Face of the Day - Make up for Partying

A few days ago it was the Birthday of my lovely friend Jade. We were going out clubbing - like the hip kids we are - so she asked me to do her make up. I'm quite happy with how this came out, as a glass of wine was drunk during the process.

Jade doesn't wear a huge amount of make up normally, so I created quite a neutral look.

On the face I used 123 Perfect Foundation in Light Vanilla by Bourjois. I then used Nyx Blush in Nutmeg to Contour and Sleek Blush By 3 Cream Blusher in Newport Peach on the cheeks. I ran some Mac Cork eye shadow through the brows and a smudged some Rimmel Kate Moss Lipstick in 22 on the Lips.

 For the eyes I wanted the cat eye to be the main focus. Jade has round, large eyes, so I created a fine line with a longer flick to lengthen her eyes. Her eyes are also slightly hooded, so a thin line is needed, otherwise no eye shadow will be seen and horrible creasing will occur. For the shadows, I used Cork by Mac in the crease, with a dark brown by Inglot to deepen it. On the lid I used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Iced Mocha and set it with Gates of Eden in the Sleek Garden of Eden Palette. In the inner corner I used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk. Over the entire lid and more concentrated on the inner corner I used Inglot Body Sparkles in 51. The liquid liner is by Bourjois. I used some false lashes that I cannot for the life of me remember where I got. They were wispy and longer at the outer corners, though.

 On my face I used the same foundation (we both had the same one, who knew?), I used Sleek Contouring and Blush Palette to contour (duh) and highlight, I used a blush from the same palette I used for Jade in the colour OC. I then smothered my face in Mac's Prep and Prime Translucent Finishing Powder, which I sometimes worry someone will mistake for drugs, because it is white powder. ANYWAY. Nothing on my lips because we were already late and alcohol dissolves the lipstick anyway.

(Also, if you look closely there's an adorable and lovable Pokemon perched behind me, much love for my Froakes).

 Cork by Mac and a Dark Brown shadow by Inglot in the crease and Inglot Body Sparkles in 71 on the lid. The glitter is Spock by Make Up Store. I used Nyx Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk on the water line and in the inner corners. I then pat some Inglot Body Sparkles in 51 in the inner corners. The liquid liner is the same as before, and again the lashes are miscellaneous, possibly Girls Aloud ones.

The night ended up being darn good despite me breaking a pair of shoes and losing one of another pair then at the end of the night after many hours in a club being asked to leave it for said bare feet. Lets not talk about what the floors of clubs are actually like. A Happy Birthday to the lovely Jade, anyway.

Mini Haul - AKA I Lack Self Control in the Face of Make Up

So I ran out of concealer, no big deal, just pop over to Boots and pick some up. HA HA HA HA. I can't just walk past a Barry M display. They constantly bring out new shades of nail polish and it just kills me because I want them all. This time around there was an offer that if one were to spend over £6 one could get a free limited edition polish, there were two colours, a blue and then one I bought - that stunning coral with a slight gold shimmer running through it. I mean, who could pass that up? Definitely not me, because there were also many other new gel polishes, I picked up a very pale pink and a pale olive. I rather like the gel formula, so bonuses all round (save for my poor overused purse).

And then I was buying things already so I bought two lipsticks from the Rimmel Kate Moss range, which, as my previous post shows, are some of my favourite lipsticks. I couldn't resist getting a darker shade, but I also wanted something more Summer-y. The texture of these is creamy and lovely.

Then to finish it off I bought a base coat from Rimmel that is supposed to look after the nails. I don't know if it's going to heal my much abused nails, but it did work as a really nice base coat.

 Can we talk about how cute the packaging is for all the special Barry M polishes?

From left to right: Olive, Rose Hip, Carouse! (Exclamation Mark is very much part of the name).

 Look at the gold shimmer in Carouse!, I've found my Summer shade.

 Rimmel Kate Moss Lipsticks in 16 and 30.

I feel like this shade is perfect for me. It's not even too dark for Summer - seriously, I feel odd wearing way dark lipsticks when the weather's this nice, knowing England it won't last much longer though.

 Nice even colour from one swipe, parfait!

 A lovely pinky coral, perfect for this weather and it'll look amazing with a tan.

 Being a pale colour it sinks into the cracks of my lips a little, but from a typical distance someone should stand from you it looks just fine, and if someone's getting up close and personal with your mouth that lipstick's not staying in place for much longer anyway.

My Favourite Lipsticks - And My Perhaps Questionable Taste

I thought I'd do a post documenting my favourite lipsticks of this moment. In general I lean towards Rimmel when it comes to lipstick; they are affordable, there are many colours, the texture is smooth and they are well pigmented. In particular, I love the Kate Moss shades - I have never been disappointed them.

For me, lipstick is all about colour. I'd sacrifice wear-ability and texture for colour any day. Lipstick can transform an everyday look into something striking and special. If I'm late in the morning and can only stretch to a cat eye, a lipstick is my jam. I can sleep in that extra half hour and still look fierce.

Then there are the lipsticks I want to just add a bit of colour to my lips, but not to compete with my eye shadow. These also tend to be my Summer shades, not that seasons really affect what I wear. The weather has been great recently and I've almost exclusively been wearing dark colours. I'm and Autumn girl at heart.

Height order, of course.

 This is Rimmel's Lasting Finnish Lipstick in 128 Starry-Eyed.

 This colour is my night out go to. I usually apply it as a stain, patting it on my lips focussing on the centre and blending it out. It's super sexy like this, wears really well and won't cause trauma if you want a sneaky kiss. However, for day time it's great worn at full pigmentation from the bullet.

 The colour looks darker in person, but is not too dark. It's a perfect colour if you want to branch into burgundies but don't want something that reminds you of your teenage self (we all had goth phases, right?). The texture is super smooth and applies consistently. It is fairly forgiving to dry lips, it's not gonna have the results of a lip balm, though. The wear-ability is just fine, but it won't last through a meal. However, it will survive many glasses of wine (meaning a bottle to oneself).

 Another Rimmel, this is 01 from the Kate Moss Lasting Finish Lipsticks.

 This is my perfect red, man. It is a rich, blood red that is the sexiest lipstick I own. If you want a pin up red, this will do you nicely. This lipstick is pure sass for me. Pair this with a cat eye and some false lashes and you are sorted. When I want to bring my A-game, this is the lipstick I pick up.

 The texture is a dreamboat and it lasts a good long while, although if you're eating a burger, tops ups will be necessary. The colour is perfect first swipe. It is also fairly forgiving to a dry lip.

 My final Rimmel lipstick in this post, another Kate Moss one, it is 101.

 This is a lipstick I gravitate towards when I have got a whole lot going on with my eye shadow. It is a matte, but applies easily and smoothly. It's paler than my natural lip colour, so it can give a nice '60s feel to a look. It is not hugely pigmented, this doesn't bother me over much, as my own lips aren't very pigmented. However, if you have naturally red lips, you might want to blank them out with concealer before using this lipstick. This doesn't mean the pigmentation isn't there, it's just a pale colour to begin with.

 Now, this doesn't look so good close up. It settles a little in the cracks of your lips. That means this can't be worn if you have cracked lips. I've tried, then looked in the mirror and instantly changed the lipstick. It's a no go. This lipstick is a matte, so it's not hydrating, but it doesn't dry the lips either, it applies smoothly. Despite its limitations, it looks incredibly good with a dark eye, which is why it has a place in my favourites.

 This is my other 'complimentary to a heavy eye' lipsticks. It is also my go to Summer colour. If the sun is beating down, this colour is on my lips. It is Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti.

 For a Summer lip colour I want a sheer orange. Period. Orange looks good with my skin when it's slightly more tanned. Now, I bought this because beauty bloggers could not recommend it more, and I completely agree. It applies with ease, utter ease. It is a super low maintenance lipstick, and that is perfect for a sweaty Summer day. It wears off quite nicely, but can do that annoying crusting on the inside of the mouth, which is pretty gross. But because this colour is sheer, you can just rub it away and still have the colour on your lips.

It doesn't apply as evenly as I would like, but the edges can be happily blurred by using a finger to make it look nicer. It is flattering for dry lips and actively hydrates. The staying power is so-so for me, but that's because it is a sheer colour, so I don't pay as much attention to preserving it as I would with a darker colour. But I love it for how low maintenance it is. It is a no fuss lip colour, and a girl needs that sometimes.

 This is a recent purchase for me and my first Mac lipstick. It is called Heroine, not the drug.

 I have very little to say about this except the colour, yo. It is full on bright purple and I adore it. I've been wanting to branch out with my lip colours and this is totally perfect for it. Because it is a striking colour, there is very little doubt about that, but it is also not green or blue, so it's not completely outrageous. This is a go to for me if I want to look super stylish but haven't had the time to do anything interesting with my eyes. I tend to get compliments on it too, which is always rather lovely.

 It's Mac, so it's pricier than I would like, but you do get what you pay for. It's a matte colour, but applies super smoothly and comfortably. The wear is great, but won't be nice on dry lips. Depending on what I'm wearing this colour can be goth-y, but also Summer-y. It's surprisingly versatile and if I'm going out, but not wanting to go on the pull, I wear this shade. It is my fashionista shade.

 Now this lipstick is an iffy one for me, the colour stops my heart from how much I love it, but the formula leaves a whole lot to be desired. It is Depth by Topshop. Also, this packaging, though.

 This is a deep dark purple, it photographed lighter than it is. It is also less red in person. It is a red toned purple, but is definitively a purple. This is another shade that is all about style for me. It is a lipstick that speaks for itself. It is also very gothic. I have fairly warm colouring and couldn't look like a goth even if I tried, which means the lipstick isn't too much for me. This is very much a Winter lipstick for me, despite being incredibly unforgiving on dry lips. It is a very wet lipstick, which means it slips and slides around when applying, meaning getting a consistent coat is a little hard. I promise it looks better in person, though. Flash does nasty things to this lipstick, apparently.

 Up close like this it looks like a hot mess, but looking closely in a mirror does not reveal the imperfections. Again, evil flash. The wear isn't great, but I don't mind reapplying during the day. This lipstick is purely colour for me. I had been looking for a dark wet colour for such a long time and this stumbled and hobbled into my life. It's a pain, but it's fabulous enough for me to look past it. And that's what love is.

 Lastly, this is my number one boo. I've had this lipstick for years and it's still my favourite. It is a matte burgundy called Vamp by Sleek.

 This is a matte, so the wear is great, but it's hella unforgiving on dry lips. It's worth using a lip scrub for though. It takes about two coats to get it to the colour you want and it's very dry, but once it's there, it is there. Again, it photographed lighter than it is in reality, but not by a huge amount. It, like Starry-Eyed, is not so dark as to be too out there, however, the texture makes it less of a viable choice for those not so comfortable wearing lipstick. This is not a colour I would apply on my friends, but it is still my favourite.

 It borders the line between typical lip colours and outlandish ones (Tutti Frutti at one end and Heroine at the other). It is just out there enough to be striking, but not so much as to get funny looks. Which means it is exactly what I want out of a lip colour. This is my Autumn lipstick. As soon as September begins, I crack out this lipstick. Beautiful.

Photoshoot by the River - Beautiful Friends and Beautiful London

 Last week I had a couple of my friends over to do their make up and get some cool photos in our beautiful city. We went to Hungerford Bridge and the South Bank, also known as some of the most beautiful places in London. Waterloo Bridge is my personal favourite for views - you can see the Shard, St Paul's, the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye, the City - it's damn amazing and never ceases to astound me. However it tends to be busy and I didn't want to embarrass my friends too much, as it was they got quite a few funny looks. I'm not sorry, though, I got some damn good photos.
Hungerford Bridge is the next bridge along from Waterloo Bridge and has pretty good views itself. It is also near a brilliant Mexican restaurant - Wahaca if you're interested - which we went to after we were done. The South Bank is also lovely, and there are always book stalls there if you want to get books for cheap, or just want to browse and look very cultured while doing so.

 This is my friend Kimberly, she only dresses in monochrome, so for the make up I couldn't help but oblige. I wanted something vampiric and gothic, but also so very stylish - hence the rhinestones, I'm a sucker for rhinestones.

 I used a gel eye liner to draw the shape, a Black Glitter Eye Crayon by Barry M over the top as it has really chunky silver glitter in it, I then set that with a sparkly black eye shadow - Lovesick in the Vice 2 Palette by Urban Decay. In the centre of the lid I patted some Inglot Body Sparkles in 71, which is the most amazing glitter, it has a pinky-brown base colour with green and blue glitter. It is probably my favourite piece of make up. Because of the black base, only the blue and green come across, still hella pretty.

 I then put medium a sized rhinestone on the inner corner of each eye. The lashes are Eylure in LP6. For the lips I used a Rimmel lipstick in Starry-Eyed. I used a brush to blend the colour in the inside of the lips to give the feel of a red wine stain - or a just fed vampire.

 My friend Meiri is almost the opposite of Kim, loving colour and lots of it. It was typically raining on the day so she brought her incredible yellow umbrella. I couldn't help but utilise it.

Subtle was not a word within my register when I was creating this look. When I do colour I don't do half measures. I used the Ultra Matte V1 Palette by Sleek, which is everything you could want for a bright look. I used the yellow in the first third of the lid, the pink in the centre third, and the blue in the last third. I then used Nyx Glitter on the Go in the shades Cool Blue and Hot Yellow and a Stargazer Glitter Shaker in Pink over the top of their respective colours. For the crease I returned to the Sleek Palette, I used the purple for the entire crease and the blended a little orange into it on the outer edge and a little pale green on the inner edge. I used the yellow, pink and blue on the lower lash line to reflect the lid. I then finished with a shimmery white in the inner corners.

 To finish I created a wing with a liquid liner, I also did a thin line on the lower lash line. I uses Eylure lashes in 141. For the cheeks I blended the same pink from the eyes in an upward movement up the cheek. I used a Barry M lipstick in 52.

I was really happy with how these looks came out and I think both Kim and Meiri look amazing.

I thought I'd finish with my favourite photo from the bunch, pouts are all well and good, but you can't beat a smile, especially if it's caused by funny looks from strangers. All those poor tourists wondering who these two women who were being photographed were. We'll all be famous one day, I'm sure.

Face of the Day - Gold Glitter and a Broken Heart

Last night the latest episode of Game of Thrones aired - episode eight - the one with the fight between my beloved Oberyn and The Mountain. Without wanting to spoil too much, the ending was not a happy one, in fact, it broke my heart.

As per tradition my friends and I gathered in my friend's living room - the only one of us with Sky - and had a Game of Thrones night. This consists of much wine drinking, eating good food, and, of course, watching the show, followed by us consoling each other about whoever has been killed this episode.

I decided to show my support for The Red Viper by wearing make-up inspired by his colours - it definitely had nothing to do with the new glitter I bought. The Martell sigil is a red sun pierced by a golden spear, so I opted for sparkly golden eyes and a red lip.

 The glitter is UFO by Make Up Store, in the crease is Cork by Mac and 329 by Inglot to darken it.

 The lashes are LP6 by Eylure.

The Lipstick is 01 of the Kate Moss collection for Rimmel. An amazing blood red with a very forgiving texture.

I may be smiling here but I'm dying inside. Oberyn will live forever in my heart. At least I have fabulous lipstick to help me get by.