so we out for a quiet family meal this weekend instead. As I was running late, I had to squeeze getting pics into getting ready and yes, the first pic I am still wearing my dressing gown and my hair is only half done and very fluffy...

I was trying out some of my new Sigma brushes that arrived yesterday and have to say I am massively impressed with the fluffy eye blending brush I received. I will do a review post separately on these though.

so products used were...

Face

Benefit 'That Gal' brightening primer

Chanel Pro-Lumiere in 10

Chanel loose powder in Clair

Benefit 'One-Hot Minute' bronzer

Eyes

Sleek 'Original' palette E/S

Bobbi Brown Long Wear Gel Liner in Black

Benefit 'Bad Gal' lash waterproof

a very light touch of Shu Uemura eyebrow pencil

Girls Aloud 'Nicola Lashes' & Duo Lash Glue by MAC

Lips

Beaute Weightless Lip Creme in 'Girlina'