Brows | Back to Powder

Just when bold brows are phasing out, I get a real taste for them. Typical hey? Since my dark roots now take up about a third of my hair (I'm trying to pull it off as a grown-out-ombre look...it's not working), I can pretty much get away with a dark-ish brow.
My everyday brow preference is for the Soap and Glory Archery Pencil, paired with the L'Oreal Brow Plumper, both in blonde. I find both products quick and easy to use, and they don't budge all day, which is a definite plus.
But, when I have a bit of time for my face, I like to experiment with slightly bolder, better brows. Here I used the Naked2 Basics palette to really sculpt my brows out. Seriously, whatever colour your hair, this palette will have something in it for your brows, as well as being an amazing eyeshadow palette, obviously. I used a mixture of Frisk and Primal to match my shade, and I really like the results. Am I crazy?

My Current Beauty Lust List | Sunday Chat

So... let's be real here. I just finished Uni, and although I do have a real job, I haven't made it to my first pay cheque yet. On top of that, I don't actually have a home yet, so I'm basically not meant to be spending any money at all until I sort my adult life out. (Send help).
To take my mind of all the beautiful make-up goodness which I am dying to get my hands on, I thought I would list it here. Hopefully it will help and I will stop staring at swatches and crying over my (empty) bank account.

1. Zoeva Cocoa Blends Palette
I know this isn't an extravagant purchase at around £15, but I can't justify buying it. It's full of fairly standard bronzes, browns and general neutral goodness, so I really have no need of it.But I still want it really really much. The other problem is that it's probably best to purchase from Beauty Bay, which means I will need to buy another couple of items to qualify for quicker/ free-er delivery options. So what starts of as £15 ends up at £40, and there you see my problem.

2.All of the Charlotte Tilbury
Holy mother. I had not seen much Charlotte Tilbury stuff in the flesh until recently when I ventured into the Selfridge's beauty hall for the first time in my life (I know, what have I been doing?!). But oh my god, I wish I hadn't. I need the eyeshadow quads. And the lipsticks. And the Bronze&Glow. All the powders, creams, masks, everything. It needs to be mine.

3.Tarte Tartlette Palette
Dear god I'm having a real eyeshadow lust moment. I really need this one though, because I lack in the matte department, and this palette really has it all. And it's purple which is my absolute favourite colour of life. So basically, it's perfection.

4. Jo Malone English Pear and Freesia Cologne
(See number 2. to set the scene- e.g, Selfridge's). Basically, I smelt them all, and this one was just amazing. I've really been lusting after a daytime perfume which makes it through the day, and I'm pretty sure this is the one. Fresh, floral, a little sweet but nothing sickly, I want it, I need it. Why is it £85? Holy smokes.

5. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfecter, Champagne Pop
Maybe if everyone and their mothers (and fathers, sisters and brothers) stopped talking about this, I wouldn't want it so much. But they don't, so I do. It's meant to be the highlight of all highlights, and it does look ridiculously amazing. After recently swatching Opal and Moonstone in real life, I think I finally understand the magic of Becca, and being a huge Jaclyn Hill fan, I really do see the magic of Champagne Pop. The sad thing is, I can pretty much be sure that it will never, ever be mine. Sob.

So, I don't know if I feel any better, or if I just feel a bit depressed. Basically I just need to win the lottery.

Thanks for reading!
Lou x

Naked during the day | Eyes

When you think Naked Palette, you think amazing smoky evening eyes, or least a nice beach-y bronze look. I've been experimenting with the original Naked palette for a relaxed daytime look with a tiny bit of smoke, and this is my favourite so far.

I used Buck  in the crease, Sin over the main part of the lid and the browbone, and Naked  to blend the edges. The real star of the show is Darkhorse- which I used on the lower lash line and outer v to create a daytime smoky look.
This combo is perfect for during the day on Saturday. I'll tell you why. It's enough to look 'done' if you are going out for the day or just spending time with friends or family. But what makes it great is that it can be a great base for anything extra you might want to add in the evening. Nothing too shimmery or dark which would be hard to blend over, but just enough so that I could go back in 6 hours and really make it night-time appropriate. Or, leave the shadow, wack on some liner, lashes and a bold lip and you're good to go. Fabulous.

I used the Seventeen Va Va Voom mascara, and a tiny smudge of Blackout from the Naked2 palette along my top lash line. Like, a tiny amount.

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading
Lou x

5 tips for 5 minute morning make-up | Sunday Chat

I am two weeks into my first full-time, real- life, serious job. Eek. So far, one of the hardest things I've faced is squeezing my leisurely morning skin,hair and make-up dawdle into a seriously quick, to-the-point routine. I'm just getting the hang of it, and here are a few tips I've learnt so far.

1. Minimise your morning skin routine.
Save the masking, toning, exfoliating and serious double- cleansing for the evenings. In the morning, stick to a swipe of micellar water and moisturiser. How anyone does more than that is beyond me.

2.Full- coverage face is still not the one.
When you're at work you want to look awake, fresh and ready, and your first thought is- oh, I'll put  a real, serious foundation all over my face to go with my real, serious job. Wrong. I've spent too long in the morning blending that stuff around my chops to decide that it just isn't the one. Bare Minerals Complexion Rescue you are the one. Yet again.

3.Prioritise your face.
There are certain parts of your make- up routine you can do on the train to work, and certain parts you can't. Mascara and eyeliner are a no-no. So is prodding that fresh spot around with concealer whilst sitting next to a smart business man. That just isn't cute. My rule of thumb is: get your base, brows and lashes done at home. Bare minimum. If  you have to sacrifice one of the three, your brows can be done on the train, trust me.

4.Highlight is taking a back seat.
a) I have trouble even fitting both bronzer and blusher into the space of time I have on the train
b) I'm not sure my colleagues are ready for my J-Lo glow.

5. Convenience products for the win.
I have only just realised that I do not own any eyeshadow quads or trios which are handy to throw in my train make- up bag for the commute. That Naked Palette just isn't going to cut it for a nice grown-up day time look. At the moment, my MAC Cinderella palette is saving the day, and I seriously need to find a few matte- heavy, small palettes for work make- up. (Apart from my Naked Basics 2 which is life)


PS: If you drive to work, leave ten minutes early and sort your business out in the toilets before you  start. It's just logical.

Lou x

My current concealer cocktail

Who- ever said that one concealer could do it all was lying. Or they don't have the under-eye circles I have... OR they've found a magic make up product I have yet to stumble upon.

Anyway, I'm all about that layering life to make sure those bad boys stay hidden all day long. I can't say I'm 100% in love with all three of these, or that they're my holy grail concealers, or anything like that. But at the moment, it's working , and until I finish them, I'm not hugely bothered about hunting down some alternatives. If I ever need a hint more coverage, I pop a tiny dot of Collection Lasting Perfection right on the darkest part of my eye to really hit it where it hurts. (What?)

Feast your eyes on my eye. (Eye-eye Sir). My camera is fairly flattering, so the intensity of that eye bag just isn't showing up. Anyway, I've done a couple of photos to try to show you the concealer- layering process, and the finished result

So, first of all, I dab a little of the Bobbi Brown Corrector in Light Bisque into the purple-most bits of my undereye bags. Now, despite costing me almost 20£, I have found it hard to fall in love with this product. It's super SUPER creamy, making it hard to set, and not to crease the moment you apply it. But, it cancels out most of the purple-ness fairly well, which I suppose is it's number one purpose.

The next step is to layer a little of the Maybelline Anti - Age sponge concealer thing over top, just to cover the peachy-ness of the corrector. Side note: check out that blending job on my nose. Oh wow.

Lastly, I layer a healthy load of L'Oreal Lumi Concealer, which is basically a brightening pen. You can get loads of these, and I would recommend any that L'Oreal make as I've tried a good few. Loverly.

And that's it! Wack a little powder on just to set the concoction, and you're good to go. I would be happy to get this routine down to two steps, but the Maybelline concealer isn't a good colour match to my skin, and needs a bit of a pick me up.

Hope this was helpful!
Thanks for reading!
Lou x

5 Things I do when my skin goes mental | Sunday Chat

Yesterday morning, I was feeling smug. Smug about how great my skin had been for over a week.
Today, I felt annoyed. I could feel it coming on last night; the tiny patch of pain that tells you the inevitable... a spot is coming. 
This evening, I have four. For some reason, when my skin gets bad, it gets really bad, and I pretty much just have to ride out the storm and wait for it to settle down again. But, there are a few things I do whenever it gets to bad, to try to make myself feel a little better about my face.

1. Fake tan. Not just on my face, everywhere. I feel like when I have giant red blemishes on my face, if I'm a little tanned, it makes them stand out less against my skin. Am I crazy? I might be crazy. But yay for Clarins Glow Booster: you are life.

2. Masks. My mask of the moment is the Body Shop Seaweed Clay Mask, which is pretty heavy duty stuff. It is quite drying, but I do feel it really helps to heal the blemishes I already have, and smooth out my skin elsewhere. Lav it.

3. Stay away from pink lipstick. This is something I swear by. If you have pink dots on your face which you don't want people to see, don't wack a pink lippie on and expect it not to draw attention to them. I try to lean towards browner nudes or more orange tones to draw attention away from the blemishes.

4. Ditto above, but blushes.

5. Take make up off whenever possible. If I have crappy skin, as soon as I get home I want to wash my face. Spots just heal faster if you aren't constantly re-covering them with concealer and poking them around to try to make them disappear. Make-up off, tea tree toner on (thanks Lush), and hopefully it'll sort itself out soon enough.


So yeah! As a side note, I have to say that I have applied straight up tea tree oil onto blemishes, but I find that I just got a huge rash... maybe I am allergic. I prefer using Effaclar Duo from La Roche Posay as an on-the-spot treatment.

Thanks for reading!
Lou x

3 New L'Oreal Products

Well, new to me. A good old Boots 3 for 2 deal on L'Oreal drew me in and made me make a cheeky purchase of a couple of single eyeshadows and one of their Colour Riche lipsticks.

The eyeshadows have had a fair amount of buzz around the blogosphere, and I can now see why. Whilst swatching in store, I had trouble picking two rather than ten. You can see from the crack in the right- hand shadow (Nude 201, Cafe Saint Germain), that these are buttery, buttery soft. In fact, I would say that half the pans on the shelf were at least cracked, if not completely crushed.

I'm not normally one to buy single shadows, but these swatched so well in store that I was totally convinced. The right hand shade is Cafe Saint Germain, as mentioned above, and the one on the left, more of a peachy, rose gold shade, is Lumiere 507 Pin Up Pink. I love them both, and I don't think this photo does the intense pigment justice. I hope these wear as well as they swatch!

The lipstick is part of the Colour Riche range too- Doutzen's Nude. It's a true, sheer baby pink, which is something I've been looking for recently. With nudes, I normally lean towards a more peach or purple base rather than straight- up pink, so I love this. It is very sheer, and so far I can say it doesn't stay on particularly long- but that's to be expected with such a creamy formula.

I'm excited about these new products and look forward to trying them out!
Thanks for reading!
Lou x