FOTD using Clarins shimmer palette

Hey guys,

Just a very quick post as I need to get our new house sorted; so much to do! It's gorgeous though :)

This is the look I created using the Clarins palette I pictured in my recent shopping trip post. I used Clarin's turquoise liner on the lower lash line and the Prestige liquid liner on top. I just used the usual suspect items for my face etc.

What do you think?

Hair is scruffy, earrings from Superdrug and tshirt from M&S.

Hope you're having an excellent start to the week!

Lottie x x x

FOTD - Emerald eyes and berry lips

It's not all about coral, another hue I love is emerald. Here's a recent look look I did with green eyes and berry lips. Here's what I used:

FACE

Base: Revlon ColorStay makeup with SoftFlex SPF 6 Combination/Oily Skin 150 Buff

Contour: Prestige Cosmetics Skin Loving sunbaked mineral bronzing powder in 03 Pure Shimmer

Highlight: Prestige Cosmetics Skin Loving sunbaked mineral bronzing powder in 03 Pure Shimmer

Blush: e.l.f All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade

Concealer: No7 Instant Radiance Concealer in shade 1 underneath the eyes and Benefit Boing Concealer in light for blemishes

Tools of the trade for face: Body Shop Foundation Brush, MAC 168 blush and contour brush, Clarins buffer brush

EYES

Eye shadow base: e.l.f Duo Eyeshadow Cream in Olive

Eyebrows: e.l.f Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara and No7 Precision Brow Pencil

Eye liner: GOSH Extreme Art Eyeliner 12, No7 Metallic Eye Pencil in Green

Primer: MAC Prep + Prime Lash

Mascara: NYX 1000 Miles Long Mascara in black

Tools of the trade for eyes: Shu Uemura eyelash curler, GOSH smudger brush

LIPS

Lipstick: e.l.f All Over Color Stick in Pink Lemonade

Lipgloss: Lancome Juicy Tubes Fraise 017

Earrings from Next.

Do you like green too?

Thanks for stopping by!

Lottie x x x

FOTD bronze and gold eyes with coral lips

Here's another recent look. This is what I used:

FACE

Base: Rimmel Recover Foundation in 100 Ivory

Contour: Prestige Cosmetics Skin Loving sunbaked mineral bronzing powder in 03 Pure Shimmer

Highlight: Prestige Cosmetics Skin Loving sunbaked mineral bronzing powder in 03 Pure Shimmer

Blush: APt Mineral Blush Pressed in Desert

Concealer: No7 Instant Radiance Concealer in shade 1 underneath the eyes and Benefit Boing Concealer in light for blemishes

Tools of the trade for face: MAC 168 blush and contour brush, MAC 161 fan brush, Clarins buffer brush

EYES

Eye shadow base:

Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Eyebrows:

e.l.f Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara and No7 Precision Brow Pencil

Eye shadows: e.l.f Duo Eyeshadow Cream in Butter Pecan, APt Simply Mineral ROCKS gold and bronze colours

Eye liner: GOSH Extreme Art Eyeliner 02, Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Bourbon, Bobbi Brown long wear gel eyeliner in black ink

Primer:

MAC Prep + Prime Lash

Mascara: NYX 1000 Miles Long Mascara in black

Tools of the trade for eyes:

Shu Uemura eyelash curler, MAC 230 shader brush, MAC 224 blending brush, MAC 209 liner brush, GOSH smudger brush

LIPS

Lipstick: Max Factor 825 Pink Brandy

Lipgloss: L'Oreal Glam Shine Juice 224

Coral cardigan is from New Look, neckelace is from M&S and earings are from Internationale.

What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

Lottie x x x

FOTD Smokey brown look with defined crease

Good afternoon ladies of the blog,

This afternoon I shall be catching up with posts as I have been disconnected since Friday. I'll be posting some recent looks and here is the first one.

Here's what I used:

FACE

Base: APt Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation in Porcelain

Contour: Prestige Cosmetics Skin Loving sunbaked mineral bronzing powder in 03 Pure Shimmer

Highlight: Prestige Cosmetics Skin Loving sunbaked mineral bronzing powder in 03 Pure Shimmer

Blush: Blush: MAC Love Rock Mineralize Blush

Concealer: No7 Instant Radiance Concealer in shade 1 underneath the eyes and Benefit Boing Concealer in light for blemishes

Tools of the trade for face: Body Shop foundation brush, MAC 168 blush and contour brush, MAC 161 fan brush, Clarins buffer brush

EYES

Eye shadow base: Too Faced Shadow Insurance

Eyebrows: elf Wet Gloss Lash & Brow Clear Mascara and No7 Precision Brow Pencil

Eye shadows: MAC Frost Phloof! NARS shimmer single eyeshadow Cyprus, MAC Frost Bronze

Eye liner: Urban Decay 24/7 Glide-On Eye Pencil in Bourbon, Benefit eye bright, Bobbi Brown long wear gel eyeliner in black ink

Primer: MAC Prep + Prime Lash

Mascara: NYX 1000 Miles Long Mascara in black

Tools of the trade for eyes: Shu Uemura eyelash curler, MAC 230 shader brush, MAC 224
blending brush, MAC 209 liner brush, GOSH smudger brush

LIPS

Lipstick: 17 Sheer Moisture Lipstick in Balmy Beige

Lipgloss: Clarins Instant Light Natural Lip Perfector 01

The coral ruffle top is from Primark and the butterfly earing from Miss Selfridge.

What kind of look did you wear today?

Thanks for stopping by!

Lottie x x x

Product love - an oldie but a goodie Clarins Double Fix' Mascara

Ciao belles,

Hope you have all had a lovely day.

I just thought I'd do another quick product love post about a product which I'm not sure is very well known across the beauty blogsphere.

It is Clarins Double Fix' Mascara and it retails at £13.21.

It makes any mascara waterproof with one coat. I really like it because it means waterproof mascara doesn't need to be worn everyday which is pretty hard to cleanse off and therefore not good for the delicate skin around the eyes.

It can also be worn as a clear mascara or brow groomer if preferred.

It's not a gimmick product; it actually works! I probably wouldn't have tried it if I hadn't worked for Clarins but I have since repurchased many times which I think is always a good test for a product.

Has anyone else tried this? What did they think?

Are there any alternatives out there?

For anyone who is interested, Clarins does not test on animals. Find out more here.

Take care,

Lottie x x x :)

Mizz Worthy's Illamasqua Contest Entry

Hey everyone!

I hope everyone has had a great day!

I was feeling inspired by the amazing entries by @Kelanjo19 and @He1e for Mizz Worthy's Illamasqua contest and thought I'd give it a go. I've never tries Illamasqua before by have heard really good things about it. To make an entry you can find all the information here.

I felt really inspired my the pictures on Mizz Worthy's blog and this is my own take on the look. It's kind of gothic for blondes hehe! I've always wanted to wear some crazy eyelashes and do really dark angled make up in my favourite colours (blues/turquoises) but I would never wear this out. To add an 18th century vibe to all the drama made my freckle into a heart using kohl liner!

Products used were (in order):

Nina Ricci Exact Finish Eyebrow Pencil No4 in light strokes to define my eyebrows,Too Faced Shadow Insurance all over the eye lids,

No7 Metallic Eyes Pencil in 03 Blue smudged out with GOSH smudger brush,

Barry M Dazzle Dust in 10 on inner corners of the eyes,

GOSH Effect Powder in Spa on inner thirds of the eye lids using MAC 230 shader brush,

Clarins Colour Quarter For Eyes 03 Blue shimmers light blue colour on middle third of the eye lids using MAC 230 shader brush,

Giorgio Armarni Eyeshadow in 51 on outer third of the eye lids using the MAC 230 shader brush(I used sellotape to create the straight line),

Over the top of these colours I used a little bit of MAC Phloof! Frost in the inner corners of the eyes using the GOSH smudger brush. I also used this as a highlight colour using the Body Shop's large angled brush,

On the inner third of the eye lid I used MAC Jewel Blue Veluxe using the Ruby & Millie Eye Brush (M) - SHORT,

On the middle third of the eye I used MAC Cornflower Pigment Colour Powder using the Ruby & Millie Eye Brush (M) - SHORT,

Then on the outer corner I used Nina Ricci Plush Mono Eyeshadow Strass Effect 15 Nuit Noire using the Ruby & Millie Eye Brush (M) - SHORT,

I also used these colours in the same order underneath my lower lash line using the MAC 230 shader brush and blended everything a little bit,

I lined my inner lids and tightline with Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in black using the MAC 209 brush,

I then drew around the outer edge of the shape I created with with the GOSH Extreme Art Liner in 08,

I then dusted away any fallout using the Body Shop large powder brush,

I then applied Revlon Beyond Natural 210 Light Pale and APt Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation SPF15 in Porcelain using my fingers all over the rest of my face, neck and lips,

I then used MAC Select Cover - Up in NC20 underneath the eyes and over any discolouration,

I then contoured and highlighted using the MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Blonde with the MAC 168 angled brush,

I then added the little heart using black Lancome kohl eyeliner,

Added Lancome Definicils and L'Oreal Voluminous both in black.

Glued on the eylure TOKYO LASHES (limited edition) and finally used GOSH lipstick in 134

Darling - volia!

What do you think?

I can't wait to see everyone else's looks!

Take care and thanks for stopping by.

LottieB xxx

Eye make up removers

Hey everyone,

I wonder what everyone's thoughts are on eye make up removers?  There are probably hundreds to choose from and there is nothing worse than buying one then having to rub away at your eyes to get your make up off.  The area around the eye is so delicate and is one of the first areas which will show the signs of aging so it's really important to look ater this part of the skin. 

In my fairly limited experience I'd say Lancome's Bi Facial is the excellent but pretty pricey (about £14), it just melts everything off and there is no need to apply very much pressure.

Popping in closely behind is Boots No7 Cleanse and Care Eye Make-up Remover which I use everyday.  It's excellent at getting everything off too and doesn't irritate. It's also quite handy if you every get those £5 off vouchers from Boots as then it only costs about £2 - bargain!

I've tried a couple of samples from Dermalogica which seems good too.  Speaking of which, if you are fellow Dermalogica fan (I''m addicted to their tinted moisturiser) then you MUST check out this site called Jersey Beauty.  Everything is VAT free and they do super fast free, well packaged delivery.  Yay!

I use to use Clarins Instant Eye Make up Remover when I worked for them in the good old days.  This is also excellent at getting rid of all my mascara and so on.  Sadly, things didn't work out for me and this remover as it started to irritate my eyes.  But I wouldn't let that put you off as my skin is quite volitile!

To try and take care of the skin around my eyes I also use Clarins Sun Wrinkle Control Eye Contour Care High Protection SPF30 because, as we all know, the sun really ages the skin and even on cloudy days the rays are still there!  It's quite expensive but it last for ages because you only need the tiniest amount (the size of a rice grain) each day.  I also wear big sunglasses whenever the sun comes out (hmmmm.....when will that be then?) especially if I'm driving as squinting your eyes can't be good for the skin around them.

I'm going to follow this blog post up with one on eye creams.  I'm just trialing something at the moment and will then let you all know how the ones I've tried compare.

Thanks for stopping by, I'd lovc to hear some views on the great eye make up remover debate!

Enjoy your evening!

LottieB x

The make up diaries - January 2009

After all the Christmas festivities were over, the year started and I'd run out of lots of things I needed.  I brought the following bits and bobs and I'm going to let you know whether it was money well spent:

Foundation:

I'd previously got on really well with L'Oreal's True Match Foundation in C2 Vanilla Rose which I ran out of so so I thought I'm give Max Factor's Natural Minerals Foundation in 40 Creamy Ivory version a go.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out for me and my skin.  To me, it feels like a powder and doesn't give the coverage I need.  The L'Oreal one really sinks into the skin giving a nice natural sheer coverage. 

In any case, these power based foundations are a little messy to apply and I decided to go back to a liquid version I could apply with a brush.  I've gone for the APt Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation from Tracey Bell.  I couldn't be more pleased with this, yes it is pricey but it feels divinely smooth on and really stays put all day.  It's a mineral foundation which allows the skin to breathe.  It also contains SPF15 which is great too. 

Concealer:

I needed something to replace my favourite YSL Touche Eclat concealer.  This is really expensive for I normally buy those double packs for about £16 at duty free shops (living on the Isle of Man I normally get to them a good couple of times a year).  A lovely girl on Twitter called @shinygemma recommended I try out Collection 2000 Illuminating Touch which has been great.  Obviously, it isn't quite as luxurious as YSL Touche Eclat but it definitely does the job and at around £4/5 it's extremely good value.

Eyeshadows:

I'd heard some really good things about GOSH cosmetics from some of the YouTube makeup tutorials.  There was a 3 for 2 offer on at Superdrug and I got Effect Powder Eyeshaw in Spa and two Extreme Art Eyeliners in 08 and 02.  They were all very nice and easy to apply.  I went for quite subtle colours in the collection and I think they work well if you want to make a day time look a bit more exciting.

I had a lot of Boots points so decided to treat myself to Clarins Soft Cream Eye Colour in 01 which is a really pretty creamy colour.  It makes a really lovely highlighter and really helps powder eyeshadows to set.  I'd be interested to know how it compares to the MAC paints which I haven't tried yet.

I also picked out a BarryM Fine Glitter Dust in 22 which is a lovely charcoal black with very tiny flecks of gold in it.  Using a very small brush I find this works brilliantly for adding definition around the eyes when doing smokey looks.  I adore Barry M's range of colours.  Just make sure you have a good base on otherwise they can be very messy!

Lips:

While trying out all the eye colours at Barry M I also picked Supershiny Lipgloss in 2 which is a really nice nude colour.   It also tastes very nice! I love the colour but it's a little gloopy to apply.  For me, I think it also may be quite drying but the weather is actually probably to blame for that!

Nails:

Finally, whilst on my little haul in Boots I got a gorgeous nail polish from Revlon called Plum Attraction in 762.  I really love berry tones in the winter and this one does just the trick although two layers are best to get the most out of the colour.

Thanks for stopping by and reading this.  I'd love to hear your comments.

LottieB x