My "no make-up" make-up essentials

A no make- up face, for me, means a light base and no eye make -up. I know a lot of people still like a coat of mascara with their looks, but personally for my stumpy eyelashes, mascara adds another 5 minutes onto the routine and then it just doesn't look natural any more.

For my base, I love using the bareMinerals Complexion Rescue - my absolute favourite lightweight base - and my usual trio of concealers ; Bobbi Brown corrector, Collection Lasting Perfection and L'Oreal Touche Magique. Obviously, the less product the better but as my skin is far from perfect, concealer is generally a bit part of any make- up look for me.

For brows, I try not to go to bold, and use my Soap&Glory Archery pencil in Blondeshell and the L'Oreal plumper in light/medium. Even though I'm not really blonde anymore, this combo just creates a soft, ashy brow which looks fairly natural.

To get rid of my veiny eyelids, I like to use the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in this lovely rosey colour which is an amazing everyday product. Lastly, a pop of pink blush on the cheeks completes the look, and today I used Benefit's Dandelion.

Thank you for reading, I hope you all had an amazing Christmas or relaxing break and you're looking forward to the New Year,

Thanks for reading, if you liked  this post you can follow me on BlogLovin' to stay up to date with all my posts :)

Lou

2 Budget Liquid Blushes

Oh hi!

Now I know a lot of people aren't very keen on cream blushes but bear (bare?) with me here, these two are worth a couple of minutes of your time.

As you can see from the swatches above, these are two completely different products, both in colour and consistency, and I love them both. 

If you are a cream blush fan- or even if you're not, but you're still a teeny bit curious- these are a couple of really good options at really low prices.

Firstly, we have the Make Up Revolution 'Vivid Blush Lacquer'  in Rush  which is this really really bright barbie pink here in the foreground. This is a very different product, and the blush actually gets squeezed out of the tube via a foundation- like pump. The consistency is fairly thick, quite moussey, but really easy to blend out - and you definitely need to blend this product as the pigment is really strong.

The second product is by Rimmel, it's their Stay Blushed Liquid Cheek Tint in 005 Apricot Glow. Compared to the MUR offering, this is a much thinner, more watery consistancy, much like a cream cleanser or something like that. Again, this is fairly pigmented, but easy to blend into the skin. I would say out of the two, this one may be slightly easier to blend.

Both products come in under £3 (I think I paid £1.50 for the MUR and £2.50 for the Rimmel), and wear-time is good on both.

I hope this was useful to all you cream blush novices out there - I know these are really summer-y colours but I have actually yet to find a winter-y shade of cream blush. Any reco's would be appreciated :)

Thanks for reading, over and out!

Lou xxx

Urban Decay Afterglow Blusher Review

Oh hey there sexy. Oh hey.
I friggin love this blusher. It was absolutely an impulse purchase, I got a bit excited at the Urban Decay counter a couple of weeks ago and came away with this and a lip product, which I will be reviewing soon.
So the Afterglow blushes are meant to be longlasting and pigmented, which I totally agree with. That being said, this shade (Fetish) is quite dark for my skin tone, but I can still get a nice application with it without looking like a crazy clown. Always a bonus.
 If it does get a little intense,I take my foundation brush and run it around the edges to blend.

I think this shade is a beautiful winter-y pink, perfect for all skin colours.
And can we talk about the packaging? I love it- its so classy and hefty and b-e-a-yootiful. The only bad thing is that there isn't a mirror in the lid which can be slightly annoying.
I would really recommend having a look at these blushers if you find that most just melt off your cheeks during a long day, which is what I normally get.
These definitely stick around for good, and I'm totally eyeing up a really amazing purpley shade they have. When's pay day...?

Thanks for reading!

Here's some lovely before and after photos for you to laugh at:

Sunday Chat | Palette Lust List

Hey! I hope you've had a really good weekend.
What have I been up to? Well, it feels like my life only consists of tidying, unpacking and sorting these days, even though I moved in over two weeks ago now. I managed to get some blog photos done yesterday morning so I will have some content up over the next week, hooray! I hope you're excited; I'm excited.

Anyway, as usual with my Sunday posts, this is just going to be a chatty no-photo no-fuss ramble, basically. This time, it's about the palettes I'm lusting after right now.

1. Hourglass Holiday 2015 palette

Have you seen this? Holy shit, that's my Christmas list sorted. Everything Hourglass makes is so beautiful. I don't actually own anything of theirs, but it's hard not to trust the millions of reviews which say their products are absolutely top notch. So this palette looks like it has highlights, setting powders, blusher and bronzer. So basically everything. I read a blog post which said this palette would be $79... so £50? That seems a steal considering each powder is around £35. And you get six...? Surely not. If this is a US exclusive, I will cry.

2. Zoeva Cocoa Blends Palette 

This was buzzing around the blogosphere a few months back, and I haven't got over it quite yet. It  really does look amazing, I love the warm browns and the touch of pinky mauve- ness for the autumn season. Plus, it is somehow only £15- a really good deal if the product is as good as everyone is saying!

3, Charlotte Tilbury, The Vintage Vamp Quad

You hear a lot about CT's Dolce Vita, but personally, Vintage Vamp appeals to me a bit more. It's probably those beautiful deep maroons which look absolutely dreamy. I've been hunting for a good quad recently, as I find my collection is significantly lacking in anything between a single and a 16-pan whopper, and I have pondered on these many a time. The only snag is that they cost as much as a Naked Palette, and house significantly less shades. Still, it does look like total quad- perfection...

4. Too Faced Chocolate Bar Palette

Chocolate and make-up, my two favourite things, brought together in this beautiful array of eyeshadow goodness. Could it get any better? Basically, no, it can't. The colour selection is this palette is right up my alley, with some buttery mid-tone crease shades, bronzey browns, and hints of purple and red. Amazing. Is it my birthday yet?

So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this, and can sympathise a little with my palette obsession.
Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Clinique Cheek Pop | Melon Pop

These have had a fair amount of hype over the last few months, and I've been very slow to invest in one. The £16 price tag on such a small product can seem a bit steep, but the quality makes it worth it.

I chose Melon Pop because I love a peachy blush, especially in the summer. The finish of this blush is matte, without shimmer or glitter, but it still looks natural and pretty on the cheeks. It's definitely a buildable product rather than being super pigmented, which I actually prefer in a blusher, because blending scary clown cheeks is my least favourite thing. I apply this with the Real Techniques Multi Tasker and the lasting power is 6hours +.

Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Make Up Revolution Ultra Sculpt and Contour Kit

I've been on the look out for a budget Bronze/Blush//Highlight kit for a while now, mainly for the convenience. So- I was really excited to see this offering from Make Up Revolution for around £3.50. I got mine in the shade Ultra Fair, and I've worn it a couple of times to check the wear time, which is surprisingly good.

(I did film a little video of my applying it but it was too large to upload to my blog, so I'll make a YouTube video and upload it soon)

 I would say the best of the threesome is the bronzer/contour. It's very pigmented but blends out like an absolute dream. The blusher is my least favourite because, when teamed with the highlight, the two together is a lot of shimmer. But hey, its summer so who cares? The highlight is beautiful; not chunky or glittery like a lot of cheaper highlights, but really shimmery and pretty, lav it.
I think this is a really good mini- palette, and definitely one to pick up if you're heading away on holiday and you want a quick fix.

Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Four Budget Blushes

So, I'm having a bit of a blusher moment. I think its the warmer weather, I just want to have beautifully flushed cheeks All.The.Time.

These are four really good budget options if you are after a new blusher for Spring and Summer,  all with amazing lasting power and an even application.

From left to right-

Make Up Revolution Vivid Blush Lacquer in Rush. -This is an interesting liquid/cream blush formula which comes out really pigmented and beautiful. Now, there is definitely potential for clown-face here. You have to use a VERY light hand, you literally need the smallest smidgen dotted on the apples of your cheeks, and then go ahead with a blending brush- or your fingers- and blend it. And, let me tell you, this blends out like a dream. If you've gone a little overboard you can sort it out with a quick swipe from your foundation brush/sponge to merge it all together. Lovely. Really nice natural colour which lasts all day long.

Soap and Glory Sexy Mother Blusher in Onamatopeacha. - First of all, I have a lot of love for the name. Second of all, I have a lot of love for this product. The handy stick formula makes this really quick and easy, and unlike the make up revolution blush lacquer, this goes on quite sheer and is one you build up rather than blend out. Obviously, you would blend this one out too... but you know what I mean. Despite the swatch, it is really subtle on the skin, with the smallest hint of sheen but no glitter. Lovely for a natural peachy cheek and perfect for summer.

Max Factor Creme Puff Blush in Lavish Mauve.- This is a colour which I would normally steer well clear of, as I would assume it would be too dark for my fair skin. But, used with a light hand, this is a beautiful bronzer-blush-highlight hybrid. It adds a bit of depth, a bit of a pink flush, and has a lovely shimmer running through it which really brightens up the cheeks. Amazing.

Sleek Blush in Pixie Pink. - This is a lovely blue-based pink which is no way near as scary as it looks in the pan, believe me. The colour is actually very sheer and buildable, which I absolutely prefer to scary unblendable pigmentation. Such an easy colour to wear, and definitely a go-to for a matte pink blush. 

Hope you enjoyed these recommendations,

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

The Cream Blush Love of my Life

As you can see, this palette is very well loved.

This is the sleek cream blush palette in Californ.i.a and it features 3 long-wearing pigmented, beautifully creamy blush shades.

 All three shades are so beautiful and really wearable for all skin tones. They all blend in without any problem, with both your fingers or a brush (I use the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush).

The far left colour is a medium pink. It has a tiny bit of shimmer, and can be worn for a really subtle, natural colour, or built up for a brighter cheek.

The middle shade is a really light peach with shimmer and glitter. Don't let that put you off, this really is a beautiful colour, and my absolute favourite in the summer time with lots of bronzer as a lovely highlight/blush hybrid. 

The third colour is completely matte, and its a deep peach. Same with the pink shade, this can be blended into a sheer finish which makes it perfect for pale skin, or built up to a more pigmented look which  would work better for darker skin. 

I'm pretty sure this palette is something like £10, which I think is really worth it for three cream blushes. These are my go-to cream blushes,and I would really recommend this as a great collection of shades.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

5 minute make- up ~ Spring Pinks

Happy Easter!

So today I did this quick, fresh-looking Spring make- up. 

I do apologise for the edited photo, when I looked in the mirror, my face looked fine, but when I took a photo, I just looked horrible, so. Sorry.

I only used things from my previous post, so I took the Rimmel BB cream allover, concealer in the obvious places, a healthy dab of the Revolution Blush in Love on my cheeks, and the Technic highlighter dabbed on my cheekbones and on my brow bone.

The eyes were super simple. 

A swipe of the Bourjois 24 Hour cream eyeshadow allover the lid (in Petale), and a little browny eyeshadow swished into the crease- i used the second from the left shade in my Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Bronze palette.

I've been loving the sans- eyeliner look recently, I think it looks really fresh, so I just went straight in with mascara.

For the lips, just a quick splash of the Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle for a nice natural flushed pink.

Voila!

Hope you've had an amazing day,

Thanks for reading

Lou x

The "No- Make- up" Make-up Essentials

There are days when my eyes want a break, but I still want to leave the house and not look like a zombie. Unfortunately I don't have that great skin and strong brows which means i can look flawless at all times. There are three basic steps to follow to perfect your natural face if you're in a rush, or if you just don't fancy blending any eyeshadow today (it happens)

Step 1: Base

Something fresh, light, and radiant makes the best quick base fix. My base of choice is the Rimmel Radiance BB cream in Very Light. This is a fairly new purchase for me but I LOVE it. So light, so fresh, but decent coverage. Pretty radiant but not as glowy as the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum. Love it. Check it out. Now. 

Next, wack on some concealer. I pop a bit of the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair on any blemishes, and the L'Oreal Touche Magique under my eyes.

Step 2: Brows

My brow products of choice are the Kiko eyeshadows, just mixed together and swished through my brows to make them a bit fuller and ...just better. Sorting your brows out makes everything look more ready, and your face look more framed and beautiful. I envy people with beautiful dark brows...

Flick some brow gel (I use Natural Collection Clear Mascara) through them brows to keep them in place.

Step 3: Blush
A bit of blusher perks up your face so well. Choose one which is also illuminating so you don't need to bother with highlighter. My go-to brush is MAC's Peachykeen. It's really sheer so I can build it nicely to get a nice flush.


Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Revolution Ultra Blush Palette Sugar And Spice ~ Mini Review and Swatches

This is the Make Up Revolution Blush Palette in Sugar and Spice which is a set of 8 'blushes'.

It is a strange set of powders to be honest, with two intensely glittery, unwearable highlighters at the far end, and then 6 completely matte, insanely pigmented powders in the rest of the palette.

1. Is a colour I stayed completely clear of until very recently. It's like a deep browny peach which I thought would be horrible on pale skin, but actually looks really natural, and can be used as a contour/bronze/blush hybrid because its matte

2. Is a really dark bright pink, I will never ever use this colour to be honest. It's so pigmented and dark that it just won't look right on my skin, so I don't think I'll ever use this colour, but  I think would look really nice on darker skin.

3. is a lighter, less brown version of 1, as you can see, so it's a really good all-in-one shade.

4 & 5 are ridiculously similar, I tend to use 5 rather than 4, I just think it's a shade lighter, but is still quite a full-on darkish pink

6 is my favourite shade out of this whole palette. It's a proper bright coral with a huge pigment punch, love it

7 & 8 are highlighters. Now...I don't understand how you would use these, except maybe as eyeshadow. 8 especially is just...unwearable. It's incredibly, incredibly glittery, and a super bright pink. Totally unwearable and basically a little bit crazy. 7 is like the same thing but a silvery lilac, so could work as a really super intense highlight, but I still think is not very wearable.

All in all, I don't think this palette is really worth getting, unless you love a range of super matte, SUPER pigmented blushes and crazy highlights. They are so pigmented that they are quite hard to blend, so you have to apply with a really light hand. However, I love having a range of blushes in a palette, and I'm eyeing up the All-About-Cream blush palette from Revolution which I think would be more usable. 

Thanks for reading :)

Lou x

Face of the Day ~ 15 minute make- up

Everyone has those mornings when you have to get up and out really quickly, but you don't want to scare the world with your naked stressed face (I don't have the best skin, especially at the moment), so you need a make- up routine which is quick and failsafe, and this is mine. Enjoy :)

So that's my face up above- (I'm really not the best at selfies), and here is everything which is AWN MA FACE. It looks complicated, but it's really not. You might wonder why I have three concealers, but all will be explained...

Face

(Top to bottom: Rimmel Foundation, Collection concealer, Maybelline Concealer, Collection cover stick- see below for more details)

So, I think it's really important for bad- skin days or mornings when you don't have much time, to take more time over skin care than make up. I started my morning with an ex-foliating pad from Nip and Fab, then the Effaclar Duo from Roche Posay to try and calm my skin down, and then some moisturiser. I used Olay's Anti Wrinkle 2 in 1 Instant Hydration and Radiant Glow which is lovely and fresh.

Once your skin is looking a bit more perky and nourished, I would normally go ahead and apply primer. I really recommend the Rimmel Lasting Perfection Primer if you need your make up to last the day. I didn't have time this morning (/ I forgot), so I just went right ahead with my foundation, which I applied with my fingers because I didn't have time to buff it in with a brush. I used Rimmel's Lasting Finish Nude in Porcelain, and just applied a thin layer all over. Ma face. This is a really nice foundation in general- very light and fresh looking- and I think it's best to go for a lighter coverage foundation if you don't have much time in the morning. I then went in with my Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair over my blemishes and around my nose. I did use a brush for this, and buffed it in to make sure it was nice and even across my skin. I used the Maybelline Fit Me concealer in 15 on my eyelids and under my eyes to prime for eye make up and to conceal my under eye circles. (This is where I needed a third concealer because my under eye circles were serious- I went over with the Collection Cover Stick in 01 and pressed that in).

Boring bit over. 

Now, colour in your cheeks is something you need if you are in a rush, or you need to look more awake. I used my Make Up Revolution Blushing Heart in Peachy Pink Kisses which is so shimmery and illuminating that you don't need to faff around with a highlighter.

Eyes 

I kept the eyes super easy and super neutral.

First, I filled in my eyebrows with my Kiko eyeshadows, in 237 and 239 mixed together to get a good shade. It would definitely be better to use an eyebrow pencil because it is quicker, but I'm currently between eyebrow pencils because I can't find a good blonde one. I then brushed my brows through with the Natural Collection Clear Mascara which is such a cheap version of a brow gel, and it's really good. Brows done and onto eyes.

The star of the show has to be the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Creamy Beige.I applied this allover the lid with my finger tip, just smudging it in to make sure it's even. It literally takes 10 seconds to get a layer of colour. This isn't what I would call beige, it's definitely slightly darker, but it's a great base colour. 

At this point, you have two options. Go darker, and find a dark shade to quickly smudge through the crease. OR (as i did), find a lighter shade to press over the centre of the lid to brighten the eye up. I used a Kiko eyeshadow in 236 which is a shimmery peachy/brown/nude. 

Liquid eyeliner is something you shouldn't attempt if you are in a rush, unless you can do it quickly, in which case, I bow down to your superiority. I just smudged a thin line of dark eyeshadow- I used Undone from the Naked 2 Basics palette, but you can use any dark brown or black colour- along the lash line to make the whole look more defined. 

Mascara is also hard to do quickly. I will normally do at least two coats of mascara because my lashes just don't hold up with just one coat, as you can see here. I used the 17 Va Va Voom Mascara in Black, which is the BEST mascara. You need to try it.

Lips

Having lipstick on immediately makes you look more put-together and a little fresher. Wack on some lipbalm if you really have no time, but if you have 5 seconds, go for a sheer wash of colour which is easy to apply and isn't too bold. I went for  a sheer peach lipstick from the Body Shop- Colour Crush in 315. Really easy and fresh looking, perfect for spring.

Powder is optional at  this point. I'm not a huge powder fan, I find it always makes me look cakey - and believe me I've tried applying it in every single way- but i actually did put a little bit of the Rimmel Stay Matte in Transparent on my under-eye concealer to make it stay- put.

So, I hope you enjoyed this fifteen minute make up for a really natural easy look.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x