Simple Brown Smokey Eyes

One thing I'm hoping to do in 2015 is push myself out of my comfort zone and wear my make up in different ways. I was kindly sent two brand new shades of the Colour Edition Eyeshadow* by the lovely team at Bourjois* just before Christmas, and hadn't got around to using them in the mad panic of travelling back to Wales and manically wrapping presents for family. I think these two shades are out early 2015 and I'm so in love with how gorgeous they are - especially considering how cheap they are - they're a bargain at £6.99 each. 

When creating this look, I knew I wanted to try some different products and when hunting around in my 'To Blog About' make up drawers I came across the shadows and boy am I glad I gave them a chance. I love how creamy and easy to blend these products are. The shadows glide on like a dream, giving the eyes a luxurious appearance that certainly gives higher end shadows a run for their money. 

Here's the list of everything I'm wearing If you'd like to try this look out at home.

Foundation: Nars Sheer Glow - Siberia

Concealer: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer - Chantilly

Contour: NYX Blusher - Taupe

Eyebrows: Anastasia Beverly Hills DipBrow Pomade - Medium Brown

Eyeshadow: (Base) Bourjois Colour Edition Eyeshadow - Flocon D'or*

Eyeshadow: (Lid) Bourjois Colour Edition Eyeshadow - Marron Givre*

Eyeshadow: (Smoke) YSL Tuxedo Travel Palette - Black Shadow*

Eyeliner: Maybelline Big Eyes Liner - Black

Eyelashes: Total Minks - Smouldering Minks Lashes*

Lips: Bourjois Colour Boost Lip Crayon - Plum Russian*

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this look! Let me know in the comments! And if you'd like to see some of my make up looks before they make their way onto the blog, don't forget to follow me on Instagram!

Em xxx

An Alternative Christmas Look....

Y'know when you start doing your make up and go off on a tangent and create something you never expected to? Well that happened... and here we are. 

I was going for the Christmas look, and then found a green Make Up Revolution lipstick in my collection and got to work creating something new, that I hadn't attempted before. 

I can't say I've ever worn green lipstick before, and although it photographs incredibly well, it does look a little odd in real life and I'm not sure I have the confidence to really pull it of in the real world. I did however, have a lot of fun creating this look.

Here's the full list of everything I'm wearing:

Foundation: Nars Sheer Glow - Siberia

Concealer: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer - Chantilly

Contour: NYX Taupe Blush

Highlight: MeMeMe Beat the blues highlighter, pearl pink*

Eyebrows: Anastasia Beverly Hills Dipbrow Pomade - Medium Brown

Eyeshadow: MUA Undress Me Too palette - for bronze/golds / Make Up Revolution Salvation Palette  - for transition shades

Eyeliner: Collection Extreme 24 Hour Felt Liner

Mascara: Urban Decay Perversion Mascara

Eyelashes: Total Minks - not sure which ones*

Lipstick: Make Up Revolution - Serpent*

Headpiece: Primark Necklace*

Now that my Skin has started to recover from the insane breakout caused by a skincare product that really didn't agree with me, I'm hoping to share a lot more looks with you! So if you have any suggestions, let me know in the comments and I'll try my best to make them happen.

Em xxx

FOTD: The 'Marmite' Orange Lip

When I posted my Make Up Revolution haul last week, quite a few messages came in about the shade Vice. I admit, it's an unusual choice and not necessarily an every day wear, but for £1, I couldn't resist picking it up.

This lipstick has divided my household, but surprisingly not in the way I expected. I'm not a fan of it at all. I don't think i've ever been so paranoid about the shade of my teeth before in my life until I wore this lipstick and can't for the life of me work out where I'd even wear a shade like this. 

On the other hand, my boyfriend M happens to think it looks okay and he actually quite liked it- like genuinely liked it and not in a 'it's on your face so I have to like it' sort of way.  Which I never saw coming at all as boy's aren't usually the most adventurous when it comes to liking make up looks... 

Here's the prouct list of everything I'm wearing.

Foundation: Nars Sheer Glow - Siberia

Concealer: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Eyeliner: MUA Cosmetics Liquid Eyeliner

Eyeshadow: Naked 2 Basics & Make Up Revolution Ionic 3 Palette

Mascara: Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara*

Contour: NYX Taupe Blusher

Highlight: Make Up Revolution Ultra Blush, Sugar & Spice Palette

Lipstick: Make Up Revolution Vice Lipstick

And finally, that leaves me with the question - What do you think? 

LOVE to hear your thoughts on this one!! Did you love it or hate it? Let me know in the comments.

Em xxx

FOTD: Cherry Red Lips

I mentioned how much I was enjoying testing out the Bourjois 12 Heures Rouge Edition Lipsticks* over the past few weeks in my September Favourites Post and I wanted to share a look i'd created using the Cherry My Cherie lipstick.

Red lipstick isn't something I usually wear, as it always seems a little bit too much with my blonde hair and black winged eyeliner. Unfortunately I don't have the confidence of Marilyn Monroe or Anna Nicole Smith to wear this beautiful cherry red on a daily basis but i'm hoping that wearing it enough around the house may help me wear it out more often.

Foundation: Nars Sheer Glow - Siberia

Concealer: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Eyeliner: MUA Cosmetics Liquid Eyeliner & Collection 24 Hour Felt liner

Eyeshadow: Naked 2 Basics & Make Up Revolution Ionic 3 Palette

Mascara: Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara*

Contour: NYX Taupe Blusher

Highlight: Make Up Revolution Ultra Blush, Sugar & Spice Palette

As always, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this look, let me know in the comments!

Em xxx

FOTD: One Palette Wonder.

I reviewed the Extremely YSL Tuxedo Travel Palette yesterday and I wanted to share with you a FOTD I created using it. I love the blush and highlight combo for an every day rosy glow and as someone who never usually braves jet black eyeshadow I thought i'd give this palette a shot and see what I could create using it. 

Foundation: Nars Sheer Glow - Siberia

Concealer: Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer

Powder: Rimmel Stay Matte Powder

Eyeliner: MUA Cosmetics Liquid Eyeliner

Eyelashes: Mac #35 Eyelashes

Contour: NYX Taupe Blusher

Blush / Highlight / Eyeshadow / Lips / Mascara: Extremely YSL Tuxedo Travel Palette

I'd love to hear your thoughts on this look. Let me know in the comments... 

Em xxx

Get the Look! Victoria's Secret - Candice Swanepoel Inspired Make Up!

If like me, you die a little bit each time you see a picture of one of the insanely perfect Victoria's Secret models, then this look is for you.

Candice Swanepoel is a South African model, and in my eyes one of the most beautiful women on the planet. I thought I'd give it a shot and try and recreate one of her looks as part of my 'Make up Match series'. I chose this look as the lilac wing gave a new fresh twist to one of my favourite staples - an elegant wing teamed with dewy skin.

Now I haven't made my eyes as Pink as Candice is wearing for the simple fact that, i'm not a massive fan of pink eye shadow with my pale skin tone and I wanted this to be a wearable look. I'm slowly learning to love pink eye shadow a little bit more, but i'm not completely sold just yet!

I've also gone in hard with a double contour. I used both a powder and cream contour for this to  try to recreate her bone structure.

Here's a list of everything I used to create this look! 

• Primer - Benefit Porefessional
• Foundation - Mac Studio Sculpt NC15
• Concealer - Mac Studio Finish NC15
• Powder - B. Cosmetics Pressed Powder Light/Medium
• Contour -  Maybeline Fit Foundation 355 / NYX Taupe
• Bronzer - Bourjois Paris Bronzer shade 52
• Highlight Contour - Illamasqua Skin Base 01 White
• Blush - Sleek Rose Gold*
• Eyebrows - Sleek Eyebrow Palette Light / Urban Decay Naked Basics
• Eyes - Elf 32 Shade Warm Palette
• Eyeliner - Eeyko Skinny Eye Liner
• Mascara - Bourjois Paris Volume Clubbing, Ultra Black
• Eyelashes - Perfect Eyelashes by Agnes Dos Santos, 'Glam'
• Lips -  B. Cosmetics - Dollhouse Lipstick / Revlon Super Lustrous Lipgloss (shade rubbed off - old )
• Setting Spray - NYX Dewy Setting Spray
• Hair Extensions - Dirty Looks - Paparazzi Blonde
• Earrings - Alice's wonders*

I would love to hear your thoughts! Let me know what you think in the comments...xx

Sleek 'Supermodel style' Chic!

I love nude make up. There's something about it which just makes me feel oh so sophisticated. 

For this look, I gave my Katy Perry Oh Honey! lashes a second chance. I stopped being lazy and cut them down to size. I teamed them with a my B. Dollhouse nude lipstick, and a sleek blow dry to try and get that supermodel chic vibe. Sometimes big hair isn't always the way to go and i'm doing my best to improve my blow drying skills. Most days I just rough dry it and be on my way, as I find it hard to get the level of volume, bounce and shine perfect without using rollers.

I'd love to hear your blow drying tips! Post them in the comments xx

FOTD - An everyday work look.

Okay, I admit, i'm not the most adventurous with my everyday look. I work in a client facing job in the media industry. I'm constantly surrounded by my clients who happen to be TV producers, Execs, Editors and other professionals. Even though you'll catch me at my desk in casual attire, I always try and make sure that my make up is professional and never off putting. 

My go to everyday products are the Naked Basics palette and an understated matte lip. Today I'm wearing NYX Tea Rose Matte Lipstick. I love this shade. It's not too far off from my natural lip colour but packs enough colour and cover to really tie this look together.

I'm also testing out a sample I picked up in my Mac Haul a couple of weeks ago of the MAC Prep + Prime BB Beauty Balm - Extra Light. I wasn't too sure about this BB cream when I briefly tried it after picking it up. However, i've given it another shot, and boy am I glad I did. It gives such a lovely dewy finish. I'm really hoping they still stock it as it's completely out of stock online! Boo. 

What is your usual everyday work look? I'd love to see! Leave a link in the comments... xx

The Love List - Playing with NYX 'Sweet Pink' Matte Lipstick

Okay, I think I love this NYX Sweet Pink Matte lipstick. The colour pay off is amazing.

I didn't know what to expect with these, but I did not think they would be this pigmented, easy to wear and glide on so smoothly. NYX matte lipsticks are in my eyes bang on par with MAC. I only picked up 2 shades from the Matte line, but my gosh do I wish I bought more!

As the lipstick was so vibrant, I've paired it with a nude and natural eye, soft pink blush and I've also contoured with NYX taupe.

At only £6.00 a lipstick, I think these are a bargain.

Have you tried any of the NYX Matte lipsticks? Which are your favourites?

When Bad lighting happens to good make up...

I admit it, I'm a perfectionist. I have incredibly high standards towards myself and my goals. I can be driven, almost to the point of being obsessive and I do not like to let myself fail. The above image is one, of maybe 40/50 I took tonight. I was aiming to shoot content and 3 different looks to blog about over the next few days. 

...That didn't quite happen... or maybe it did happen, but none of the images met my impossibly high standards. I've scrapped the rest of the images, and I'm just going to share this image with you instead. 

I've recently bought new lights to use whilst taking photos of my makeup, but I just don't like them. I'm struggling to get them to work with my face. They're perfect for product shots, but FOTD or tutorial posts? Non. No chance. Maybe if I persevere I may be able to get them to work, but i'm still coming out of a bad face breakout caused by Chanel Foundation (which bogs me down as it is), and yesterday I cut down to 0% Nicotine on my Vaporizer (e.cig)... maybe today isn't the best day for taking makeup photos...

Hopefully i'll become friends with my lights (and my skin) again soon, when that happens, i won't pull my lashes off in frustration, and I won't scrub my makeup off in despair :( 

'No Make up' Make Up.

Here's a quick 'no make up' make up 'FOTD' look I wore last week.  It's what I call the... 

'I literally just rolled out of bed and look like this' errm, look!

I really liked how this was at the time on my face, but looking back a few days later, I think this could definitely do with a teeny bit of mascara on the bottom lashes. 

Also, based on your feedback, I think i'm going to try and recreate this with a brown mascara. get it looking a bit more natural. 

Here's the all important product list for this look

• Moisturiser - Nivea Cream
• Primer - Benefit Porefessional
• Foundation - Mac Studio Fix fluid - NC15
• Concealer - Mac studio Fix NC15 / Illamasqua concealer 115
• Blush - Bourjois Paris - Rose
• Bronze - Bourjois Paris 52 Bronzer
• Eyeshadow - Naked Basics
• Mascara - Bourjois Paris - Ultra Black Clubbing XXL
• Eyebrows - Sleek Palette LIGHT
• Lips - Body Shop Born Lippy, Pomegranate Lip Balm