Following my last two makeup look posts using Motives cosmetics, I thought I'd post my first instalment of swatches so you guys can see for yourself the quality of the brand.

I received a 46 eyeshadow palette which is not available to buy (yet), but each shadow is available individually. 

eyeshadows with flash

eyeshadows without flash

Below are the swatches line by line starting with the golds (all without primer):

Packaging: The palette is fairly heavy and durable with a clear glass front; nice and handy for a makeup artist or professional who wants to see all the single eyeshadow colours in one go. The glass door snaps shut magnetically and each shadow is in a metal pan which slots into the hole slots in the palette. These hole slots have little magnets inside to hold them in so you don't need to worry about them slipping out, unless you need to replace (or check the eyeshadow name) in which case there is a hole to fit a finger through and simply push out the shadow.

Colour & Pigmentation: As you can see from the above swatches, the pigmentation is generally high in quality. The least pigmented shades were the more matte shades and some glittery shades, where I had to swatch twice to get the best colour. The most pigmented and creamy eyeshadow was Sweet Plum which glided on beautifully and is a gorgeous colour.

Texture: The shimmery shadows are generally creamy in texture; though the matte shades aren't as creamy, they are by no means chalky.
 
Longevity: The shadows hold fairly well without primer, but they don't stain like cheaper shadows do so you know they're good quality. A good primer would hold them for ages!
 
Price: At £12 each they're around the same price as a good quality brand like MAC and Urban Decay and in honesty I'm rarely impressed by eyeshadows these days as nothing compares to my Urban Decay shadows. However! I like that these shadows have good colour payoff and the fact that this palette is so easily accessible, so I think I will be using them a lot more either for me or for clients!

FrootiFactor: Overall I'd give the palette a 5/5 because it's perfect for a makeup artist; the eyeshadows themselves would get a 4-5 (5 for the shimmery shades, 4 for the matte ones), so I'll say 4.5 overall:

And there you have it! Motives cosmetics are available to buy at their online website which is slightly limited compared to the US site due to UK mineral cosmetics restrictions, but most of the products are available here too.
Do let me know if you have any other swatch requests from the brand and if I have the product I'd be more than happy to provide the swatch.

Have you heard of Motives or tried any of their products?
 
 

FFF: Smokey Brown look

As you can see I've been trying more neutral coloured makeup recently, I guess I just wanted to test my new makeup out but I hope you like it anyway; I know this post is a day late but better late than never eh?!

Everything except the eyeliner is by Motives cosmetics which are all listed below:

Eyes: 
> Luxe Creme Shadows in Gold Dust and Brown Sugar
> Pressed eyeshadows in: Onyx, Vino, Chocolight, Hazelnut, Cappuccino, Vanilla, Whipped Cream.
> Gem Dust in Sterling
> Inglot AMC Gel Liner - 77
> Khol eyeliner Angel, Earth and Black
> Lash Primer
> Lustrafy Waterproof mascara (black)  
> Creme Concealer - Amber

> False Eye Lashes - 112

Face: 

> Perfecting Face Primer
> Cream Foundation for Loren - Medium Dark

> Photo Finish Powder - Neutral Medium
> Pressed Blush - Flushed
> Shape & Sculpt Duo

Lips:

> Lip Crayon in Naked

> Motives for La La Mineral Lipstick in Nice & Manhattan

> Motives for Loren Lipstick in Motivated

Instead of the usual primer, I used the Luxe Creme Shadows in Gold Dust on the brow Bone and inner corner of the eye and Brown Sugar on the eyelid.

I started by applying Whipped Cream to the brow bone and inner corner of the eye, then Vanilla underneath the brow bone, sweeping into the inner eye slightly.

I applied Vino to the middle to the end of the eyelid and Chocolight and Cappuccino to the inner eyelid but not on top of the highlight Whipped Cream.

I added Onyx to the outer corner of the eye, blending upwards slightly and Hazelnut just above the crease.

After cleaning up on the outer corner, I added the Inglot gel eyeliner for the top liner and lined the top of the inner eye with Khol eyeliner in Black. The bottom inner eye was lined with Angel Khol liner and smudged so that it wasn't as white as it draws on! I then went underneath the inner eye at the lash line with Earth Khol pencil.

I primed the lashes with the Motives Lash Primer and finished with the Lustrafy Waterproof mascara.

After concealing under the eye with Amber Creme concealer, I applied the 112 False Eyelashes:

For the rest of the face, I primed with the Perfecting Face Primer and used the Cream Foundation Quad by Loren Ridinger in Medium-Dark. I then set the makeup with the Photo Finish Powder in Neutral Medium and used Flushed Blush on the cheeks and the Shape & Sculpt to highlight and contour where needed.

On the lips, I first used Naked Lip Crayon and filled with lipstick in Nice:

I then used a pinky neutral lipstick by Loren Ridinger in Motivated, and then red lipstick by LaLa in Manhattan, here they are side by side:

And there you have it! Which lip do you prefer with this versatile neutral look?

 

FFF: Motives golden brown look

This week has been a great week of post in the blogging world; I was awoken yesterday by a delivery, two fairly large boxes to be specific. I racked my brain thinking if I'd ordered something but I then realised what it could be and was uber excited.

I'd been in contact with Motives cosmetics and they have been posting out amazingly generous care packages to bloggers, makeup artists and Instagrammers but I didn't for one minute think I would receive half as much as these people.

I'd say it took about 45 minutes to an hour to unpack the whole lot (yes there was literally THAT much in the boxes) and I just sat there for about 10 minutes soaking it all in! I didn't know where to start but I knew I needed to try as many things as possible so I could gauge what my favourites would be from the range and to of course create a makeup look.

Everything listed below and on my face for this look is indeed by Motives. I decided to use the golds and browns and add a pop of colour with one of the eye khol pencils and this is the look I came up with:


Eyes: 
> Eye Base
> Pressed eyeshadows in: Whipped Cream, Vanilla, Bronze Beauty, Pink Gold, Cappuccino, Chocolight, Hazelnut, Sweet Plum, Onyx.
> Luxe Precision Eye Line - Jet Black 
> Khol eyeliner in Electric Blue & Onyx 
> Lustrafy Waterproof mascara (black) 

> Liquid Correction Concealer - Medium

Face: 

> Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation - Vanilla Cream

> Photo Finish Powder - Neutral Medium
> Pressed Blush - So Peachy
> Shape & Sculpt Duo

Lips:

> Lip Crayon in Pink Lady

> Motives for La La Mineral Lipstick in Beso, then Naughty

> Motives for La La Mineral Lip Shine in Drama Queen

I started by applying the Eye Base all over the eyes, then highlighted the brow bone and inner corner of the eye with Whipped Cream shadow. I then patted on Bronze Beauty on the eyelid and Pink Gold further along the lid, finishing with Sweet Plum and Hazelnut at the outer corner of the eye. I blended a bit of Hazelnut upwards from the crease, followed by Cappuccino and Chocolight in the crease and Vanilla in between the highlight and the browns above the crease. I went back and added Onyx to darken the crease and outer corner slightly.

I used Luxe Precision to line the top eyelid and extended it quite far up at the outer corner. Onyx Khol eye pencil was used on the top inner eye and Electric Blue Khol for the bottom lash line (blended slightly with a brush).

I then used the Brow brush from Motives on the Onyx Khol pencil to fill in the brows and finished off the eyes with the Lustrafy Waterproof mascara.

For the rest of the face I used the Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation in shade Vanilla Cream all over the face and set it with the Photo Finish Powder in Neutral Medium. I contoured the cheeks with the Shape & Sculpt Duo (which I ADORE) as it highlighted and contoured my skin beautifully. I then added a bit of So Peachy blush to the apples of the cheeks.

The lips were first filled in with Lip Crayon in Pink Lady, then Beso Lipstick was added on top, finishing with the Lip Shine gloss in Drama Queen:

and in Natural light:

I then decided to use another colour on the lips and went for a dramatic deep red (Naughty):

I will be posting swatches of the range I received as and when I can, the range is impressive and I have my favourites already, if you know of the brand and would like to request some swatches or reviews, do let me know below!

Which look do you prefer? Have you tried Motives cosmetics before?

 

Midweek Makeovers

Hello my lovelies!

As you know I've been fairly busy with clients the last couple weeks in the run up to Ramadan (everyone rushes to get married before or after Ramadan!), so I thought I'd do a post showing some of the makeup of clients I actually managed to capture.

Party makeup eyes:

coral smokey look

gold-green look

gold-pink-purple look

gold-maroon smokey look

silver smokey look

I also had a few brides and managed to get a picture of two bride's makeup; one wanted a simple look for her day and the second wanted a classic asian bridal look:

simple glittery asian bridal look

classic red asian bridal look

I also had a few prom bookings in June; proms are getting much bigger as time goes on (my school didn't even have one!) but I loved doing these 16 year olds' makeup.. they're surprisingly mature and it was fun introducing them to makeup that some had never tried before!

antique gold and navy look

silver smokey look with pink lips

smokey gunmetal with red

I'll be adding these pictures (and more) to my facebook page, don't forget to like it and follow me on Instagram too if you'd like to see more of my work and up to date!

Which looks were your favourite?

 

FFF: Electric Blue makeup look

Hi guys!
First of all I want to apologise massively for the lack of posts, I've been feeling uber guilty about it, but I've been so busy it's just been impossible to blog.
But I am back. I have some more free time over the next few weeks so I shall be catching up with reviews and makeup looks amongst other posts so feel free to email or tweet me your requests!

This week the FFF is back (FOTD Frooti Fridays), it's one I did before my holiday to Malaysia in May but has taken forever to upload as I wanted to upload it with the video tutorial.. Hope you enjoy it!

Eyes: 
> UDPP
> NYX JEP in Milk
> UD 15 year anniversary palette - Evidence, Deep End, Junkshow, Blackout 
> UD Deluxe Shadow Box - Peace

> La Femme "Bisque" eyeshadow (matte)

> UD 24/7 eye pencils - Electric, Flipside, Deviant

> Maybelline Falsies Black Drama mascara

> Khuraira ACC in Light   

> UD 24/7 concealer in ATF

> Inglot AMC eyeliner gel - 77 (black)

Face: 

> Makeup Forever HD foundation in N153

> Urban Decay Toasted Bronzer
> Benefit Bella Bamba blush
> MUA Undress Your Skin highlighter

> Ben Nye Banana Powder

Lips:

> UD SSLC in Lovechild

After priming the eyes with UDPP & NYX JEP, I marked out the crease with the RT Detailer/Multi tasker brush and Blackout eyeshadow, creating a tiny flick at the ends and filling it slightly with the shadow.
Using a rounded blender brush, I used Evidence in the triangle filled area and blended inwards slightly; I then blended upwards and inwards with a longer haired blending brush.
Add more Evidence with the fluffy blending blush if needed.
With a flatter eyeshadow brush add Peace eyeshadow (Deluxe Shadow box) to the inner corner of the eyes. Then add Deep End (Anniversary Palette) to the rest of the eyelid with a flat shadow brush.
Next add La Femme eyeshadow in Bisque to the brow bone and blend inwards to the inner corner of the eye. With a long haired fluffy blending brush, add Junkshow (Anniversary palette) just above the navy blue Evidence. With a tapered blending brush, add Blackout (Anniversary palette) in the crease and blend upwards and inwards. Go back in with Bisque on the browbone if needed.
Clean up under the eye and on the outer corner, pulling upwards. With the UD Electric 24/7 pencil, line the inner bottom lashline, a third of the way in, then the middle part with Flipside pencil and lastly with Deviant pencil on the outer bottom lashline. Blend slightly with a multitasker brush.
Perversion eye pencil was used on the inner waterline and Inglot AMC gel eyeliner in black (77) was used to create the extended top liner and bottom wing from the bottom lash line.
Using the same angled liner brush, use the remains of the gel eyeliner to carve the bottom and top eyebrow lines and fill in with the remaining colour or brow powder/matte eyeshadow if needed.
Make sure the under eye area is cleaned before applying concealer; I used Khuraira ACC in Light and finish off the eyes by curling the lashes and applying Maybelline Falsies Black Drama mascara:

For the rest of the face I striped the Urban Decay concealer in ATF where needed and blended with a flat foundation brush, then applied Makeup Forever HD foundation in N153 and blended with a damp beauty blender sponge. I set the under eye concealer with a little Ben Nye Banana powder and applied the Urban Decay Toasted bronzer in the hollows of the cheeks with the RT contour brush. I then added MUA Undress Your Skin highlighter on the top of the cheeks and Benefit Bella Bamba blush on the apples of the cheeks.
Finally for the lips I used UD SSLC in Lovechild:

I then thought I'd try it with a brighter lip and wanted to try my newest purchase - Illamasqua lipstick in Eurydice; here's the two side by side:

Below is the video tutorial, so if you would like to follow step by step, please feel free to show me how yours looked!

Which lip do you prefer with this look? Would you wear this look out?

Travelling Essentials!

As you may or may not know I've recently come back from holiday (Malaysia this time), so I thought I'd share some of my updated travel essentials.

Not a lot has changed since my holiday saviours post back in 2011 (here), I've in fact updated and expanded on these since, as you'll see below.
I've decided to split this post into 2; the first is my personal carry on essentials i.e. allowed on the plane to get you through a journey. The second part includes my makeup essentials for holiday/travelling but of course I take a bit more sometimes depending on whether I'll be dolling myself up for restaurants or not.

Carry on essentials:

Bearing in mind my last flight lasted over 14 hours I found these to be absolute saviours on the plane (and off it too of course!).

1) Elemis Tea Tree S.O.S spray - this is a total all rounder natural antiseptic; from helping insect bites/cuts and grazes, to spots and refreshing and deodorising tired feet, this spray is handy to carry around everywhere let alone just on the plane! Available at department stores or at HQhair & lookfantastic.com for £19.40.

2) Avene Thermal Spring Water - this year I couldn't find a small bottle of the usual Evian spray I usually carry with me in Boots so I picked up this Thermal Spring Water can instead. Another all rounder, but this can be used on the face when it feels tight (all that AC being pumped in the plane tends to dry me out) or handy for carrying in humidity on the beach as a refresher for the face. It's many uses are endless, including toner, soothing sunburn, acne, rashes and razor burn. It also doesn't interfere with makeup and actually helps set makeup! Available from Boots for £3.15 (50ml) or £6.50 for 150ml (not allowed on the plane).

3) Body Cream - I tend to not make use of the deluxe creams I get with perfumes so chose this one on my last trip, but general body creams come in handy for travel; again the aircon tends to dry out the skin so it's always good to carry some sort of moisturiser for hands and feet at least.

4) Dental hygiene products - If you're not lucky enough to be flying business or first class chances are you'll need to carry your own dental hygiene. Rinsing the mouth out with mouthwash or brushing teeth usually helps me feel awake again especially if you're constantly eating/sleeping on the aircraft!
 
5) Concealer kit - This Wild About Beauty concealer has two different shades perfect for finding the right match for your skintone which also contains skin calming and nourishing ingredients and no nasties. Shade "Medium" suits my NC35 skintone best and the bottom also holds a HD translucent setting powder underneath, which can be used to keep shine at bay too if needed. Available at Debenhams and House of Fraser for £19.50.

6) Lip products - Vaseline Lip Therapy (£1.99) is a must as it's another all rounder; I use it around my nose to prevent myself from getting ill from the germs that circulate around the plane (I'm a real germophobe!) as well as conditioning lips/dry areas of the hands/body. I adore carrying Carmex Moisture Plus around to also condition the lips whilst adding a tint of colour. Available at Boots for £4.49.

7) Badger Balm - If you find sleeping above cloud level a chore like me, you'll be needing something to help you along your way so I recommend the Badger Balm which contains Lavender and other essential oils to help clear your mind. Available at feelunique.com for £6.99.

8) Estée Lauder Advanced Night Repair - Dabbing a couple drops of this wonder serum to tight skin instantly hydrates the skin whilst also keeping it smooth. Can also be used over makeup that has been dried out by aircon. Available for £44 for 30ml at all Estée Lauder counters including Boots, Debenhams & House of Fraser, but I carry a trial size on holiday!

Makeup essentials:

These are my absolute essentials for holidays to hotter/humid climates, of course there can be more if absolutely needed but when on holiday I like to wear the absolute bare minimum if poss!

1) Waterproof mascara - whether you wear eyeliner or not, chances are you wear mascara at least to open up your eyes and give volume or length. My personal everyday favourite at the moment is the Kiko Unforgettable waterproof mascara; its curved brush gives a curl to the lashes whilst volumising too and doesn't get everywhere come rain or shine. Available for £7.20 online or in Kiko stores in both Westfields in London.

2) Waterproof eyeliners - I have a vast range and array of colours in the Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner pencils (approx £14 each) so I tend to take a couple of these on holiday with me, but recently I've discovered that Chantecaille have released their 24 hour waterproof liner which also is creamy and long lasting and the bronzed brown shade in Oolong gives just enough definition to the eyes to not be overpowering. Urban Decay pencils are available in Debenhams and House of Fraser stores and Chantecaille liners are available at Liberty, Fenwicks, Space NK and Harrods.

3) Tinted moisturiser - A must for those who don't fancy baring all and want even skintone but without wearing heavy coverage. I like this tinted moisturiser as it gives a decent coverage and has a high SPF of 20. It does oxidise a little so you may need to go a shade lighter than expected. Available from £12.66 at HQhair to £20 at the usual department stores.

4) Concealer kit - see above for description of this Wild About Beauty concealer kit.

5) Urban Decay All Nighter setting spray - if you do decide to wear either powder/mineral, liquid or cream foundations, this setting spray keeps makeup on for up to 16 hours.. perfect for those long days or evenings when you don't want to touch up on makeup.

6) Carmex Moisture Plus - as above, this tinted lipbalm comes in handy before lipstick or by itself for a hint of colour.

7) Urban Decay Razor Sharp Powder - aside from this powder helping skin feel smooth, it also helps keep shiny-ness out of your holiday pictures, with just a puff and buff on. I got this mini size from a Limited Edition box but you can buy the full size for £21 at Debenhams & House of Fraser as well as Lookfantastic & HQhair.

8) Wild About Beauty mattifying balm (£21) is great to use as a primer before applying makeup due to it's slippery nature; although it states it can be used after I find it works much better applying under a tinted moisturiser or foundation, and then topping up with the above Razor Sharp powder if needed. If you're shiny but don't like the drying feeling of powder then this also is the product for you! Available at the Wild About Beauty website and Debenhams and House of Fraser.

So there you have it! Obviously SPF is a major factor in holiday packing, but there are so many brands out there, the highest SPF is always best, 50+ is best if you have really sensitive skin.
These are my most essential saviours for travelling, hope this has helped you consider some products you may not have thought of using on your travels/holiday!

Do you have some holiday must have products you'd recommend? Please feel free to share them with me, I always love to use new things on holiday!