Spring Pictorial

Since it seems that my 'Fall day to night' pictorial seems to be one of my most popular blog posts why not do another one incorporating all my favourite spring make up from my Spring Beauty Picks blog. In spring I love simple but pretty brightening make up at the same time as using bright spring colours in my make up - so ill show you how i achieve that....

Products:

Brushes - Real Techniques;
Contour Brush
Duo Fibre Face Brush
Duo Fibre Contour Brush
Buffing Brush
Fan brush
Products - NYX lipstick Taupe
Rimmel True Match Foundation
Collection Concealer
MUA undress me highlighter
MAC mineralise natural skin finish
Topshop Cream Blush - Morning Dew

Brushes: MAC 217
Real Techniques Duo Fibre Eye Brush
Angled brush
Products: Mac Paintpot - Painterly
Mac Naked Lunch
NYX Suede
Maybeilline Gel Liner
Elf Brow Kit - Ash
Nude Rimmel Scandel Eyes Pencel

Face:

I firstly start with my face by applying my foundation with my Real Techniques buffing brush and Collection concealer with my finger underneath my eyes and on any imperfections. I also then contour with my NYX taupe lipstick (see previous post for instructions) followed by my Topshop cream blush on the apples of my cheek to add colour back into my face. Setting this all down with MAC nature minerailise skin finish Finally, the last touch of applying my MUA highlighter with my fan brush for a dewy finish.

Eyes:

Prepping my eyes to ensure that the eyeshadow stays on all day apply MAC painterly paintpot all over the lid and crease up until the brow bone.

I already filled in my brows with the Elf brow kit by using the gel colour to match my brows

1 - As for the eyes I apply NYX Suede with my Real Techniques eye brush into my crease for a subtle eye definition 

2 - With a MAC 217 i apply MAC naked lunch for a natural highlight and a shimmer shade in the inner half of the eye to make the eyes look bright and wide awake for the spring time.

3 - Apply Rimmel nude eye liner in the waterline

4 - Place Maybelline gel eyeliner and smudge with finger for a natural messy day time effect.

After the eye shadow apply any mascara of choice, i decided on L'oreal Miss Manga Mascara....

Lips:

For lips, i love bright colourful products just like spring flowers. My choices would either be Tanya Burr lipgloss in 'Exotic Island' or Rimmel Kate Moss lipstick in number 16.

Left - Kate Moss 16
Right - Tanya Burr Lipgloss 'Exotic Island'

Kate Moss 16 - Left
Tanya Burr Exotic Island - Right

I love both these colours because along with the simple eye look it pulls the whole make up look together!

Hope this was helpful for anyone looking for inspiration for spring looks or without the lipstick or lipgloss could be wearable for a school look.

Follow on bloglovin for most blog posts; Make Up Forever HD foundation review tomorrow, see you then!

Laura xo

♥

Spring Beauty Picks

Spring has eventually sprung once again here in the UK, daffodils have popped out the ground and the is peaking around the clouds! It only feels like yesterday that it was spring 2012! Even though trends are changing every year, there are always the same type of products that always seem to come out and that I personally like to use every year and will carry on using until they get discontinued!

1. Topshop Cream blushes:

Firstly, can we all please take a moment to appreciate how cute the packaging is! The packaging is also surprisingly practical as the whole of the inner lid inside is covered by a mirror!

Cutest packaging EVER!

With a cream to powder finish the Topshop cream blushes are a perfect way to add a little colour to any look. I love to have more of a natural make up look once the sun decides to show itself around this time of year and these are a great way of achieving this. The formula blends really easily to give that natural flush that I look for around spring time.

Topshop change and swap all their cream blush colours so it may not be possible to get the same colours that i have and love. But anyway, the colours i own are called 'Head over Heels' and 'Morning Dew'.

Left - head over heels, Right - Morning Dew

Head over heels is a orange coral colour which compliments any pale or pink toned skin perfectly! Whereas 'Morning Dew' is a bright pink colour with slight plumy undertones which offers a natural flushed look.

2. MAC Mineralised Skin Finish

During hotter or warm season I also love the glowing dewy finish to my skin. As highlighter can sometimes look harsh, and unnatural the one product I've found and loved the finish of is MAC's Natural Mineralised Skin Finish.

This is a lovely light setting powder with a natural slight sheen through the colour. I find it sets my make up all day without looking too powder like. I have the colour medium which suits my skin tone perfectly. The product itself glides over my skin effortlessly and lasts ages! I use this product regularly and it shows no sign of running out anytime soon! Absolutely love! 



3. Tanya Burr lip gloss - Exotic Island

My next spring pick is a new product for 2014 and is one of the Tanya Burr lip glosses! When the youtuber and Beauty Blogger, Tanya Burr announced that she was launching her own range of lip glosses and nail varnish however I couldn't help but feel a tiny bit disappointed as I don't usually like lip gloss and don't really rate nail varnish as much as I do cosmetics. How I was proved wrong...

In order to step out of my usual zone I ordered a lip gloss once they were launched. I ordered the colour 'Exotic Island' which is a bright pink. Thought if i was going to order one I at least want it to be noticeable. I'm so happy to say that I was surprising happy with the colour and quality of the product.

Unlike other lip glosses Ive tried the Tanya Burr lip glosses are not sticky and don't feel like plastic on the lips. The smell of the product is so fruity and the colour pay off is the same as some lip sticks. The colour is really easy to wear subtly or to build up for a bright vibrant colour! These lip glosses are without a doubt my favourite lip glosses and I cannot wait to get some more in different colours!

4. MAC Eyeshadow - Naked Lunch

Finally my 4th spring pick is one of my current favourites. Just like my skin, around spring and summer time I like to use shimmery and champagne coloured eye shadows to make my eyes seem a lot larger and wide awake. 

However as I'm currently in full time education I do not want something too OTT or noticeable as I want to stick to the more natural look for school. My favourite product to achieve this look is MAC's Naked Lunch eye shadow. Its such as pretty shimmery eye shadow which allows me to get away with it in school due to some of the more natural peachy tones.

Hope this was helpful or insightful to anyone looking for spring make up inspirations!

Laura xo

♥

My teeny tiny M.A.C collection.

Even though, I'm a self proclaimed drugstore lover. I love make up and beauty. Full stop. So there is a point where my will power fails and I cave in and buy higher end products. Purely because of the fact that I want to see what's out there. 

MAC is obviously a well known brand which is famously good quality, so if I was to splash out now and again. It's going to be on MAC, but bare with. My collection is tinnnnyyy! 

1) My first product is the one, out of my 3 MAC products which I've had for agggeess!

My blush is Springsheen and is by far my favourite blush I own. I've had this blush since my 15th birthday. Now baring in mind I'm 18 in January, the fact that I've used this blush on a daily basis ever since I've had it and I still have a fair amount left. Is very impressive. 

Even though this product is currently around the £18 mark, and can be seen as quiet pricey. However it has lasted me every well because of the pigmentation, for every use on a brush you only need the slightest amount. I'm defiantly going to invest in another MAC blush as absolutely no drug store blush would ever last this long. 

Love love love this blush. It's such a pretty pink with subtle gold sparkles in it. Soooo nice. Defiantly recommend it. 

2) Now for my most recent purchases and one MAC's most famous products. Lipsticks.

My first lipstick is 'chatterbox', for a while there was a hype about this lipstick because of its easy wearability. I would describe it as a muted bright pink which is easily wearable for everyday make up. 

Chatterbox is an amplified creme lipstick so is a lovely moisturising formula. MAC lipsticks are obviously well known for the great pigmentation so it does take a while to wear down the whole lipstick. With a blue undertone the only downside is that on some people, it can emphasis yellow teeth, but for most people it is fine. 

3) Finally but defiantly not least is 'modesty'. As I have a bright-ish colour I really wanted a nude to add to my collection. There are so many famous nudes from MAC such as 'Hue' and 'Creme de Nude'. The colour 'Modesty' that I've been eyeing up for a while, the YouTuber/beauty blogger Beauty Crush has been raving about this colour all summer.

I would describe this colour as a deep Rosie colour. When I first bought it, I was very unsure because I thought it was brown, however with a closer look and on the lips there is more of a peachy:pink tone to it. Which makes it really nice and subtle to wear casually on a daily basis. A plus, with this lipstick is also that this is a yellow based tone lipstick which enhances the whiteness in teeth unlike 'Chatterbox'.

As 'Modesty' is a creme sheen and not an amplified creme it has more of a glossy finish but is still just as pigmented and moisturising as 'Chatterbox'. Yes, £15 for a lipstick is a steep price. But the way I saw it was that it's more like an investment which will give value and last where other lipsticks that are £1-£6 may not offer this. 

Go for it. Cave in. Purchase some MAC. Because even though it's pricey, there is reason behind the hype and if you are starting to get properly into make up and want to move up end. Then MAC is the way forward. 

My cat even took interest in my MAC. That says it all.

Laura xo

♥

My 10 favourite lip products

okay, so recently I've been sorting and organising my make up and realised that I have many lip products and thought my 10 favourite would make a good blog post, so off we go.

These are in no particular order as I can't pick my absolute favourites but out of my collection these are my favourites. 

1) my first is the Rimmel Apocalips and I have it in the colour 101 celestial. These lip stains/lip glosses have been raved about by many bloggers and youtubers! They are highly pigmented and last for ages and as a bonus are available in most drugstores at a really reasonable price of £5.99 (which is what I paid). The only disadvantages to this product is the smell. Anyone who has tested these products or the Rimmel lipsticks will recognise the distinctive smell of the products. The smell is very sweet and if over used, can make me, personally, feel a little sick. But this is only my personal opinion. Apart from that the formulae and lasting finish of the Apocalips lip lacquers is impeccable. Also a disclaimer with this product is, as it is also a stain, be very careful when applying it because it can stain skin!

2) my second favourite is my darkest lip colour I own! Lipstick 160 by Barry m is a dark cherry colour. Wearing this product makes anyone's teeth look whiter due to the blue undertone and lasts for ages! I recommend anyone to use it with a liner as it can tend to bleed but apart from that it is great. At a price of £4.49 from superdrug it's a great product and I recommend to any brunettes. 

3) my next favourite of all time is a lip balm famous for solving dry lips! Burt's bees lip balm is a great lip balm which solves any dry lip because of its natural ingredients. I originally bought this because my mum kept nagging at me to buy a lip balm with natural ingredients instead of products such as Vaseline which have a ingredient in them which helps makes your lips addicted to the product without solving any issues. Some may say that £4.19 is a high end price for lip balm but I think it is completely worth it! In the UK Burt's Bees are quite hard to find but the supermarket waitrose does a wide range of Burt bees products

4) my next product is the first lip gloss of all my favourites and the most unknown product. For Christmas my sister bought me a Lula and Belle make up set, which included a wide range different make up products. Honestly, I had never heard of them before but I have fallen in love with their lip gloss as you can tell, the clear colour has turned into a peachy colour. The thing i love the most about it is the smell as it has a sense of vanilla which could be a subjective taste for some people. I don't know the retail price of this lip gloss but if you can get your hands on it I fully recommend you get it. 

5) this lipstick from Rimmel was one of the first lipsticks I bought for myself. It's a beautiful coral pink colour perfect for summer and is easy to wear casually! It's part of the Kate moss collection within the brand Rimmel London. However, similar with the Rimmel Apocalips lip lacquers the only disadvantage with this product is the smell which can have a tendency to be quiet sickly! But for around £5 it is great price for the formula. 

6) this is my only lip product from topshop and I love it, hence it is in my favourites. I've never gone for such a bright orange colour and was a bit sceptical at first but the colour known as "covet" is a very subtle colour for summer. the fact that it is a lip "bullet" makes it so much easier to carry round in a hand bag is just a bonus too. Some may argue that £8 is too much and some dupes could be found, but I wouldn't trade it even though it doesn't have the best lasting finish, it's a great substitute to a nude. 

7)my next 2 favourites are high end products. My first is the Clinique long lasting gloss in the colour Cabana crush. I got this particular gloss in a sample size with another product I purchased. The current retail price in the UK is £16 which I would defiantly pay after I've now tested this product out. It claims to last 16 hours which i don't quiet believe but it is very long lasting! With a hint of gold shimmer and a smooth and not sticky formula this product could be easily worn on its own as the pink pigmentation is also very high! So anyone considering purchasing a new lip gloss! Go for this one if all the things I've listed are the things you look for in a lipstick 

8) my second high end product is also by Clinique and is one of their "different lipsticks" in the colour angel. The formula is a sheer glossy red which is once again very long lasting. As you may tell from the packaging, this lipstick is very well loved and it has its reasons! At a retail price of £17 this lipstick has lasted me a year and a half and It still has life still in it and I'm going to use every last piece. 

9) These last 2 lip products are my 2 newest things on my list. This first lipstick is named "Saturn" 606 by NYX and has a slight hint of shimmer to compliment the peachy pink. The formula of the lipstick is also very nice, smooth and moisturising. At a retail price of £5 and a sale price which I bought it at of £3 I think this is an absolute bargain. 

10) finally, my last favourite lip product is also by NYX and is fairly new. This colour "frosted beige" is similar to the previous colour "Saturn" I just mentioned however his colour is more peachy and less pink with more shimmer to it. I also got this lipstick, just like the previous one, in sale at £3 but the original retail price is £5. Also similarly, the formula is smooth and moisturising and strongly recommended.  

So there we go, my 10 favourite lip products including lipsticks, lip stains, lip balms and lip glosses. Hope this was fine and not too long winded for anyone who wants to read. Please follow if you want to see anymore reviews or recommendations. My next post will be reviewing the eos lip balm! 

Laura xo

♥