Wednesday 16 October 2013

Sleek Vintage Romance Collection

Sleek released this collection for autumn 2013 a couple of weeks ago consisting of a blush (around £4.50) and 12-shade iDivine eyeshadow palette (around £8). I really loved the look of the eyeshadows which I thought looked perfect for autumn but I wasn’t sure if I was going to pick up the blush or not. When I swatched it on the back of my hand in the shop though it was so sparkly and pretty looking I decided to pick it up as well.

The products come in brightly decorated cardboard boxes with a lovely rustic autumnal theme. They definitely say autumn but I’m not sure how well they match the theme of “Vintage Romance”. However the products themselves come in the usual plain black plastic packaging, with the shade names printed on the backs.

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I really love the eyeshadow palette which is my current favourite, the colour selection suits the current weather and daylight so well with its selection of decadent jewel and earth tones. The shades come in a finish of shimmer, matte and metallic finishes. As is Sleek’s normal practise these days the palette comes with a plastic overlay with the shade names printed on it. As I usually take a photo of this for my blog I just throw the plastic overlay away as I can always check on my computer afterwards if I want to know what a particular shade name is and I find it quite annoying to have to deal with every time I open the palette.

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Maybe the text isn’t so clear in the photo above so I’ll type the names out here for reference.

Top row, left to right: Pretty in Paris, Meet in Madrid, Court in Cannes, Lust in LA, Romance in Rome, Propose in Prague

Bottom row, left to right: A Vow in Venice, Marry in Monte Carlo, Honeymoon in Hollywood, Bliss in Barcelona, Forever in Florence, Love in London

I actually think that the names are quite cute!

Here’s a better shot of the colours in the palette, this time with the plastic overlay removed.

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And here are the shadows swatched on my forearm, in the same order as they appear in the palette.

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As you can see – wonderful colours, wonderful pigmentation – just wonderful!

I’m not quite so enamoured with the blush, Antique. It’s a very warm brown, but the shimmer is blue and I’m just not convinced that the brown and the shimmer actually go well together. The first time I wore this blush on my cheeks I used way too much and thought it looked awful. Since then I’ve trained myself to start by applying a tiny amount and building the colour up if I want more intensity. The more you buff this colour over the skin the more it acts as a highlighter as the shimmer becomes more apparent. It’s quite an interesting effect, but I’m not sure I’m a fan. Perhaps due to the blue it would work better on cooler skintones (my skintone is very warm). It is very pigmented though so I might try it out as an eyeshadow.

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My current favourite colour combination from the eyeshadow palette is Court in Cannes paired with Honeymoon in Hollywood. The purple is so intense that I was worried it might stain my lids but I wear it over a primer and it’s simple to remove with some make-up remover. The shadows last all day on me worn over an eyeshadow base. In the photo below I’m also wearing a tiny bit of  the blush which you can see ever so slightly on my cheekbones and the tip of my nose.

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Oh and I’ve just noticed that this eyeshadow compliments the hoodie that I’m wearing which is good as it’s one of my favourites, ha! An added bonus.

Monday 14 October 2013

Septemberry 3: Berry Nails

Oh dear, my September-berry project seems to have over run by a couple of weeks – I still have this photo of berry nails to share and another berry lipstick look still to post and it’s already the middle of October! I think berry tones still fit the season perfectly though so at least it’s not too late to hopefully be inspired by the photos that I have left :)

This luscious berry nail polish is in Illamasqua’s rubber finish, a strange matte-shine hybrid that really does create the effect of rubber. This is the shade Vice, a deep raspberry red. Two coats gave opaque colour that matched the bottle. I skipped top coat (except for the nail with the rhinestones) as that would have created a shiny finish, but I still wore this for five days with only minor signs of wear. The colour didn’t transfer onto objects that I happened to accidentally swipe my nails across, either, which sometimes happens with bright colours if I don’t wear a top coat.

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I dropped some rhinestones onto my ring finger while the nail polish was still wet just for fun and applied a top coat to help them last longer which is why that nail is shinier than the others. Overall I really liked the effect and I’ll definitely be wearing this nail varnish again this autumn.

Saturday 12 October 2013

Double Bright Contrast Eyeliner

Phew, what a name for a post! I think it’s quite apt for this look though. I wore this last week when there were still a few sunny days to remind me of the summer.

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I used my Sleek Eau La La liner in Pumpkin to sketch out the shape of the orange flick first then patted an orange pigment/eyeshadow dust on top with a small flat brush. I then used a creamy turquoise gel eyeliner to draw in the lower flick along my lashline. The look was actually pretty easy to do and I was really pleased with how it turned out. I’m looking forward to experimenting with this eyeliner shape again in different colour combinations.

Let me know if you have any suggestions for colour combinations that you think would work well together!

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On a side note, my eyebrows are completely grown out now. I haven’t touched them for as long as I can remember so I guess around a year now. Sure they look wispy at the edges but to be honest I don’t think they look that bad and I love how low maintenance they are so I don’t have any plans to change my eyebrow regime in the immediate future.

Wednesday 25 September 2013

MUA Cream Blusher in Yummy

Just a quick swatch post today to show a really natural looking blusher that I’ve been reaching for lately.

MUA cream blushers come in four shades and cost £2. The shade range isn’t that interesting to be honest and I think they all end up looking very similar on the face so even though they’re cheap you really don’t need to buy more than one. They’re not very pigmented and just add a gentle, natural looking flush. I apply mine with a stippling brush so that I can push slightly more product onto the skin for more colour payoff.

These don’t last as long on the skin as powder blushes but you can add slightly more product then tone the colour down with a translucent face powder on top – the blush will still show through and should last a bit longer on the skin then, although this method does take away the nice dewy finish you get with the cream alone.

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I’m not even sure how well it shows up in the picture above but I’m wearing it on my cheeks and the tip of my nose with a dusting of face powder on top. As you can see, I wasn’t joking about the natural finish!

Monday 23 September 2013

Time to Believe

Yes, it seems that moisturising, long lasting bright lip colour is possible!

I’ve been playing around with my lipstick collection lately and today I dug out Believe by Lush, from their emotional brilliance cosmetics range. I picked this up last summer but haven’t worn it much so it was a pleasant surprise today to rediscover just how long lasting, vibrant and comfortable this product is. It doesn’t dry out unlike many other long lasting lipsticks that I’ve tried so your lips feel moisturised and it never turns into a crusty film of colour that peels off in flakes during the day (yes, I have experienced that with some other products before and yes, it is gross!)

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I applied this over a bright pink lip liner by Gosh and it lasted seven hours on me until I decided to remove it before eating my dinner. Usually I would apply a bright colour like this with a lip brush but you can achieve a good finish with the doe foot applicator that comes with the product so I just applied it using that.

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Below: Gosh lip pencil in Glam Pink (left) and Lush liquid lipcolour in Believe (right)

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You can see the lovely texture and vibrant colour really nicely in this close up pic below:

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I kept my eyes simple by blending an orangey gold across my lids and finishing off with some mascara et voila, the finished look (well, plus a little foundation, blush and face powder too!)

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And here’s a quick close up of my eyes just because I took a picture of them so I figured I might as well include it!

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Sunday 22 September 2013

Nails to Match the Weather: Autumn 2013 Edition

Brrr, it is definitely feeling very autumnal here in Edinburgh already. I was hoping for a warm autumn but while the sun is still shining it’s been soooo windy here this week! The chill in the air put me in the mood for a grey nail polish and I went for this shade that I’ve had for a couple of years now but haven’t featured on my blog before.

The fact that I haven’t featured this polish before is really an oversight on my part as it’s a great nail polish. It has a perfect consistency, dries fast and lasts for around a week on me without chipping.

Below: Bourjois 10 days No Chips nail polish in shade 23

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Saturday 21 September 2013

Septemberry 2: Sparkling Berry

Today’s make-up: sparkling berry toned eyeshadow worn in the crease paired with shiny shiny lips.

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Unfortunately I didn’t manage to get a good close up shot of my eye make-up but you can see in the photo below that the berry eyeshadow is very subtle, which makes this an accessible way to wear a berry tone on the eyes. I applied a wash of pale pink cream eyeshadow over my lids to my crease then worked some shimmering berry eyeshadow along my crease from outer to inner corner.

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The shadow that I used was Glitter Rock from the Urban Decay Moondust range. They’re basically pressed micro-glitters which have some pros and cons: the fall out is nowhere near as horrific as with Urban Decay’s somewhat old-fashioned chunky glitter shadows but you still get the same sparkly effect, and they’re very sheer which is either an advantage or a disadvantage depending on what you’re looking for. If you hope to achieve the colour in the pan then basically your best bet is to pack the colour on over a (preferably slightly sticky) base and press it on with your finger tips though even then I don’t know if it’s really going to be as opaque. However, if you like the sound of a subtle sheen over your eyelids then you can easily achieve that with these shadows.

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I found it difficult to capture the sparkle I was trying to describe in my photos today but I hope you can appreciate some of the effect from the photos below. The pic on the left is a single swipe from my fingertip, while the pic on the right is the same swipe (no extra product applied) blended out across my arm.

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Friday 20 September 2013

Going Grungy

I went out to put some rubbish out today and it was so windy that by the time I got in one min later my hair was all windswept and all over the place, which gave me the idea to do some grungy make-up to go with it!

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This is such an easy look to do and it only takes about three minutes. I simply smudged a taupey brown cream eyeshadow all over my eyelids to act as both a base and to set the tone of the look, then I patted a shimmery cranberry shade on top and blended out at the edges. I finished with some coffee coloured khol pencil on my inner lash lines, some red glitter eyeliner by Collection 2000 and a couple of coats of mascara, et voila – I’m all ready for more wind when I pop out to the shops in a bit!

Thursday 19 September 2013

Septemberry

What with the weather on the turn and the word “September” just begging me to make a pun out of it and the usual make-up trend at this time of the year for berry tones I thought I’d do a mini-series of berry looks.

I haven’t bought any new make-up for a couple of months because I’ve just moved cities (London to Edinburgh) so my make-up budget has been going on boring household bills lately. However, it’s probably just as well as berry colours are popular every autumn so I had plenty of berries in my make-up stash already that had just been lying around neglected since last winter.

First up here’s a deep red matte cranberry lip. I used“Cranberry” matte finish True Colour lipstick by Sleek which I got in a Christmas set that came out a couple of years ago so I don’t think that it’s currently available alas, although I’m sure there are a few similar shades in their current range. This lipstick is very, very pigmented and even works well mixed with lip balm and worn as more of a shiny stain (haven’t got any pics of that today though I will post some another day if I remember).

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This kind of colour can be a bit problematic and in fact you can see that it’s a bit patchy in the close up although from a distance I think it looks fine. Matte finish lipsticks are often quite dry so it was a bit difficult to apply evenly. When I’m wearing a strong lip like this I like to apply colour on the centre of the lips straight from the lipstick bullet but then work on the edges with a brush to ensure a super-crisp outline. I blotted after applying one coat then went ahead and applied a second. Worn like this this lipstick lasts for ages and ages on me – I get six hours wear before I have to worry about touching up and it even survives food and drink.

On the rest of my face I went for matte skin, slightly flushed cheeks and a slick of mascara. I think this is a really nice autumn daytime look, though if I were wearing this lipstick after dark I’d go all out and pair it with a dark, smoky eye.

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Wednesday 18 September 2013

Blue Gold–An MUA Face of the Day

Sometimes it’s good to keep things simple by just using one shade of eyeshadow. In this look I’m wearing Pearl - Shade 26 by MUA, a beautiful blue-gold duochrome shadow that costs just £1 – amazing!

I simply applied a wash of colour over my lids, blended at the edges, and smudged some along my lower lash line. The weather may be saying that autumn has already arrived, but my eyeshadow’s saying it’s still summer! Because the shadow is a duochrome, it shines both blue and gold, giving a lovely complex colour effect when the light hits it.

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I’m wearing mostly MUA cosmetics in this look as pictured below:

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clockwise from top: Intense Kisses lipgloss in Sealed with a Kiss; Mega Volume Mascara in Brown; Mosaic Bronzer Shade 2 Sunkissed Glow; Pearl Eyeshadow Shade 26.

I love the Intense Kisses range of lipglosses. They cost £2 each, offer great pigmentation, and have a smooth consistency that means they apply evenly and feel smooth to wear. Here’s a close-up of this shade on my lips:

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I find the Mega Volume mascara to be OK but nothing special and it doesn’t really offer me “mega volume” when I wear it. However, it does the job of coating my lashes lightly enough to make it suitable for an everyday, light mascara when I don’t want my lashes to be too eye-catching.

The Mosaic Bronzer is one of my current favourite make-up products full stop and I’ve been using it almost everyday since I discovered it last month. When the colours are all swirled together they create a light red-brown that adds the perfect suntanned glow to my skin. It’s the perfect way to compliment my freckles and make summer skin last into the autumn. It’s the kind of shade I’d wear from the spring through to the autumn, switching to a lighter, more golden shade in the winter.

Monday 16 September 2013

With Eyeshadow Like This, Who Needs Eyeliner?

I used my current favourite, Urban Decay’s Glinda palette, to create this messy smoky eye with a huge aubergine flick. I didn’t blend the eyeshadows together at all as I wanted to keep the stark, graphic contrast at the point where the shadows met. I thought the eyeshadows looked pretty good on their own so I skipped the eyeliner and just added some mascara and a translucent lipgloss and I was good to go.
I wouldn’t wear this to the office but I would definitely wear this as a weekend day look. For evening I would probably smudge a bit of khol pencil along my outer upper lash line for some added intensity.
 
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The shades I used from the Glinda palette were: Tornado (top left) and South (bottom right).

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Saturday 14 September 2013

Accessorize Leopard Moth

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Above: In the bottle

Below: On the nails

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This is a great glitter effect nail polish from Accessorize that you can pick up for just a few quid. I bought it when the entire range of polishes was 2-for-£5 in Superdrug; individually they normally retail for £3.45.

The consistency is good and smooth and I’m wearing three coats in the photo above although the coverage is almost opaque after two – I just wanted to load my nails with glitter. This type of polish can be problematic when it comes to chipping (glitter nail polishes always seem to start chipping off in chunks on me after a few days) so I do recommend wearing this with a top coat. So far I’m on day 2 with only minor chips on one nail.

Friday 13 September 2013

Two Tone Lips with Illamasqua

Here’s a bright, fun look to rock when you feel like wearing a bold lip. It was chucking it down with rain the day I wore this look and these bright colours definitely helped cheer me up a bit!

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My tip for creating very precise lip shapes like this is to use a slanted eyeliner brush to apply the lipstick for extra precision.

I used the dark purple Kontrol and bright red Drench lipsticks by Illamasqua. I concentrated the red as a dot in the centre of my lips, but Illamasqua have done a whole Youtube video showcasing their take on the two-toned “lip ombre” trend where they create a slightly different shape. Anyway, it’s definitely a look designed to be played with!

Thursday 12 September 2013

Fun Daytime look for Autumn 2013

Hellooooo again! So the explanation for my three month blogging hiatus is that I actually moved across the country from London to Edinburgh a month ago and have been very busy organising the move and setting into my new home.

If you’d like any more info on my life in London and/or Edinburgh in general then there will be more updates coming soon to my “life” blog at http://ahteem.wordpress.com/

But back to make-up which is mainly the point of this blog. Today I’m easing myself back into blogging with a simple daytime look featuring metallic earth tones on the eyes and a lovely subtle matt peachy lip.

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Above: I used the shades “Oz” (the olive shade) and “South” from my Urban Decay Glinda palette (pictured below – these are the two shadows in the bottom right)

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The result on the eyes is quite subtle and perfect for a lazy (this took me about five min to apply) but fun daytime look. A word of warning though – there is bad glitter fallout from both of these shades, so have a glitter busting solution on hand (such as some gentle sticky tape to lift the glitter off the skin with, or some loose face powder to try to brush the glitter off with) when you apply these to clean up all the glitter that will land on your face from these shadows!

I did a “triple flick” eyeliner shape or as I prefer to think of it – drawn on lashes! It’s just a fun way to shake up your eyeliner routine if you’ve gotten into a winged-out rut like me and always wear your eyeliner in the same way but fancy trying something a bit different. The liner I used was 24/7 liquid liner in Smog by Urban Decay which is a lovely deep khaki green shade which complements these particular shadows perfectly.

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Finally I patted on a matt peach lipstick – I used Accessoize matt lipstick in Smitten. As you can see from the pic it’s a gorgeous colour but it’s a bit difficult to work with as the dry texture tends to settle into the fine lines of the lips. My solution is to pat it on from the bullet then work it into the lips with a lipbrush, mixing with another creamier orange lipstick if necessary. I think the end result is worth the effort though and it’s the shade that I’ve been reaching for time and again the past few weeks.