MAC Creme Cup

In my opinion there are only 5 lipstick shades a woman will ever really need, a true red, a coral, a bright pink, a berry shade and the perfect nudey pink colour. For me, there is no better nude (that I have found so far anyway) than MAC's Creme Cup. It's a light, blue-toned pink - a real 'your lips but better' kind of colour! It is super versatile too and just looks beautiful with so many different types of makeup, from a sultry smoky eye to a minimal flick of eyeliner. 

It applies so easily and, thanks to the Cremesheen formula it is really creamy and comfortable to wear! It doesn't dry out my lips at all either, which is one of the biggest plus points for me as I suffer with seriously dry lips (damn my weird M.E. symptoms!). The colour is well pigmented and has a slight gloss to it which is really nice as I'm not a huge lip gloss fan as they're usually so sticky - this lipstick is the perfect happy medium. In regards to staying power, lets just say it ticks the box for me - the photo above shows me 2 hours after I first applied it, and it's still looking fresh and even (please note, I did use lip liner all over my lips as a base)!

I'm now on the hunt to find the perfect berry toned lipstick in time for Autumn/Winter, any recommendations?

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MAC Russian Red Lipstick

Last week I popped into my local department store and as usual, I went straight to the beauty hall. I had a £50 gift card left unspent from Christmas so I thought 'why not buy something I want instead of something I need' (I use the term 'need' very  loosely). As I scanned row after row of different eye shadows, I decided that a lipstick was the object of my desire and my eyes settled upon Russian Red instantly. 

I have MAC's Viva Glam Cyndi which is a much more sheer, glossy red and while it packs a punch - it is nothing compared to  Russian Red. It is a perfect true red with a blue undertone which is a must for me when buying red lipstick. The blue undertone doesn't make your teeth have that horrible dirty tint which the yellow based reds do. It has good staying power too, the intense colour lasts on me for a good 3+ hours and almost stains the lips once it starts to wear off so the fading isn't as obvious. 

The only negative side to this product is that as it is a matte formula, it can feel a little dry after you've had the lipstick on for a while. I just make sure I apply a balm before I put the lipstick on and this usually helps to alleviate the dryness.

                                                     Do you have a go-to red lipstick?

 

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Whats in my travel makeup bag... for IMATS

So, I was just un-packing my bag in the hotel i'm staying in and I thought i'd do a post on what i've brought makeup wise. Saving space in my bag for all the makeup i'll be getting tomorrow ;). I've been quite good and not brought too much with me to be honest.

Top row: Chanel Vita Lumiere Aqua foundation, MAC Studio Finish Concealer, Garnier Eye Roll-On concealer, Skindinavia Original Makeup Finishing Spray.

Bottom row: MAC Pink Swoon blush, Sleek Contour Kit.

Top to bottom: Urbay Decay Naked Palette, Benefit Bad Gal Lash mascara, MAC Smoulder eye kohl, MAC Painterly paint pot, Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara, Tweezerman Tweezers.

L-R: MAC Viva Glam Cyndi, Jemma Kidd Hi-Shine Silk Touch Lipgloss in Perfect Red, Models Own Lipbalm in Blackberry.

Top to bottom: Brush Guards, Royal and Langnickel Pro Metal Lash Comb, Royal and Langnickel Pro Lash Spoolie.

L-R: Real Techniques Blush Brush, MAC 266, Real Techniques Stippling Brush, Sigma E05 Eyeliner, Sigma Tapered Face F25, MAC 217, Sigma Tapered Highlighter F35, MAC 239, Royal and Langnickel Powder Brush, MAC 190, Royal and Langnickel Crease Brush, Royal and Langnickel Smudger Brush.

So thats everything i'm taking makeup wise, expect a lengthy blog post in the next few days about IMATS London 2012! ;) Hope you guys have a great weekend!

Thanks for reading.

Jess xx

MAC and Origins haul :)

Yesterday I said I had some shopping planned and well, here it is :). Let's start with my little Origins purchase...

I heard about this product ages ago and contemplated buying it, but didn't actually get it. When I watched Tanya Burr's skincare routine video the other day I decided to bite the bullet and get it. The reason I couldn't decide for so long was because of the price, £20.00 a pop isn't a bargain.

It says it is a refreshing eye cream to brighten and depuff. Sounds great to me. On the box it says the product was formulated without: Parabens, Phthalates, Propylene glycol, Mineral oil, PABA, Petrolatum, Paraffin, DEA, Synthetic frangrance and animal ingredients.

After my little splurge on the eye cream I went and had a bigger splurge at the MAC counter and the CCO. .. Hehe.

I got two eyeshadows from the MAC counter - Woodwinked and Mulch.

Woodwinked is a 'warm antiqued gold'. Such a gorgeous colour. Make's my green eyes really stand out. Looks gorgeous on its own or paired with another shadow. LOVE this!

Mulch is a 'red brown colour with a bronze pearl'. It's really beautiful. Looks lovely smudged into the lash line with espresso over the lid. It is darker than in the photo.




Then I stopped off at the CCO and raided their MAC stand. I got two eyeshadows, one pigment and a cream colour base.

The first eyeshadow I picked up was Kid, a 'beige cashmere' colour. It's similar to Omega but is slightly darker and warmer.



Then, I grabbed Scene, a 'muted blue-grey' colour. I'm gonna used it to create a wearable day to night smokey eye.

 All the eyeshadows cost me £9.50.

L-R Kid, Woodwinked, Mulch, Scene (with primer)

In the middle of my little eyeshadow frenzy, I spotted Vanilla pigment - so of course, I had to get that too!

Vanilla is a 'soft ivory white' colour and it's gorgeous! It's shimmery and just lovely :).

It would look divine on the brow bone as a highlight or in the inner corner :)

It cost me £15.50.

L-R not blended, blended  (with primer)

Last thing I got was a cream colour base in Shell, a 'soft shimmery pink-beige' colour.

 

It would look amazing as a highlight if you had a tan!

It cost me £13.50.

Thanks for reading!

Jess xx

July Favourites!

I've been a bit MIA on the blogging front recently, been very busy with my family. My Great Nan unfortunately passed away last week, at the grand age of 97. Her birthday was in September, she was so close to 98! I'm so proud of her, she was the center of our family, she'll always be remembered for her grace, her love for her family and how she always smelt of lavender :).

On a cheerier note, I have also been tinkering about with makeup as usual and fallen have in love with a few products this month. First off the beauty products...

Last month, I was addicted to using Clinique's Bottom Lash Mascara. The wand is sooo tiny and makes your bottom lashes appear super long and defined. It lasts for ages without smudging too! Mine is in Black. It cost me £10.00 - bargain for what it is, i think!

Next up, is Jemma Kidd's Hi-Shine Silk Touch Lipgloss in Coral. I really love this lipgloss, its soft, smooth and just plain lovely. The colour is perfect for summer and the packaging is gorgeous. And to top it all off? I got it free in Red magazine a little while ago. It retails at £14.00.

I've been loving pastel nail polishes for while now but last month I became hooked. Especially to this one, Barry M's Nail Paint in Mint Green. It looks so summery and pretty. It cost me £2 :).

  

VO5's give me texture instant oomph powder is amazing. I have been LOVING this. My hair is naturally poker straight, thin and pretty lifeless. But, one shake of this product into my roots and a quick ruffle - my hair is volumized and poofy. One downside to this product, once you've used it you can definitely feel the product in your hair. Personally I couldn't leave my hair for a day or two without a wash if I could feel product in my hair. So, for those of you who wash your hair every few days, I wouldn't recommend it. But it's perfect for adding oompf for a night out. It cost me £4.00.

Now for some non-beauty favourites...

Bookwise, i've been loving Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I decided to re-read it before the film came out, which leads me to my favourite film of July... I freaking loved Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2!!!! I love all the Harry Potter books and films, to be truly honest, I have a bit of an obsession with them :).

Musicwise, i've been listening to quite a lot lately but mainly Ten Thousand Voices. They're seriously awesome. I'm a bit of a metal head so they're maybe not to everyone's taste but their talent is obvious :) My boyfriend happens to be part of this band (he's one of the guitarists), i'm sure they'd all be very grateful if you'd take a look... http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ten-Thousand-Voices/208001005903700

Foodwise, i've been munching on Party Rings. Probably too much, but oh well.

Thank you for reading!

Jess xx

FOTN: At the races...

I'm  sorry for not blogging this past couple of weeks, I've been really busy! I finally finished my exams!!! I also went on holiday :). Anyway, as a celebration of my year group finishing our exams, our school took us to the races because we don't get a prom. This is the makeup I did for it...

Face
Estée Lauder double wear foundation
MAC studio finish concealer
Sleek blush in rose gold
Bourjois Delice de Poudre bronzer
MAC mineralize skinfinish in soft and gentle

Eyes
Urban Decay primer potion
MAC omega eyeshadow
Dark brown colour from Sleek Chaos palette
Light pink glitter
Girls Aloud 'Kimberly' lashes cut in half
Benefit bad gal mascara
MAC smoulder eye kohl
MAC espresso (to fill in my brows)

Lips
MAC hue lipstick
Topshop lip glaze in frostbitten

Me and my boyf  all glammed up!

Thank you for reading :)

Jess xx

MAC Haul :)

So, yesterday I went to my local MAC counter and had a bit of a splurge. MAC is expensive but worth it. You pay more for a better product (generally), better packaging (usually) and better costumer service (hopefully). Don't get me wrong, I love a bargain but I also love the high end make up because I feel you generally get what you pay for. And anyway, Nars is more expensive that MAC... (i'm making excuses to try and make myself feel better about my devilish shopping spree). Enough with my ramblings, this is what I got :) 

 First off I brought 4 new eyeshadow pans and a quad palette.

Top row L-R: Vanilla, Omega.

Bottom row L-R Soba, Espresso.

Each eyeshadow was £9.50 and the palette was £6.50.

I chose these colours so I can create natural, subtle eyes for sixth form. Omega on the lid, Soba in the crease, Espresso in the outer corner & in the brows and Vanilla in the inner corner and on the brow bone as a highlight.

L-R Vanilla, Omega, Soba, Espresso.

I also got Hue lipstick and Love Nectar lustreglass.

Hue is a pretty soft pale pinkish colour, It's a glaze finish which means it is very sheer. It was £13.50 which really isnt a bad price for a high end lipstick.

L-R Hue lipstick, Love Nectar lustreglass.

Love Nectar is a soft apricot pink with gold flecks in it. It is such a beautiful colour and looks gorgeous over Hue lipstick, It cost me £12.50.

The applicator is a small brush, It works well for precise application.

Finally, I got the 217 brush. This is by far the best blending brush I own, It's fluffy but quite flat so it sits nicely in the crease. Works wonders with creating a cut crease look :)

It cost me £15.00.





I hope you like my haul, thank you for reading :)

Jess xx

Free benefit products with Glamour magazine!

 Glamour magazine are giving away a selection of three sample size benefit products with every magazine this month! Each mag either contains bene tint, posie tint or high beam. I went on a mission to find any that were left, I managed to grab one of each. The packaging's a little damaged but that didn't bother me! As you can see, each mag is worth £2, I don't think that's bad for a magazine with a high end sample size beauty product included! The only downside, to get all three you have to buy the same magazine three times. But oh well, I'm sure mums, sisters or friends wouldn't mind a free magazine!

Highbeam luminescent complexion enhancer

Full size price - £18.50

Benetint rose tinted lip and cheek stain

Full size price - £24.50

Posietint poppy pink tinter lip and cheek stain
Full size price - £24.50

In this photo I have mixed posietint and benetint for my lip colour, I used posietint on my cheeks and I used highbeam to highlight my cheek bones :)

So go and check your newsagents to see if theres any left!

Thank you for reading!

Jess xx

MAKEUP TUTORIAL: Bronze summer goddess

This is a glowing, bronzed look; great for warm summer nights!

Firstly, I applied my Oilatum natural repair face cream then I used a small amount of Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua in B10 beige pastel with my 190 foundation brush. I used my MAC studio finish concealer in NW20 to conceal any blemishes and then as an under eye concealer I used my Garnier eye roll-on in shade 01 with my Royal & Langnickel LG smudger brush. I powdered with my MAC mineralize skinfinish natural in light.

To prime my eyes I used my MAC paint pot in painterly.

Over that I used the light shimmery gold from my Sleek storm palette (the 2nd one in on the top row) across the lid with my Royal & Langnickel crease brush.

Then in the crease I used MAC omega eyeshadow and my Royal & Langnickel crease brush again to subtly define the crease.

In the outer corner I used Urban Decays smog and a big fluffy blending brush to create the bronze smokey effect.

After that I filled in my eyebrows with a medium brown eyeshadow and my MAC 266 brush.

I then applied two coats of my Bourjois volumizer mascara.

For eye liner I used AVON supershock gel eyeliner in black, I applied this to my water line and my tight line.

Then after deliberating for a while to whether I should use a highlight or not, I decided to add a matt white eyeshadow to my brow bone. I used my Royal & Langnickel mini flat smudge brush to apply it.

Then I contoured and highlighted my face with my Sleek contour kit in light.

I applied MAC ladyblush blushcreme with my 187 brush.

On my lips I applied a Natural Collection lipstick in rose petal with Revlon colorburst lipgloss in sunset peach over the top. Thats the look finished. :)



Hope you liked this look :)

Jess xx