Natural School/College Make Up Tutorial

September is fast approaching which means so is the start of a new school/college year, so I thought I’d do a post on what make up I would typically wear to college or when I’m not doing anything special. I know this look may not be natural to some people as it does involve a little eyeshadow, but the make up does look very light and natural looking. It’s very easy to do and only takes around 10 minutes which is perfect when you don’t have much time in the morning.

So on with the tutorial..
I started by applying some Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush. I honestly could not recommend this foundation enough! It’s the perfect every day coverage, really moisturising (great for dry skin) and lasts a decent amount of time.
After I have applied my foundation I move on to my eyebrows. When I’m going for a more natural look I like to use the lighter shade from my holy grail Brows A Go-Go Kit. (If your school is strict or you don’t like wearing eyeshadow you can skip this step) I then applied some eye primer and the highlighter and contour shade from the Sleek Contour Kit on my eyes, I started by putting the highlighter all over my lid and inner corners and then lightly applying the darker contour shade into the crease. Then you can just apply your favourite mascara, I used the Estée Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara.This just opens up your eyes and gives them a little definition but is still natural enough for school/college.

Next up is concealer, I applied some a small amount of the Mac Pro Longwear under my eyes and blended it in with the Real Techniques Contour Brush. A cheaper alternative to this is the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer, it’s perfect for every day use and has amazing coverage! Now is the time I like to powder. Depending on your personal preference you don’t have to powder but I think for school/college it’s essential. It’ll keep your make up on for a lot longer and stop you getting oily throughout the day. Bronzer is next aka my favourite step…I don’t feel the need to go all out and contour for college so I take my cheap and cheerful (but amazing) NYC Smooth Skin Sunny Bronzer on a big fluffy face brush and bronze my cheekbones and temples. Then on to blush which I personally think is the most important for a natural look as it makes you appear more awake (which is what you need in the mornings). I like to use a small dust of my Sleek Rose Gold Blush.

Last but not least it’s onto the lips. You don’t want to use anything high maintenance or in your face when you’re going for a natural look, lipgloss’ or a lip balms are perfect for school/college. For this look I used the Rimmel Vinyl Bronze High Shine Lipgloss, it’s a sheer pink gloss and keeps the look very natural and pretty.

Mac Pro Longwear Concealer

I finally picked up the Mac Pro Longwear concealer a few weeks ago and I am so so glad I did! I got the colour NC15 as I wanted to use it to highlight my under eye, this shade is perfect and I don’t find it that yellow compared to other NC products. I’ve been a huge fan of the Pro Long wear Foundation for a while now, and ever since I’ve wanted to try the concealer of the same name. The foundation is incredibly long wearing and doesn’t budge so I wanted to see if the concealer could do that same.

The Product
Even though I don’t suffer with the worst under eye circles or anything, this does completely hide any darkness I have and brightens up the area giving it a highlighted affect. I can imagine this being a holy grail product to many people with dark under eyes as it does mask any problems you have.
If I’m being honest I didn’t expect this concealer to last as long as the Pro Longwear foundation and I did think it would crease towards the end of the day. But to my amazement, after a full days wear there was no creasing, patchiness or dryness. It looked exactly the same as it did when I first applied it!
I’ve read a few reviews saying that they find this concealer to be drying. As I suffer with dry skin, I was worried that this stuff would cling to the dry patches under my eyes, but it doesn’t at all! I find that as long as my skin is moisturised before hand, it glides on and actually feels quite moisturising. Compared to the infamous Collection concealer I find this a lot less drying.

The Packaging
The one problem I have with the concealer is the packaging. It comes in a small glass bottle with a pump that dispenses way too much product for one use. During the first few days of using it I wasted a lot of product as I just didn’t need it all, but after a few days if you only do a half pump ( don’t press the pump all the way down) it should give you the perfect amount of product. If you still feel as though it’s dispensing too much I’d recommend you pumping some into a small travel pot and using it from there and then keeping any left over for next time.
Packaging: 4/10
Colour: 9/10
Overall: 9.5/10

Wearable Green Smokey Eye

I decided to do something different with my make up today as I always stick with neutral browns and greys. Whilst looking through my palettes I noticed I have a lot of pretty green shades and attempted to create a smokey eye with them. I finished the eye look with winged liner and Mac’s Creme cup and I’m really pleased with the final look. As you will be able to tell the look is easy to create and only took around five minutes to do on both eyes.

Method
I started out by applying the darkest matte green shade from the Elf Little Book Of Shadows Palette (all shades used are circled in picture above) to my crease and blended it out. I then used a shimmery light green shadow from an old Accessorise Palette on my lid followed by a dark khaki shade in the outer v of my lid. To give the look a little more depth I took a brown shadow from the Accessorise Palette and lightly blended it through my crease to bring the look together.
Finally I applied some liquid eyeliner, made a small flick and applied some of my favourite Estée Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara.

Are there any other make up looks you would like me to do a post on?

Dewy Sunkissed Base

I’ve been absolutely loving mixing foundations lately, especially when I have tan on and need to darken my regular foundation. Whilst testing out the perfect shade with different foundations I stumbled upon a miracle! I’ve had a bottle of the Elizabeth Arden Flawless Finish mousse foundation laying around in my make up collection for a while and I’ve never seen a purpose for it up until now as 1) it’s way too dark for my skin, 2) it provides next to no coverage and 3) it has a lot of shimmer in. Whilst experimenting with different foundations I decided to use a couple of pumps of this with my Mac Pro Longwear foundation, the result was the most amazing sunkissed and dewy looking foundation I’ve ever used. The shimmer isn’t noticeable and it just creates a natural holiday looking glow to your face. I apply it to my face with a Mac 217 brush if I want a lighter coverage or with a Real Techniques Buffing Brush for a fuller coverage. This is now my go to foundation mix and I can’t get over how amazing it makes my skin look!

Day To Night Make Up

We often have days where we’re sprung with last minute plans and you don’t have time to re do all of your make up so that it’s suitable for the night. You may apply an extra bit of gloss or the lipstick you had on and rush out the door, you can however achieve a whole new make up look by simply applying a bold lipstick. Today’s post is how I switched my day time look to make it suitable for the evening.

Day
On my face I used the Mac Pro Longwear Foundation to give me a flawless coverage that lasts all day, the Collection Concelear, Sleek Contour Kit and an Estée Lauder Blush that I can’t seem to find the name of. All of these products are long wearing and suitable for daytime and nighttime wear.
On my eyes I used a shimmery burnt orange/brown shade all over and in the crease, a line of liquid eyeliner and Estée Lauders Sumptuous Extreme mascara. For a more natural every day look you can skip the liner and apply that for the evening look. Now this is where the day and night look will change dramatically. For the day look I used a simple pink lipgloss and lip liner to make my lips appear bigger.

Night
To change my simple day time look into a bold evening look I simply applied a dark lipstick of my choice (Rimmel Moisture Renew 330 Sloane’s Plum), this can be a purple, red or deep pink. Applying a bold lipstick will give the illsuion that you have put more effort into your make up and makes everything look more put together. If you have any extra time you may want to add a shimmery eyeshadow to your lids and some false eyelashes.

How To: Contour & Highlight

I think contouring and highlighting a face can make a huge difference and I for one feel like it completes my make up look. Contouring is the art of enhancing your cheekbones with a matte taupe/brown powder or cream. This can make your cheekbones stand out more and make your face appear slimmer. Highlighting is done by applying a lighter product under your eyes and above the cheekbone to highlight the areas. In this post I’m going to show you how I achieve a natural contour and highlight using powder and a more dramatic contour using cream products.

Natural Contour & Highlight
1. Apply base make up such as foundation, powder etc. Some people prefer to apply their contour and highlight under their foundation but I feel like it looks better on top and stands out more.
2. Apply a concealer 1/2 shades lighter than your natural skin tone under your eyes in a triangle shape.
3. Take a matte bronzer/contour powder and apply it lightly underneath your cheekbones (you can make a fish face to find them). Then bring the powder up onto your temples and along your jawline.
4. Apply a warmer bronzer (one with a more orange tone) to warm your face up. (This step is optional)

Dramatic Contour & Highlight
1. Apply your foundation but don’t powder your face yet.
2. Using a concealer that is 1/2 shades lighter than your skintone highlight under your eyes in a triangle shape, along the bridge of your nose, your chin and on your forehead.
3. Using a cream bronzer, darker foundation or concealer place this under your cheekbones, on your temples, jaw line and either side of your nose.
4. After this is all buffed into the skin, set your highlight with a light powder and your contour with a matte bronzer to make sure it stays in place all day.
5. Apply a powder highlighter to the tops of your cheekbones using a fan brush.

Those are my steps to achieving either a natural or dramatic contoured and highlighted look. Do you do anything different?

Face Of The Day – Winged Eyeliner & Red Lip

Today I opted for a smokey eye, winged liner and a bold rep lip. I used the Elf beauty book to achieve my eye look and Im so impressed with it, I’ll be doing a review on it soon so stay tuned!

Face
• Elf Mineral Infused face primer
• Mac Pro Longwear foundation in NW15
• Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in 01 fair
• eBay concealer palette used for contouring link here
• NYC Smooth Skin Sunny Bronzer
• Sleek Rose Gold Blush
• Highlighter from the Sleek Contour Kit
• Maybeline Fit Me Powder

Eyes
• Elf Eyelid Primer
• Elf Beauty Book in Natural – Lightest highlight shade, daytime contour and nighttime contour shade
• Asda Liquid Eyeliner
• Estée Lauder Sumptuous Extreme Mascara

Lips
• Avon Red Lipstick

How To: Rock A Bold Lip

To some wearing a bold lip colour such as red or a deep pink or purple can be very scary and tend to stay on safe ground and go with a light pink or nude. There’s no need to be afraid of wearing a bold lip, and I think if you apply it in the correct way it can look great on everyone! These are my top tips on how to apply a brighter lip colour correctly and make it last as long as it can.

Prepping The Lips
1. Apply a lip scrub to your lips and leave it for a minute or two. When wearing a bolder lip colour you need to make sure there’s no dry skin on the lips as the colour will tend to cling to the dry patches and start to look patchy throughout the day.
2. After you have removed the lip scrub ( I usually lick mine off as it tastes yummy) apply a deep conditioning lip balm so your lips are moisturised ready for the lipstick application.
3. Line the lips. When wearing a bolder lip you can see where the colour is bleeding a lot more so a lip liner is essential. Although an exact colour match to the lipstick isn’t necessary, try to find one in the correct colour range so that it’s not noticeable when you apply the lipstick.

Application
1. As the lips should be fully lined, now is the time to apply the lipstick. When using a bolder colour I find it easier to use a lip brush so that I have more control of where I’m applying it.
2. Now it’s time to blot. This will ensure that your lipstick won’t transfer and will keep the colour on your lips for longer.
3. Use a concealer that is an exact match to your skin tone to clean up around the lips and any bleeding you may have.
4. This step is optional but I like to highlight my Cupid’s bow so that my lips stand out more. To do this I take a shimmery shadow or highlighter and lightly pat it directly on to my Cupid’s bow.

Throughout The Day
1. Make sure you take your lipstick with you in your bag for any touch ups throughout the day, especially after eating or drinking as the lipstick will fade and start to look patchy.
2. Blot every time you re apply.

Those are my top tips for rocking a bold lip, do you have any?

Mac Creme Cup

I’ve owned Mac’s lipstick in Creme Cup for a while now but I realised yesterday I’ve never actually written a review on it and I have no idea why because it’s probably one of my all time favourite lipsticks! I find this lipstick to be so versatile, I can wear it alone for a natural every day look, paired with a darker nude which looks amazing with a smokey eye and even on my cheeks as a blush. What an amazing little product!

Finish: Cremesheen
Price: £15
Colour: A blue toned pink
Texture: moisturising and creamy but does tend to settle into some fine lines so a good lip balm is required before application
Lasting Power: 3/5. As this is a light lipstick it tends to only last around 3 hours before needing to be reapplied again
Pigmentation: Not completely opaque but not sheer, I’d say two coats will give you a nice opaque finish.
Looks best with: a smokey eye look in the night or a natural everyday look.
Overall Rating: 4/5 one of my favourite lipsticks purely for the fact it’s so versatile and can also double up as a blush.

Elf Blogger Festival

Around a month ago I was invited to attend a blogger event at the Elf store in Cardiff focused around festival make up. The event took place on Thursday (12th of June 2014) and when I arrived it was like walking backstage into the make up room in a festival. Amazing!

I invited my friend to come along with me and as soon as we arrived we were offered free punch with the option to have an alcoholic or non alcoholic one with endless refills. There was also an amazing singer who sung a few songs at the beginning of the event which made me feel like I was in an actual festival. We then had an hour to walk around all the pop up festival stands to get our nails, lips, eyes and cool flowers on our face using their little book of shadows.

This was my first time visiting the Elf store so of course I was taken back by all the beautiful make up and spent around half an hour looking and searching it all. I ended up picking up one of their beauty books in the natural look as the pigmentation on the shadows for £6 is insane! I’ll hopefully be doing a blog post on an eye look using the beauty book.

After an hour of drooling over make up, getting my nails done and getting a cute little heart painted on my face it was time to go upstairs for the main event. The lovely girls at elf (which I must say a huge thank you to for being so welcoming and friendly) were going to create a festival make up look using 5 products. I found this tutorial amazing and the end result of the model was stunning, they used the Elf eyeliner and shadow stick in midnight blue to line the eyes and in the outer v. All I’m saying is I now need this product in my life!

Finally before we left, the girls handed out goodie bags to us which I was totally not expecting. Inside was a little black beauty book of shadows which I can not wait to try, I think this is going to great for fun summer looks. As well as this there was a card for a free make over at the Elf store worth £20 which I’m going to use when I go to a festival in Cardiff during August.

I’d like to say a huge thank you to Elf for inviting me the event and the fabulous staff for being so kind and helpful! Elf are currently having a huge clearance sale on their website and are offering free delivery on any orders over £10, go check it out! http://eyeslipsface.co.uk. Higher quality images we’re taken from the Elf store cardiff’s Facebook https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.

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