Gwen Stefani Inspired Look

One look at a photo of Gwen Stefani on Gregory Arlt's Instagram page, and I knew I'd be doing this post. She looked absolutely flawless, and I had to do a similar look. Bold winged liner, a strong highlight and her signature red lip.

Photo on the left credit: @gregoryarlt Instagram

Products used
Base Mac Strobe Cream Nars All Day Luminous Weightless Foundation (Gobi) Bobbi Brown Corrector (Light Bisque) Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer (Fair Neutral) Brows Beauty UK Brow Kit Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel Eyes Mac Paint Pot (Soft Ochre) Mac Pigment (Vanilla) Maybelline Eye Studio Gel Liner (Black) 2True Wow! Mascara Rimmel Eye Liner (Nude) Cheeks Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit  Nars Goulue Blush Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector (Opal) Lips MUA Lip Liner (Red) L'Oreal Eva's Red lipstick I hope you like it! Bloglovin' / Instagram

Review: The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer

I had heard about Mary Lou-Manizer from The Balm at least a million times, and I FINALLY got around to trying it a little while ago. I'm going to share my thoughts with you!

First of all, how cute is the packaging?! The Balm never fails to get that right, The highlighter inside is a light champagne shade that I think would be flattering on most skin tones. It's reasonably pigmented and blends beautifully. It gave me a pretty sheen that wasn't at all too much. However, I think I was expecting a glow fit for angels, having heard so many good reviews, and this just isn't the effect I got! It was much more subtle than that, and I definitely prefer Becca Opal. Having said that, I do think this will flatter a lot of faces, and it will make a welcome addition to my kit.  The Balm Mary Lou-Manizer is available on feelunique.com for £14.
Have you tried Mary Lou-Manizer? What do you think?
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Review: Charlotte Tilbury The Dolce Vita Palette

I have owned this palette for almost a year, yet I've barely mentioned it, let alone reviewed it! This post is definitely long overdue. I was given The Dolce Vita palette as a gift for my anniversary, and it is certainly one of the most luxurious makeup items in my collection. Just look at it. 

Prime, Enhance, Pop, Smoke

Charlotte Tilbury's gorgeous eye shadow palettes are colour-coded to take your look from "desk to disco". There is a Prime shade (light champagne), an Enhance shade (warm red/brown), a Smoke shade (dark brown/khaki), and a Pop shade (deep gold glitter).  They are all very soft and buttery, with great colour pay off. 

This is one of my favourite looks using this palette. After priming my eyelids, I applied the Enhance shade all over the lid, then blended it out with a small amount of Smoke through the crease. I then pressed some of the glitter onto my lid with my finger, and highlighted my brow bone and inner corner with Prime. 
I adore this palette, it does make a really special gift to someone else or to yourself. It is pricey, but the quality is second to none, and the smallest bit of the shadow goes a long way. I would definitely recommend The Dolce Vita if you're a warm-toned shadow hoarder like me. 
Have you tried anything by Charlotte Tilbury? What do you recommend?
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#FOTD

Happy Wednesday everyone! Here's my face of the day. 

Products used
Base L'Oreal Infallible 24H Matte Foundation (11 Vanilla) Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer (Fair Neutral) Too Faced Amazing Face Powder (Vanilla Creme)
Brows Beauty UK Brow Kit Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel
Eyes Mac Paint Pot (Soft Ochre) Morphe Brushes Eyeshadow (Secretive) Nars Outer Limits L'Oreal Superliner 2True Wow! Mascara
Cheeks Nars Laguna  Nars Deep Throat Mac Vanilla Pigment
Lips Mac Whirl Lipstick Mac Modest Lipgloss
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Mac: The Matte Lip

I have a couple of new additions to my Mac lipstick collection from the new Matte Lip range. There were two shades that I couldn't resist trying: Whirl and Men Love Mystery. 
Whirl Following the outrageous hype of the Whirl lip pencil, the clever people at Mac brought out a lipstick in the popular shade. I don't know about you, but I don't find it particularly comfortable to wear just a lip pencil all over my lips, and nothing else with it. It just feels so dry! So, I had to try the lipstick. 

90's girl at heart.

I just love this colour so much. It will be so perfect for Autumn/ Winter, and I think it's really flattering. The formula is comfortable and isn't drying. 

Men Love Mystery I saw this shade on Instagram and I knew I had to try it. It's my favourite colour, that orchid/pink/purple tone, and I heard a few good reviews. I also didn't have anything else like it in my makeup stash. 

  

If these two shades are anything to go on, I'd definitely recommend the rest of the new matte range. They're extremely pigmented, last for hours (even whilst eating or drinking), yet they don't feel particularly drying. I'm wondering if I could pull off Stone...? The range is available on the website now. 
Have you tried any of the collection? 
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Review: Fudge Urban Colour Hair Art Pink Ink

Pastel hair colour is everywhere right now, and it can look seriously pretty. Who doesn't want My Little Pony hair?! However, for a lot of us, it might just be too bold of a hair choice to make on a permanent basis. I wanted to try out having pastel pink tones in my hair without the commitment, and I spotted this product. 

This is a spray-on instant hair colour that washes out. I liked the idea of being able to spray the colour only where I wanted it, controlling the effect. This is what it looked like. 

Pros It's a lovely pastel shade, not too bright. However, you can increase the intensity of the colour by spraying more product onto the same area. Your hair doesn't have to be bleached for the product to show up. Although I mostly sprayed it onto my lighter ends, it did show up on my dark brown hair, too.  It's really affordable. I paid less than £3 in Superdrug.  It's very easy to use. It smells really nice. It washes out easily.  
Cons It made my hair feel like a bird's nest. It has a really gritty texture that was really unpleasant. It does transfer to skin and slightly onto clothes. 
Overall, I think it's a fun product that can easily add some pastel to your hair. I think perhaps if my hair was braided or in an up-do, it would work well to add a pop of colour. Alternatively, just spraying on the very ends of my hair would probably avoid that gritty texture feeling too much. 
What do you think of pastel hair?
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My Go-To Smokey Eye

For those nights (or days) when I don't know what to do with my makeup, I often go for a simple warm smokey eye with a pink/nude lip. Lately, I've been enjoying using matte shadows, and my go-to smokey look has been achieved using the Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture Palette. 

I use the fluffy end of the brush in the palette to diffuse Morocco through the crease, as well as slightly above and below. I then use the same end of the brush to apply Fudge all over the lid, not too densely. I use the shorter, more dense end of the brush to apply Noir along the upper lashline, winging it out slightly. The important thing is to make sure that the colours blend into each other seamlessly, creating a gradient effect. I then repeat the same process on a smaller scale on the lower lash line. I also line my upper and lower water lines with Mac Coffee eye pencil. 
It's a really simple look if you blend, blend and blend some more. Definitely worth it. What do you think?
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Ashley Benson Inspired Look

I was rather late to the Pretty Little Liars party, but I'm well and truly there now (no spoilers please, I'm still wading my way through season 4!) I love Hanna, and  definitely have a bit of a girl crush on Ashley Benson who plays her. If you don't follow her on Instagram, you should (@itsashbenzo). I noticed a photo of her look from the Pixels film premiere and just had to do an inspired makeup look. She wore a really pretty coppery pink eye look with a coral lip, by MUA Hung Vanngo. Here's what I came up with!

Products used
Base Mac Strobe Cream L'Oreal Infallible 24H Matte Foundation (Vanilla) Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer (Fair Neutral) Soleil Tan de Chanel Too Face Amazing Face Powder (Vanilla Cream) Brows Seventeen Brow Sculpting Pencil Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel Eyes Rimmel Scandaleyes Eye Shadow Stick (Rose Gold) ABH Intense Gaze eye shadow Mac Mythology eye shadow Mac Eye Pencil (Coffee) 2True Wow! Mascara Cheeks Sleek blush (Sahara) Lips Mac Lip Liner (Soar) Essence Long Lasting lipstick (Love Me) I really like the way it turned out! What do you think? A Lucy Hale look could be next on my list... Bloglovin' / Instagram

Chocolate Orange Eyes

Hello everyone! I've got a recent makeup look for you that I absolutely loved doing. A rich chocolatey lid colour with orange through the crease and lower lash line using the beautiful Jaclyn Hill Favourites Palette from Morphe Brushes,  I'm going to show you what I used to create this look. 

 
Eyes

1. Primed lids using Mac Soft Ocre Paint Pot.
2. ABH Soft Peach all over the lid and under the brow bone.
3. Morphe Orange and Coral shades (Jaclyn Hill Favourites) blended throughout the crease.
4. Morphe Bronze shade pressed all over the lid up to the crease and blended together with the orange.
5. Mac Deeply Dashing pressed pigment pressed on top of the bronze.
6. Morphe Orange and Coral shades blended along the lower lashline.
7. Maybelline Eye Studio gel liner used to create a wing. 
8. 2True Wow! Mascara on upper and lower lashes. 

I completed this warm look with Mac Peaches Blush to compliment the eyes, and a bit of Smashbox Illuminate lipgloss. 

I hope you like it!

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July Favourites

The start of a brand new month means it's favourites time! Here's what I've been loving throughout July.
Mac Strobe Cream

Since I no longer seem to have oily skin (it seems to have transitioned to 'normal' over the last few months) I have been loving products that give me a glowy complexion. Strobe Cream is a pearly hydrating cream that can either be used as a primer all over the face, added to foundation to amp up the glow, or applied in certain areas on top of foundation to give a soft highlight. It doesn't make you look like disco ball, but it adds a pretty sheen to the skin. I've been using it on lots of my clients, too. 

Anastasia Beverly Hills Shadow Couture World Traveller Palette

I'm not going to say too much about this one, since there's already an in depth review with swatches on the blog. I just had to mention it because I've worn it lots since I got it. If you get the chance, buy it.

Seventeen Brow Sculpting Pencil

I've gone back to an old friend this month, using this super cheap pencil to fill in my brows. I lightly draw in individual hairs in any sparse areas, and I've been really liking the way it looks. I then use the ABH clear brow gel to set them, and I'm sorted. I think this costs £2.79!

Maybelline Eye Studio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner

I prefer a pot of gel liner and a brush over any other type of eyeliner, it lasts longer and I can get a sharper wing with it. This one is really good and really affordable. It's intensely black and doesn't smudge. I have one in my kit and one in my Muji drawers just for me. It's fab. 

Soleil Tan de Chanel

Another product that I've raved about before, but this is honestly my favourite bronzer of life. It looks good on all skin tones, blends beautifully and smells divine. 
Too Faced Amazing Face Powder Foundation

I've been loving using this powder to set my foundation, and also to 'bake' my contour. It's pigmented and creamy, and I love it. 
Tresemmé Perfectly Undone Seafoam for Soft Waves

I've really been liking the waves this product leaves in my hair. Pretty and beachy. without drying it out. It smells lovely, too. 

What have you been loving this month?

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