Bright Lips - MAC Vegas Volt

For those of you not able to fully embrace the spring/summer '11 brights makeup look by whacking on some neon green onto your peepers, then here is a little video to help you out. Pick your favourite bright lippy, keep the skin & eyes fresh and et voila! Supermodel Chic without running the risk of looking like coco the clown...

I chose MAC Vegas Volt. I 'backed to MAC' for the first time last week (well, actually Ann from Girl in The City did it for me) and my reward was this little beauty, which has gone straight into my top 5 of all time lipsticks. I know, praise indeed!

Image Sourced Here

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)

Japonesque Palette

I'm a huge fan of de-potting and decanting products into compacts and palettes. It makes my life much easier when travelling with my kit and is just generally a much more organised and convenient way of storing products.

I had been lusting after this Japonesque palette for months & months and finally picked it up from Guru Makeup Emporium at the IMATS in January. So far, I've de-potted most of my MAC lippies. I still have cream colour bases & other non-MAC lipsticks to go. It's a fairly messy & laborious process and requires a good few hours of time, which is why I'm only half way through!

I don't do this for my own lipsticks - I'm too much of a packaging lover to do that, especially with lipsticks from Estee Lauder or YSL! I'd never do that to them!

MAC; Lipsticks

Following on from yesterday's post on the 3 FACE Atelier Lipsticks I bought at the IMATS last week, here are the 5 MAC ones I picked up. I know the first 3 are very similar, but bear in mind they are for my MUA kit & not for myself!

From left to right...

Creme Cup, Fabby, Brave, Crosswires & Pink Nouveau

Creme Cup (Cremesheen)

my favourite of the 3 nudes

Fabby (Frost)

I wish this was a nail varnish! Love the gold undertones

Brave (Satin)

Too brown for me, but will look lovely on a slightly more mature or darker toned skin

Crosswires (cremesheen)

Fast becoming my favourite colour! is also the truest to the bullet, I think

Pink Nouveau (Satin)

Too bright for me I think, but will be great for work I do for Hen Parties etc

FOTD Featuring MAC Smut

I got a request on YouTube to create a look using Smut by MAC. It's a gorgeous matte, cool dark brown.

I didn't want to do a shimmery evening smokey eye, so I used 'wedge' all over the lid, which is also a matte shade.

being pouty

As a twist, I added a slick of blue mascara, which contrasts with the dark brown beautifully

Cheeks are kept bright with a swish of Sleek's new blush from the Stiletto collection, called Scandalous

What do you think?

FOTD

Hi,

I promised I would be doing more of these; I'm having a bit of a lull in terms of product reviews at the moment, both in terms of stuff to review & the energy to think about actually reviewing them, so am loving having more time to actually dedicate to FOTD makeup posts!

I didn't have time yesterday morning to A - do my makeup to any decent standard and B - photograph it before work, so this look is the makeup I did for filming 2 non-makeup related videos yesterday (which you can see here if you like!)

So, this was another very simple look - I've used...

FACE Atelier Foundation

MAC 'Cubic' Blush

MAC 'Carbon' E/S for brows

MAC 'Plumage' E/S in outer v

Dior Capture Totale powder

MAC 'Angel' lipstick

YSL Aquaresistant Mascara

Fresh Faced & Bright Eyed Makeup Inspired by Kylie

Clearly I look nothing like Kylie, but I loved her makeup in the 'All The Lovers' video, so had a go at recreating it, for a fresh faced, more natural look for the new year after all the glitter and statement lips of the festive period...

stills from the video

I'm also not one to spend ages taking pics either, but everything seemed to be in place tonight to get a few snaps. Plus, my chores were done & I was just messing about...

And finally, editing the video which you can see here...

Xmas/New Year Makeup Matte Eyes & MAC Rebel Lip

Hi lovelies,

Was getting a bit bored of having glitter all over my face & decided to do a matte look. Was also challenged on twitter to come up with a look using MAC Rebel Lipstick & here's what I did!

You can see the video here, but here's a quick break down of what I did...

Skin - MUFE HD Foundation, mixed with a smidge of MAC Face & Body in white, to lighten it slightly. Concealed under the eyes with MAC NW20 Select Cover Up.

Eyes - covered from lashes to brow with Brulee. Created an outer V & kept the crease super dark and defined (don't blend too much) using MAC Carbon. Defined the lashes with a very thin line of Clinique black gel liner. Loads of black mascara on top lashes only.

Brows - defined using Shu Uemura brow pencil, then darkened with MAC Carbon.

Cheeks - Illmasqua Nymph Blush & Chanel Bronze Universel to contour.

Lips - MAC Rebel Lipstick!

hope you like it!

A xx

FOTD & FOTN!

FOTD...

I forgot to post this when I put the video up a few days ago. This was done using the Bee Luscious Garden Girl Palette (click here to get 15% off one for yourself!).

I'm looking forward to creating some more looks with this. The shadows are ridiculously pigmented and blend out forever (make sure you have a couple of clean 217s!).

FOTN...

Last night was a friend's 30th birthday and instead of partying it up in town, we all piled round to his house for sophisticated drinks (read cocktails, jaeger bombs, cigars & twister...). Where we live in Scotland, it can be difficult getting home from the city after a night out so a house party is usually a preferred option for bigger get-togethers. It also means you don't get sore feet from wearing sky-scraper heels, you don't need to worry about a jacket or bag - it's great!

It also means that my makeup tends to be more relaxed than if I was going to a club and I took the opportunity last night to go for my current favourite 'naturally polished' makeup that I've been sporting for a few weeks now.

For daytime, I would wear this but without the liner on the bottom waterline. For evening, run a black liner along the waterline and et-voila! Daytime to Evening in one easy step!

There will be a video tut on this look up in about 3 days, but for the time being here is a list of products used...

FACEAtelier Foundation in Ivory

MAC Plum Foolery blush from Hark The Heraldry Tartan Tales compact

YSL Metallic Colourama Palette as a highlight on brow bone and cheek bones

MAC Patina & Satin Taupe E/S

Avon Gel Shock Liner in Black

YSL Mascara

Dior Lip Glow Lipbalm (read about the drama to actually buy it here!)

Shu Uemura Eyebrow Pencil Hard Formula 6 (Seal Brown)

What makeup have you been loving recently? do you have a 'go to' look? And what do you think of the perm a week on? I think I'm getting better at styling it and I am loving the volume!

A xx

Products I tried and loved in London!

Hello there,

Thought I would do a quick run through some of the stand-out products that I got to try at MUSE a couple of weeks ago...

*please note, these are all products that I tried only. I haven't bought them yet and therefore don't really know best places to buy or best prices. All I know is the products are fab!

MUFE HD Powder

This is a talc-free, uber finely milled finishing powder and it is WOW. It's so fine, it literally smokes when you take the lid off. Leaves skin with a satiny finish and not a horrible dry chalky finish that some loose powders leave you with. As I didn't get the opportunity to get to the store, I didn't buy this, but think I've found a fairly decent dupe-ish product... Illamasqua loose powder; although not talc-free, still has a gorgeous finish and I actually use the Pink Brightening powder - gorgeous!

MAC Patina E/S

Believe the hype. This e/s is gorgeous. enough said.

MAC White F&B

This stuff was a dream product during the course, because we were working on different people each day and it was so so easy to custom blend a foundation shade. You can literally mix this with any liquid or cream foundation to lighten it, without it losing it's pigment. Fab Fab Fab and I will be ordering some of this, through mail order as it is a pro product.

Louise Young Foundation Brush

(3rd one, at the bottom of the page) This little baby has been showcased by Pixiwoo on YT a lot and it's difficult to see why it's anything more special than a traditional flat foundation brush. But, using it, you discover that it is super firm, but as soft as a feather. It doesn't make foundation streak as the bristles are so densely packed. Again, I will be purchasing this as soon as.

Hakuhodo Flat Top Kabuki

Love love love this brush! was amazing for buffing over the skin to create an unbelieveably flawless finish with foundation. Particularly worked well with HD Foundation and Pro Lumiere. Like the LY foundation brush, amazingly soft but super dense. This can be bought online (about $54 dollars I think), but I think I will wait til next years IMATS and keep my fingers crossed that Hakuhodo will be there!!

Hope that's useful!

A xx

MAC for Rodarte

It's not very often I feel sickened in the way I feel tonight. Let me explain...

A few days ago, I was reading US Vogue and was surprised to see a letter from a reader, outraged by the feature on Rodarte's A/W 2010 line, which was allegedly inspired by the Texan landscape. Weird, I thought, why is she that bothered? Reading on, it became clear that part of that landscape includes the Mexican border city of Juarez. The reader alluded to the female homicides and other atrocities that have become part of daily life in the city and suggested the collection was in sincere bad taste.

Imagine my absolute horror to read tonight that this bad taste has been sponsored by one of our favourite cosmetic brands. MAC and Rodarte have joined forces to create a make-up line inspired by the city, with products called Ghost Town and Sleepwalker.

Juarez is a town stricken with gun and gang crime, where women live in constant fear of being raped, tortured, kidnapped, mutilated and murdered. The rise of maquilladoras (factories), draws thousands of girls looking for work, albeit dangerous and poorly paid work. Imagine having to produce a used tampon to your boss, once a month to prove you're not pregnant, in a bid to keep your job. I'm not going to elaborate here any further on this as you can choose to read further here, if you wish.

The fact is, MAC have signed their name to, and developed a range of products that are, in effect, designed to replicate the gaunt, ill, despairing asthetic of these poor, poor women. I'm fairly certain MAC would not ever admit that's the purpose of the products, but you only need to see a few to see that is surely what they were aiming for....

MAC is a brand that women of all ages, races, colours and backgrounds look to for edgy, awesome cosmetics with a cool story behind them. Forgive me MAC, but modelling your range on women who risk their lives everyday to a weekly wage that wouldn't even buy one of your lipsticks, is without a doubt, absolutely disgusting. Ladies, any of you have daughters?? Interested to read that one of the products is named Quinceanera a latin term for a girl 'coming of age'?

I'm not going to tell you not to buy the range, if MAC decide to press ahead and actually sell it. But I hope you can read this and all these other blogs who have taken exception to this vile commercialism of destitution before hitting your nearest MAC store and creating another MAC epic sell-out range. If I haven't yet convinced you that passing on your hard-earned money to MAC for a product from this range would be criminal, you might be further interested to hear that MAC have suggested, in a statement released by them, that they will donate a portion of the proceeds from this collection. A portion?????????

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Liquidlast Eyeliner by MAC

Put your hand up if you find your eyeliner transfers to your browbone about 20 minutes after applying it...

MAC have amazing eyeliners and I've found the Liquidlast to be the most non-budge I've ever tried. This does exactly what it says on the tin; it doesn't flake, it doesn't smudge, it's highly pigmented and you can get the most precise line with it.

The first time I tried this, I just whacked some on to see how it applied (so easily btw). A wee while later, I washed my face and eyes as normal, with Philosophy Purity and went off to bed without looking in the mirror. It wasn't until about 12 hours later, when I got up the following morning and looked in the mirror did I realise that it was still entirely intact across my lashline - it hadn't even started to crumble, peel or smudge!

They definitely require a good heavy duty oil based cleanser to remove them without having to scrub at your eye - you could try the Clinique 'Take the Day Off'.

So if you have oily lids and are looking for a super waterproof liner, want something that you can wear on the beach or simply just want one that lasts all day (and night!) long, get yourself to MAC and pick up one of these babies for about £13, although I bought mine for £11 I think at the airport.

enjoy!

x

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'

My Favourite Brushes Part 1

After I posted a few days ago about my new UD Big Buddha Brush, one of my 'followers' suggested a post about some of my other fave brushes. So here it is! I've had to split this into 2 parts so it isn't one mammoth post. Part 2 tomorrow...

Foundation Brushes

I love everything about using a foundation brush. I love the coverage it gives you. I love the even-ness of the coverage. I love the fact it means I'm not smearing my fingers all over my face (for someone with oily, spotty prone skin this alleviates the guilty thought that 'touching my face makes my spots worse...) and I especially love the fact that it means I don't have foundation all over my fingers & hands. My MAC 190 (I think that's the right number!) is brilliant - the bristles are packed in so the brush is super soft but super firm. The R&M Brush pictured is rubbish for a full, smooth application as the bristles are too long and floppy, but is good for gently buffing in small circles for a lighter coverage.

Bronzer & Blusher
I use the GOSH brush for dusting bronzer over my face - I think when it's for bronzer, the bigger the better the brush. Some may disagree but I like to eliminate the chance of any streaks. A big fat powder brush should do this. The Benefit brush is what I use for popping some blush on the apples of my cheeks or for contouring. The angle brush is great and I have a couple.

Eyeshadow Brushes
I have dozens of variations of E/S brushes. I don't feel it's something I care to spend a lot of money on and tend to find that as long as the bristles are soft and don't shed all over my face, it'll do. MAC 249 is excellent as it's massive and is great for giving a wash of colour across the whole lid. The UD brush is a medium size and the QVS (which was only about £2 from Superdrug!) is small which is great if you either have small eyelids or want a bit more of a precise application.


Eyeshadow Blending Brushes.
Good for blending out hard lines on your lid or good for adding shadow, definition or a contour into your socket. Find one that you like and buy a few - blending brushes shouldn't really add colour, so having a few clean ones available when trying to smoke up an eye is a must! The REVLON brush is quite fat and is great just for softening hard edges. The GOSH brush is brilliant and adding definition to the socket and blending and I have 4 of these.