Dior's Trianon Makeup Look with Pastel Fontanges

As you may remember I've had a love affair with the Dior Trianon Spring Collection ever since I first saw the promo pictures at the end of last yea, and at the launch event at Debenhams I treated myself to some of the products in this stunning collection. I've done a separate review of the beautiful Trianon Eyeshadow Palette in Pastel Fontanges (you can read it here) which is pastel heaven in a lovely little Dior box with its sheer, soft shades and today I thought I would try to recreate the look from the promo photos.

Let's start with the complexion - usually I apply concealer over a foundation, but in order to make it look as light and even as possible I actually applied my Rimmel Wake Me Up Concealer (£5.49) under the foundation rather than on top. It's a great light and smooth concealer and I have somehow mysteriously managed to match it perfectly with my foundation. The delicate, petal look and feel of the Pastel Fontanges range of colors is matched with a flawless, youthful and dewy looking skin so to achieve something that's at least similar, I brought out my preferred heavy hitter when it comes to preparing your skin, the YSL Forever Youth Liberator Foundation (£37). This foundation gives excellent medium to full coverage for an even and flawless tone without feeling heavy on the skin and it also adds nourishment throughout the day to keep the skin supple and plump. The shade I'm wearing is not as pale and porcelaine as they've used in the promo photos, but it does have that subtle glow which I've then enhanced even further using the amazing budget beauty MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder (£3). I've completely fallen in love with this highlighter and wearing it on the top of your cheek bones, and maybe even a little above your cupid's bow gives a wonderful light and subtle smoothing shimmer effect. 

For my brows I used the Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil (£2.99) in Hazel 2, which works perfectly for this look since it's not too dark, but it still gives enough definition of the brow arch. For the eyelids I used all of the shades in the Dior 5 Couleurs Trianon Edition Eyeshadow Palette (£41) in Pastel Fontanges 234, starting with a wash of the shimmery ballerina pink all over the lid as a base. It's a gorgeous shade and for me this is the shade that's easiest to wear out of the five since it works so well in combination with both neutrals and purples too. Having done the pink base, we move on to the slightly more intimidating light periwinkle blue - which in itself is beautiful, but in the promo photo there's a lot of it, applied all over the brow bone and under the eye. As you blend it in with the light pink, it creates a lovely contrast although I must admit that wearing a blue shade this shade, definitely pushes me out of my comfort zone. After that I mixed the light silver grey with the lemon chiffon color and added to the inner corner of my eye and slightly below to brighten that area, and to reflect the other shades. Finally I lined the lash line with the darker soft gunmetal grey to add depth and the combination with the ballerina pink is so lovely and I might even try a smokey eye look at some point using these two shades.

Since this is a very bare faced look I didn't want to volumise my lashes, and instead I went for length with the Maybelline Illegal Length Fibre Extensions Mascara (£8.99) which is great for a natural, combed through lash look and I've got a more detailed review of this mascara coming up on Tuesday, so keep an eye out for that. I very lightly blotted the odd area with the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot (£12) and applied the finishing touch using the Tanya Burr Lipgloss (£6.99) in Afternoon Tea. Like so many others I've been completely bowled over by this gorgeous range of lip glosses. The formula is light, creamy, non sticky and moisturising with excellent pigmentation that seems to set on your lips almost like a glossy stain. You get hours of wear out these and re-applying it is a joy since it has a delicious candy like smell. This shade Afternoon Tea, is a subtle slightly muted rhubarb and cream pink, which is perfect for a "your lip color, but better" look.

 

I really enjoy wearing and experimenting with the gorgeous Pastel Fontanges palette and I had so much fun recreating the Trianon look. Despite being such a soft and delicate colors the look works surprisingly well for evening wear too, since the shimmering colors look gorgeous when the light catches them. It is a complete and probably slightly over the top indulgence in pastel colors and using lots of light blue on your eyelid might seem a bit scary - at least it did to me, but if you keep it well blended you won't be getting flashbacks to something out of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. If you're interested in seeing more Trianon looks, have a look at Dior backstage (the link takes a while to load to be patient with it), where you'll find tutorials for another two lovely looks and you can read more about the whole collection. 

Makeup look of the month

After having indulged in quite heavy and elaborate makeup over the winter months, the month of February has been like a cosmetic detox for me and I've worn a minimum of products. Most days I've gone for the no makeup look using exactly the same products that I talked about in the Natural Edition, and when I've needed something a little bit more on the eyes and lips, I've worn the look that I'm showing you today - a time-saving minimal effort look that is still put together enough for work, or an evening out.

Starting with the eyes, I've kept it simple by applying the MUA Colour Blast Eyeshadow Tint (£3) straight from the stick all over the lid, blending it up towards the brow bone with my fingers. The color - Bring it back, is a beautiful golden dark bronze and it's perfect for a light wash across the lid as a base or to use on its own as I have. To add some more depth, I've used the Rimmel Scandaleyes Micro Liner (£5.49) in Black as close as possible to the upper eye lashes. I wanted a very subtle and precise look so I kept the line very thin, starting immediately in the inner corner of the eye and then making it slightly thicker towards the outer corner to define the eyeshape. If like me you're still improving when it comes to eyeliner, this product is great to use since it has a very thin felt tip and I feel that you have a good control over it when you apply, so you get just the right amount you need. After that I've applied lashings of the Seventeen Falsifeye Mascara (£6.49) in Black to get really long, whispy and flared lashes which this mascara is great at creating, even though it's not strong on volumising the lashes. Finishing the eye area, I've at least temporarily gone back to using a trusted eyebrow pencil after a less than successful detour into eyebrow mascara country - best to be forgotten... At the moment I'm still using the Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil (£2.99) in Hazel 2, and for this look which is groomed and well shaped, but not too dark - this pencil works well since it's easy to use to get the right definition.

Moving on to the face, I've kept it very fresh and natural with a dabbing of the MUA Bronzer (£1) in Shade 1 in the hollow of my cheeks and on the sides of my nose for some basic sculpting, and then a light sweep of it on my forehead and chin, where the sun would naturally hit the face. This shade is just right for me - it's golden without any orange or dirty brown undertones and it blends beautifully into the skin. I know I've talked a lot about MUA lately, and for good reason. MUA has made such an effort to make great quality product at affordable prices available to us and they keep expanding their range - enabling us beauty junkies, but I'm only too happy to be enabled when nothing is more expensive than £9! I've applied a little bit of the Bourjois Little Round Pot Blusher (£7.99) in shade 16 - Rose Coup de Foudre, which is a gorgeous muted coral with a slightly burned undertone and a hint of shimmer to it. I've placed it a bit higher up on the cheekbones rather than straight on the apples of my cheeks for some more definition and it's beautiful for a fresh rosy appearance. Last but not least I've lightly placed some of the gorgeous MUA Undress Your Skin Highlighting Powder (£3) that I talked about earlier this week just above the blusher on the cheekbones for a dewy, light shimmer.

To finish the look and to balance out the eye makeup I've used the No 7 Moisture Drench Lipstick (£9.75) in Mulberry. I'm very surprised that this lipstick isn't mentioned more often, although of course competition is stiff when it comes to lip products but it really does deserve to be mentioned since it's incredibly moisturising, long lasting and gives a lovely satin finish. There's also a lovely range of shades available and Mulberry is a beautiful dark rusty red shade with just the right depth when you want a red lip but nothing too vibrant or too vampy - it's simply very easy to wear. That's the most worn makeup look this month - it's straight forward, but chic and appropriate for most occasions. I hope you like this type of post since I'm planning on doing them more often in the future so I hope you'll let me know in the comments what you think and I'm really looking forward to reading them. Have a great day everyone!

MUA Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter

For me 2014 will be the year when I'm trying a lot of new types of beauty products and try to include them more in my makeup routine. I've already started to explore for me new ways of filling in my eye brows and another product that I haven't used very regularly up until now at least is highlighters. Since I'm still very much a novice regarding highlighters I didn't want to spend a fortune on a product that might not be for me at all, so I decided to go for this lovely shimmering gem from MUA (Makeup Academy) a brand that has proven with several of their products that you don't need to pay an arm and a leg for a good quality makeup item.

The Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter (£3) comes in quite a sturdy plastic no frills compact and you get a very generous amount of product. The packaging is far from glamorous, however the highlighter itself is beautifully presented with a pretty swirly pattern, that makes it look like a much more up-market product. The highlighting powder is very sheer and sits lightly and comfortably on the skin without settling into fine any lines or creasing. The texture is smooth and easy to place and blend onto the brow and cheek bone and even though the formula is light, it doesn't flake or break into pieces when you apply it. Another great thing is that it's densely packed with pigmentation and the lightest sweep with either a brush or your fingertip across the powder will pick up loads of product with a beautiful radiant shimmer. It may look a little bit pink in the pan, however on the skin it's simply soft and luminous and the champagne colored shimmer looks very natural even in very strong lighting. When you've applied the highlighter it stays in place all day and the subtle shimmer adds a lovely healthy glow.

Last month I did a post on my favorite 5 MUA products but at the time I had only just started to test this highlighter, but had I written that post today this wonderful product would be included in that group of favorites for its subtle natural glow and the beautiful design of it. If like me you've just started using highlighter, and you're looking for a great starting product, this is ideal and if I've tempted you enough to buy this lovely shimmer you can get MUA from Superdrug or directly from MUA online, and the great news is that MUA also ships worldwide!