Hello my lovelies!

I'll be back to doing my regular FFF's and FOTDs very soon, just been a tad busy lately! Since Ramadan has been over I've been busy with loads of weddings and have come home absolutely knackered from some of them, so have been unable to blog too (booo!)

I thought I'd share a few of the looks from two of the bookings to give some inspiration for outfits/wedding looks or if you just want to have a look at different looks to what I've already done.

#1 - Bridesmaids party makeup

Bridesmaid 1:
Royal blue and hot pink outfit with antique gold threadwork.

Bridesmaid 2:
The ever popular dress colour combination of purple and green but with red too. Threadwork was gold and silver.

#2 - Bride S

Bride S required two days of makeup and hair, the first day being the traditional red Indian outfit and the next day in a blue & green outfit. She didn't want very heavy makeup at all particularly for the red outfit day, so I did a subtle gold to red with a bit of brown in the crease and made sure the lashes gave maximum impact!
My cousin Farah - who does the hair in our team - did curls to the side for the first day and a nice huge bun with plait for the second day. She did also do the mehndi (henna) for the bride, pictures will be uploaded soon to our Safrah facebook page!
I personally preferred Day 2 as there was more colour involved (obviously!) and I have a thing for great big buns!
Day 1: 

outfit and hair style (curls to the side)

Day 2:

eye makeup for day 2

the rest of the face for day 2

outfit for day 2

lovely huge bun!

I wish I could show all the looks I've done recently but I don't always get the time to take pictures unfortunately, particularly when there's a big group booking and everyone's in a rush to get ready!

Be sure to join my facebook page Frootibeauty and our joint Safrah Beauty page for even more pictures including hair and mehndi/henna.

Which looks did you like best? Hope you've enjoyed the looks as much as I did creating them!


 

Review: Abi-O shimmer tan boost [w/b 10th Sept]

I was recently approached by Epiphannie and LaaLaa to join a tan project for Women Of Colour (TFWOC) and happily agreed as I do feel that certain parts of my body don't see enough sunlight and are therefore more lighter than my face or hands! I also quite like that "just back from holiday"/sunkissed look on my arms etc. 
A lot of people may be thinking: why is she tanning for, she's already got colour! But as I said I like the sunkissed look and really am against the usual ethnic stereotype of "whiter is better". I'd like to make a stand against these old stereotypes and I actually think I look healthier (and slimmer) with a tan and feel a lot prettier!

The first product I've been sent is the Shimmer Tan Boost from Abi-O of Beaubronz; I thought I'd test the product on one arm only and let it settle for a bit to see the difference between the two arms (don't worry I even it out after!)

what the product looks like straight from the bottle

So here's the difference between the two arms after a couple hours:

top: bare arm, bottom: Shimmer Tan Boost arm!

As you can see, there's only a hint of colour difference between the two arms but the shimmer is totally there.
I'd use this product on the body for a bit of shimmer and maybe the shoulders too, however not on the face at all unless you want to resemble a disco ball!

Packaging: I quite like the dinky little bottle (which is only trial size 50ml) and like the gold labelling; gives it a luxurious feel.
Finish: Golden shimmer.
Texture: The product is a golden mousse-y cream like texture.
Key Ingredients/Facts: Abi-O generally do paraben and cruelty free products (woop!) and in this particular product natural and organic ingredients are used. Key ingredients in the Shimmer Tan Boost include: BIO Active Aloe, 2.5% Ecocert DHA (the tanning agent) and shimmer mica.
Application: After the usual routine of exfoliating, shaving and moisturising before applying a tanning product (a must if you're to get a perfect self tan result!), Abi-O Shimmer Tan Boost can be applied in even circular motions on the body with hands or a velvet tanning mitt. If using hands, always wash straight after (unless you want orange palms!)

Smell: The Shimmer Tan boost has no particular smell when first pumped, however after about 5 minutes or so, a not so pleasant potato-ey smell emits from the body; not nice! It was quite pungent and made me feel totally paranoid about the smell whilst wearing it!

Who this would be perfect for: As the Shimmer Tan Boost only contains 2.5% DHA, it's perfect for tanned, brown or black skin. There's barely any visible difference in colour between the two arms above which wasn't enough for me, however for darker skin tones I think this product would be great for a bit of shimmer.

FrootiFactor: I quite like this product; from the packaging to the shimmer, however I think the smell put me off wanting to try it again; I've used St Tropez before and the smell is a bit more warmer (my husband describes it as "biscuit-y") but this tanning product only smelled of potatoes to me! I think this is probably because it does contain natural and organic ingredients and one thing I've noticed about organic products is they mostly smell quite bad. For this reason, it loses a full 2 FrootiFactors as I am very into nice smelling products, but for those who prioritise ingredients, this would be a great alternative.

The Abi-O Shimmer Tan Boost can be bought in both 50ml trial size (£8) and 200ml full size for £26 from the BeauBronz website.
So this is my first instalment of TFWOC reviews, I'll try to post my progress with the different brands I've been sent and let you know my thoughts!
Make sure you follow the other girls' reviews on this project too:

  Annie Epiphannie

LaaLaa Dolce Vanity

Sophia Tattooed Tea Lady

Tass Une Tasse

Grace All That Slap

Hafsa Muslimah Beauty

Yinka Vex In The City

Stephanie Nerd About Town

Dija Dija's World

Lola LolaStar Heart

What do you think of tanning products for ethnic skintypes? Do you agree with me in thinking tanned/sunkissed skin looks healthier? I'd love to hear your thoughts below!

Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation review

Since the launch of the new Urban Decay Fall products I've been most excited about the new Naked Skin foundation out of them all; when I worked for Urban Decay I found their foundation range lacking something as their cream to powder didn't suit every skin type and their tinted moisturisers oxidised (so even the lightest shade was too dark for the palest of skins). The only foundation I really liked best on everyone was the Surreal Skin Mineral foundation but even so, Urban Decay had to bring out a liquid foundation as their range was lacking in that department.

Illamasqua Generation Q swatches & review

Last week a surprise package in a very familiar black box arrived making my heart skip with excitement. Of course it signified the arrival of the new Illamasqua Generation Q collection which I had been lucky enough to attend the launch of back in June (you can read about that and see swatches here!)

I came back from the launch super excited about this new collection; not only does it come with another positive message (no age limits in beauty) but the collection on first glance had a lot of purple in it; and for those of you who know me by now, I love purple.

On to the products then!
I received the powder blush in Sophie, lipgloss in Opulent and nail varnish in Charisma:

Powder blush in Sophie

At the launch the Sophie blush struck me as less pigmented than Allure, however this blush I received is super pigmented; after swatching I went to apply some with my brush and ended up with too much on my cheek, so a word of warning: go light handed with these blushes!

Colour & Pigmentation: Sophie is a coral-pink with golden shimmer and I love it. With flash you see the pink more, however without flash it's a more coral tone. Pigmentation-wise, its super pigmented!
Texture: Powder.
Longevity: Being a powder blush, I find they last a lot longer than creme/liquid forms.
Price: At £18 it's about the same price as a MAC blush, however with Illamasqua you know you're getting consistently great pigmentation and longevity, so it's worth it.. plus Sophie is so pretty!

FrootiFactor: All in all, I'd give Sophie a 5 out of 5 as I can't fault it!

Intense lipgloss in Opulent

with flash

without flash

This lipgloss is such an unusual but lovely colour; it should pretty much suit every skintone and I love that it looks different from every angle! You can see in the swatch above how many different colours show.
Colour & Pigmentation: Opulent lipgloss is described as a "rainbow beige". To my eyes I can see quite a bit of lilac tones to it too (which of course I love). Pigmentation-wise it's quite opaque, no more than two coats is needed if you wanted to wear the gloss fully opaque, but I prefer wearing it a bit more sheer.
Texture: I found it just ever so slightly sticky, which I'm not usually a fan of, however it is less stickier than other brands that claim to be non sticky!
Longevity: Glosses that are stickier tend to last longer and with Opulent there's no strong colour to stain the lips so I think longevity would be 3-4 hours max.
Price: Both lipglosses are £14 each which isn't too pricey for an intense colour gloss from a high end brand! With Opulent, you know you won't find the exact same colour anywhere else either ;)

FrootiFactor: I'd give the gloss a 4 out of 5 losing a full point purely because of stickiness and longevity:

Nail Varnish in Charisma

Charisma was probably my favourite out of the two polishes as it's more wearable and a slight shade of purple. I do quite like Creator as it's a magical black with gorgeous micro glitter in it, but I'd only wear it going out or to match an outfit I think.

Colour & Pigmentation: Charisma is a deep metallic raspberry pink/purple that is slightly two-tone. It's fairly pigmented, one coat being pretty much opaque, two coats needed max.
Longevity: I haven't yet tried the polish for over a couple hours since the swatch at the launch (here) but Illamasqua polishes tend to be fairly chip resistant and long lasting so I'd expect no less from this collection too.
Price: At £13.50 it's not cheap but both polishes are a beautiful colour, just looking at the swatches by Fashion Polish makes me crave Creator too!

FrootiFactor: I'd give this polish a 4 as it does what it says on the tin!

The full range (below) will be available from the 6th September, however if you have any favourites that you'd like to buy before the release date, then you can get tweeting, pinning or liking and the 3 most voted products will be released on the 28th August!

Which are your favourites from this range? Will you be voting to get your most wanted product earlier?

 

1000 follower contest!

Hi dolls, apologies for the lack of posts lately I've been ever so busy but should be back on track very soon!
For those of you looking for inspirational looks for weddings and occasions or to match an outfit, please feel free to browse my makeup looks album here (all with links back to here with written tutorials!) or by clicking on the blogger label makeup looks. I find that looking through makeup looks is much easier through my Facebook page rather than with blogger.

As you may or may not have seen, I've finally reached my 1000 GFC followers and now also on my Facebook page too, so I've been putting together a few goodies and decided to hold a competition for those who would like the chance to win some of my favourite products; the products in this competition are enough makeup to do a full makeup look!

Here's a list of all the products up for grabs: 

> Urban Decay Midnight Emergency Kit (Limited Edition) with eyeshadows: Midnight Cowboy, Midnight Rodeo, Midnight 15 and AC/DC, full size lip junkie in Midnight Cowboy and eyeshadow brush 
> Illamasqua full size Powder Eyeshadow in Inception  
> Urban Decay trial size original Eyeshadow Primer Potion (UDPP) 
> Urban Decay trial size 24/7 eye pencil in Zero 
> Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation samples   
> Benefit trial size Bad Gal Lash mascara 

> Clinique trial size Moisture Surge Thirsty Skin Relief 

> Clinique trial size Blush in Sunset Glow 

> Clinique Lipstick in Rosette 

> We Are Faux eyelashes in Roux Sixteen 

> Violent Lips Temporary Lip Tattoos in Pink Leopard Print

> MUA Great Lips Lip Balm from the Love Hearts collection 

> MUA Nail Varnish in Shade 6 

> Miniature Marc Jacobs Daisy fragrance and other fragrance samples

 
RULES:

• To win, create or send a makeup look of your choice; I love seeing creativity and particularly love anything sparkly or purple! 
• Entries MUST be created by yourself, I will check that you created it!
• You can submit entries via email to enter@frootibeauty.co.uk 
• Please make sure you are a follower of my blog, this contest is only for Frootibeauty followers. 
• You can enter as many times as you like, but can only win once. 
• Please try and submit at least 2 photos, one closeup of the eye and one of the overall look. 
• This contest is open internationally so anyone can enter.
• This competition ends on the 21st of September 2012 at 11.59pm GMT.
• I will publish the winner on my blog once I have chosen my favourite look.

I hope to see some great creative looks; I'm not looking for perfection so have lots of fun!

GOOD LUCK!

 

FFF: Green-Turquoise makeup look

Hi my lovelies, this weeks FFF is a green and turquoise look using the Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows (number 3) as I haven't used it in a while and thought I'd make use of it again! 

Products used

Eyes:

> UDPP

> NYX JEP in Milk

> Urban Decay NYC Book of Shadows: Maui Wowie, Kush, Loaded

> La Femme eyeshadow: Irid White

> Sleek Au Naturel palette - Bark & Noir

> MAC fluidline in Blacktrack

> UD 24/7 eye pencil in Electric

> Daniel Sandler Jumbo Jet mascara

> Khuraira ACC in Light

> MAC Studio Finish concealer - NC35

Face:

> UD Naked Skin foundation 6.0

> UD Razorsharp powder

> UD Baked Bronzer in Toasted

Lips:

> UD Super Saturated Lip Color (SSLC) in Crush

After priming the eye with UDPP & NYX JEP in Milk I applied Maui Wowie (glittery golden-green) to the inner corner, followed by Kush (green) to the rest of the eyelid. Loaded (dark green) was used on the outer corner and crease, blending inwards slightly at the crease. La Femme Irid White was used on the brow bone and blended down into Loaded.

After cleaning up the outer corner with a cotton wool bud, MAC Fluidline was used for the top liner and inner eye followed by UD Electric liner on the lower lashline.

Sleek Bark & Noir eyeshadows were used to fill the brows and after concealing under the eyes Daniel Sandler Jumbo Jet mascara was worked into the lashes:

For the rest of the face I used the new UD Naked Skin sample I received at a counter in shade 6.0 and set it with the UD Razorsharp powder. I then added colour to the cheeks and face with UD Baked Bronzer in Toasted and used a bright pink on the lips (UD Crush SSLC):

I hope you liked this look; please feel free to request any makeup looks you'd like done by either commenting below, emailing, tweeting or writing on my facebook page!

Also, do let me know if you'd like a review of the new Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation used in this makeup look. 

Stay beautiful <3