FOTD - Step by Step Make Up

After seeing a FOTD on Palindrome Poppet's blog I liked that she did it step by step and showed the before and after photos. I decided to do something similar on my go to comfort everyday look. For me this is what I do when I can't be bothered with my make up and it takes me about 15 minutes to do.

This is the first photo I've put on the blog completely make up free. Please ignore my hair I hadn't done that yet either and it's fading unevenly.

What a difference a bit of make up makes!

On my face I used 

• Sleek blush by 3 in lace. I used the red shade
• Benefit Erase paste in Shade 1
• Miss Sport bronzer (I've lost my favourite No7 blush in honey)
• Mac Studio Fix Fluid in shade NW15
• Revlon PhotoReady powder in translucent.

I really love the finish of Studio Fix. It really evens out my skin tone, covers and imperfections and leaves a natural semi matte finish to the skin. This definitely beats my old love of Prolong wear.

On my eyes I used

• From Naked 2 Palette: Bootycall and Tease
• Maybelline Gel Liner
• Avon Super Magnify
• Lancome Hypnose Doll Lashes
• Eylure Shape and Shade brow pencil

Firstly I apply my Erase paste reviewed yesterday to under the eye and over my lid as an eyeshadow base. I apply bootycall all over my lid and then blend tease into the crease. I really love tease. It's the perfect crease colour and looks amazing blended out.

For this look I always used gel liner. I love gel liner and wear it most days. I find it much easier to work with than any other type. I find the maybelline last extremely well all day. I start of with a thin line and blend it towards the outer corner of my eye. With this look I don't wear anything on my bottome lases. Just a bit of bootycall blended into the tear duct.

Next is lashings of mascara. I apply the Avon one first to separate my lashes, then my Lancome one on top to define and volumize.

I use the Eylure pencil to fill in my brows and give them some shape. I'm still learning and have now bought Brow Zings which I'm hoping will make me better at my brows.

For blush I apply a bit of bronzer to the hollows of my cheeks to make it look like I have cheek bones. Then I apply a small amount of the red from my sleek palette to the apples of my cheeks. This blush is so pigmented I have to use a light hand.

These are my go to brushes. The Avon one is what I use for Gel Liner and is the best of the best for gel liners. The accessorize brush was a brush my mum gave me from a set. I use it to put shimmer into my tear ducts. Then My Real Techniques Stippling Brush. The next brush is actually a lip brush I recently picked up in M&S for 25p it's great for blending out the crease (which I use the brush from my Naked 2 palette to apply). Then the jolie box conealor brush. I like to blend my Erase paste in with this. FCUK blush brush. This is the softest brush ever. The Mac 168 I use to contour. It's amazing and lastly is an avon fluffy brush I use to apply bootycall.

And last but not least my No7 lip liner in plum and Mac lipstick in Plumful. I love this shade. It's a perfect pink colour. Followed by a gently powder with my Revlon PhotoReady.

And that's my go to make up. Seems a lot when I describe it.

What do you think of step by step FOTDs? Do you prefer them like this or is it too photo heavy for you?

Love M

xxx

Review Benefit Erase Paste

This was my very first Benefit make up item. I only picked it up recently actually. I'd heard lots of good things about Erase paste, I knew a colleague of mine loved it and had heard a few people say it was good for dark circles so when I was in John Lewis with L I asked the MUA about it. She showed me it on my eye along with Bo-ing. I preferred Erase Paste as it appeared thicker so picked it up. Of course I got it in shade 1.

In shade one it's slightly pink toned which helps to hide my dark circles well. My box is looking a little tattered as I like to keep the pot in the box in my make up bag.

I love that it comes with a little instruction leaflet showing how to apply it and where for the best results. For anyone who isn't sure it's great to have this to refer to.

The packaging is a cute little pink pot with purple metal lid. I love colour combination. If you read this blog a lot you may have seen me mention pots before and the fact I don't like them. As I like to wear false nails when my natural nails aren't growing I never like a pot as you lose half the product under the nail. But I love that benefit provide a little plastic spatula to prevent this. I'm yet to lose mine which is an achievement.

I've been using mine most days for the past month and a half. I'm really impressed with it so far and can see why people repurchase it a lot.

As you can see from this picture the pinky tone to it and the thickness. Even though the product is thick it blends into the skin well and sets easily and doesn't feel like it is greasy  I have found sometimes my mascara leaks onto it through out the day though which I haven't noticed with other concealers. 

Here is my bare skin. The camera has made my dark areas look brighter than they are naturally. 

After. The area looks a lot more even and brighter. When all my make up is applied my eye area looks much better. I also like that it brightens and is thick enough to conceal other spots so you can use this concealer for all products.

Here is a full face of make up with it on.

I'm completely converted and love this. Have you tried it? What's your go to concealer?

Erase Paste can be bought from John Lewis here for £17.55.

Love M

xxx

Review: Revlon Photoready Airbrush Mousse Make Up

When M went to America she picked up both me and her a lot of make up from Revlon.

We'd both been lusting after their PhotoReady products and particularly the Airbrush foundation.

The thought of using a mousse intrigued us as I've never used one of these before and I don't think M had either.

Another thing we loved was that for the price you get loads of product, and assuming as its a mousse and not a liquid you should in fact use less and therefore save money, woo!

With all this in mind I was really excited to try it out.

I was a little disappointed however as it had minimal coverage.

If you're a regular reader then you will know that I have a few skin issues, and for me a buildable foundation with medium/high coverage is pretty high on my list of products.

This foundation was not high coverage at all and barely covered any of my blemishes and scars.

Because of this, I don't think this is the foundation for me.

You can see below how little a tiny squirt of foundation onto the back of my hand is, the lightest bit of pressure and this amount of product is released!

Blended into my skin with a brush the foundation has a really nice finish.

I am hoping once my skin is a little better I will be able to get away with a foundation with less coverage.

I absolutely love the dewy look this foundation gives but was just disappointed with the coverage.

If I could get away with it I would certainly be wearing it!

Because I wasn't happy with the coverage I cannot comment on the longevity of the foundation as I didn't wear it in the end.

I know it's only a picture of my hand but seriously how good does the skin look?!

Fingers crossed I will be able to wear it soon!

What do you think of the PhotoReady collection? Do you like mousse foundations?

L xxx

I was really excited to pick up this foundation as I was planning on it being my evening foundation as it contains no SPF. Which isn't ideal for daytime but perfect for nights out. L and I both spend a week tanning before we go out on the weekends (It's a good job we don't go out too often) and there if nothing worse than SPF in foundations causing that white flash back so your face doesn't match your body.

As L said the lightest touch disperses a nice blob size amount of foundation. I find this is enough to cover my face. The big mouse blob flattens on touch to a light air whipped mouse foundation. This is nothing like dream matte mouse for the record. This is light on the skin. 

It blends very easily into the skin and has a slight shimmer to it (not noticeable in anyway on the skin I just noticed it the first time I tried it in store) The foundation leaves my skin looking healthy. As L mentioned it's a light to medium coverage so concealer is necessary. This has been one I've been grabbing over my colourstay lately as I love the natural finish of this. I do find if I have a spot that's on it's way out it does draw attention to the dry skin.

I think this foundation would be best for normal skin but if you are combination or oily it works with a bit of setting powder (I always set my foundation). It lasts me for a day at work and still looks ok by the time I get home. You can see it's starting to wear off by then.

Overall I like this foundation but I think there are others on the market that leave a similar finish that are cheaper like Rimmel Wake me Up. For finish I'd say these two are comparable. I like the mouse though and would like to try more foundations in this formula. I'm hoping Revlon bring their colourstay whipped to the UK.

Have you tried Photoready Airbrush? For good skin days I think it's great for that light flawless finish.

Love M

xxx

Review: Maybelline Volume Express Colossal Smoky Eyes Mascara

Today's review is on a product M has been bugging me to buy for ages.

She's been using the Colossal Volume mascara from Maybelline for 4 years now and has been trying to get me to try it but I just haven't got round to it.

I saw this new Smokey Eyes version in Boots the other day so have finally picked it up!

First off I love that it's individually packaged and you know for sure that no one has been sticking their fingers in it and trying it on their own eyes.

M knows me and my sensitive eyes, after 3 months every mascara is in the bin because of the rate of bacteria growth inside the tube and so it's rare that I buy an expensive mascara because I just don't see the benefits.

This version of Colossal Volume claims that it also creates a smokey eye effect at the same time as coating your lashes without clumping them together for a sultry eye.

This instantly wins me over!

I do love a smokey eye and have just finished working on my dissertation which was on fire and accelerants.

Clearly this was a sign I needed to buy this product with its wispy smoke in the packaging background.... (I'm such a sucker!)

This mascara goes perfectly with our blog theme, yellow and black CSI style tape ha.

If truth be told I'm not a huge fan of yellow but this is so much easier to find in my bag than darker packaged products!

You can see the big brush below and can clearly see how many of your lashes it will grab on the way through.

I find bigger brushes mean fluffier and less clumpy lashes, nobody likes a spider eye!

The photos below show the effects of the mascara on my lashes.

I'm lucky enough to have really long lashes, but they're really straight and refuse to curl!

It really does pick up every little lash on the way through!

It does also help to curl them slightly, but not much.

You can see the comparison between the left and right eye, without and with the mascara.

And with both eyelashes coated.

I actually really like this mascara and although I might be better off with a curling mascara and think this one makes my lashes look great.

It's great for day and night wear and not at one point has it smudged down my face or flaked off, bonus points for Maybelline!

As for the smokey eye effect, I can agree with the more matte effect the mascara leaves behind but it makes no difference in terms of a smokey eye.

However this doesn't bother me in the slightest!

Thumbs up from me, maybe I'll have to listen to M more often.....or just annoy her and not ha!

I'm sure next time she'll sneak it into my basket when were shopping.

What do you think of Maybelline's Colossal Volume? Have you tried it?

Do you listen to recommendations from friends or ignore them?

I'm 50/50 ;)

L xxx