This week I have another Tuesday Takeover reviewing the new Clinique Beyond Perfecting Concealer and this time it's by the lovely Samina Arshad of Pretty Little Statement who I found on Instagram. 

Samina used to work for Clinique so I thought she'd be perfect to review this with her background knowledge of the brand too, read on to see what she thinks!

Saturday Skincare: Ramadan 2018 Skincare - Clinique Moisture Surge

Ramadan is once again here and this year I was ever so kindly sent the most thoughtful PR package I've probably ever received from none other than Clinique.
If you guys remember my "Thirsty Skin" blog post last year in Ramadan, you'd remember me writing about a host of ideas for dehydrated skin, which is very common for those of us fasting as we are of course not eating or drinking water for up to 18 hours+ here in the UK.
This year, Clinique sent out care packages of their Moisture Surge skincare range to a couple Muslim bloggers and I was pretty touched, as even to this day, many brands and non-Muslims in general still don't know that we don't drink water in daylight hours!
Most brands have at least one product or skincare ranges for dry/dehydrated skin (as you probably saw in my blog post last year), but the fact Clinique were so thoughtful about sending their hydrating range this year to Muslim bloggers, it really spurred me on to write this post and of course explain the MS range which I was familiar with but didn't realise included this many products.
It's only been about a week and a half of trying these but read on to check out the Moisture Surge products sent and what I think so far!

Glittery Fishnet look

Sorry I've been busy of late, Saturday at work was manic! Guess everyone's doing their Christmas shopping, but either way I was almost driven mental! I finally found the time to blog though, so here goes!

Here's a look I did using the Red Herring glitter creams and my favourite eyeshadow - UD Fishnet.

Products used:

> Bare Minerals foundation in "medium beige"
> UDPP
> Clinique "sugar sugar" eyeshadow (not in pic)
> UD "fishnet" eyeshadow
> MAC VV "she who dares" eyeshadow - midnight blue bit
> UD Ink for Eyes in "zero"
> Red Herring glitter palette
> Dior Show in black
> MAC moisturecover concealer in "213"
> Illamasqua blusher in "hussy"
> NYX diamond sparkle lipstick in "sparkling orchid"

After applying Bare Minerals foundation all over the face, I applied Clinique Sugar Sugar eyeshadow to the inner corners of the eyes and under the brows (notice the new shape?? Let me know what you think!) I then used UD Fishnet on the middle of the eyelids followed by the blue part of MAC VV She Who Dares eyeshadow on the outer corners of the eyelids, blending all three together. I then used the purple shade of glitters (as pointed in the above pic) for the lower lashline, taking it out in a flick upwards. I then used Fishnet on top of the glitter cream to give some more colour. As for the liner, I used UD ink for eyes in Zero for the top liner and also used it on the lower waterline and used the smudger to blend the black and not make it so harsh. I then used Dior Show mascara on the top and bottom lashes.

For the cheeks I decided to use the Illamasqua Hussy blush as its pinky and pink & purple are my favourite colours together! For the lips I used NYX Sparkling Orchid and Voila!

 

Hope you like!

<3

FOTD

So here's my first Face Of The Day:

These are gonna be quick blogs for me, mainly ones where I just briefly show the makeup and tell you what I used.

I was wearing a purple-blue top, so I decided to use:

> Elf primer

> Clinique "sugar sugar" eyeshadow

> UD BOS II - "ecstasy"

> UD "goddess" eyeshadow

> UD 24/7 eyeliner in "zero"

> Dior Iconic mascara

> myface.cosmetics concealer in "213"

> Clinique "almond blossom" bronzer

> UD Lip Envy in "envious"

I applied Clinique's sugar sugar to the inner corner of the eye and on the brow bone, followed by UD ecstasy in the middle of the eyelid and UD goddess in the outer corner, blending with a brush.

I then lined the top eyelid with UD zero, and used a liner brush to slightly line the bottom lashline. I then used concealer, followed by Dior Iconic mascara to finish the eye. I then used a bit of Clinique almond blossom bronzer, stained my lips with UD Lip Envy, et voila!

<3

Prince of Persia.. Princess Tamina look

I've been a tad busy the last two days, so haven't had the chance to blog, but after watching Prince of Persia the other night, I've been thinking to do the Princess Tamina/ egyptian style makeup look.
Here's what it looks like in the film when she's first introduced (sorry about the quality, there's barely any pictures of this makeup look on the internet!):

 

So I finally got the chance to do it, and here's what I used:

> Elf eyeshadow primer
> UD Deluxe Shadow Box - "honey" & "underground"
> UD Eyeshadow Transforming Potion 
> UD 24/7 eyeliner in "zero"
> MO black kohl eyeliner
> Maybelline black eye definer
> Dior iconic mascara
> UD Surreal Skin concealer in "hallucination"
> myface.cosmetics concealer in "213"
> Clinique bronzer in "almond blossom" & blusher in "sunset glow"
> Elf luscious liquid lipstick in "maple sugar"


To start, I used Elf primer (thought I'd give it another go and blend in well this time!), then I added UD honey eyeshadow using the UD eyeshadow transforming potion (ETP). The ETP basically makes a powder shadow into liquid shadow, making it more shiny, which is what I was looking for as the Princess Tamina look is very shiny/metallic. I lined the bottom lashline with honey eyeshadow also using the ETP. I then blended UD underground into the crease of the eyes with the MO blending brush, but not too much as the gold is the main focus. To line the eye, UD zero eyeliner was used, along with MO black kohl eyeliner, and then Maybelline eye definer on top, for a more intense black (as the gold shadow can glitter down the liner). A larger flick was done on the top eyeliner compared to the smaller flick on the bottom lash line. More honey eyeshadow was added in between the two eyeliner flicks, and a diamante was stuck in place there too.
 

After applying concealer and Dior mascara, Clinique almond blossom bronzer was used under the cheek bones for definition, and a little sunset glow blush on the apples of the cheeks.

Finally, Elf lipstick in maple sugar was added for more neutral lips, which is a minty lipstick, with more of a lipgloss texture (a little sticky).

Now to think of what to do next!


<3

Jessica Alba look

Ok Jessica Alba is undoubtedly one of the hottest celebrities, and is my favourite. What I love most about her is the fact she wears very subtle makeup like eyeliner and mascara and still looks great.

When trying to find a picture of her wearing visible makeup, it was pretty hard!

But I managed to find one of her wearing fairly dramatic makeup, so I decided to try it out. Here's the look:

It looks quite 60s to me, Twiggy comes to mind, just less dramatic eyeliner. I don't usually like using very dark colours in the crease of the eyes because it can give the impression of a panda, but I attempted the look and it didn't look too bad! I didn't have the exact matt minty/pastel blue as used with JA, but I found a cool blue (shattered) with tones of green-gold from my first Book of Shadows, and mixed it with the Models Own (MO) "white pearl".


Here's what I used for the look:

> UD Primer Potion (UDPP)
> UD Book of Shadows I - "shattered" and "perversion"
> MO "white pearl"
> Barry M "30" or "white"
> MO black kohl eyeliner
> Eyelash curlers
> Dior Iconic mascara
> UD Surreal Skin concealer in "hallucination"
> myface.cosmetics concealer in "213"
> Clinique "sunset glow" blush & "almond blossom" bronzer
> Elf lip gloss in "honey"


First I used the MO eyeshadow shading brush to apply MO white pearl to under the eyebrow/brow bone. I then put "shattered" all over the eye, from the eyelid to the brow bone, going over the white shadow. I then used the MO angled/liner brush to add a line of perversion to the crease of the eye, blending very slightly, then more so with the MO blending brush, adding very lightly some more perversion to try and achieve the desired look. I made sure I was careful to try and not add too much black because of the aforementioned panda eye scenario, and also from the side view of the Jessica Alba pic, the black isn't very visible.

I then used the Barry M white eyeliner on the lower water line, and a little of the MO white pearl on the lower lashline, using the MO angled brush. I then lined the top eyelid with MO black kohl eyeliner and then curled the lashes with the new Elf eyelash curlers I bought, followed by Dior Iconic mascara on top and especially bottom lashes (using zigzag motions).
After applying the two concealers under the eye, I used both of Clinique's blush and bronzer, applying the sunset blush to the apples of the cheeks, and the bronzer to the tops of cheeks, to give a slight shimmer.

Finally I used Elf lipgloss in honey for a nude-ey golden touch à la Jessica Alba and this lipgloss smells and tastes like sugar!
Et...

Voila!

 

 















I actually think the look ended up looking more Kim Kardashian than Jessica Alba, but they look similar to me anyway and both are certified hotties, so can't be all that bad!

<3

Eid look

Ok, so I've been busy the last couple days, as it's been coming to the end of Ramadan, and had Eid shopping to do...

Of course I managed to pick up some more makeup for myself, I needed a new concealer, as my old favourite (Clinique's line smoothing concealer in medium honey) is now discontinued. To date I still haven't found the perfect concealer (including the MAC one I use!), nothing seems to hold and seem a good a shade as the Clinique one *sigh*. 

Anyway, I bought Urban Decay's liquid concealer in hallucination..quite light for my skin but I can blend it or use it underneath another concealer I bought from the brand "myface.cosmetics" (click here for site). I've never heard of the brand, but when I came across it in Boots, the Asian lady's face stood out to me, so I thought I'd have a look at concealers and..found one pretty similar to my Clinique one. Even the bottle is pretty much the same! (clear tube with silver wand lid).

I've used it for the look I've tried below. I wore purple, which has diamantes in it, and a couple pink & purple coloured gems with beige/gold threadwork... 

My Clinique small palette I got in a Bonus Time a while ago would do the job just fine alone, but I decided to vamp up the purple and use my "psychedelic sister" from the new UD NYC palette, as well as the 24/7 eyeliners - ransom and zero.

The products I used for this look were:

> Clinique colour surge eyeshadow duo in "beach plum"
> UD NYC - "psychedelic sister"
> 24/7 eyeliners in zero and ransom
> myface.cosmetics concealer in 213
> Diorshow mascara
> Clinique bronzer in "almond blossom"
> Sleek "pink cadillac" pout polish

First I applied the Clinique creamy-beige eyeshadow from the small "beach plum" palette to the full eyelid as well as under the eyebrow, adding the "plum" purple of the two to the outer lid and crease, to just under the eyebrow where the cream shadow is. I used the MO blending brush to add the UD "psychedelic sister" to the crease, blending it all for a less harsher finish.
I then lined the bottom lash line with "ransom" 24/7 eyeliner, followed by "zero" on the top eyelid and bottom waterline.

Finally I the Clinique almond blossom on cheeks and forehead and chin. Although great colours, this version of almond blossom gave my skin a shine to it that I wasn't really looking for, but here's what the end product looked like:

I'll be sharing my Paris find(s) with you in the next blog post :D

<3