My Everyday Make up Routine FOTD using Naked 3

Hey All

As you read this L and I will hopefully have arrived at Glastonbury and be in the queue. We will stop speaking about it soon but we are just sooooo excited to go to our first festival!

Today I wanted to share with you my everyday go to make up look. This is one I do if I have enough time to tackle the dreaded cat eye in the morning. I tend to go for the liner if I'm meeting someone or doing something after work. Please ignore my brows they were being grown out pre wax!

Since I got naked 3 I use it almost everyday. I wasn't sure about the pinky tones to it at first but I really love the way they look on my skin tone and think they'd suit many tones. They also have some amazing matte neutrals that are so easy to use everyday.

I tend to go with a matte crease colour then shimmer colours over the lid and deeper colour through my outer v. For this look I used limit and nooner mixed and blended out through the crease with a bit of dust and liar on the lid and the used factory and blackheart and add some darkness to the corner.

As always for me the gel liner is maybeline. I'm on my third little pot of it. I just can't find another to compare. For mascara it's my ever faithful maybeline colossal volume. Another old faithful! And on the brows is my eylure brow pencil. 

For skin I'm loving using Illamasqua skin base. It gives such a light flawless finish and lasts all day.     

The cheek combination is one I've not been able to find a better mix of. My Liz Earle healthy glow bronzer and Benefit dandelion blush. For highlighter I'm loving the one from the naked flushed palette as it's a bit better for day time than Mac MSF as it's less sparkly.                

For concealer I'm still loving my Nars Radient Creamy Concealer. It offers amazing coverage, lasts all day and my little tube is still going since before Christmas. I think it's running low now but seen as it gets used a lot I'm impressed it's last so long.

On the lips is Mac Brick o la. This is one of my favourite all time lipsticks. It's an amazing soft red and not so in your face if you don't want to wear a bright red to work (personally I love bright reds but I know some people find them OTT for work!). It is an amplifed formula so lasts really well and is opaque in one coat.

What are your everyday favourites? Do you get stuck in a make up rut? I'm definitely in one at the moment! I think I need to take my naked palettes off myself for a bit!

Love M

xxx

My Thoughts on Naked 3

Hey lovelies!

I'm sure we've all seen plenty on Naked 3 since it was released around Christmas time. I was lucky enough to be bought it for my birthday a few weeks ago and I couldn't resist but photograph it (it's SO pretty) and I thought I'd give my views on it too.

You can see M's post here so I will try not to repeat everything that she has already said!

So the outer packaging; a rosy gold theme is probably onto a winner without even trying. Rose gold really has been the metallic of choice over the last few years particularly thanks to Michael Kors watches and Zara handbags. The main reason for this? It suits almost everyone. Some people can't wear golder tones or silvery tones and rose gold seems to cover all bases whilst still being versatile enough to create a soft look or a darker smokey look for night.

The box contains the palette and also a booklet with testers of all four primers on offer from UD.

I'd bought the original primer a few years ago in a Buyapowa deal but in all honesty never really used it. I have seriously been missing out and from now on that primer is surgically attached to my eyelids on day trips and nights out (work doesn't deserve that kind of commitment!). I'm super excited to try the others particularly after being shown them at the UD showcase event we went to; Eden looks like it will be a superstar for nights out.

The packages look like they will contain a tiny amount of product but actually there's a generous sample size inside them so I will look forward to testing them out.

So the palette itself....is it worth the hype?

Here are some close ups of the shades:

Pink has always been an eyeshadow I've avoided if I'm honest. so this end of the palette is a little scary and if I'm honest, offputting. Strange is a colour I love already as I love using a matte light colour for over my lid to give it a good base and lighten the inner corners. Dust and Burnout are shimmery pink and apricot kind of shades which i can see me using to add shimmer in the centre of my eye lids to make them pop. Limit and Nooner which you can just see at the end are matte shades that will be good for day to day base colours. Buzz is one that scares me the most....dusky pink shimmer!
Trick is a lovely coppery glitter shade that I'm looking forward to using on nights out; it will be great with a bit of a tan in the summer months.

Again you can see Trick and Nooner in this photo and the colours here are MUCH more my thing. I'm a bit of a magpie and shimmery colours are what I love. Liar, Factory, Mugshot and Darkside are very welcome additions to my collection and I can see me slowly becoming obsessed with them
Blackheart is one of my absolute faves; a dark black with red glitter in and its perfect for a Saturday night; I needed this colour more than the others and I love how easily it blends for a smokey eye with a difference.

Another bonus with these palettes is the brush that comes with it. This brush is a double ended one specific for Naked 3. It has a larger fluffier brush on one side and then a thinner flat brush for more detailed applications. I really like it, a brush is always a welcome addition to my collection and this one slots in nicely. Lots of use will be had from this!

So....is it worth the £37 price tag?

The shadows work out at around £3.08 each which I'm sure we'll agree is a pretty good price for super pigmentation, a wide variety of shades that compliment most skin tones and long lasting crease free finishes.

The brushes from UD normally cost at least £10 so you're getting a bargain, plus the addition of the primer samples which are probably worth an additional £10 and overall you've got yourself a bargain.

The shades are complimentary for many skin tones and although I've said some aren't my cup of tea and 'scare' me I do think i'll use them as glitter will always be a good look!

I'd say this was a welcome addition to a make up wardrobe; what do you think?

Are you fan of rose gold shades and super pigmentation? What do you think of UD's brushes?

L xxx

My 'Naked' Look

Hi all!

Don't be put off by the title, I am NOT about to take my clothes off! I just decided to write a face of the day post with a more natural look - we all know this actually take a fair few products to do!

I've been playing around with my products lately and having found myself owning a fair few Urban Decay Naked products and using them on a regular basis. I decided to do a face of the day with these and therefore....my Naked look.

All of the Naked products are pretty easy to use, they're all nude tones and designed that way in order that they suit almost everyone depending on which palette you choose.

In these photos I have applied Naked Skin as my foundation. I had a tester pot from the counter a few weeks ago and have been using it on and off testing it out and I can say I'm quite impressed. It's almost a lotion as its so thin and runny yet covers all of my flaws and doesn't look like it has coated my skin whatsoever. I'll be buying this as soon as  get my chance!



On top of this I applied bronzer, blusher and highlighter from the Naked Flushed palette. This palette is great and you barely need any product to get the full effect. The bronzer is perfect as it isn't orangey at all and the blusher is so pigmented you barely need to swipe it to get the colour you need.
The highlighter is so finely milled that its even more fine than MAC's MSF in Soft and Gentle, which is a firm favourite of mine, though it can look glittery in day time. Naked flushed's version does not have this problem at all due to the particles being so small and can be worn in day time without fear of looking like a disco ball.



I've cheated slightly and applied my brows with my HD brow kit, I think Naked brows would look a little odd really wouldn't they?



For my eyes I've used Naked 3, the recent addition to my collection thanks to my mum who must have noticed my copious amounts of hints leading up to my birthday, what a lovely lady!
I cannot remember for the life of my which shades i chose and if I remember rightly I probably used the majority as it was one of the first times I used it. Lots of blending went on here!






What is eye shadow without eye liner?

Above I've applied the Naked Basics 24/7 Glide on Eye liner with Crave on the outer corner of my eye and waterline and Venus on the inner corner. I love the look this gives and if I was more awake in the mornings I'd always apply this!




Lastly what's a FOTD without some lip action?

This is one of the new Naked Lipglosses in Liar; its a gorgeous pink that's really wearable for day and night. It's enough colour to show that you're wearing it but its not overpowering either. I really like the formula of these as they're not too sticky either which is a pet hate of mine!

What do you think? Are you a fan of the Naked range? Which product is your favourite?

Naked Skin foundation is next on my purchase list!

L xxx

Birthday Fun!

Hi lovelies!

This is a bit of a photo diary post for you. I had my birthday on Wednesday (26 on the 26th ooh er!) so I thought I'd share my day with you.

Here are two of my favourite cards from some family members...they know me well!

I borrowed M's Lauren's Way rollers for the night so that I could give them a go. It was an interesting experience putting rollers in my own hair. I've never done it before as M is definitely a lot faster and its easier to do someone else's hair but wooooo, it took me over an hour to get them in mine! It was a big struggle as I'm blessed with a considerable mop on my head and needed so many rollers, plus it's so long at the back I couldn't actually reach the ends of my own hair! But I got there in the end and managed to put up with sleeping in them too which surprised me.

It wasn't exactly comfortable but the rollers squashed enough that I could sleep if only a bit restlessly.
It didn't curl my hair which was disappointing but I had lovely bounce and volume for the whole day and it was nice to have that 'just blow dried' look all day.

I treated myself to protein pancakes for breakfast, there were two of them so I smothered them together with Nutella and put a banana on the side for good measure and an extra energy boost for a busy day of shopping.

I met a friend who I'm planning to go to Thailand with later on in the year so we could make a few more travel plans, catch up over lunch and a cheeky birthday cocktail and go shopping.

This is a Jamboree Daquiri....lots of rum and berries and it was TASTY. We teamed it with a gorgeous home made fish finger sandwich and super crunchy fries and it was yummmm.

It was a lush day and although I didn't buy much I did have my brows done and wander around Debenhams browsing all the make up (specifically Benefit, Mac and Urban Decay). It wasn't long before we needed a pit stop and a frappuccino was the best idea ever, cold and sugary for a boost of energy!

I was an extremely lucky girl and was spoilt by my family.

I knew I was having the nude Dune handbag and Levi jeans as I'd already chosen them myself but the others I didn't. My mum had sneakily chosen me a Michael Kors black satchel handbag which was an amazing surprise and I can see it becoming a firm fave!

I also got a full size bottle of my perfume, a Ted Baker pencil case, Naked 3 palette (eek!) and some gold Havaianas which I cannot wait to wear.

Every year we get a Colin the Caterpillar cake for our birthdays and this year was no exception so I have been tucking into pieces of that over the last few days.

We went out to a Pan-Asian restaurant for my birthday meal and it had such tasty food, the table set up was lovely too. Are you good at using chopsticks? I'm normally fine but was far too hungry!

Last weekend me and M went out with another friend for my birthday. There was lots of dressing up and getting ready before we went to a bar for cocktails.

M definitely enjoyed herself on the dancefloor! We were pulling some 'shapes' as I'm sure you can imagine!

It's been a great week and I've got so much more planned. I went to Cabot circus with my mum on Monday, had a training session with my personal trainer, and to finish the week off, today me and M checking out a new eaterie in Cardiff and watching the new Captain America film. Cannot wait to see more of these films; I'm such a sucker for a superhero film!

What have you been up to? Do you have similar activities and rituals for your birthdays too?
Do you like my presents?


L xxx

Get Ready with Me - Dinner Date

Evening All

Another late post from me. I seem to only find time in the evenings to write lately! This weekend was an action packed awesome one!! I'll share more of that later on in the week.

My favourite type of posts lately seem to be get ready with me and face of the day! I love seeing these posts from people as you can pick up little tips and get new ideas!

Today's get ready with me was for a dinner date, I wear this look quite a lot as it's quite classic and easy!

My hair was straightened so I started off by putting in my lauren's way rollers pre shower! When my hair is straight if I'm doing something in the evening I like to pop the rollers in for an hour if I have time so my hair has a bit of body. I find doing them pre shower helps speed up the process as the steam slightly dampens the hair!

For my eyes I used a combination of palettes. I used Urban Decay primer potion in eden to start (I'm in love with this and use it all the time if I need my make up to be long lasting or more vibrant. As a base colour I used a combination of bootycall from naked 2 and strange from naked 3. As I wanted a slight bit of colour I blended Benefite Raincheck? through my crease and outer V. I Then applied Buzz from Naked 3 under the eye for some shimmer!

I was feeling classic make up so went with a black flicked eyeliner!! I love winged liner but I have to be in the mood to do it. This nights wasn't that tidy. For foundation I used Illamasqua Skin Base which is my all time favourite foundation for flawless skin. For concealer I used Nars Creamy Concealer. Another big favourite!

For my brows it was of course browzings! They are horrible unruley as I was letting them grow pre brow arch march wax! For masacara I used They're Real but I was having a bad mascara day. My lashes weren't playing ball as I hadn't got it all off post shower!

For bronzer it was none other than my new bronzer love of Make Believe! I can't stop using this beaut! It's so easy! I contour my cheeks and nose with this!

On my cheeks I used the blush and highlighter from naked flushed. I'm in love with the highlighter as it's finer than MSF so much easier to wear! The blush I love for days when I want more than dandelion gives!

As I was off to meet the guy I'm seeing I opted for a soft neutral lip. If I was out with the girls a red lip would have been a must here! I opted for Revlon Kissable balm stain in honey! I love this shade for easy to wear colour on the lips!

I love how the rollers when applied to my hair straight just give it soft bounce and body. After being in for 45 minutes they give the perfect result for me.

I had to share my new dress as I'm in love with it. It was a bargain £5 from Asda kids range. this is a age 12-13 and I'd say it was an 8 -10 so if your a 12 I think the age 14-15 would fit. I love the bright daisy print and I was instantly sold with the cut out back! I really love a cut out back and as I don't have a whole lot of boob I love to show back instead of cleavage.

My necklace was a bargain my mum found in boots at Christmas time and was only a £1! As it has gold and silver it's a great piece. Boots have amazing jewellery and great discounts when they go in the sale so I'd highly recommend checking it out.

I finished off the look with my ever faithful Primark coat and black tights!

What do you wear on a dinner date?

Love M

xxx

Reviews of products mentioned

Naked 3

Naked 2

Naked Flushed

Benefit World Famous Neutrals

Benefit Browzings

Make Believe Bronzer

Primark Coat