Hey my lovelies!

This weekend I'm off on holiday to Istanbul so I won't be able to post very frequently, but I thought I'd leave with a pretty green makeup look that could be worn to a wedding/party.
Everything except the eyeliner is by Motives cosmetics which are all listed below.

Products used:
Eyes:
> Eye Base
> Pressed eyeshadows in: Onyx, Green Apple, Forbidden, Whipped Cream, Cinnamon Spice, Cappuccino.
> Luminous Pressed Powder in Light/Medium
> Inglot AMC Gel Liner - 77
> Khol eyeliner in Black
> Lustrafy Waterproof mascara (black)  
> Creme Concealer - Amber

> False Eye Lashes - 110

Face: 

> Perfecting Face Primer
> Color Perfection Quad for Lala - Medium

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

Lips:

> Lip Crayon in Naked
> Rich Formula lipstick - Natural & Red Coral

> Motives for La La Mineral Lipstick in Times Square & Naughty

I started by applying the Eye Base all over the eyes, then highlighted the brow bone with Whipped Cream shadow. I then patted on Green Apple on the inner eye and Forbidden further along the lid, finishing with Onyx and Cappuccino at the outer V/corner of the eye. I blended a bit of Cinnamon Spice upwards from the crease, followed by a bit more Onyx in the crease/outer corner. I used the Luminous Pressed powder in Light/Medium above the highlight and to blend in between Cinnamon Spice and Whipped Cream on the browbone.

I lined the top lid with Inglot AMC gel liner in 77 and Onyx Khol eye pencil for the waterline. Using a wet detailer brush, I added Forbidden eyeshadow to the lower lashline too.

I then filled in the brows with what remained on the brush from the AMC gel liner and shaded slightly with Cappuccino. I finished off the eyes by concealing under the eyes and coating the lashes with the Lustrafy Waterproof mascara. I then applied Motives false eyelashes in 110:

For the rest of the face I used the Cream Foundation Color Perfection Quad by Lala in Medium all over the face and set it with the Photo Finish Powder in Neutral Medium. I contoured the cheeks with the Shape & Sculpt Duo (still love and use everyday!) as it highlighted and contoured my skin beautifully. I then added a bit of Lust blush to the apples of the cheeks.

The lips were first filled in with Lip Crayon in Naked, then the Rich Formula lipstick in Natural Lipstick was added on top:

I then used a series of different lip colours to give an idea of what would suit best for an outfit and tried a few variations, starting with Rich Formula lipstick in Red Coral (bright coral red):

Then I tried the Motives for Lala Mineral lipstick in Times Square (bright pink):

And finally a more deeper berry red, Motives for Lala Mineral lipstick in Naughty:

I thought the nude look complimented the darker green eyes best, particularly if you wanted focus to be on the eyes, but also quite liked the deep berry colour (Naughty) for a more Autumnal/Winter look. I do pair green eyeshadow looks with coral or pink lips sometimes but I think this time around I liked the nude and berry lips for a change!

Here's the colours side by side(ish), to get a better idea:

Which lip colour did you prefer with the green eyeshadow look?

 

FFF: Smokey Black & Pink look

A few weeks back I experimented with a makeup look using the Urban Decay Smoked palette and Sleek Acid palette to create a smokey matte black and pink look with a hint of acid green in the inner corner.. this is how it turned out so I hope you like!

Products used:
Eyes: 
> UDPP
> UD Smoked Palette - Blackout, Kinky, Freestyle
> Sleek Acid palette - Neon Pink, Purple, Neon Green, Orange, White and Silver-Grey
> UD Perversion 24/7 eye pencil

> Rimmel ScandalEyes Waterproof Kohl liner - Nude 

> ELF cream eyeliner in Brown

> Maybelline Falsies Black Drama mascara

> Khuraira ACC in Light   

> UD 24/7 concealer in ATF

> NYC Black Liquid liner

> Ardell 120 Demi lashes

Face: 

> Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid foundation 3WN1

> Sleek Face Form in Medium (matte brown shade only)

> UD Naked Flushed Palette

> Ben Nye Banana Powder

Lips:

> UD SSLC in Lovechild

I started by applying a thin layer of UDPP and patted on Blackout eyeshadow to the eyelid. I then applied the Purple (Acid palette) to the crease and the Neon Pink above this, followed by a little of the Orange above this too. Freestyle was used above the Orange and blended upwards. Kinky and a bit of the White was patted on the browbone and blended lightly.

I then patted the Neon Green on the inner corner of the eye with a little bit of the White and Silver-Grey.

NYC liquid eyeliner was used for the top liner and creating a flick at the outer corner of the eye, whilst UD Perversion was used to liner the upper inner eye. Rimmel ScandalEyes Nude Khol eyeliner was used to line the inner corner of the bottom lashline.

I then filled in the brows with ELF cream liner in Brown and an angled brush and then finished off the eyes with Maybelline Falsies mascara and Ardell 120 eyelashes.

The under eyes were concealed with Khuraira ACC and set with Ben Nye Banana Powder.

For the rest of the face I used Estee Lauder Invisible Fluid foundation in 3WN1 and contoured with Sleek Face Form in Medium, then highlighted the cheeks and used the bronzer of the Urban Decay Naked Flushed palette. I set the foundation around the T-zone with Ben Nye Banana Powder.

The lips were filled in with UD SSLC in Lovechild:

 Fuller face picture:

Voila! Hope you enjoyed this look, do let me know if you have any requests!

Would you wear this fairly dramatic smokey makeup look?

 

Midweek Makeovers

Hi my lovelies! I've been busy the last couple weeks with makeup bookings and weddings so I haven't been able to blog too often but following my last post of Midweek Makeovers, I thought I'd post an Arabian/Arabic style makeover I did for my sister in law who volunteered to model for me one day.. she also let me record the tutorial which is below so I hope you enjoy!

It's a lot more easier recording makeup being done on someone else so when I get time I may make it a regular feature on her as she's a good sport too and has great features and skin (mA).

I mainly used the following products:
Urban Decay Naked palette - Virgin and Naked
Urban Decay Fun Palette (2012) - Deep End & Freakshow
Bitchslap cosmetics 42 pc double stacker - Purples and Fuschias
Urban Decay 24/7 eye pencil in Flipside
Rimmel Scandaleyes Khol Kajal Waterproof eyeliner 
NYC Waterproof eye pencil - Smokey Plum
Urban Decay 24/7 eyeliner - Flipside
Urban Decay Heavy Metal Glitter in Covet
Inglot AMC gel liner in 77
Elf cream liner in Brown (brows)
Khuraira Age Control Concealer in Light
Makeup Store Correction concealers
Urban Decay Naked Skin foundation in 2.0
Urban Decay Baked Bronzer in Baked
Illamasqua blush in Hussy
NYX lip liner in Sand Pink
MAC lipstick in Pink Plaid

natural light/no flash

I uploaded the makeup tutorial as I applied it which you can view below:

Hope you enjoyed the video and makeup look, I'll be sure to post reviews and more makeovers in the next few blog posts!

What do you think of this makeup look? Would you wear it?

 

Review: Urban Decay Revolution lipsticks & liners

Hey guys, as you may well know, I'm a huge Urban Decay fan and today I'll be reviewing something I've been uber excited about for a long while: the new Urban Decay lipsticks.

The new lipsticks have been redesigned and reformulated and repackaged.. basically a whole new lipstick, but there are some familiar sounding shades like Revolution, Rush and Jilted.

I was sent two lipstick shades: Anarchy (bright fuschia) and Turn On (rosy pink) and their corresponding 24/7 lip pencils (also relaunched).

24/7 lip pencils

Colour & Pigmentation: As with all the 24/7 range, the pigmentation is gorgeous in both lip pencils. Turn On is a rosy pink shade and Anarchy is a gorgeous bright fuschia with strong blue tones.
Texture: Both lip pencils were creamy enough to go on smoothly but not with too much slip that the pencil would bleed. I found Turn On to be drier than Anarchy when worn alone.
Longevity: When worn alone, these lip pencils can last ages, literally 24/7!
Scent: No particular scent.
Price: At £12 they remain at the same price when many of the other Urban Decay products have gone up in price; I'd definitely pick up a fair few shades before they do inevitably get popular and go up in price!

FrootiFactor: As a fan of all products "24/7" I would give these pencils a 4.5-5 out of 5:

Revolution lipsticks

Colour & Pigmentation: The colours are as described above for the corresponding lipsticks, however I found Turn On lip pencil to be duller than the corresponding lipstick. Pigmentation is insane.. absolutely packed with colour in both of these shades.
Texture: I found the texture to be utterly creamy and buttery even, like the YSL Rouge Volupte lipsticks, but with more pigmentation. Amazing.
Longevity: As these are fairly creamy lipsticks, I'd expect them to wear away pretty fast, however I ate, and wore my Turn On lipstick (with liner underneath) comfortably for around 4-5 hours before I felt it wear away.
Scent: No particular scent
Price: At £15.50 it's a bit more than a MAC lipstick, but less than its quality equivalent YSL Rouge Volupte which is one of my other favourite lipsticks.. And the packaging is sleek and so me (purple) so for £15.50 it is totally justified in my opinion.

FrootiFactor: I love this lippy so much, I give it a 5!

All in all, I'm impressed just as I knew I would be, and can't wait to buy more pencils and lipsticks in the range.. My bank balance will hate me but my lips won't!

Urban Decay Revolution lipsticks are available to buy at Debenhams, House Of Fraser, and John Lewis.

What do you think of these new lipsticks? Have you seen or bought any favourite shades yet?


 

HD Brows brushes

I've recently been trying out a few different brands of brushes (yes other than Urban Decay and Real Techniques!) simply because they are quite limited in their ranges and I wanted to try out a few other brands.

I recently saw that HD Brows (the ever popular brand behind amazing brows) launched their brush range and was interested in trying some of their brushes as I'd heard and seen amazing things about their brow products.

I was sent the following three brushes:

Top to bottom: Precision Eyeliner brush, Contour Brush, Blusher Brush

The Precision Eyeliner brush (£9.95) as the name suggests does have a fine and precise tip, perfect for getting in the inner corners of small eyes (like mine!) or creating flicks. 
The Contour Brush (£14.95) is possibly my favourite of the three as it places bronzer/contouring shades perfectly with its angled edge, but with a softer finish for those that don't like obvious contouring.
And finally the Blusher Brush (£14.95) which adds colour perfectly to the apples of particularly smaller cheeks like mine!

The brushes are fairly soft and the packaging is sleek and feels durable too. I did find that the hair of the Blusher and Contour brushes shed ever so slightly, but other than this I found them decent to use, applying makeup just as I want.

The brushes are available to buy from the Nouveau Beauty website.

Have you tried any products from HD Brows? Which are your favourite brushes?

 

Sunday Swatches: Motives Cosmetics Eyeshadows

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?