Summer skin and outfit post

Since my holiday (yes, I will shut up about it soon, promise!) My skin has been really smooth and the blemishes have gone down. I've got used to wearing very little makeup at all now. I wanted to take a picture to show what it looks like and what products I've used for this summery look. This picture was taken just now, so some of the makeup has come off. Sorry about my lazyness!

Face: Body Shop tinted moisturiser all over

Bourjois blush pot in 33 Lilas D'or

Prestige minerals bronzer as a contour (not that you can see any of this in the picture!)

YSL Touche Eclait as a highlighter around eyes

Estee Lauder eyeshadow quad in 02 Amber Honey

Rimmel soft kohl eye liner in 071 pure white

ELF liquid liner in brown

2 coats of Benefit Bad Gal mascara (free from Glamour mag, very nice actually!)

Lips: Carmex lip balm!

Also, that's my new pashmina from a crazy man on a stall in Turkey. I love the colours, and I literally haven't taken it off since I've returned home. Ew!

Oh this is another picture I took earlier in the day. I didn't want to put it up for obvious reasons that I look hideous, and am in a very dodgy (or rather, doggy haha) position crouching over the mess in my room trying to get to the mirror. But you can see my face a bit better...

As for outfits, I HATE asking people to take pictures of me, it is very embarrassing. Also, I try to refrain from taking mirror pictures as I think they look a bit tacky. However, I have managed to salvage one from my holiday. It's not my favourite, but it'll do.

Top: Random boutique in East London, wedges: New Look (very old), shorts: Topshop, clutch: Shellys, London.

Feel free to tell me what you think?! If anyone has any tips on how to take good outfit pots or anything, please let me know! I need your help!

2faced

Hurrrahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

I've just finished my degree. Three years of hard work will hopefully pay off, will have to wait and see in a few months!  Anyway, this means I can start blogging again as I pretty much have nothing to do with my time now, yey! (Is this yey?!) 

I've been spending a lot more time on my make-up recently, trying to establish a few different looks, instead of always wearing browns and neutral shades. Anyway, here's two from the past few days: 

Look 1

Please excuse my extremely dodgy expression, I haven't yet found the right pose that doesn't make me look either pissed off, or over excited!

Anyway, this was a simple look because I was only going shopping. I had some cute vintage earrings shaped like peacocks (I think!) and I wanted to match my makeup to the metallic blue and pink colours on them. 

On my face I just used Maxfactor's colour adapt foundation (feels like silk and gives the most perfect light coverage), Bodyshop blush effect cheek colour, YSL Touche Eclait radiant touch, Victoria Jackson eyeshadow pallet, BarryM dazzle dust (I don't know the name but it was light blue!) Rimmel eyeliner pencil in 'azure shimmer', two coats of Number7 extreme length mascara, and Rimmel volume booster lipstick in 'foxy'.

Look 2

This is very similar (I didn't have time to try new things, had to hand my bleedin' dissertation in!) Instead of the blue colours I used POP's eye cake in 'violet eyes'. mixed with Bodyshop shimmer cubes on the brow bone.

What do you think? 

Freeebies

I realise I have been posting like crazy the past few days, but I can't help it, I'm hooked!

I've been given another bundle of freebies and testers to try out today. It's another one of those great days where things just fall into place nicely, and people do lovely things for you. Yey!

Thanks to Holly and Helen, and various make-up companies, I am now the proud owner/tester of all these:

Lots of lovely makeup

And that's just about a quarter of it! There is so much, I'm not sure where to put it all. These two are my favorites :)

Estee Lauder signature eyeshadow quad

Body Shop shimmer cubes

So, more make-up means more makeovers, if anyone is interested in getting a new look with the help of lots of lovely make-up, please get in touch either by leaving me comments, or following links on my Contact Me page.

Mineral makeup

My Lily Lolo mineral foundation arrived this morning, a little late after posting it to the wrong address, then having a small feud with Mr. Postman. Still, better late than never!

For the benefit of any mineral makeup novices (like myself), they are different to liquid foundations because they contain naturally occurring minerals Titanium and Zinc Oxide, which are lighter on the pores, and have a sun protection factor of 15. The foundation comes as a powder that you apply to your face with a brush using circular motions, or 'buffing', until the desired amount is applied.

I was advised to try out mineral makeup by a friend, when I told her my skin was often blotchy and quite red. My gorgeous Lily Lolo pot has not let me down so far. I tried it this morning, and although the application was quite tricky to master without a proper buffing brush, the end result was perfect. My blemishes had gone, my whole face felt soft and smooth, and most importantly, I didn't look like I was wearing too much makeup. I bought it in 'Blondie', which is quite pale but can be livened up with a light bronzer, like the Body Shop's all over cheek shimmer.

Here's a picture of the end result:

I used the Lily Lolo foundation all over, followed by Body Shop's all over cheek shimmer, and YSL Touche Eclat under my eyes. For my eyes I used a little L'Oreal colour appeal trio, brown eye brow pencil and eye liner. I finished with Rimmel's lip plumping lipstick in 'Foxy'. I wanted a subtle look as I was only going to the newsroom to do work!

What do you think? Could you be converted to mineral makeup?