Making use of.....foundations!

Ciao!

Have you got so many foundations you don't know what to do with them? Do you like them but they aren't quite perfect?

Here are some handy tips:

Too thin/ not enough coverage? How about just keeping in your drawer at work for top ups during the day (if required) with a sponge?

Too thick/heavy? Try mixing it in with your usual mosituriser to get a more balanced coverage.

Too dark? You could try using it as a cream based contour colour.

Too light? Try mixing it with your usual foundation and using it on highlight areas. Or mix it in with your under eye concealer to help reduce the appearance of dark circles.

Too drying? Again, try mixing it in with your moisturiser to make a tinted moisturiser.

Too oily? Try using it mixed with a primer for added staying power.

Mineral make up which doesn't give enough coverage? Use it as setting powder.

What do you do to make the most of your foundations? I would love to hear your tips.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day!

Lottie x x x

Gold and bronze defined look

Hi all,

I hope you are having a great weekend. Why can't it last longer? Sigh... It's been beautiful and sunny here today and I've been out on a long walk.

I tried out this bronze and gold look this weekend which is quite complimentary to all skin tones. You could just go darker or lighter accordingly. I hope you like it!

Products used were:

Base: APt Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation SPF15 in Porcelain

Contour: APt Liquid Powder Mineral Foundation SPF15 in Cream Beige and the dark side of MAC Love Rock Mineralize Blush

Highlight: MAC Mineralize Skinfinish in Blonde , a dab of Clinique Up-Lighting Liquid Illuminator in 01 Natural and APt Simply Minerals Rocks in the gold shade used on the eyes

Blush: The light side of MAC Love Rock Mineralize Blush

Concealer: Collection 200 Illuminating Touch in 1 Naked and MAC Studio Finish Concealer in NC20

Powder: MAX Factor Natural Minerals Foundation 40 Creamy Ivory

Eye shadow base: Too Faced Shadow Insurance and Clarins Soft Cream Eye Colour in 01

Eyebrows: Nina Ricci Exact Finish Eyebrow Pencil No4

Eye shadows: MAC Frost Phloof!, MAC Metal X Cream Shadow Pure Ore (limited edition), MAC Soft Brown Matte, MAC Bronze Frost, APt Simply Minerals Rocks yellow, gold, beige and khaki shades

Eye liner: Bobbi Brown Gel Eyeliner in black

Mascara Primer: MAC Prep + Prime Lash

Mascara: Lancome Definicils and L'Oreal Voluminous both in black

Lipstick: MAC Syrup Lustre

Lipgloss: Too Faced Extreme Lip Pumping Treatment

Fix: Clarins Fix Make - Up (I think this was limited edition)

Tools of the trade for eyes: Shu Uemura eyelash curler, Mister Mascara eyebrow groomer, MAC 230 shader brush, MAC 224 blending brush, MAC 208 small angled brush, MAC 275 contour blending brush, MAC 209 liner brush

Tools of the trade for face: MAC 168 blush and contour brush, MAC 161 fan brush, Autograph foundation brush, Marks & Sepncer Shimmer & Smooth large body brush, Clarins buffer brush (limited edition)

What do you think?

Enjoy the rest of your weekend, I can smell a roast chicken cooking hmmm! :)

LottieB x

I'm going back to MAC

Hey everyone,

I hope you all have had a happy, fulfilling and productive start to the week.

So, I am very excited to be going to Manchester this weekend and it's going to be very, very girly!

I guess this post is kind of the antithesis of a haul blog post because I am going to be writing about some of my MAC products which are gone but not forgotten.  I have 12 little empty pots altogether and I'll be taking them back to the store as part of the Back to Mac recycling scheme they do. 

It's cool because for every six pots you get to choose a lipstick of your choice to take home for free!  I think they are normally about £12.  It may be a credit crunch, but it's definitely not a creative crunch and I'm hoping to get some lovely pink colours.

So here's what's going back:

Studio Tech in NW20 This is great stuff.  It's really handy when you're in a rush to get ready as you can just put it on with the sponge which comes with it.  Alternatively you can use a squarebrush like the MAC191.   I think I'd probably but this again but it's not something I need urgently.

Powder Blush Satin in Fleur Power This was my first and only MAC blush so I don't have anything to compare it to in the range.  It's a completely different colour to the swatch on the website it actually really looks like the swatch for Frankly Scarlett on the website.    It's a very strong pink, it's almost a 'fake' colour rather than very natural so it depends on what you're looking for.  The pigmentation is very strong so you only need a little bit and it blends really well.  I'm trying a mineral blush at the moment but I'll probably go back to a MAC one at some stage and really want to try Well Dressed which is a gorgeous soft pink.

Select Moisturisercover NC20 I was using this as a under eye concealer.  On the plus side, it does what it says on the tin!  It moisturises which is great especially in the winter and blends beautifully.  I liked it but I'll be trying a few different things before I rush back.

Studio Finish SPF35 Concealer This is a wonder product and I think I shall probably be tempted to buy again. It covers everything even scars and apparently even tatoos!

Fluidline in Blue Peep I had such high hopes for this but sadly things didn't work out.  I had the idea of using a thin brush dipped in water to create the line, however, this seemed to dry it all up and then it started falling apart!  I really prefer their liquid liners but maybe I should try again?

Shadestick Shadow in Shimmersand I brought this in Paris and really loved it!  I was a little sad when I used it all up if I'm honest.  These shadesticks are fantastic bases for really making your eye make up pop and Shimmersand is a fantastic colour which would suit everyone.   I wanted to buy another one but the other day in Superdrug I came across a cheap alternative: Maybelline Colour Definer in 20 Satin Dragee which is beautiful!  I think it was about £6 which is half the price of the MAC Shadestick.  There's a wide range of colours and it even has its own sharperner on the end.   The packaging is bright green which isn't as luxurious as the shadestick but it's a lot smoother and softer, I guess depends what kind of texture you prefer.

Then finally onto eyeshadows, I have two Ricepaper Frosts, Idol Eyes Lustre, Pink Freeze Frost, Phoolf!  Frost and Brill Satin which I obviously was very fond of; I used them all up!  I've replaced Idol Eyes with Barry M Dazzle Dust in 10 and Brill with GOSH Spa.  These are pretty spot on in terms of colour but I haven't really had time to test them out much in terms of texture.  Ricepaper is the perfect golden neutral shade which goes with most looks.  Phoolf is a fantastic highlighter and I'm already on to my next one.  Pink Freeze Frosh is another very pretty and versatile colour which can be incorporated into lots of looks.

So that's all from me!

I hope this might be helpful to somebody thinking of trying out some MAC products.

Please let me know if you have any questions and I'd love to hear your comments and thoughts on these products!

LottieB x

P.S I have a question, can anyone confirm whether there is a back stand at Manchester Airport Terminal 3?  If there is I might be able to save myself a few pennies at the duty free!

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