#OOTD

Yesterday I had college and I also had an informal interview. I wouldn't have time to change between the two so it was important to keep my outfit simple for college but yet appropriate for an interview. 

The red tartan dress I wore is from TK Maxx. I bought it there just after Christmas. I think it cost around €16.99. I bought the navy coat with the black fur detail on the collar in H&M in the Crescent Shopping centre in Limerick just two weeks ago. It was in the Sale and it cost just €20. It's really stylish and warm at the same time. Although we are coming into the Spring/Summer Season it will most likely be cold in Ireland for another few months so it's not too late to invest in a coat. 

My snood is from Penneys, although they may be out of stock by now. I bought it before christmas and it cost around €5. I love mustard and I think it's really flattering on every skin tone. 

My black boots I have already featured in an #OOTD post. They are from New Look and cost €44.99. I really love them because they are so pretty. They are a lot higher than they look though and can be super hard to walk in. They are also a little uncomfortable, not enough to stop me wearing them though. No pain no gain right? 

Yesterday my look was quite Wintery so I wanted to stick with it and wear a berry lip. In order to pull that off I needed to keep the rest of my face simple. I used Smashbox Liquid Halo HD Foundation in 1 as a base and used Smashbox High Definition Concealer in Fair/Light to hide my dark circles. I'm having a slight breakout on my chin at the moment so I used No.7 Stay Perfect Blemish Cover in Medium to cover that up. To set my base I used my Rimmel Stay Matte Pressed Powder in Peach Glow, because I was leaving the house at 8am and not coming back until close to 7pm, and I don't really like fixing my makeup in college. On my eyes I used the highlighter from my Sleek Face Contour Kit in Light  up as far as my brow bone. I then layered Sin from Urban Decay's Naked Palette all over my eyelid. I used Buck from the same palette to contour along the crease. I highlighted my tear duct and the very outer corner of my eye with Virgin from the same palette to open my eye. I just used Rimmel Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves mascara on my lashes and filled in my brows using L'Oréal Superliner Brow Artist in Blonde. I used a dusting of the bronzer from my Sleek Face Contour Kit to contour my cheekbones and Bourjois Blush in 95 Jasper Rose to add a little bit of colour to my cheeks. I lined my lips with my No.7 Precision Lips Pencil in fire and then filled them in using Collection Gothic Glam Lipstick in 2 Scorned. To make the colour last I covered that in Barry M Lip Laquer Crayon in 2. 

LFW Makeup Trends

Last week at London Fashion Week we said goodbye to some of our old reliables and said hello to some new, unique beauty trends for AW/14. Although the fashion world may be having a better time of it I am still waiting for the Summer here in Ireland so I've taken the time to pick out some of the key trends for SS/14. 

Some of the stronger trends such as the cat-eye flick and the metallic colour pallette are still hanging around though to ring in the summer.

A really prominent trend at LFW was the power lip, ranging from pastel colours and bright pops of orange to the light berry lip we saw gracing the runway during the Charles Anastase show.

I love a dark lip in the Winter season but I'm not sure about how well this will fare during the transition into Summer months. Maybe this trend will be wearable in Ireland where it is cold enough year around to make cheeks flushed and lips red, but somehow I think those of us holidaying in warmer climates won't be sporting the berry lip on the promenade. 

A much more wearable trend is the orange lip seen at the DKNY show. Orange lips are surprisingly flattering on almost every skin tone. Makeup Artist, Charlotte Willer used affordable high-street brand Maybelline to create the look. She mixed Maybelline Colour Sensational Vivids Lipstick in Electric Orange and Neon Red. 

The trick when choosing an orange lipstick for paler girls is to choose a lipstick with a red hue rather than yellow. In order to demonstrate how easy the trend is to pull off I attempted the look this morning. 

I used Mac in Lady Danger and mixed it with Mac in Russian Red because Lady Danger has a yellow base. I kept the rest of my face simple to emphasise the strong lip. 

Designer, J. JS Lee also featured a bright fuschia tone lip, similar to MAC in Pleasurefruit. I was never a huge fan of lip gloss as I find the majority to be sticky and unpleasant to wear and I am pleased to report that gloss has largely gone by the wayside for the Summer Season. Edging into its place is a matte lip. This look can be achieved by blotting lipstick and then dusting lightly with a translucent powder through a tissue.

Another strong trend to emerge this year was blue-tone eyeshadow. I am of the opinion that blue eyeshadow isn't the most flattering but I can just about tolerate a lavender eye similar to that seen at the Holly Fulton show.

Makeup artist Andrew Gallimore applied this lilac colour from just above the lashline to the brow bone, and while this looks stunning on the runway I don't think I will see it gracing the streets of Ireland any time soon. I created a similar, more wearable look today using the No.7 Neutral Radiance Eye Palette and the Urban Decay Bamboo Palette. 

No.7 Neutral Radiance

 I used the Blue-Lilac colour in the upper left hand corner of the No.7 pallette all over the eyelid to create a base. I then used the copper-pink colour you see underneath to contour the outer part of my eye-socket to create depth. 

 I then applied VZI by Urban Decay in the inner corner of my eye to really make the pinks and purples pop. I then blended them as far towards my browbone as I was comfortable with to stay in keeping with the trend. I ran the blue-lilac colour under the outer corner of my eye with an angled brush in order to also tie in the Ephereal look we saw grace the catwalk of one of my favourite designers, Julien MacDonald. Cheekbones were highlighted and faces were kept simple to emphasise the otherworldlyness of the models. The look took some getting used to and I did have a few double takes when I passed the mirror throughout the day, but I must admit it did grow on me. This is probably as blue as I would go with my eyeshadow but I would never say never. There was once a time when I hated tartan.
 
 

  Another way of wearing the blue eyeshadow trend was shown at the David Koma Show where the models eye was first covered with a gold eyeshadow as a base, similar to the Bourjois Shimmering Shine Liquid Eyeshadow in Molecule D'or that I frequently use. The outer half of the lid was thickly lined with a navy eyeliner. Navy really brings out the colour of the eyes. This is another really wearable way to go with it.

The gold eyeshadow used in the David Koma show tied neatly into another trend to feature heavily in the coming season, metallic glitter eyeshadows. I find Urban Decay to be very reliable for glittery eyeshadows and if applied with their Eye Primer Potion the eyeshadows don’t have much fallout.

Thick flicks of eyeliner were also seen at the Sister by Sibling show and the Topshop show and it looks like this trend is here to stay. I am not a huge fan of this trend but it is largely down to my own ineptness. Liquid eyeliner and I are not a good match and no matter how I try I just cannot create the cat-eye flick I so crave. 
Topshop went for a bold eye look. Models sported a messy eyeliner both on the lid and on the waterline under the eye. They themed their makeup “Beach Party” and it certainly did smack of Oxegen. 

The models had bronzed skin and grungy hair and eye makeup. Although a fairly natural and non-preened look it was drastically different from the pretty, natural faces we saw grace the runway at the Temperley show. The soft sheer makeup was beautiful and really made the models look fresh as a daisy. Minimal makeup is easy to pair with a pastel lip and a white tone eyeshadow in the summer. I would recommend using a tinted moisturiser or BB cream to create this look.

One of my favourite reveals at LFW is that freckles are back! Being Irish I do have an abundance of freckles and a tendency to want to hide them. At the Paul Smith show the makeup artists actually drew freckles across the models’ cheeks and nose using an eyebrow pencil. Backstage at Charles Anastase each girl was given a beauty spot under her left eye because imperfections are beautiful. The natural and real nature of the catwalks really struck me this year and it is a trend I truly adore.

Despite this many models sported bronzed skin and although for the last few seasons pale skin has been in, it appears tan is back. When Topshop Models weren’t sporting their grungy beach look they were instead bronzed babes showing off a bright red/orange lip.

Big lashes seem to be in this season and not just on the top lid. The Makeup Artist at the Jean Pierre Braganza show applied false lashes to both top and bottom lids of the girls before sending them down the runway. 

Mulberry perhaps showed the prettiest faces at  LFW, although they did seem to go very heavy on the mascara. I’m not sure spider lashes will ever be “in”. 
 What do you think of the trends at LFW? Will you be sporting any of them in the months to come? Let me know in the comments below.

Make Up Haul

Between Christmas and treating myself at every available opportunity, I have amassed a large collection of additions to my already sizeable cosmetics collection.

Over the last few weeks I've tried and tested most of these products and have already found some firm favourites which I will definitely be repurchasing. I have left out the products which I repurchased as they will feature in a later favourites blog post.

I'll do my best to review all of these and I hope some of you will be as tempted as I was.

Hair Products

L'oréal Paris Studio Line #TXT Volume Supersizing Spray

This spray retails in boots at €4.79 and in my opinion it is worth every penny of its not too hefty price tag. In fact I would say it is one of the biggest bargains I have ever come across. I was turned onto this spray by well known British blogger Zoella in her youtube video: November favourites.

I took some pictures to demonstrate how good this product is. My hair went from this after blowdrying and straightening,

to this in minutes

I will definitely 100% be repurchasing this.

L'oréal Paris Studio Line #TXT Wave Creating Spray

I bought this spray on the merit of the volume spray which is part of the same line, but I haven't got around to testing it yet but I will review it as soon as I do. I expect great things from this now.

Face

Rimmel London BB Cream in Light

I've been wanting to try a BB Cream for a while now and I had planned on trying the L'oréal Nude Magique BB Cream. When I went to boots to try it I found that the lightest colour turned a funny shade of orange on the back of my hand. Retailing at €15.49 at boots I was glad I hadn't jumped straight in at the deep end and bought it. The Rimmel alternative that I purchased retails at a much more respectable €8.95 and is a much better match for my skin tone. The BB Cream has a nine point promise attatched: 

1. Minimises the appearance of pores

I'm not too sure about this one as I've never really noticed any giant pores on my face but no doubt now that I'm thinking about them I will every time I look in the mirror. 

2. Evens Skin Tone

The cream definitely does a good job of this. I usually use a tinted moisturiser on days when I don't want the coverage of a foundation but I still want the security of having some makeup on. Up until now my go-to product had been the Benefit You Rebel in Lite, but retailing at a hefty €35.00, I think this BB Cream will do just fine as a replacement. 

3. Mattifies

Again my skin is not particularly oily so I don't really have a huge use for mattifying makeup but I would always throw on a bit of powder just to be safe during the day. I can't stand when makeup slides off or when by the end of a lecture I have more makeup on my hand than on my face. Looking at noone in particular except you Benefit again with your overpriced tat. 

4. Controls Shine All Day

I don't have a huge problem with this again but I haven't noticed any problems with the staying powder of this product and my face hasn't been shiny at all having worn it all day with just a small dusting of powder. 

5. Smoothes

I don't know about this one to be honest. Smoothes what? Again I haven't noticed my skin being lumpy. So I can't comment on this one. 

6. Soothes

This is a getting a bit far fetched here I'd say. If my skin needed soothing I don't think I'd be applying makeup to it, rather a simple moisturiser. So again, I can't comment on this. 

7. Conceals Dark Circles

I don't know about this one. My dark circles have really been irritating me lately and I can't find a product to cover them up. I have to say this one isn't it either. 

8. Helps Prevent Blemishes

Well this one I would presume is because it is lighter than a foundation and therefore better for your skin. I can't swear to this one but I haven't gotten a spot since I've started using it. I'm definitely going to now though that I've jinxed it. 

9. Gives All Day Coverage

I think I've already addressed this point. It seems to last fairly well for me when I wear it all day. 

I took some pictures to show you the difference it makes to my skin. 

Before

After

I can really see a difference in my face after just applying the BB Cream but by the time I finished my makeup it looked just as good as any foundation. 

Philosophy Divine Blushing Bronzer in Deep

I bought this bronzer/blusher in TK Maxx just after Christmas. I think it retailed at about €12.99 which is a steal for such a beautiful product. For daywear sometimes I like to just apply the dusty pink colour as a blush but for night time, with a darker foundation I like to swirl an angled bronzer brush around the palette and apply it like you would any other bronzer.

Philosophy Divine Satin-Finish Illuminating Powder in Medium

I got this as a Christmas gift, again from TK Maxx. It is a nice powder for night time but it is very glittery, which is not clear from the picture and it can just appear that my face is very shiny if I wear it during the day. I have never used the brush that came with it because I have a very good powder brush but the bristles on it are very soft and I'm sure it would be fine for applying the powder with. 

Eyes

Rimmel London Scandaleyes Rockin' Curves Mascara

(As seen on Made in Chelsea)

I am not usually one to be caught out by advertising but I absolutely adore Made in Chelsea and this mascara would not have even entered my field of vision if it had not been for the show. I love the shape of the brush and I feel like it really curls and elongates my lashes. It doesn't give quite the volume I would like for a night time mascara but with false lashes I'm sure it would be fine. My old day time mascara, Bobbi Brown Everything Mascara retails at €25 at Brown Thomas and while this may not cost as much at just €5.65,it certainly does a comparable job. I would stick to MAC Zoomlash for night time though. 

L'oréal Paris Superliner Brow Artist in Blonde

This brow pencil was an impulse buy after seeing it featured in a Glamour magazine on my break from work. I still have a little bit of my Rimmel Professional Eyebrow pencil and I don't really notice any difference between the two. The new l'oréal one's niche is that it has a second pencil on the back, "finish and fix wax". I don't really know why this enticed me because I don't think my eyebrows have every moved on my face and half of the time I forget to use it. Now don't get me wrong, there's nothing wrong with this pencil, but with the l'oréal version retailing at €8.49 and the Rimmel at €4.65, I think that next time I'll keep my €4 and go with the cheaper version. 

Lips

No.7 High Shine Lip Crayon in Berry

This lip crayon or chubbstick as I like to call them, (don't ask me where I got that from), is really nice. I was inspired to go for the berry lip after Autumnal Hair and Makeup - Zoella blog post. Unfortunately I can't really afford YSL lipsticks and went looking for something a little more affordable. This is a little bit like a coloured lip gloss and it doesn't have the depth of colour I'm looking for. I usually apply it over my MAC Russian Red lipstick which is another new item I got for Christmas from a very good friend of mine. 

This is what the crayon looks like without the red base. 

 And this is what it looks like with the Red Lipstick base.

It still wasn't as purple as I wanted it to be so I bought Collection Gothic Glam in Scorned 2. 

This lipstick is more along the lines of what I was looking for. 

This picture doesn't quite show how dark it is because I layered Barry M Lip Laquer Crayon in no.2 Cherry Red over it. 

 I love the glitter effect this crayon gives to the darker lipstick. When I bought it I intended to use it as a lipliner under lipsticks but I wouldn't recommend it for this as it led to the lipstick over it bleeding all around my mouth. 

Rimmel London Apocalips Lip Lacquer

I was again tempted to buy these by Made in Chelsea. I bought these at a small independent chemist and I can't remember exactly how much I paid for them but I think they were around €6 each. They retail in boots for €7.95. I bought two of these: 501-Stellar which is a reddy pink colour and 400-Big Bang which is a deep red colour. They are sort of similar. I really like the stain they give to the lip so that if you're on a night out and your gloss starts to wear off you still have the colour of the stain underneath. 

On the left is Stellar and On the right is Big Bang. 

Rimmel London Lasting Finish by Kate Moss lipsticks

I own three of these lipsticks but the one I bought most recently was no.3. It's a really nice colour for everyday use and a cheap and cheerful dupe for MAC Creme d'Nude at just €6.99. 

Face Brushes

Real Techniques Core Collection

This set was my first purchase from the Real Techniques collection and it certainly won't be my last. I wanted a brush to apply liquid foundation as I don't like the heavy, streaky way my Urbanista Lay the Foundation Brush applies my foundation. I had heard great things about the Expert Face Brush but I didn't want just one brush to try so I decided to purchase this set. It retails at €28.99. While this may sound a little expensive, it is a great price for some fab brushes. The buffing brush I use for pretty much everything, from applying liquid foundation to buffing foundation after it's applied with my regular foundation brush to buffing on powder to blending in my concealer. The Lip brush does what it says on the tin. I'm not sure what there is to say about it. The foundation brush has too small a head in my opinion to apply foundation, and too big to apply concealer so I have no use for it really. The contouring brush I love for applying highlighter to my cheekbones from my Sleek Contouring Palette. 

Real Techniques Stippling Brush

This brush didn't look much in the packet so I asked the girl in the Crescent Shopping Center in Limerick to take it out of the box for me so I could see it. The buffing brush's bristles weren't quite what I wanted and the Expert Face Brush seemed to be along the same lines. They are both great brushes, although not what I wanted for applying my foundation. The stippling brush provides a light, even finish with my BB Cream and it gives a nice even effect with my Night foundation MAC Studiofinish. 

No.7 Eye Colour Brush

This brush I bought on the merit of another no.7 brush, possibly my favourite eye brush, the Contour and Blending brush. 

With both retailing at €9.50, they are relatively cheap brushes, especially as No.7 regularly give out vouchers at the till in Boots. The Blending and Contouring brush I would highly recommend. The Eye Colour brush i would only recommend if you need a new plain eye brush which i didn't. There is nothing exceptional about it. 

So now with enough makeup to open a beauticians, my next post will be a favourites blog. Thanks for reading and I hope you found something you like.

By the way Boots are currently offering 3 for 2 on selected cosmetics and haircare.