FOTD - Recreating my wedding makeup look

Doesn't time fly when you're having fun? Today we're celebrating our wedding anniversary and although it feels like we got married only yesterday, it's been 5 years already. Traditionally 5 years is considered the Wooden anniversary - maybe that means that Him Indoors will give me a couple of acres of Amazon forest...  Since it's our anniversary I thought it would be fun to recreate the makeup look I was wearing on my wedding day and even though I won't be using exactly the same products, the colors will be very similar.

At the moment I have much more of a tan than I did at my wedding and for an every day look at this time of year I normally wouldn't even bother with foundation, but since I'm making a bit more of an effort with this look I applied the No 7 Instant Radiance Foundation (£12.50) in Wheat. In my opnion the No 7 foundations don't get nearly enough credit and mention in Blogiverse. Not only are they great value for money, but the matching service means that you will definitely get a shade that is as close to your skin tone as possible for a perfect seamless match. The radiance foundation is a lovely and light medium coverage foundation that adds a nice warm and natural glow to your skin but without that heavy, caked feeling on your skin. It's fairly long lasting so it should stand a fair chance during these hot sweltering days we've been having lately. Now, I know that a lot of wedding looks are quite soft, natural and paired down, but I like a defined eye - always have and always will and it's a look I wear most days of the year. So for my wedding makeup I didn't want the complete opposite or something totally out of character since after all, this is the day of all days to feel comfortable and great about yourself, so my makeup artist and I decided to do a lighter version of a defined eye that was still in keeping with what I would usually emphasize, using slightly softer colors

For the eyes I used Avon's True Colour Eyeshasdow Quad Nudes (£9) in Barely There. All of the shades have surprisingly strong pigmentation and the formula is soft and creamy that allows for gradual building up of the colours, which will last the majority of day before you start seeing them fade. As a base for the entire lid I used shade no 2, which is a beautiful muted, dusky rose colour which blends so well with shade no 4 - an intense sepia brown, and on the middle of the lid I added a light sweep of shade no 3, a chamoisee with a beautiful subtle shimmer. I also used shade no 1 as a highlighter and in the inner corner of my eye, and the pale but warm cream colour is a nice contrast to the other colours. I really like these Barely There shades and even though they definitely are on the nude side they don't disappear into the background and are anything but bland. To add some depth and eye definition I applied Rimmel's Soft Khol Kajal Eye Pencil (£2.99) in Sable Brown on the lower waterline. It has a wonderful soft and water resistant formula that stays in place even on the teariest of days, so if you've got a special occasion coming up - give this one a go!

The only mascara for me at the moment, which you'll probably remember from my July favourites,  is Bourjois Volume 1 Seconde Mascara (£9.99). Already from the start it has just the right texture, as if it's been used for a while and the wide, firm brush makes it very easy to apply layers upon layers to quickly volumise and shape the lashes as much as you want in a few seconds and the effect is amazing. It's very long lasting but also easy to remove in the evening. I'm very lucky with my eye lashes and even the bottom ones are fairly long, but these days many mascaras with their wacky and strangely shaped wands make it tricky to get a nice and smudge free application. The solution to that issuette is the famous Clinique Bottom Lash Mascara (£13) which has the tiniest brush I've ever seen, making messy lines under your bottom lashes a thing of the past. I prefer to use the shade brown since I personally am not a fan of the lower lashes being too distinct and spider leggy and I think it works well, even with black mascara on the upper lashes.

For my cheeks I used my beloved Sleek MakeUp Blush (£4.49) in the most stunning shade ever - Rose Gold. I love this romantic coral shade with its golden shimmer, that makes your cheeks look so dewy and glowy making it perfect for a romantic occasion. The consistency is silky smooth and blendable and the blusher is so richly pigmented that you only need to dab your brush in it to get enough product for both cheeks - in the photo I've literally just lightly swept the brush over the apples of my cheeks, and as you can see that's more than enough for a radiant finish. When I tried to recreate my wedding day look I wasn't surprised at all to see that I had almost identical shades for all the products but one - the one item that I had to rummage around for was a lip colour and the closest I could find in my stash was the L'Oréal L'Extraordinaire Liquid Lipstick (£8.99) in Rose Symphony. This is supposedly a dupe for the fantastic YSL Glossy Stains, and there are definitely a lot of similarities. Let's look at the formula; it's soft, moisturising, silky, non sticky, intensely pigmented and with a brilliant glossy shine and it comes with a great flexible doe foot applicator. It's long lasting and when the shine has faded you're left with a noticeable stain that lasts literally ALL day. It's an excellent product and definitely a more affordable option to YSL. Rose Symphony is a warm vermillion pink shade, and although the colour I wore on my wedding day had more coral in it and the finish was not quite as glossy, the overall look is very similar. I had so much fun recreating the look again and now I'm off to pack a bag since apparently I'm going away somewhere, and I mustn't forget to take all these items with me so I can create the same look for this evening.

Disappointed in...

We're coming up to the end of the month, and at this point I usually do a post about the products I have loved and used the most - the monthly favorites, and I will do a favorites post this month too, but first I thought I would do something I have never done before, a post about products that have been a disappointment to me. If I were to put together all the new products that I've bought and tested over a year, I know that there would be a small mountain of them; some are fantastic, others are good, others are bland and forgettable, and I probably wouldn't buy them again simply because I can't remember them and then we have the last group of products - that ones I would downright avoid. The products today are examples from this last group but but before we start I want to emphasize that this is based on my personal experience of these specific products and although they may have been a disappointment to me for reasons that I'll explain, they might work very well for others. I also want to say that I have tried several other products from all of these brands which I have truly loved, so this is not a critique against the brands mentioned, only of these specific items.

At the beginning of the year I decided that it was time that I swap my trusted eye brow pencil for something else since there are so many other interesting eye brow products on the high street, and so I've started to experiment with a few other types - unfortunately with very little success so far. That's why I've got two eye brow products in this line up starting with a product that I got very recently - the Avon Anew Transforming Brow Filler (£6). For some reason this product isn't listed on line which is why I haven't got a link to it, although you can find it in the latest Avon Book. It's a twist up eye brow filler pen with a comb tip, which is intended to help define and set the shape of the brows, as well as add a hint of color and I tried it in Light Brown. Maybe there was something wrong with the product I got, but it took A LOT of twisting to get any product to come out of the tip, and when it finally did it had a gloopy gel like consistency and the little color it had was very blotchy and unevenly distributed throughout the formula - frankly it looks awful when you test it on your hand, you can photos here on my Instagram. If you're brave enough to apply the gooey looking gel, it feels quite wet on the brows and although the comb tip does do a little shaping, I didn't get any color from it at all. Perhaps the color was too light for me, but this brow filler did absolutely nothing except make my eye brows wet and that together with the strange, unappealing consistency makes it a product that I won't buy Anew.

The second brow product is Maybelline's Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara (£4.99), which I have done a separate review of previously which you can find here. It comes in a mascara format, so you apply it to your brows using a wand which has a ball shaped brush with long stiff combs at the tip of it, see photo here on my Instagram. My biggest challenge with this product is the dry formula, which makes it difficult to get an even amount of product on the brush, which then of course means that you also get an uneven application with the color clumping in some places. I've found that I always need to use either an additional brow brush or q-tip to even out the color, which is tricky without messing up the brows, and I usually end up with a very bushy and exaggerated brow look - not at all something I'm going for. Since the formula is already dry but it also sets very quickly on the brows, you need to work fast when you even out the color because once it's set, it's there for the duration of the day, which I guess is a plus when it comes to long wear. The fact that I need to use additional tools to get this brow mascara to work at all, but still without achieving the look I actually want, means that it's too much effort especially when I can get a nice arched brow using a pencil in a fragment of the time it takes me to fiddle with Brow Drama - Sorry Maybelline, but for me this product is too much drama and not enough brow sculpting!

I'm a bit sad to have to include a MUA Lipstick (£1) in this gang of disappointing five partly because MUA is one of my favorite basic budget brands and they have a lot of great products, but also because this particular shade - 16 Nectar is absolutely gorgeous, just the perfect peachy summery shade, which you can see here on my Instagram. So why have I included it then you ask?, well it's because it's one of these formulas that has a split personality. When you apply it from the bullet the lipstick shows its positive side; it's very soft and creamy and the pigmentation seems good, although the formula is a bit "thin", so you have to apply the lippy fairly thickly for an even coverage on your lips. After that it starts to set really quickly, and that's when the Mr Hyde side of this lipstick shows its face by drying along the lip contours and where your lips meet. That horrible dried contour then stays put even after eating and drinking, while the rest of the lip color disappears - it's not a good look and one of my pet peeves when it comes to makeup. So despite being a stunning golden peach color, for this particular lipstick MUA stands for Must Unfortunately be Avoided. 

One of the most hyped products to reach the UK last year was Maybelline's Baby Lips Balm (£2.99) a must try product for any lip balm addict, and I since I'm a fan of everything cherry I was very excited to get my paws on a Cherry Me. The claim was that this cute and colorful lip balm would give 8 hrs of hydration and nourishment, quite something for a lip balm priced lower than most drinks in Starbucks. The lip balm does give a faint cherry red color with a little bit of shine which isn't long lasting but nice enough, although at the time I was distinctly underwhelmed by the lacking sense of hydration (you can see my original review here), and didn't feel like it did anything at all to nourish my lips. Since then I did continue to use it for a while over winter to finish it up more than anything, but as the weather got colder not only did the lip balm not add any hydration or nourishment - it was as if it actually dried out my lips even more and made them hyper sensitive, so eventually I had to stop using it and instead move on to old Burt's Bees to restore my lips. I've never reacted like that with any other type of lip product, but it's safe to say that I definitely don't cherish Cherry Me, and next time I'll opt for a Starbucks instead. 

To balance things out and to show that it's not just a selection of budget friendly products that have proven to be a let down I'll finish with a premium brand product, Dior's Blush Trianon Edition (£30.50 reviewed here) in the color 916 Pink Réverie. It all started so well with its gorgeous packaging and cute embossed bow pattern, and even though the muted pink shade with strong blue undertones was definitely outside my comfort zone, and not at all the kind of color I would normally go for it did look promising in the pan. The texture of the blush is lovely and light, but it's let down by the complete lack of pigmentation and it doesn't matter how much I apply of it, on me the color simply will simply not build up at all. At first I gave it the benefit of the doubt and thought that perhaps it was simply that the color wasn't suitable for my skin tone, but after having gone from office pale to a slightly more healthy looking golden color, there should at least in theory be a bigger and more noticeable contrast, so the blush should appear more but unfortunately Pink Réverie still doesn't show up my skin, as you can see here on my Instagram. Out of all the products today, this was probably the biggest disappointment for several reasons - first of all it's not exactly a budget product and secondly it's Dior, an iconic brand which I don't think it's unreasonable that you have high expectations from. I guess it just goes to show that quality has nothing to do with hype, clever marketing, glossy packaging and you can get great products as well as duds in any price range. With this little collection of unfavorites out of the way, don't forget to check in tomorrow to see the actual monthly favorites for May. 

Sleek cheeks with a touch of Rose Gold

For one who loves makeup I have surprisingly few blushers in my collection and I seem to always use the same shade regardless of which look I'm going for. When I'm browsing the shops I never really get drawn in by blushers, or inspired by them in the way that other makeup products speak to me and there is rarely a color that screams: BUY ME! But since using different colors obviously creates different looks I know I should get some more blushers and more importantly, some more colors. I've mentioned before that I'm perfectly happy and probably won't think twice about splurging on some types of products - e.g. skin care, but blushers is definitely not one of those and my previous limited experience with premium brand blushers hasn't been fantastically positive. So having brushed lots of brands to the side I very quickly thought of Sleek since I've heard so many positive things about their blushers, and with 11 different shades and a few blusher palettes in their range I was confident I would find a couple of new colors for my cheeks. I picked up two new shades from the "classic" range of Sleek Blushers (£4.49) and the one that I'm showing today is the much talked about Rose Gold, which is considered a dupe for NARS Orgasm, but since I haven't actually tried the NARS blusher this isn't a comparison review, and I'll only focus on the qualities of Rose Gold today. 

The blush comes in fuss free and sturdy plastic packaging, and although it's not very glamorous or exciting it's functional and it does have a good sized mirror in the lid, which is always a bonus. Being such a reasonably priced product you shouldn't expect too much from the packaging, but a modest exterior shouldn't make you doubt the quality of the product, and to cut a long story short - the quality is excellent! The formula is very soft, smooth and creamy and you only need to dab your brush or the tip of your finger very lightly in it to pick up a good amount of product for a rosy cheeked look. If you use your fingers to apply the blush, you can really feel how silky and light and buildable the consistency is but it's also rich in pigmentation so you don't need an awful lot to create a lovely radiant glow. It's a fairly long lasting product and I would say that you get approximately 5 hrs wear from it - on me I've noticed that it's faded and doesn't have the same even coverage as when I applied it around mid to late afternoon, but to be honest it's about the same for most blushers that I've tried regardless of price point. The shade Rose Gold is a perfect muted coral color with a subtle golden shimmer, and on the cheeks it has a dewy bronzed peachy look which I think would suit fair to medium skin tones. It's a beautiful naturally radiant look and don't be put off by the shimmer, it's very faint and only adds a pretty highlighting touch and for me I think it'll be a perfect cheek color with a tan (just bring on the sun). I'm very impressed this budget beauty and it may have been my first Sleek blusher but it certainly won't be my last!

100 000 Pageviews - Sephora giveaway

When I started blogging last July I wasn't really sure where it was going to take me and although I didn't exactly set myself any targets I had some very modest hopes about getting a few followers and pageviews. I never in a million years expected that a day would come when I would be thrilled to announce that I've reached more than 100 000 pageviews, which for me is a massive milestone. I couldn't have done any of this without the amazing support from YOU. As cheesy as it sounds I can't thank you enough for every visit, comment, tweet or e-mail from you and I'm so genuinely and deeply grateful for all the fantastic encouragement that you always give me. To celebrate I've got a giveaway of Sephora products for one lucky winner. The giveaway is open for international entries, and will close at midnight on March 29, and I'll notify the winner via e-mail within 24 hrs after the giveaway has closed.

Let's have a look at what's included in the prize. First up is a Sephora shadow-and-liner palette, called Miami Vibes No 11 which contains 4 long lasting eye shadows and a matte eyeliner. The colors of the eye shadows are called Golden Beige, Turqoise Blue, Hawaiian Beach and Deep Blue and the eyeliner is Dark Brown. This is one of those painting by numbers palettes and at the back are instructions on how to create two different looks - one natural, and one intense using these shades. It's a lovely warm and range of colors which will look lovely for spring and summer.

Next up is a matte long lasting blusher with moisturising ingredients that not only defines the cheeks and gives a lovely healthy glow, but also helps to make your skin look fresh and hydrated. This is in the shade Romantic Rose No 10, and it's a lovely golden peachy pink that would work with most skin tones. The last product is an nice and creamy ultra vinyl lipstick pencil for a glossy look, in the shade Miami Pink No 05 which is a juicy genuine romantic pink with a bit of a shimmer and it feels lovely and moisturising on the lips.

Again a big thank you to everyone for all the amazing support and for every comment that you leave that brightens my day. Good luck to everyone who enters and have a wonderful weekend!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Diorblush Trianon Edition

At the end of January I went to a Dior event at Debenhams for the launch of Dior's Trianon Spring 2014 Collection. It was a great opportunity to have a good close look at all of the gorgeous little pieces of art that Dior is tempting us with this Spring and to also try the products on properly by creating a look there and then with expert advise. The collection mixes pastels of different colors and intensity for a very pale, delicate and tender look. Since I've really embraced the pastel makeup look this Spring and plan to use light crisp blue, powder pink and subtle silver grey, I left the event with quite a few of the new releases, and I'll review them all in more detail starting with the Diorblush Trianon Edition (£30.50) today.

Let's start with the packaging which we all know isn't everything, but I for one must admit that using a product that is both pretty to look at and to use, adds extra enjoyment and every time I take out a beautiful little compact, it's an added every day second of glamor that really cheers me up. The blush comes in quite a large compact, although half that space is taken up by a good quality angled blusher brush and there's a great big mirror in the lid as well. Every new product released by Dior has a specific design element to it, and the bow and pearled ribbon embossing used throughout the Trianon collection refers to a type of headdress which was very popular in the 17th century. It's such a beautiful pattern and you do almost feel guilty for ruining it by using the product. As with all Dior palettes you also get a cute little velvet pouch that you can keep the blusher in to protect the classic and stylish blue Dior packaging.

Since I've decided to go for some very delicate pastel shades in my eye makeup I wanted to contrast that with a blusher with more vibrancy to avoid looking completely washed out, and I chose the shade 946 Pink Réverie. In the pan this is a fairly strong but muted rose pink with definite blue undertones that almost makes it look very faintly lilac and when I tried the blusher at the event I was a bit apprehensive about how the color would turn out since the pigmentation seemed very intense, and I was convinced that this shade wouldn't work for me. Having tried it at home now for a few weeks I am very surprised to find that it's actually quite difficult for me to get a decent rosy cheek from it. The blusher is very finely milled so it's very sheer and light on the skin, both which are great qualities in terms of sitting nicely on the skin and it doesn't cause any creasing, however it also has an impact on how easy or as in this case - difficult the color is to build up. As you can see below in the photo, the color payoff is barely noticeable and I applied the blusher three very generous times - so it's not just a bad photo.

I don't mind splurging on a product if it's going to deliver and make me look and feel fabulous every day, however there are some very good blushers on the high street at very reasonable prices and in comparison with those and considering that this is a very expensive Dior product I definitely had expected more. I can't ignore the issue with pigmentation and as much as I really REALLY want to love this blusher, unfortunately it's a disappointment, it's just not working for me and I say that without blushing in the least. I honestly don't know if the issue is that the pigmentation isn't strong enough, or that the shade simply doesn't come into its own on my skintone - perhaps I should have trusted my instinct and gone for 763 Coraile Bagatelle instead, but I certainly hope that pigmentation concerns don't rear their annoying heads with the Trianon eyeshadow palette as well... you'll find out in a few weeks time in my second review of the Trianon collection. 

A date with Dior

One the things I was looking forward to the most in January was the release of Dior's Trianon Spring 2014 Collection. As soon as I saw the first promo pics go out I started saving up for all the beautiful products that were tempting me and finally the day came when I had a date with Dior at Debenhams to talk about and to try the new releases, one more beautiful than the other. The Trianon Spring 2014 collection is a very youthful and playful take on the era of Louis XIV and the opulence of the Trianon palace, and it mixes pastels that are sheer and delicate like rose petals with more intense pinks and lilacs.

Even though I easily could have got every single piece of this collection, I thought I would get colors that I don't currently have and that would channel that fragile and exquisite floral look from the promo pictures so for my eye shadows I eventually settled on the 5 Couleurs Trianon Eyeshadow Palette (£41) in 234 Pastel Fontanges. It's a very sheer palette with shimmery sherbet colors in a pale light blue, pale ballerina pink, ash grey, a muted vanilla yellow and a cadet grey with a blue undertone. When I had my makeup done we used the pink, blue and darker grey as a highlight and it worked really well with my pale complexion and it also kept it from looking too colorful or baby dollish.

Since the eye make up is quite mild and subtle I wanted a blush shade with a little more punch, and that again was different from all other shades in my collection, and although I absolutely love the shade 763 Coraile Bagatelle I decided on the Diorblush Trianon Edition (£30.50) in 946 Pink Réverie. It's a gorgeous intense rose pink with a fuchsia undertone and since it's so intensely pigmented so I was a bit worried on how it would look on the cheek, but as long as you build it up slowly it creates the illusion of the perfect rosy cheek.

When it comes to lipstick it was a bit more difficult for me to decide - all the shades are gorgeous and could easily see myself wearing any of them, but instead of keeping with the blue undertone that I get from the blusher, I actually decided on Rouge Dior (£26) in 757 Souveraine, which is a creamy shimmery coral that looks surprisingly subtle on, and it looses some of the intense redness that you see in the bullet, but for me that's what makes it a great combination with the pale eye look - since they balance each other very well and the lipstick doesn't dominate. To make the shade even more opalescent and fair, I got the Dior Addict Gloss (£22) in 442 Pétillante to use on top. Not something I would usually do, but it has such a gorgeous shimmer and I thought I could use it to pair down some of the other very intense lip shades.

I have only tried these products during my make over session, so I will do separate and more detailed reviews with swatches very shortly of each of the products, but I was very happy with the graceful look we created and I can't wait to try the products a bit more. There's nothing that will cheer me up like a pampering session and this one definitely ticked all the boxes. Not only was I treated to some bubbly and chocolate with the make over, I also had a mini treatment to try out several products from the Dior skincare range, which I had never done before and I also got a goodie bag with a mix of skincare (Dream Skin, Capture Totale and One Essential), a full size nail polish (Nuit 1947) and a sample of Hypnotic Poison to take with me home, to make the Date with Dior last as long as possible.

Autumn makeup bag

A couple of months ago I did a post on what was in my Summer's makeup bag and since I've really tried to be more seasonal this year - changing up shades and products much more than I usually do, I thought I would show you the products I've been using the most since the beginning of October and even though there are some new additions, you will probably also recognise a few products that have been reviewed separately.

Let's start with the products I've been using for my foundation and the first one is the YSL Youth Liberator Serum Foundation (£37) in shade B30 Beige. It's a medium to full coverage foundation that has built in anti-aging ingredients to help regeneration of the skin cells. I know I have raved about this in a few other posts and I'm sorry for repeating myself but since it is the foundation I use every day now, it had to be in here. It has a wonderful texture that's easy to blend into your skin, and despite giving fuller coverage it feels light and natural on the skin. The finish has a lovely radiant glow and it's very long lasting without any transfer or smudging. It's a luxury item, but as you know for me it's important to get the foundation right and it's definitely the best foundation I've ever used.

The foundation does give fuller coverage but I still like to use a light concealer as well, and my go-to product is Rimmel's Wake Me Up Concealer(£5.49). The concealer gives great seamless coverage that brightens and illuminates, and it's light enough to work really well under the eyes as well. Just like the foundation it's long lasting and when I use both setting spray and powder I find that I don't need to do any corrections at all until early evening - brilliant for such an affordable product.

Before setting with powder, I'll spray a couple of spritzes of a makeup setting spray and about a month ago I swapped my Urban Decay De-Slick spray for the All Nighter Makeup Setting Spray (£9). The De-slick spray worked well for me, it's just that I don't really have a big issue with oil control and since I'm more into long lasting products, it made sense to try this one too - and I'm so pleased that I did. It's a lovely fine spray without any scent at all that lowers the temperature of the makeup so that it stays in place longer. The spray feels very cooling and refreshing on the skin and even though I still haven't found a setting spray that lasts more than 8 hrs, it does help to keep everything where it should be, minimising any smudging, especially if you also apply a little after you've completely finished your makeup.

I'm a bit late to the party when if comes to Soap & Glory products in general, and it's not until this year that I've tried quite a few from the body care range. Since I was so impressed with the products I've also picked up a few makeup items. The first one is the Soap & Glory One Heck of a Blot (£12) which I got after my Rimmel Stay Matte Powder broke when I was traveling. I was a huge fan of the Rimmel powder and never really thought I would change allegiance to another brand, but having tried One Heck of a Blot there's no going back! It's a lovely, super light translucent mattifying powder that controls any excess oil or shininess, and it leaves the skin looking and feeling ultra soft and matte without any build up. I'll dab a little of it over my nose and cheeks after I've used the Urban Day setting spray and I find that my look will last at least 5-6 hrs before first signs of shininess appear.

When it comes to my eye makeup I've still kept it quite straight forward as usual, but I've swapped my golden, peachy shades for a more muted look. A great example of that is the Bourjois Little Round Pot Eyeshadow in 54 Marron Glace(£6.99). It's a lovely chocolate brown with a tiny bit of shimmer that I've really enjoyed wearing during the day, just applying a light wash all across the lid and then eyeliner. I think it's difficult to find an eyeliner with just the right consistency, but I've been happy with the Rimmel Scandaleyes Thick & Thin Liner (£5.49) in black and since it has a slant to the tip it's easy to use to create either a heavy winged liner, or something a little bit more subtle. The eyeliner is waterproof and long lasting and applies easily without any tugging on the lid. Since I have used this for quite a while now, it is unfortunately beginning to get much drier though and it's more difficult to use for precision application, so I'll probably need to pick up a new one in a few weeks.

The other shade I have used non stop is the Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Metallic Pomegranate (£4.99). To be honest I picked this up already in August but it was just sitting in my make up bag staring it me saying: "When are you going to use me?", since I wasn't confident in the shade and what it would look like on. As soon as I saw that gorgeous rich, shimmery deep vibrant cranberry red shade I knew I just had to have it, but I was struggling a bit with figuring out what to do with it. The formula is creamy, easy to apply, has great staying power without creasing and the red shade is so much easier to wear than you might think. I use this dabbed very lightly all over the lid, or in combination with a taupe color to add shape and depth to the outer part of the lid. I was worried the shade might make my eyes look sore or smaller, but it's absolutely stunning and it brings out my eyes - a great choice for autumn.

On to my most worn mascara, and it's the lovely butterfly effect False Lash Flutter from L'Oréal (£10.99). The mascara lengthens the lashes, volumises and flares the lashes outward with the help of the double winged butterfly brush. It takes a few attempts to figure out how to best work with the brush, and for me I actually apply the mascara from the outer corner and inwards to get a nice coverage of the outer lashes. The effect is beautiful - you'll have looooong silky lashes with an intense color and a lovely angled effect that opens up the eye.   

Left to right (In natural light):

Bourjois Eyeshadow - 54 Marron Glace

Maybelline 24 Hrs Colour Tattoo - Metallic Pomegranate

Left and top to bottom (In artificial light):

HD Brow Blusher - Shade 2

Bourjois Eyeshadow - 54 Marron Glace

Maybelline 24 Hrs Colour Tattoo - Metallic Pomegranate

Soap & Glory Sexy Motherpucker Lip Gloss - Raplumzel

 

Left and top to bottom (In natural light):

HD Brow Blusher - Shade 2

Bourjois Eyeshadow - 54 Marron Glace

Maybelline 24 Hrs Colour Tattoo - Metallic Pomegranate

Soap & Glory Sexy Motherpucker Lip Gloss - Raplumzel

I've also swapped my Collection eye brow pencil to a Rimmel Professional Eye Brow Pencil (£2.99) in Blonde. It does the trick, but I like my eye brow pencils to be soft and easy to work with, so that it doesn't feel as if you're drawing your eyebrows on, and unfortunately the pencil is quite hard and not waxy enough for me, which makes it more difficult to get two sisters. I won't be buying this pencil again and next time I think I might even brave the world of eye brow kits and use a shadow instead. 

For some color on my cheeks I've also swapped my usual coral shade for a softer, dusty pink (Shade 2) from HD Brow Blusher (£17.95) which I actually got in one of the better Glossyboxes. The blusher has a lovely fine texture and is highly pigmented - you only need to dab your brush in the blusher to get incredible pay off. I learned that the hard way, and clown cheeks are never a good look! The muted shade is perfect for the berry shade of colors I've been using lately together with a fairly pale skin, and it gives just the right amount of everyday glamour.

If you read my Chubbimania post, you'll know that I've been all about the chubby sticks this season and out of the new shades I've bought lately, my most loved one is the Soap & Glory Sexy Mother Pucker Gloss Stick (£8) in Raplumzel. It has a lovely subtle vanilla candy scent and it has that wonderful super moisturising formula with quite strong pigmentation that gives such a beautiful creamy finish that lasts a long time and wears well. The gloss stick is enriched with a plumping complex of collagen pre-peptides that gives an instant plumping effect, but without that tingling feeling (they call it the Buzz-free formula, how cute is that...). The shade Raplumzel is a soft wonderful dark raspberry shade, and it's been perfect for me to follow the berry trend but without it being too vampy.

This is the first time I've updated my make up with completely new shades to make it seasonal, and I've actually really enjoyed it. In December I'll make some more smaller changes e.g. I'll be wearing a lot more red lip products - predictable I know, but Christmas is coming after all and I'm already looking forward to introducing new shades again in the Spring time.

The coral edition

 

The colour coral can be described as a pinkish, peachy shade somewhere in between red and orange - that doesn't sound very distinct right? For me what is very distinct though, is the association to summer, sheer femininity, fun and playfulness. This summer I've been wearing coral in almost every way possible - clothes, shoes, jewellery and makeup so I thought I would put together some of my coral favourites for this colour edition.

Benefit is such a fun brand! I love their cheeky humorous packaging and they do come up with some lovely items too. The past few years they have really focused on their range of fragrances creating fun, flirty and affordable smellies. My absolute favourite though is the old classic Maybe Baby (EdT). The name is so cheesy but my goodness is it a delicious fragrance. It is described as a warm and inviting fragrance, which I agree with to some extent, but on me at least it still retains a certain cool crispness to it. It's filled with fruity, delicate and lovely apricots and peaches in combination with white flowers and the softest, gentlest musk that smells exactly like White Musk from Body Shop. This is not a complex fragrance that keeps on developing on your skin, but the simplicity of it and the fantastic clear notes that ooze angelic and playful femininity makes it a real gem!

Another product range that Benefit is famous for is their blushers and bronzers, and Coralista has been a fave of mine for a long time. I've never been very good with lip and cheek tints but when I got the Chachatint as a freebie a while back, this was an opportunity to try something completely new. The reason I'd never tried these multi tasking products is that I'd always thought it would be difficult to work with the liquid, getting it all over the place and blending it etc. But what do you know - I was positively surprised! Anyone can see that the colour is a beautiful mango coral that works perfectly with tanned skin, but I had not expected the tint to be so easy to work with. It's better to take just a tiny bit and build it up if you need to, rather than overdoing it and then having to correct - ruining any foundation, but it's really easy to blend although you have to work quickly before it sets and turns into a surprisingly matte finish. Personally I'm not sure about wearing it on my lips at the same time, but if you're packing light for a holiday trip, then why not.  

I use very little eye makeup in the summer and tend to only use one shade that really emphasizes my blue eyes, and for me a golden, rusty peach or corally orange like MAC Eye shadow in Rule is all I need. I'm fairly new to MAC eye shadows so don't have a lot to compare with, but this one is very pigmented - you barely need to touch it with your brush and therfore you don't need a lot of it. You can either wear it as a very bold and vibrant statement, or blend it well for a matte subtle effect. I'm very impressed with the formula and will get some other colours as well, to play with this autumn. 

One of the best coral shade lipsticks I've ever found is Rimmel Moisture Renewal Lipstick in 600 Soft Coral. The formula apparently consists of different moisturisers and vitamins to really hydrate the lips, giving them a well cared for, plump look. This is all great and it does make the lipstick pleasant to wear and longlasting, but when I bought this it was purely for the colour! It's such a lovely, soft and natural coral that adds radiance to you lips, and it's perfect for a delicate, everyday look. 

Swatches from left to right

Rimmel Moisture Renew Lipstick - 600 Soft Coral

MAC Eyeshadow - Rule

Benefit Chachatint

And off course we could trust good old Barry - the King of Nail polishes to come up with a gorgeous, absolute coral shade for the spring and summer collection of the Gelly Nail Paint (Papaya). By now I probably don't even have to tell you about these fabulous Gelly High Shine colours, but I will anyway.

Barry M Gelly Nail Paint - Papaya

With the gelly paints, there's no need to go to the salon and spend a fortune a gel mani when you can get more or less the same effect at home. These nail paints have an incredible high shine finish and with a lot of the colours you don't need more than one coat. However for the lighter shades like Papaya and Dragon fruit, I would recommend that you use two coats for that deliciously ice creamy opaque and glossy finish. These really are amazing and if you haven't already tried any of the gelly paints, you should put one at the top of your beauty shopping list for August.

As we move into autumn, other colours will dominate the fashion and beauty scene, but I'm so sure that next summer we'll see the return of coral again, I might even bet on it!