Natural edition

As you know I love to experiment with different colors for makeup and nails, but sometimes it's also really nice to strip everything away and go back to basics for a very natural look. But what does natural actually look like? I associate natural with colors that are similar to my skin tone like buff, beige, tan and wheat, but at the same time no one wants to look washed out or anonymous. Isn't it ironic how the "no makeup" makeup look really is quite difficult to do, and how we take great care to apply products and shades, sometimes lots of them that make us look as if we have absolutely nothing on? Regardless, here are some of my favorite products to achieve that deceptively effortless natural look.

A great foundation is the base for all makeup, and it's even more important when you're going for a nude, bare-faced look and for me the YSL Serum Foundation (£37) is perfect for achieving a flawless radiant look. Since I have reviewed this foundation before (see here) I won't go into too much detail, but it's a wonderful product that combines anti-aging and rejuvenating skincare with a medium-full color correcting foundation coverage. The formula has just the right light weight consistency and it's easy to blend into your skin using either fingers or a brush for a subtle and natural radiance. This is a very long lasting product and on me the coverage lasts about 9-10 hrs without any need to correct and it also moisturises the skin throughout the day. There's no denying that this is a luxurious product, but when you barely wear anything on your skin it's even more important to be 100% confident in the product that you do wear, and YSL makes your skin look and feel amazing.

The high street is filled with lots of wonderful eyeshadows, but finding one in a light natural shade with decent pigmentation can be difficult, but one of my favorites is the Bourjois Little Round Pot (£6.99) in 08 Beige Rose. For me this is such a classic and reliable makeup product and I have tried lots of different shades and effects and I've always been happy with the results. The powder is very soft and fine, but it doesn't crumble and it's easy to apply and blend. This shade is a great warm sheer vanilla color with a slight pink undertone and shimmer that looks very light luminous and natural on - perfect for an au naturel look.

Having found a great natural looking eyeshadow, you want to make it stay on as long as possible, and to help with that I use the amazing Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion (£15) that helps your makeup last all day. The consistency is wonderfully smooth, creamy and quick drying and with this product a little goes a long way, so you could say that it's long lasting in more than one way e.g. I've had mine for almost a year... It comes in four different versions; the transparent original and three others that all have a very subtle color. I absolutely love the shade Eden, which is a nude matte color that looks so natural that sometimes I have even worn it just on its own on the lid without any eye shadow.

One of the easiest and best tricks to achieve a wide-eyed fresh and natural look is to apply an eye pencil on the lower waterline in a light shade. You can go for white if you wish, but personally I think that a nude shade works even better. Lately I've been using the Isadora Inliner Kajal in Blonde which is a soft and creamy kajal, and although it's not specifically smudge- or waterproof it's very resistant to daily wear and it stays put for hrs before you need to touch it up so it's perfect to use on the upper or lower waterline to add that little extra brightness to the eyes.

From left to right:

L'Oréal Color Riche Collection Privée Lipstick - Julianne Moore

Isadora Inliner Kajal - Blonde

Bourjois Eyeshadow - Rose Beige

For me the tricksiest product to find for a perfect no make up look, is a nude lipstick. I see so many brown and pale shades that look amazing on others, but they rarely work on me and most of the time I look completely washed out. So when the L'Oréal Color Riche Collection Privée (£8.19) was released I thought: finally, I'll be able to find a shade that's wearable. There are six different nude shades intended for different skintones, all embodied by a different celebrity spokesperson and since my colorings are fairly similar to Doutzen Kroes' that was the shade I immediately honed in on. As lovely as it was, it didn't however tick all the boxes for me and in the end I ended up with the Julianne Moore shade which is a very grown up and sophisticated gorgeous delicate peachy pink with a brown undertone. The formula is creamy and moisturising, and it wears really well throughout the day even after eating and drinking. The only thing I don't like about this product is the typical L'Oréal lipstick taste that I find quite plastic, strong and old fashioned, but the shade is absolutely stunning and for me it's also the first nude shade ever that I'm actually comfortable and confident wearing. I like it so much that I've already bought a few spare ones, just in case this limited edition disappears from the shelves any time soon - which would be a real shame.

Last in this row of natural looking products is a nail polish that I picked up fairly recently - it's the  Maybelline Color Show Nude Nail Polish (3.99) in the shade In Your Flesh. It's a wonderful, classic nude shade that creates the illusion of longer fingers and it's a very clean, understated and chic look that would go with most outfits. The formula is a little bit thicker than most nail polishes, but despite this it's actually very easy to apply evenly and even though nude colors are by nature quite sheer, the formula is pigmented enough that you'll get a nice opaque look after two coats. Since I'm going for a paired down finish, I'm not wearing a top coat in the photos and there's enough shine in the polish for a fresh natural sheen. The polish will last for about 3 days before you need to touch it up and it's nice and easy to remove.

It's taken me a while to find products in nude shades that I'm comfortable in wearing and that look just like my natural colors - only better. After many frustrating visits to MAC I have also accepted that more often than not, the most popular nude shades don't work as well on me as they might do on others and I've had to look for other color options. But a natural look doesn't have to be just beige colored and the key to carry it off and to avoid a bland, non descript appearance - is to find products that work with your own skin tone, that blend in seamlessly and that also enhance your colors in a subtle "je ne sais quoi" way. Have you found the colors that work for you? What are your favorite natural shades?

January empties

This might sound a bit strange for a shopaholic who shows no restraints at all when it comes to buying new things, but often when I get something new it take ages before I actually open it and use it - and that takes quite a lot of restraint I can tell you. Mostly it's because I want to finish something else up first and I also quite enjoy knowing that there's a "shiny new toy" waiting for me when I've been good and disciplined enough to use another product up first. That leads me on to the empties of this month, and since I've been quite good I think I can reward myself with finally opening one of my new goodies.

I don't think there will ever be a monthly empties post where I don't have a dry shampoo since it's a staple item for me, so let's get the dry shampoo out of the way first... I'm sure I'm not the only one who rely on dry shampoo to refresh the hair in between washes, or maybe even use a little for added texture, even if oil control isn't needed. The one I finished the past month was Batiste's Paisley (£2.99) which is quite a rich, flowery and slightly spicy scent. For some reason I can't find it anymore online, although I have seen it in Boots but there are of course so many other lovely Batiste scents to choose from and I've already got my next one lined up.

Last August I did a post on the wonderful Avon Apricot and Shea Butter product range, and since I quickly discovered that it was a very limited edition, I've cherished it and only used it every now and then to make it last as long as possible but the day has now come when I've finished the 2-in-1 Shampoo & Conditioner, Shower Gel and Body Lotion. I only use 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioners every now and then as they can be quite harsh on the hair, but since this one contains shea butter it doesn't strip down the hair and I was surprised at how easy my hair was to detangle after I'd used it. I like a lot of Avon products but I also find that some of the products from the Naturals body care range smell lovely but don't always add a lot of moisture, however this is not at all the case with these. It's probably because of the shea butter, but both the shower gel and body lotion were quite thick and creamy to use and felt really luxurious especially since they made the skin feel very soft and hydrated for a good few hrs after the shower. But let's also talk about the amazing scent for a minute - it's a lovely soft and juicy mix of fresh sweet apricot and subtle vanilla from the shea butter, and it reminds me of a yummy and irresistible ice cream sundae. It's absolutely gorgeous and I so wish that Avon would bring it back - I would be first in line to pick up 10 of each product!

The lovely Caudalie Beauty Elixir (£25.59) has been a part of my daily beauty routine for a few years now and I finish both my morning and evening cleanse with a refreshing spritz of this amazing facial spray and I love it so much that I actually carry it with me in my handbag and use it throughout the day too. Why do I love it? - well I'm glad you asked... First of all the dispenser sprays just the right amount to add moisture but without making your skin wet, and it settles on your skin in a fine mist that adds radiance and hydration. Secondly, the scent is wonderfully aromatic with lovely zingy mint, warm rosemary, a hint of orange peel and subtle rose - divine, and lastly it really perks up not only my skin, but my mood too - so what's not to love? It's an indulgent treat but after all, we all need a little indulgence in our lives.

Over winter I've really focused on hydrating my skin and that goes for not just my face, but my body, hands and feet too. It's oh so easy to ignore the tootsies so I quite like to have a really pampering, lovely cream to motivate me to being nice to my feet, and the lotion I've used the most is Burt's Bees Peppermint Foot Lotion (£12.99) which has a lovely fresh and icy cool scent of menthol and peppermint oil. It's quite a milky lotion, and not as rich and buttery as I would usually go for, but it absorbs quickly, nourishes and hydrates the skin as well as locks in moisture. The feet feel so refreshed and energized after using it, and it's a great excuse to put on some cute socks afterwards to help the skin soak up all the moisture even more.

Since I wanted to make some space in the perfume drawer for any goodies that Santa might bring me in December, I made a real effort to finish up some perfumes that only had a little bit left in them. This meant that I had to do something I don't do very often - wear the same perfume several days in a row, and this herculean task meant that in the end I actually finished off my Marc Jacobs Honey (£33.15). Contrary to what you might, think this is a very sunny, playful scent with lots of fruity notes; fresh pear, sweet and juicy mandarin and orange with only a subtle golden honey sweetness to it. At the same time it's soft, warm and inviting and not sharp or zingy in any way. For me it's a lovely balanced and uncomplicated scent and while it probably is a typical summer scent I think it works just as well in the winter since the cooler temperatures really brings out the crispness of the fruit. It's a delicious and sparkling scent that I've definitely enjoyed wearing, but for me it's a little bit on the light side and for that reason I don't think I'll be repurchasing it at the moment. 

As you may remember I bought a lot of Lily-Flame candles (£8.50) before Christmas that have filled the house with different wonderful festive scents that I hadn't tried before. I love candles that have a very distinct scent and that really capture a mood, and Christmas Spice did just that. It's a homely, warm and welcoming scent of cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves - absolutely lovely. I've raved about Lily Flame candles before - they have a great range of scents to choose from, look good enough to eat, are very reasonably priced and last but not almost most importantly, the burn so well. Burning time is about 35 hrs and they burn really REALLY well - from side to side, completely down to the bottom of the tin with no waste at akk as you can see in the photo, now THIS is how a candle should burn in my view. If you haven't tried Lily Flame candles yet I highly recommend them and have actually just placed a new order for more scents to take us into spring.

The last product of this month's empties is the Urban Decay All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (£9), which over the party season has been absolutely brilliant at helping my makeup stay on longer. It's a nice, non perfumed spray that somehow mysteriously lowers the temperature of the makeup, so that it stays in place without any smudging or shine. It feels lovely and cooling on the skin and I've used about 4-5 spritzes of it both after foundation (but before powder) and once I've finished my makeup completely. The only thing I would say is that the spritzer isn't brilliant and instead of a fine mist, it's a bit more watery so I spray this quite a bit away from my face and then lean into it, if you see what I mean. Despite this I still really enjoy it and will definitely repurchase it and this time, I'll go straight for the big size.

That's the end of the empties, time to start over on the batch for next month and I've set myself a goal - to finish up even more products for February's post. Do you think I'll manage? - well there's always the prospect of starting to use a shiny new product to keep me motivated...

October empties

I don't think anyone will be surprised when I say that I like to shop - particularly beauty products. To get some brand new interesting things you've never tried before is so exciting. But having your bathroom cabinet full of lovely stuff that's not used is rather pointless, so I'm trying to be really good and to finish up products that are half full before I move on to my brand new toys. I've even been so organised that I've put all the stuff that needs to be used up at the front of the cabinet, and made a little list for me to track my progress. Talk about taking your beauty seriously!

The first empty of October is a dry shampoo. As most of you will know by now, I think dry shampoo is a girls' second best friend, and absolutely perfect for a quick on the go freshen up of your hair. I am a big user of the Batiste products and the Dry Shampoo XXL Volume not only refreshes and gives texture it also give a lot of volume, which for me is perfect e.g. after a gym session or if you're going out somewhere straight after work. Like all of the Batiste products it comes with a smell which is distinct for this particular bottle - it smells intensely of red berries, sweet floral and has almost a salty liquorice after smell. I have to say though that for me it is a little bit too strongly perfumed, and not one of my favourites which is a shame since I like the volumising effect, but I probably won't repurchase because of the artificial scent. 

Next product is the Urban Decay De-Slick Oil Control Makeup Setting Spray which is supposed to help your make up set and to stay on for longer by regulating the temperature of the skin, keeping it looking lovely and matte, without having to do any touch ups. I had never used this before and it took a little bit of getting used to, and to figure out how get it to work for me. I didn't think that it came with very good instructions, so I tried a couple of different approaches until I found what seemed to work best. I actually spray it on both after having put on my foundation, but before using powder and also when I've finished doing all my makeup. The spray function is quite good and gives a fine mist, and I use about 3-4 spritzes for every application. It definitely helps to keep your make up in place, however on me it doesn't work nearly as long as it claims (up to 16 hrs), in reality it's more like 5-6 hrs before I need to fix any shine. It's a good product and but before I repurchase it, I'd first like to try the All Nighter version to see how that measures up. 

I have also finished my KIKO Skin trainer. You may remember that I did a trial, during which I would only use this particular serum to see if it would live up to the miraculous results that it promised within 30 days. After the 30 days I did notice that the skin felt very firm and taut, which is exactly what was promised, but for me the sense of hydration wasn't as good as I would like it to be. It's a good, affordable serum that does firm your skin, but if you have tendencies towards dry or dehydrated skin, I would definitely recommend that you use intense hydration masks and a rich moisturiser to boost moisture levels. I do have other serums that I'm using at the moment and I'm not sure I would repurchase this, simply because of the tightness that I started to experience at the end of the 30 days. If KIKO releases a new version of the Skin Trainer to up moisture, I would definitely try it out.

It was a sad, sad day when I finished my Jo Malone Redcurrant & Cream Cologne. This was part of the limited edition collection called Sugar & Spice which was released earlier this Spring. It was a gorgeous collection with cake and dessert inspired fragrances and this was my favourite out of the five scents. To me it captures British summer perfectly with it's mix of tangy piquant red currants, juicy sun kissed strawberries, sweet crushed raspberries, lots of light, fluffy whipped cream and a subtle touch of warm musk that really rounds the scent off, preventing the berries from completely taking over. It was a delicious scent and even though I have enjoyed wearing it, I doubt that I will get it again since it's now only available on eBay at extortionate prices. Redcurrant & Cream, I will miss you!

Let's move from indulgent, unique fragrances to a complete makeup steal on the high street - the MUA Bronzer in Shade 01. MUA offers a number of products for £1, which is almost embarrassingly cheap, but despite the low cost the bronzer is actually a great product. It's one of my favourite bronzing products because not only does it give a lovely natural, golden shade with a very subtle shimmer, it's also light and pleasant to wear. The bronzer lasts for a good chunk of the day and works really well for scultping too. In fact, I like this so much that I feel like throwing in another £ coin every time I buy it, it almost seems rude for it to be that cheap. If you only wear bronzer occasionally and you don't want to go for the more costly options, I highly recommend the MUA bronzer.

The last product among the October empties is the Clarins Water Comfort One-Step Cleanser with Peach. It's very similar to a micellar water, i.e. it will remove eye make up and cleanse your face at the same time. I will never use only cleansing waters of this type (not even Bioderma) since I feel that I need, and enjoy a thorough cleanse of my face every evening, but it's a wonderful and gentle option as part of my morning routine, to get rid of any impurities from over night. What I particularly like with this Clarins product is the refreshing sunny scent of peach that lingers on my skin, setting me up nicely for the day and how soft it makes my skin feel. I do have a few other cleansing waters that I need to use up, but I will definitely be getting this again at some point soon.

I feel quite pleased that I have managed to take off six items from the list of products to finish up this month. It took a lot of focus and determination, let me tell you. Besides, you have to use it all up to make space for all the stuff that's on my other list - the one of things to get!

Staying Power with Urban Decay

Does any of this seem familiar to you? You wake up and get ready, have a coffee or a tea while you go and put your makeup on using great care, and sometimes you're actually quite pleased with how it turned out. So you go about your business, doing what you do and when you look in the mirror a few hrs later, you barely recognise the face looking back at you - Where did all the make up disappear to???

Warm or rainy weather, sitting in front of a computer screen, having a phone squeezed to the side of your face - this can all mysteriously zap your make up little by little throughout the day, even if you use so called long lasting products. Luckily there are products that offer a little extra help to keep the war paint from disappearing all too quickly - Primers and Makeup Setting Spray.

There are so many types of primers; for your face, eyes, eyelashes and lips but personally I mainly use something for my eyes and sometimes Clarins Beauty Flash Balm (which I'll do a separate review of very soon) for the rest of my face for special occasions. I've never tried primers that are specifically for lips, and I usually prep just using a lip balm, although of course that won't have the same effect as a primer. Primers are great to prevent your eyeshadow from creasing or smudging - particularly if you're wearing stronger colours or heavier makeup. Several brands offer cream shadows that you can use in a similar way, but I like to use the Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer Potion.

 

Urban Decay is very famous for it's makeup primers and their range includes primers with a hint of colour. The primer goes on before any other eye makeup and I like to wait a minute or two before I continue with the rest of my eye makeup, since I like to feel that the primer has set properly on my eyelid. The consistency of this product is very delicate and light, and it's easy to blend in so you only need the tiniest amount possible. I use a tinted eyeshadow primer in Eden - a faint vanilla with slight yellow undertones, and on days when I go for a "barely there" makeup look I use the primer as an eyeshadow blended all over the lid, to just give the area a more even colour and a very matte and natural look. I realise that the shade looks very white in the photo below, but when I don't have a tan, Eden blends beautifully and seamlessly with my skin. 

Spending the extra little time it takes to apply the eyeshadow primer is definitely worth it. Not only will you find that the products stay on longer, but the pigmentation of your eyeshadow is highlighted in a way that makes them look radiant and very flattering

 

Eden

So now I've got my eye makeup staying put, what about the rest of the face? I don't have oily skin, but a couple of hrs into the day I still find that some areas of my face will be a bit shiny, and as much as I like a radiant look - shine is not what I'm going for. To help combat that, I've started to use the Urban Decay De-Slick Makeup Setting Spray which is supposed to help you keep that newly made up look throughout the day, by absorbing excess oil on your skin.

When I'm done with my makeup I use the spray, trying to cover my face as evenly as I can. The instructions recommend that you use 2 - 4 sprays, and maybe this is just me but that's not enough for me to get coverage. I'll probably use 3-5 instead, but of course you don't want too much - after all the point is to make the makeup last, not run. Hold the spray at a fair distance from your face, since that will also help to get a fine mist, and you don't get too much in just one area. It feels very fresh to finish off your makeup with this spray and it has a pleasant subtle crisp smell as well, but don't worry - it disappears very quickly and you won't notice it. The product claims to keep your skin matte for up to 16 hrs, and although I can't say that it has that effect on my skin, it does really help to set your makeup and it keeps the shine at bay for at least a few more hrs.

If I was to recommend only one out of these product, it would definitely be the primer for eyes since I find that it really does work without having to use any special tricks. With the Setting Spray I find that it works better if you use it not only after you've finished your makeup, but also if you spray it on either straight at the start, or after you've finished your foundation - but I would recommend that you experiment and see what works for you. 

What do you think - do primers and setting sprays work for you, or do you have any other tips to make your makeup last?