Monday 30 June 2014

How To Wear: Bright Make Up


Before I properly begin this post, it's worth noting that anyone can pull off bright make up: be it lips, eye shadow, lashes - you name it. I'm not going to go into step-by-step detail on how I achieved this look as my make up may not necessarily suit you, but it just provides an idea on how to get the colourful ball rolling. I've named the most important products needed to get the look and little tips and tricks on how to pull off bright make up. 

I wore this look on a night out to Camden Town recently. I find red lips extremely elegant and timeless, but for this night I wanted a fresher, more playful make up look. Hot pink it was. I used my favourite pink lip shade, MAC's classic Girl About Town, £15. I love this lipstick because it does not budge from my lips all night - it saves me running to the bathroom to check my lips every five minutes. Ain't nobody got time for that on the dance floor. Now I'm no stranger to a pink lip - I wear it more than my red lipstick simply because I think it work day or night, dressed smart or casual. I may be wrong, but it feels so right


 As you can tell from the pictures, I didn't do anything particularly bold with my eye make up as it would look too intense (*messy*). Think of your eyes as legs and your lips as cleavage: it's one or the other. I just used a thin slick of liquid eyeliner and pumped up my lashes using mascara (from past experience, falsies and Camden have never ended well).

What really pulls this look together is the Laura Mercier Metallic Creme Eye Colour in Rose Gold. Be it make up or jewellery, rose gold goes well with my complexion as it creates a richer look without being too obvious. The product is on the pricier side at £19, but you need so little of it that it lasts ages. 

Tips and Hints

Inserting some sparkly eyeshadow by your tear duct and under your lower lash line immediately gives a more wide awake, vibrant look. Paler skin tones should opt for white, rose gold or vanilla shades, whilst darker skin tones will suit golds, bronzes and coppers. Think of it as contouring for the eye. 

If you're feeling brave, try contrasting colours: blue eyeliner and pink lips, emerald eyes and coral lips, yellow eyes and purple lips. However, when using coloured eyeliner, less is more. The brighter the colour, the thinner the line. It's easier to add slightly more on than to take loads off. 

If you make a mistake applying liquid liner, put a splash of eye make up remover on the tip of a cotton bud and gently rub it off. 

When rocking a bright lip, don't forget lipliner. You may think you can get away with it, but pictures the next day will be very unforgiving. You'll end up looking like a rainbow rash has attacked your mouth area.

To create a matte look, dab some of your powder onto your lips after applying lipstick. 

With bright make up, keep your eyebrows groomed and filled in but natural looking. A strong Elizabeth Taylor or Audrey Hepburn brow does not merge well with 80s eye colours. They were different eras for a reason. Same rule applies to false lashes - if used, keep them subtle. 

Ponytails and up-dos look amazing with bright make up - your face becomes the star attraction.

I love bold make up with all black outfits: it's such a style statement and gives the wildest make up looks an elegant finish.



Make sure you have somewhere special to go and then paint away! 
Hope you enjoyed this look and want to try it for yourselves.

G x

Monday 16 June 2014

Review: LUSH Mint Julips Lib Scrub

When it comes to exfoliating and moisturising skin, I'm a preacher. However, I recently found that whenever I applied lip gloss or lipstick, I would get dead white skin developing in the corners of my mouth over the course of the day. This is mainly caused by dehydration, but sometimes no matter how much water I drink, lip products just don't take to my lips as nicely as I would like. 

As a result, I've been contemplating lip scrubs for a while now but was always put off by the thought of a grainy, scrubby texture on my lips - surely it's not natural? But then something changed: I walked into LUSH. While I've liked LUSH products for a while now (the store smells better than what Heaven probably smells like - I want to eat everything in it and bathe in it at the same time), a lot of hype in their cosmetics can be more about smell and appearance rather than effectiveness. 

Whilst I was browsing, I came across some lip scrubs in Bubblegum, Popcorn and Mint. I picked up the Mint Julips one (mainly because I like the smell of mint, but also because bubblegum smells nauseating to me, like an eight year old chewing Hubba Bubba for hours on end...). LUSH have natural, handmade cosmetics so in my eyes what could possibly go wrong? Also, did I mention that it's EDIBLE (or should I say lickable?)? Smooth lips and minty fresh breath in one (slightly overpriced) £5.50 pot. 


Now I know that anyone can make a 'homemade' lip scrub using sugar, but in all honesty I'm too busy (i.e. lazy) and also want an excuse to walk into LUSH. But in all honesty, the product isn't amazing - it doesn't exfoliate excellently so I generally end up using quite a lot of it. I'm also not in love with the packaging, it's not the most practical or sanitary for getting product out of. Grains of minty sugar end up getting all over obscure places in my face, fingers and bathroom.

 Additionally, I could probably learn to make it myself if I bought some sugar/made an effort. It tastes and smells nice, but I always end up needing to use quite a lot of it (and not because I have particularly big, luscious and pouty lips). I tend to apply lots of Vaseline on my lips after I use it anyway, so that's the reason why they feel softer and hydrated.  

Overall, it's a cute novelty buy and would make a nice gift but I don't think I would buy it again. It is a good starter product for lip scrub virgins like myself, but if you want a cheaper and more powerful alternative hop down to your local supermarket to buy a bag of sugar and with the power of Google, make your own product and scrub away. 



Rating: 5/10

G x

Monday 9 June 2014

Drugstore Make Up: Liquid Eyeliners

Obtaining the perfect Cleopatra flick is never easy. However over the years it's been a trademark look of mine, so I thought I'd share my favourite liquid liners from the drugstore that in my experience work well for creating the perfect winged look.


This was my first liquid liner and while I tried others, I always went back to this. The wand is thin and long, so it's easier to vary and build up the length and thickness of the flick, depending on the look you want to achieve. 
My only complaint is that the liner itself is not the best quality. If you wear liquid liner daily this product can irritate your lash line after a while. People with a sensitive eye area may feel a slight stinging sensation if they continually use this product. I personally don't wear liquid liner every day, but for a while I used this product all the time (I was obsessed with the flicks) and found that it irritated my lash line and outer corner of my eye. It is great for creating various looks from a thin and subtle line to big statement flicks, but if my eye area were extremely sensitive I don't think I would use this product all the time. 
Rating: 8/10



I recently got into this product (after many years with my trusty Rimmel) after one of my favourite YouTubers, Shirley B.Eniang used it flawlessly in a recent Get Ready With Me video. Shirley is amazing at applying make up (shout out time) and seeing her use Superliner so easily and perfectly just made me want to try it out. I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. The wand is firmer than the Rimmel one which is good if you don't have a steady hand and/or are new to liquid eyeliner. It's great to get in the inner corner near the tear duct and generally stays put all day. However, I do need to put on a few layers and shake the tube a bit to get enough product out. Other than that, so far so fab (sorry).
Rating: 9/10


G x

Thursday 5 June 2014

My Day and Night Creams

Day
Lacura Aqua-Complete Moisturiser 
£1.99 (available at Aldi)

I've tried many moisturisers in the past, but I always go back to this one. And at only £1.99, who can blame me! It may sound too good to be true, but remember that Aldi's skincare brand Lacura produced an award winning anti-wrinkle cream that went flying off the shelves a couple of years ago. The key to Lacura's success is simplicity (and price, but mainly simplicity I promise...). It doesn't overwhelm products with overzealous chemicals and far fetched ingredients. The formula seems as 'natural' as creams can be, forming a really hydrating moisturiser and make up base for skin. 

My skin is oily to combination (with a problem T-zone, as per). Aqua-Complete is really light so it doesn't weigh down my skin- this is important when applying make up as you don't want to clog up your pores with too many layers. I even wear this cream on make-up free days, as it keeps my skin hydrated and feeling fresh without producing too much oil. 




Night
No7 Beautiful Skin Night Cream
 (£13.50, available at Boots)

Before trying to convince you that this cream is the Holy Grail of the night (after sleep, obvs), remember that it clearly states 'Normal/Oily' on the front. If you have dry skin look away now. Only joking, the No7 range has other fantastic lines and products for sensitive/dry/ageing etc skin. 

Once again, I've tried other night creams but this is my favourite. The day cream version is also good, but I'm satisfied with my Aldi cream (think about the monies too!). 

What's so great about this night cream is that it absorbs itself really easily into skin. In the past, a lot of other night creams have ended up smeared all over my pillow as opposed to my face. Youthful, plump pillows aside, the cream has a good consistency and is really hydrating. However, I do sometimes wake up with oily skin, especially around my nose - don't apply too much cream around your T-zone if like mine it's particularly oily! 

Other than that, I can't complain: it both tones and softens my skin at the same time. Night creams are generally more expensive than day creams, but luckily £13.50 isn't at all steep (unless compared to my Aldi cream!). 


Admittedly, my skin has never been particularly problematic (odd spot here and there, bit of oil, you know the usual). I've never had rough or acne prone skin thus far in life *touches wood*, therefore wouldn't be able to recommend good creams from personal experience, only from what people have told me. However, if you're not happy with your skin I would definitely give the Lacura line from Aldi a go, as unlike No7, everyone I speak to praises it and I'm yet to hear a complaint about it. 

Moisturisers and creams are a tricky nail to hit -experimenting with make up and skincare products is always great fun, but when it comes to day and night staples, if it ain't broke, do not even try to think about attempting to fix it. Just joking....but seriously, you only get one skin and once you have the winning formula, hold onto it. It can change over time, but jumping from one cream to the next won't have the same effects as sticking to a loyal brand. 

G x 

Tuesday 3 June 2014

New Balances

I've been contemplating getting a pair of New Balance trainers for a while but kept putting it off as I'm so used to Nike trainers. However I eventually decided to give them a go - I really liked their simple design as it means they can go with a lot of different styles and outfits. They're not 'statement trainers' like Air Maxes, so they're fairly adaptable and versatile.

I know that the New Balance 574s are really popular, but I chose to go for the 373 pair in Navy, £49.99. Their shape is more feminine and they're extremely lightweight and comfortable! They're also cheap as far a trainers go - the 373s are around £50, and the 574s around £60-70. 

I find that I wear them everywhere and not as a conscious choice but because they're so easy to throw on and dash out the house with if you're in a rush. They're great for sightseeing with too, as I can walk around in them for hours and not get sore feet or blisters. 

Since I bought mine I feel like I've noticed EVERYONE wearing NBs in and around London -they look great on guys and gals alike. There are some cool colour combos as well, including blue and orange, pink and grey, green and purple etc. I can't wait to see this trend during our (hopefully) sunny summer, I can picture NBs as festival and rave trainers. 




G x