Base routine/ favourite base products

Oh hi! Welcome to my morning face, and my amazing mug which I got literally ten years ago. Welcome.

It's been a while, sorry about that, life got in the way.

Anyway, hopefully as  you can see from the title, this post is all about base (buttery biscuit base)..if you don't know what that means I don't think we can be friends. Look it up.

So for this, I used all (very almost) highstreet, or drugstore products to achieve a natural looking base which just needed topping up with whatever eye and lip look I fancied.
I won't say this is an everyday look - I tend not to have time to do a few of these steps- but this probably only took 15-20 minutes tops.

For foundation, my favourite at the moment is Rimmel Match Perfection in a mix of Porcelain and Ivory to get my colour. I love this stuff, even though I have pretty oily skin, and I think it might be better suited to normal to dry skin as it has a really natural/dewy finish. I do get oily on my T Zone during the day, but I prefer that to the foundation breaking down into patches which looks awful with foundations like the L'Oreal True Match. Anyway, I digress.

For concealer, a mix of my Bobbi Brown Corrector, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and the L'Oreal True Match clicky highlight pen thing. Love all these, great cocktail of concealers. Speaking of the Collection concealer, I used a little of Shade 4 to warm up my face just around the edges and on my cheeks. This isn't a cream contour, it's a pretty warm shade, but it works really nicely as a cream bronzer.

For powder (which isn't in the photo, sorry, it was 7am) I use my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Difused Light, as well as my Fit Me Powder to set oilier areas.

I like to cancel out discolouration on my eyelids every day, it just makes your eyes look so much more awake. I was using the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Creme de Rose, but I have this sample of Benefit's Stay Don't Stray so I've been using that for a while now - it's lasting forever!

For my brows, I am looving my Anastasia Dip Brow in Soft Brown at the moment, I think it's dried out a little and I'm finding it a lot easier to not over- load. I top this off with the L'Oreal Brow Plumper. 

Somehow, for the rest of my face, I accidentally used three Revolution Products. Firstly, this huge Bronze/Shimmer/Highlight pan and then the blush in Love. Really like both of these, especially the bronzer which I always go back to. For highlight, which I basically put all over my face, I used the Revolution Radiant Lights palette which is amazing if you're looking for a budget highlight, really long lasting, and a great selection of three shades for all skin tones. Ah-maze.

So yeah! Think that's it. As I said, not something I have time for every morning, but definitely nice when I have a little more time in the mornings and I want a little extra bronze 'n' glow.

Thanks for reading!

Side note, I have child hair. Yep. 

Collection Lasting Colour Lipsticks

We all know how great the Lasting Perfection Concealer from Collection is- but what about their lipsticks? As it turns out, I have three, so I must like them enough to buy more, right?

From left to right I've got Scorned, Tea Rose and Sweet Tart.

I've had Sweet Tart the longest, hence why the bullet is all beaten up and gross, and I used to love this for a bright night-out lip back in the uni days. I haven't worn it so much recently, and I don't even know why- it's probably the melted shape of it that puts me off whenever I consider it.

Scorned was part of the Gothic Glam collection, which I'm not sure is still around, However, if it is, it's perfect for this time of year, especially for Halloween; a really deep dark aubergine purple.

The middle shade, Tea Rose, is a beautiful, wearable, warm pink which I bought most recently.
All three are creamy and pigmented, and I have to say I'm impressed with their lasting power. They aren't matte, so its not a stick-to-your-mouth job, but they definitely do a few hours nicely.
I'd recommend using a lip brush with these, especially the bright, bold shades as they can be messy to apply.

Overall, these are a steal at around £3 a pop, and a great formula to get a few more fun colours from, like Scorned and Sweet Tart. Check 'em out! :)


Thanks for reading!

Lou x

A Budget Base

I really love a good cream eyeshadow base, and when it comes in at £1.99, it's even more exciting. This is the Miss Sporty Glossy Shadow in 160 Peanut Butter, and I think it is amazing and you need to go buy it right now.

You can see here that the colour is a beautiful, high- gloss, almost wet- look mauvey browny pink? Would you say? This is such a versatile colour, and can be used as a base for a bronzey brown eye look, a pink look, a purple look, or a peach look. Pretty much all the looks I regularly do, and I love the glossy finish so it looks great by itself too. Powder eyeshadow miraculously blend into the cream seamlessly, without setting it first, and I haven't noticed any creasing once I've layered other products over the top.

I finished my eyes off with these products (as well as liner and mascara, obviously). I used Kiko shadows in 233, which is a beautiful cranberry/ purple satin shadow, and 220, which is a really shimmery golden peach. I used 233 in the crease and on the outer half, and then dusted 220, which is fairly sheer, over the inner part. I then used this cream eyeshadow pencil from Collection on my inner corners.

I really love this look, and especially the Miss Sporty eyeshadow pencil, which I think is amazing quality and a beautiful colour for the price.

Hope you enjoyed this!
Thanks for reading,
Lou x

Travel Make - Up

When I visited Morocco recently, my make- up selection  proved surprisingly successful while I was away- so, I thought I would share it with you in a video! 

Go check it out on:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCECys22qgk3G01ozysH6rcA

I hope you enjoy it, please subscribe!

Thanks for reading

Lou x

Budget Lip Combo

I had one of those moments at Superdrug yesterday when my basket collected make- up completely without my knowledge, I swear. I ended up spending almost forty pounds, and I've spent the last 24 hours in a state of excitement and spending- regret.

Anyway- these two products are a couple of the things I bought, and magically I managed to pick a lipliner which really compliments the lipstick.

The lipliner is one of Rimmel's Exaggerate Lip liners which are £3.99 I believe. We all know about how great East End Snob is, but this is the shade Addiction, and its a darker, more browny mauve-y purple. Lovely, there's a lot of the MAC Brave vibe about it.

The lipstick is Collection's Lasting colour in China Rose. By itself, this is more of a dark, rosey pink, but with the lipliner it becomes more dusty and browny - beautiful. I'm pretty sure these lipsticks are £2.99, but I got mine 2 for £5 at Superdrug, so check that out. The formula of this lipstick is unbelievably creamy; it feels high-end despite the packaging, which I have to say is pretty horrible.

But, for two budget lip products, I think the formula and finish of both is really good, and the Rimmel lipliner makes sure the colour stays put for a good few hours.

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Quick Review | A Bargain Blush

This is the Collection Gorgeous Glow Blush Block, and it's such an amazing bargain I needed to do a speedy review.

The striped 'brick' design is reminiscent of the Bobbi Brown Shimmer Bricks, but obviously at a smidgen of the price.
I use this by swirling my brush into all of the colours and applying it as one shade to my cheeks. It is a peachy pink sheer-ish soft powder with a golden sheen, which makes it amazing for summer, and beautiful on tanned skin.

You can see it here swatched and blended in on the left, to show that it can really be sheered out and worn even on the palest skin. Because of the shine in the powder, it would make a beautiful peachy highlight on darker skin tones, as well as a great blush on fairer skin.
The staying power is actually pretty good. It has at least a 6-8 hour wear, and I found that I didn't need to re-apply it during the day when I wore this to work.
Fabulous, and a bargain at £2.99. Check it out!

Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Peaches and Cream: Easy Spring Everyday Make-up Look

If you love a peachy eye and a fresh, summer skin, head over to my YouTube channel and watch me putting my make up on and make my face look like this:

I'm not sure what's going on here, but my camera has made my skin look flawless. It's a lie.

All the products I used are mentioned in the video.

http://youtu.be/NyHb7Lre6hA

It's nice and easy and uses pretty much all drugstore products and brushes :)

Check it out, and appreciate my music/editting skills. Been working on dat ting alllll day.

Probably should be doing coursework...

Thanks for reading!

Lou x

Top 5 Undiscovered Beauty Gems

There are a lot of things in the beauty internet world which get a lot of mentions, and most of them deserve it.

However, there are at least a few things in my collection which I absolutely love and I've never heard anyone speak about.

Here's a lovely swatch of the lipstick (MAC's Captive), liner (Collection 24hr Liquid Liner) and Cream eyeshadow (Bourjois 24h cream to powder in a mysterious colour)

Check out my YouTube video to find out more :)

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCECys22qgk3G01ozysH6rcA

thanks so much for reading/watching, please subscribe and follow my blog to keep up to date :)

Lou x

Collection Eyes Uncovered Nude Bronze Palette ~ Review and Swatches

I've already chatted about this palette a little bit on here, but I thought it deserved a separate post because it's so worth picking up. 

Let's just appreciate this amazing selection for a minute.

The only down side to this palette is that it's an entirely shimmery collection, so those of you who prefer your mattes might be disappointed. I love the shimmers, especially for the summer, its such a nice collection for a summer holiday!

These are one swipe swatches, so you can see how pigmented and shimmery they are. The light shade is really good, it just doesn't show up here because it's basically a creamy white...which is the colour of my skin.

My favourites are the second and fifth shades, which are very similar, but the second is a bit of a cooler tone whereas the fifth is warmer.

The only colour to not impress me so much is the golden shade, which is a little sheerer, but builds up really well.

This looks a lot lighter on camera than in person, but I basically did a wash of the palest colour, the golden in the centre and the fifth colour into the crease, just to create a soft daytime look. 

The shadows are so pigmented but easy to blend out so great to do both a day and a night look.

The shadows last really really well, each time I've worn them they make it through the entire day!

Overall, definitely pick this one up, it's such good value at £3.99 ( It was on offer at Boots for £2.99 the other week so I'm sure it will be again sometime), and the quality is amazing for the price.

This is the kind of palette I'd take away on holiday because of the cardboard packaging, and the lovely selection of shimmery bronzey shades. I will definitely be looking at the other two palettes...

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 Weekend Edit ~ Travel Make-up Bag

 I find packing a travel make -up bag so much fun. I think I'm a bit weird, but I love challenging myself to cut it down to a small selection which offers me a wide range of options. So here's my latest edit, I'm at my parents' for Easter and the few days ahead will hold family gatherings, photo opportunities, and some trips out to see friends etc, so my make-up bag has to be quite versatile. I'll talk you through my picks so hopefully you'll get some ideas :)

Face

Three concealers I hear you say, well- let me justify it.

The Rimmel BB cream is a no-brainer, it's my absolute favourite at the moment. Light to medium coverage, brightening and flawless looking. Light enough for a casual day, but with a bit of neatly placed concealer, it can become a bit more flawless.

The Collection concealer is for blemishes which might rear their ugly head. Dotted onto bits-I-want-to-cover, this concealer is perfect for heavy coverage jobs. And everyone is bored to death hearing about this one, so I'll move on.

Maybelline Fit Me concealer is a strange one. It's looks darker than my skin tone but when blended in it's actually fine. I use the shade 15. I use this as an eyeshadow base to even out my pigmentation on my eyelids, as well as under my eyes to cover those dark circles.

The L'Oreal Touche Magique is for those days which I want a little extra summin-summin. Stripped over the top of the Maybelline under my eyes and down my cheeks a little, it can look really brightening, and on a really good under-eye day, I could just wack this on atop my BB cream for a really luminous face. Brill.

 Blush, Bronze and Highlight

Bronzing/ contour goes straight to my Body Shop Honey Bronzer in 01 Light Matte- perfect for both a chiselled cheekbone, and a sunkissed glow. 

Blush was a hard one, I wanted to take my MAC blush, but I've not been giving my other blushes much attention, so I've thrown in this Revolution blush in Love which is really really nice and fresh. It is matte but it lasts well and is a perfect Spring-pink.

For highlight, I gave the Mary Luminizer a break, and threw in this Technic Highlighter (available on Amazon) which is basically an amazing dupe for Benefit's High Beam, and a tenth of the price. I've had this for years, and it's perfect dabbed on the cheekbones or under the brows.

I chucked in my Rimmel Stay Matte powder in Translucent for shiny days.

Eyes

I feel like this is such a condensed choice, I am so proud of myself.

For my brows, I went for my Revolution Aqua Tint in Fair which I love, and it lasts really well, as well as my Natural Collection Clear Mascara for combing them through.

I have two cream eyeshadows which are great for bases, and for quick washes of colour. I went for Creamy Beige from Maybelline because it's matte, and everything else I'm bringing is shimmery so I wanted the option. The other is Petale de Glace ( i think) From Borjouis- the name has rubbed off but it's a really beautiiful dusty pink which looks so fresh and pretty. 

I'm loving this Collection Eyes Uncovered palette in Nude Bronze, it's got a really good selection of shades, and the quality is amazing for the price. Also the packaging is so travel-friendly.

Mascara was an easy one- Va Va Voom from 17, my go-to mascara. Same with eyeliner- the liquid pen from Collection is the best. I threw in a pencil black eyeliner just incase, it's the Rimmel Scandaleyes.

Lips

Stuff happening this week will mostly revolve around eating, so no bold lips are welcome. The Revlon Lip Butter in Pink Truffle is a nice balmy dark pink, the Rimmel Kate Lipstick in 103 is a matte mid pink, and the Maybelline Colour sensational in Glorious Grapefruit is an orange-y gloss. All fresh and spring-y but not high maintenance. Oh, and some Lip Balm from the Body shop which is chocolate smelling. Yum.

Other bits

Just a couple of extras. Baby skin primer in case I feel a bit pore-y, my lash curler because its an essential, and Barry M Topcoat, Basecoat and Nail Hardener in case I need to get rid of my current colour and I can't deal with naked nails.

So that's everything! Hope you enjoyed it and found it useful :)

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

Black Swan Make -up Look ~ All Budget Beauty Products

This is the look I created for Halloween last year, and I think its such a fun easy look which looks really effective if you have any fancy dress events to go to. :)

What do you need? -

A pale foundation or white face paint (I used Miss Sporty Stay Matte in Ivory)

A Black liquid liner (I used collection 2000 Black liquid liner)

A white and a black pencil eyeliner (I picked up both from MUA for a pound each)

A grey toned contour colour (I used a grey eyeshadow)

A white highligher (I used 'Golden Lights' from Make Up Revolution which was a little too golden but it worked)

Mascara (Any will do)

Fake Lashes (f you want)

Dark red lipstick (I used 17's Stay Pout in 'Rule Breaker' which is amazing)

A small eyeshadow brush. (I used one from W7 which you can see in my 'Budget Brushes' post)

This look is really easy. I wish I had taken photos throughout but honestly, it's meant to look feathery and messy, so a little smudgi-ness just adds to the whole look.

Here goes- I promise you it doesn't use any complicated techniques, just a bit of blending and concentration. :)

1. Apply foundation/ white face paint allover the skin. I used my fingers and applied two coats to make sure it was super opaque and pale. Don't do concealer as the eye look is definitely going to produce a lot of fall out.

 2. 

Do you love this sketch. I do.

So take your black pencil eyeliner and roughly sketch out this shape around your eye. The top line should run along the top of your eyebrow, and the bottom should be just slightly under your eyelid.

3.Continuning with your black pencil eyeliner, go ahead and fill in bits which are going to stay black. Fill in from your bottom line right up to your bottom eyelid. Also fill in the whole of your top eyelid and your eyebrows.  Thicken up the edge of the shape all the way around, but leave the outer edge of the shape thin and rough for the minute.

Still with the same eyeliner (maybe sharpen it at this point), create a design within your outer edges. I created points outwards from my eyelid, all heading towards my hairline. Fill them in with black pencil eyeliner. Your eyes should look something like this:

4. Take your white pencil eyeliner and fill in all of the gaps between the black lines with white. Because they are both pencil this might start looking slightly smudgey, but that's ok.

5. When everything is covered in black and white pencil eyeliner, have a look at the whole design and make sure you are happy with it before you go in with a more intense black eyeliner. When you are happy, take your black liquid liner and just intensify the black areas. Also use this to bring all the lines to a point on the outer edges, so it looks like feathers. Use the same technique around the inner corner and down the nose to create really pointed edges.

Your eyes should be looking a little something like this. If you have an intense white eyeshadow, go in to the white areas and intensify them

6. Line your waterline and tightline with black eyeliner, and apply mascara. Lashes are optional, but I think they really add to the intensity of the look.

7. Tidy up any fall out with some concealer or white face paint.

8.  To finish the face, take an ashy contour shade and hollow out the cheekbones, creating a harsh angle. Add highlight to the tops of the cheekbones.

9. For the lips, line with the black pencil eyeliner ( I know, stick with me), and then use a brush or the lipstick straight from the bullet to apply to the rest of the lip. Smudge the eyeliner into the lipstick to create a really intense outer edge and a dark red inner colour.

There you have it! A simple way to do the make up from Black Swan, you could even switch it up with a dark base and a white feathered eye which would look amazing.

Hope this was useful, 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