My NYE Sparkly Smokey Eye Makeup

This year my NYE celebrations weren't anything too crazy and wild but more a local, fun low-key affair! With a group of my dear friends, we had booked several tables to enjoy a delicious set course NYE dinner at The Oak, accompanied by a few glasses of bubbly of course. The Oak is a cosy restaurant in Notting Hill and upstairs they have a great bar, where we ended up dancing until the wee hours on the first day of 2013.

Outfit wise I was wearing my Zara combined leather look dress (as seen here) accessorised with a H&M bejewelled bib collar necklace. So for my makeup I wanted a dark smokey eye but with a bit of sparkle because New Years is the one night where glitter is always acceptable :)

Products used in this makeup look:

Mix of Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation &  Estee Lauder Double Wear Desert Beige (2N1)

FYF Mineral Loose Impeccable Powder (as seen here)
Benefit High Beam Highlighter on my cheekbones/bridge of nose (see how to apply this here)

Sleek Brow Kit to fill in my brows
Clinique Superbalanced Bronzer Powder (as seen here)
NARS Orgasm Blush

MAC Paintpot in Blackground (base all over lid)

MAC Carbon eyeshadow (lid)

MAC Haux eyeshadow (blended into crease to soften the black)

Urban Decay Naked eyeshadow from NAKED Palette (lightly blended in crease) 

MAC Eyeliner in Fascinating - white (applied to tearduct area)

MAC Vanilla Pigment (applied to tearduct and browbone areas to highlight)

AVON Supershock Gel eyeliner in black (applied to waterline)

L'Oréal Paris Super Liner Perfect Slim (upper lashline)

NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara

MAC Reflects Antique Gold Glitter (lightly padded onto lid for that perfect NYE sparkle!)

What do you think of my NYE makeup? I hope you all rang in the New Year with a BANG!

Vintage Hairstyles & 1920s Party Photos

When I posted some personal photos on Instagram back in December from my work 1920's themed Christmas Party, some of you commented on how you loved my hairstyle! Well as I admitted here; a lot of us ladies had our hair professionally styled by Jess from Powder Puff & Pin Curls who specialises in vintage hairstyles. We recently received the professional photos from the party and thought I'd share some of the gorgeous black and white pictures that really add to the whole vintage feel of the event :)

More photos after the jump....

2012 - My beauty year in review >

Wow I can't believe how this year has flown by! With 2012 coming to a close I thought I would outline some of my favourite beauty looks/posts/products that featured on the blog this year. Here we go...

♥ Way to Glow - Loving this glowing look (link)

♥ Chanel Les 4 Ombres Palette in Mystic Eyes - I now use this regularly (link)

♥ Dermablend Vichy Ultra Corrective Stick. (link)

I found out about this product through GlossyBox and it is now one of my favourite concealers.

♥ Grey smokey eye and product love for Jemma Kidd Dewy Glow all over Radiance Crème (link)

♥ Burberry Lipcover in Rosewood - a regular lippy for workdays (link)

♥ Argan Oil has been my Holy Grail hair product discovery this year (link)

♥ Bourjois 123 Perfect Foundation. My all time favourite drugstore foundation this year! (link)

♥ MAC Melba blush - to create the perfect peach touch of colour to your cheeks (link)

♥ Summer statement lips with MAC So Chaud lipstick (link) Love how it makes my eyes POP!

♥ I fell in love with Shellac Nails this year (link & link)

♥ Pretty glittery FOTN. Reflects antique gold pigment is a must have MAC product for me! (link)

♥ Clinique bottom lash mascara. How did I live without this for so long? (link)

♥ Bourjois 1 Seconde Nail Polish remover made cleaning my nails a breeze! (link)

♥ Summer was all about bronzer! Some of my favourites in 2012: link & link

♥ Bridal makeup for my best friend. Was a bit scared at first but she looked amazing, phew! (link)

♥ A cheapie but a goodie! I love the Sleek Brow Kit (link)

♥ Top coat love for Essie - Shine of the Times (link)

♥ Bright pink lips + MAC Tan pigment on my eyes = perfect beauty combo! (link)

What were some of your favourite beauty finds, looks or products this year - I'd love to hear!

I can't wait to see what 2013 will bring me! This year has been seen my blog grow a lot and am so thankful for all my readers out there. All your comments and support means the world to me. I have many looks, posts and product reviews lined up for the blog in 2013 so I hope you will continue to follow me next year! Happy New Year :) xoxo

Christmas Party - 1920s Inspired Makeup

December is always a month full of parties and events which is great because it often gives you an excuse to dress up or sparkle in your best outfits! A few weeks ago we had my office Christmas party and this year it was 1920’s themed. It wasn’t meant to be a very strict theme but it encouraged everyone to make an effort to look old school glamorous! Most people straight away started planning ‘what to wear’ but as a typical beauty blogger my main focus was on how I wanted my makeup to look for this party. After googling for 1920’s beauty inspiration I came across this image (link) of Charlize Theron which I absolutely loved so I decided to go for a very dark berry lip with a nude/rustic look for my eyes.

This is my finished look of the night:

Products used: 

MAC studio finish concealer NC20 

Clinique stay matte foundation – Shade 9, Neutral (link) 

MAC bronzer in Golden 

The Body Shop – cheek colour in Sweet Nutmeg, an oldie but a goodie! (link) 

MAC Mineralize blush in Warm Soul (as seen here) applied as highlight on cheekbones 

MAC Pigment in Vanilla applied to tear duct & brow bone 

Urban Decay NAKED palette – eye shadow Virgin (all over lid)

Urban Decay NAKED palette – eye shadow Naked (blended into crease area) 

MAC Mineralize Eye Shadow (Duo) - Play on Plums (as seen here)

Applied the plum/burgundy shade along my lower lash line. I really love this limited edition eyeshadow duo and am gutted it is running on empty; can anyone recommend a good dupe for the plum/burgundy shade? 

L’Oreal Super Liner in Black – my current favourite liquid liner pen! (link)

NARS NARS Larger Than Life Volumizing Mascara

Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara (as seen here)

On my lips I'm wearing Berry Vamp by LookBeauty from their Loud Lips range. The packaging of this lipstick is a bit cheap but the colour is really stunning and the fomula is smooth, highly pigmented and long lasting. Not bad for only £7 (link) I have changed from being more of a sheer lip gloss girl to quite loving a darker lip – what do you think of this lip shade?

Jewellery wise I kept it simple and wore these vintage clip-on earrings that used to belong to my grandmother! My hair was done by the lovely Jess from Powder Puff & Pin Curls, who specializes in vintage hair-do's! She came to our office and did the hair of about ten ladies to get us all looking in style for the 1920's party. I will post some more photos of the party in another post :)

Dress wise; I couldn't seem to make up my mind and with December being so busy, I just hadn't had time to find the perfect outfit! Until last minute that was,  because the night before the party I saw this dress in Zara and it was love at first sight! I didn't own a long black evening dress yet so I felt it was a much needed addition to my wardrobe ;) The dress is part of the new collection by ZARA as seen here in their Woman Lookbook Twelve. I adore this recent collection by Zara, it is so classic and elegant.

 ZARA Combined Lace Dress - £69.99 (link)

The dress falls beautifully and the fabric is very soft and pretty. I love how the added touch of the lace in the back makes it that little bit sexier whilst remaining classy. For me, it was the perfect Christmas party dress and I really liked my slightly different to usual look! What do you think of my 1920s inspired look?

MAC Melba Blush >

Melba by MAC Cosmetics is my go-to blush at the moment. I have been using it pretty much every day for the last few weeks and can't seem to get enough of it! Melba has been one my best friends holy grail products for a long time but I had personally never tried it. When I was in the States, I used it for her bridal makeup look (see post here) and after that moment I decided - I need to have this as part of my collection!



Melba is part of MAC's permanent range and described as a soft coral peach with a matte finish (link). In the pan it looks a slightly unexciting muted coral shade but trust me once the powder is on your skin it is so much prettier!



Because it is super pigmented you only need a light dusting of Melba on your cheeks for a warm pinky-peach natural glow. I feel it makes me look more tanned and because it has a matte finish it is my perfect everyday blush.

I just adore this blush and will definitely continue to repurchase Melba because it is now a must-have as part of my makeup collection! Have you tried Melba? xoxo 

Kate Hudson: Red Carpet Perfection at AmFar

How amazing does Kate Hudson look at the recent amFar Inspiration Gala in LA? She donned a sizzling red hot Prabal Gurung Resort 2013 gown, which showed off her banging post baby-figure!
It's probably one of my favourite looks I have seen on the red carpet for a while.

She completed the look to absolute perfection with a crescent necklace that nicely complemented the structural dress, a chic and pretty ponytail and a funky embellished clutch. And now let's talk makeup, I just adore her gorgeous bronzed smokey eyes!

As a blue eyed girl I have always found that bronze and coppery eye shadows really make my eyes POP so I can't wait to copy this stunning coppery look on myself! I am going out tonight so think will give it a go! Here is how to re-create this smokey eye:

♥ Line the inner rims of your eyes with bronze (or brown, if you don't have bronze) eyeliner.
♥ Apply a coppery bronze eyeshadow to your lid up to your crease and blend out gently. Also apply the bronze shadow quite heavily underneath your lower lash line.
♥  Dust a very soft shimmery pink/vanilla eyeshadow into the inner corner of your eye plus a smidgen above the folds of your eyes.
♥  To finish it off curl your lashes and put on your favorite va-va-voom mascara!
♥ And if you want a little more drama, smudge some black liner directly into your top lashes so it just looks like you have thicker lashes—not actually line of black on top.

Anyway I just can't stop gushing about how phenomenal Kate looked - what do you think? xoxo

Wedding Makeup - The Bride FOTD

Back in September I was in California for the wedding of one of my best friends. In the months coming up to the big day she asked if I would do her wedding make up. She explained that she'd done a couple of trial runs at MAC and said she never was that impressed with what they had done and felt I'd done her makeup just as well, if not better, in the past. Of course in the first instance I felt incredibly flattered of her to ask me but on the other hand I felt very nervous about the whole thing! Yes I love makeup and I feel pretty confident these days doing my own makeup and doing my friends' makeup for events or nights out..but this was something so much more important! I am definitely no professional makeup artists and this I would be one of the biggest days of her life...god what if she didn't like what I did!?

Anyway after an initial freak out moment I remembered, this is one of my best friends and I know what she likes and dislikes and she is certainly NO bridezilla so I went back to feeling super honoured and now also excited to be able to be part of her wedding in this way!

Luckily she had a pretty clear vision of the makeup look she wanted for her wedding day; natural, glowing and pretty with a bit of sparkle but making sure she still looked like herself! We used products by MAC cosmetics that she had chosen with a MAC makeup artists during a previous trial run so it was really great to have such clear instructions to go by. I was still a little nervous on the day but in the end it was so much fun to be there to help her get ready, do her makeup and make her feel beautiful on this special day. Not that I really had to do that much because I think she is the most beautiful woman (inside and outside) already!

So now without any further a-do; here comes the gorgeous bride!!!

(No photoshop or editing used....doesn't she have the most amazing eyes?)

Products used for this FOTD:

♥ Face:
MAC Prep + Prime line filler (link)
MAC Prep + Prime Primer (link)
MAC StudioFix Foundation
MUA Bronzed Perfection (as seen here)
MAC Powder Blush - Melba

♥ Eyes:
MAC Saddle eyeshadow (gold orange brown/matte) - all over lid
MAC Downbrown eyeshadow (teddybear brown/veluxe) – blended into crease &lower lash line
MAC Tan Pigment (muted pinky brown bronze) as seen here– applied to middle of lid
MAC Fluidline in Dipdown (flat brown) – applied along lower lash line only
MAC Zoomlash mascara

♥ Lips:
Chanel Rouge Allure Extrait de Gloss in Imaginaire (56) as seen here

The bride was pretty happy with her look I think ;)

Doesn't her hair look amazing? I loved the romantic but fun twisty half up-do!

The above photos were all taken by me on the day. Now below are some official wedding photographs by Stephanie of Creative Photography Inc. It really was such an amazing day that I will remember forever....

Getting ready, walking down the beach 'aisle' and the kiss!

The "I do's" :)

The beach was the perfect backdrop for their Californian wedding!

Some fun group photos after the ceremony!

At the wedding reception. The dress code for the wedding was 'summer chic' so I decided on this fun turquoise dress I got in Paris over a year ago (as seen here). Makeup wise I went for a bronzed golden look using my Estée Lauder Island Oasis eyeshadow palette.

This is probably my favourite photo of the couple; it shows true happiness, love and fun which I hope their marriage will be filled with for the rest of their lives!!

Lulu & Will; I love you both so much and I'm so happy that I was be able to be part of your special day!
Friends forever ♥

What do you think of my first official bridal makeup FOTD? Xoxo

MUA Bronzed Perfection - Holiday FOTD #

Back in August MUA released a new bronzer to their cosmetics collection. Say hello this this monster of a bronzer.....yep this baby is ginormous!! The MUA bronzer is designed to give you an all over healthy-kissed glow by sweeping the product over your face and body. I decided to take this bronzer on holiday with me to put it to the test; could this really provide me with 'bronzed perfection'?

In the tin you the bronzer shows a small amount of shimmer but not to worry this barely transfers to the skin, leaving you with a soft and matte finish. The pigmentation is great but do be aware that the bronzer tends to get quite powdery so don't go crazy with your brush, you only need to sweep across the bronzer lightly to eliminate too much fall out and to pick up the right amount of product.

The shade of the bronzer is a light to medium so I think this would suit fair skin tones for a lightly bronzed look or it can be build up to enhance a deeper tan. Apply the bronzer to the areas of your face where the sun would naturally hit; building the colour gradually to get the exact shade you want. The bronzer can be used all over the face, neckline, arms or shoulders as a bronzer or contour.

I have to say I loved using this on holiday. A quick sweep of the bronzer all over my cheeks, forehead and nose would give me a lovely soft healthy glow. Here a recent holiday FOTD with the MUA Bronzed Perfection Bronzer...

This bronzer contains a whopping 15g of product and guess what, it only costs £3! Now that's what I call a MEGA bargain :) The bronzer is available now from your local Superdrug or at the MUA Online store.

Do you think you will try this bronzer for that warm, healthy complexion all-year-round?

Bourjois Paris Flowers - Summer Trend look+

Back in June Bourjois launched their 2012 summer collection inspired by the beauty of tropical flowers from Latin America with a palette of bright blue teamed with spicy orange.

They created the above look using the following new products from the collection:

Bourjois round pot eyeshadow in no.16, a spicy orange

Bourjois round pot eyeshadow in no.02, a vivid blue (blue canard)

Bourjois 3D effet lipgloss in no.53 Corail artistic (one of my favourite glosses this summer!)

Bourjos Volume Glamour Max Waterproof mascara

I liked this colourful summery look, so I decided to recreate it myself :)

I applied the burned orange eyeshadow (16) all over the lid and into the socket line. Then I dampened the eyeshadow applicator and applied the bright blue shade (02) close to the top lash line for that fun splash of colour!

Other products used in his FOTD:

Clinique stay matte foundation in #9

Vichy dermablend ultra-corrective stick (review here)

UNE BB cream bronzer (review here)

NARS blush in the shade Orgasm

 

What do you think about Bourjois new summer collection? Is this look something you'd ever wear?

 

The full Bourjois Paris Flowers collection is available now at Boots & Superdrug stores nationwide and online.

Summer statement lips: MAC So Chaud

Recently while catching up on some of my favourite blogs I spotted the stunning Linda, from PS I love Fashion, blogging about this new red lipstick she'd gotten at MAC. I pretty much fell in lust as soon as I saw it on her! Unable to get this lippy out of my mind I wondered over to the MAC store and treated myself to this little beauty....

Introducing you to my favourite new red lipstick for summer: So Chaud!

So Chaud is an 'intense reddish-orange' (matte) from MAC's permanent line.

Red lips always provide a classy look but I love that the orange tones in this lipstick give it a slightly modern twist. It's a really unique colour and makes quite a statement when worn. It fits in perfectly with this season's trend of bright orange and coral colours which makes it the ideal red lipstick for warm and sunny days. Even though they label So Chaud as a matte lipstick, I find it very creamy and no where near as matte as say Ruby Woo, which is one of MAC's most best selling red lipsticks. The lasting power of this lipstick is impressive and it's not at all drying. 

I also think it makes my blue eyes POP! 

Other products used in this FOTD:

Clinique Stay Matte Foundation (loving this at the moment!)

MAC Warm Soul Blush (review here)

MAC Wedge eyeshadow (all over lid)

Clinique's new super-balanced powder bronzer (link) 

Verdict....So Chaud is definitely So Hot!! And as Gwyneth Paltrow once said; “Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick”. I couldn’t have said it better myself! 

What do you think of So Chaud....hot or not? :) xoxo