Starting off: Blushers

Ok guys and dolls so it's week 4 of the soproject and this week it's all about blusher! 

This is quiet an exciting one for me, as I've always been a bronzer girl but I've recently started getting into blusher and have gone a bit blusher crazy! 

Blusher is normally a pinky shade or toned product that you apply to the apples of your cheek either on top of your blusher or on their own to add a wash of colour to your face as well as making you look "more human" - brilliant for them really early starts where you look a bit like zombie! 

Because I wasn't sure what blusher shades would suit me, I started off with purchasing a few of MUA's £1 blushers. I wasn't expecting anything spectacular from these because of the small price tag, but I was so pleased with them that I repurchased the shade "Lolly" this is perfect for my skin tone and is a sort of peach colour which can warm up or cool down any face without it looking orange. 

I also like the beauty UK blush and brush in shade no.3 upper east side. This is a shimmery blusher, in a rose gold colour. This is absolutely beautiful teamed with a dark smokey navy eye and nude lip. I am loving rose gold at the moment, especially in makeup because it's so A/W. This shade is also meant to be a dupe for the new benefit rocketer blusher. You can pick this up from SuperDrug for around £4. 

I then thought I would get slightly more adventurous and try a cream blusher. These are now my favourite type of blusher because they go on so smoothly with a stippling brush or with your fingers. these also make your face look really hydrated because of the cream texture and feel really refreshing, because sometimes powder blushers can make your skin feel really dry! Cream blushers are also a lot more pigmented, so you will need a light hand when applying this and to build it up lightly. My favourite cream blusher is MUA's cream blusher in shade blossom This retails for £2 from any SuperDrug store or their website. I have also heard good things about the bourjois cream blushers but am yet to explore these! 

Next up is a loose powder blusher, these are great if you want a very light coverage of blusher. I find this product is great to apply when you only want a really light flush of colour  and if you don't want to wear heavy makeup. I've really become a fan of mineral makeup recently because they are natural and a lot better for your skin and the environment (check out my beauty pageant speech!) my favourite is the bare essentials loose powder blusher in shade pink petal. I think this colour looks beautiful with a brown smokey eye and a nude lipstick. 

Last but not least, is a cream to powder finish blusher. This blusher has all the benefits of both a powder blusher and a cream blusher. It applies easily because it's a cream texture so just applies like your foundation but drys to look like you have applied a powder blusher (amazing!) my favourite is the ELF cream blusher in shade rose.

Swatches:

(L-R ELF Cream blush in rose, MUA powder blusher in Lolly, MUA cream blush in blossom, bare minerals loose powder blush in pink petal, beauty UK blush n brush in no.3 upper east side)

Hope you enjoyed this post hunnis, I am a blusher newbie so please be gentle! :-) 

Xxx

Starting off: Bronzer

Hi Hunni’s,

 

I am completely gutted that I missed last week’s SO Project which was on foundation. I was really looking forward to doing this, but I was on a training event at work all day (and night!) on the Tuesday so I missed it and forgot to do a post schedule (doh!). I did write a post yesterday though on how to contour your face lightly and discreetly using 3 shades of foundation.

 

So this week, it’s all about Bronzer (yay) Bronzer is something I use every day, I prefer using bronzer instead of blusher as I love the tanned ‘glow’ look, plus I haven’t managed to master the ‘anti-clown’ look with blusher.. (quickly goes on you-tube for blusher tutorials...)

 

Bronzer is a powder or liquid used to add some colour to your face – particularly popular in the summer for that ‘golden goddess’ look especially if you get one that has shimmer within it (beautiful!), people also use matte bronzer’s to contour their face. You can use bronzer all over your body and on your face.

 

How to use bronzer

 

I apply my bronzer to my cheek line to create a slight contour and then I dust the bronzer all over my face very lightly to give me some more colour. I prefer to use matte bronzers, as swiping a shimmer bronzer all over your face wouldn’t be a good look.. unless you were trying to resemble a disco ball! However, in the summer or for nights out, I do like adding a shimmer bronzer to my collar bone and my chest to just make me look (and feel) more golden goddess-y!

 

My favourite bronzers

My absolute favorite bronzer is the Rimmel Natural Bronzer in shade Sunlight I love this bronzer and have used this for years as my everyday bronzer. I think this is great for first timers, as you cant really go wrong with it, unless you have a REALLY heavy hand. This bronzer works perfectly for me as its Matte, has no shimmer in it what-so- ever and doesnt have an orange tint to it. This bronzer also applys really easy and blends well because the powder is so compact. You can pick this up from Boots or Superdrug .

 

My next favorite is a body illuminating bronzer from St Tropez its a liquid form so blends perfectly into your skin and smells.. gorgeous! I like to apply this on my collar bone and on my chest to add a subtile shimmer and bronze, in the summer or on nights out when I want to feel extra glam and S-E-X-Y! You can pick this up from St Tropez's website. The above picture makes it look more of a highlighter, but it has got a bronzing underlay to it. 

 

Last but not least... The Bourjois Bronzing Primer. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  I love this, its so easy to blend and smells beautiful, like chocolate (yummy!) I am going to Tenerife in 2 weeks and I will definatly be taking this with me because its very light and doesnt feel cakey or heavy on your face at all. I apply this after my foundation, with my stippling brush from Real Techniques by dabbing it lightly into the pot, and then dabbing it onto my cheeks and cheek hollows to add some colour to my face – then blend, blend blend! You litrally only need to dab your brush lightly into the pot, because too much of this, will make you look silly! Its VERY pigmentated so you really need to use a light hand. Like I have said before, I like this product because its a matte bronzer and has no shimmer within it. The only thing I don’t like is the size of the pot, I find this goes down quiet quickly but hey-ho! You can purchase this from Boots or Superdrug.

Xxx

Contouring with foundation - ft miners cosmetics

Hi Girls,

 

So I recently got 3 shades of foundation from Miners Cosmetics as I am always changing my skin colour as I am a slight fake tan addict. So I thought I would use the three shades to contour my face.

 

First of all I took shade Buff as this matches my skin tone perfectly and applied this all over my face with my real techniques stippling brush. I then took the darkest shade Almond and used this as a contour, by applying it with my contouring brush from real techniques below my jaw line, in the hollows of my cheeks (under the cheek bone), on my temples and down the sides of my nose. I then used the lightest shade Ivory to highlight my face and applied this on my cheeks, on my jaw line, down the middle of my forehead, down my nose and on my cupids bow.

 

This is such a subtle contoured look, but lovely for an everyday look when you don’t want to wear heavy powders and concealers but still want a slight contoured look. - you can do this with any 3 shades of foundation, I just prefer using these ones as they are so lightweight. 

 

I love these foundations as they smell really fresh, its also really lightweight when its applied. The coverage is between a BB cream and a foundation which makes it perfect for my everyday look as I hate wearing heavy makeup to work.

 

These foundations cost £4.99 from Miners Cosmetics. 

 

xxx

Red Cherry Eyelashes

Hi Girls,

 

So I recently ran out of eyelashes and was browsing the internet for some real human hair eyelashes as I find these are the most natural looking. Whilst looking on Ebay I found Red Cherry Eyelashes. These are 100% real human hair eyelashes and were only £3.49 (includes delivery) AMAZING! I thought this was such a good price for real hair eyelashes, seen as normal eyelashes cost around £5 in boots and the human hair eyelashes I normally buy are £9.99.

 

 

These eyelashes look so natural, and for the price, its defiantly worth you giving them a go as I am now a Red Cherry eyelashes addict. 

 

You can purchase these on Ebay, just type in ‘’Red Cherry Eyelashes’’ or contacting @redcherrylashes on twitter. :-)

 

Xxx

Red Cherry Eyelashes

Hi Girls,

 

So I recently ran out of eyelashes and was browsing the internet for some real human hair eyelashes as I find these are the most natural looking. Whilst looking on Ebay I found Red Cherry Eyelashes. These are 100% real human hair eyelashes and were only £3.49 (includes delivery) AMAZING! I thought this was such a good price for real hair eyelashes, seen as normal eyelashes cost around £5 in boots and the human hair eyelashes I normally buy are £9.99.

 

 

These eyelashes look so natural, and for the price, its defiantly worth you giving them a go as I am now a Red Cherry eyelashes addict (I’ve just made my 2^nd order for 5 more pairs!)

 

You can purchase these on Ebay, just type in ‘’Red Cherry Eyelashes’’ and it will come up with a load of different designs for you to choose from. J

 

Xxx

Light up Lippy - Gosh Light’N Shine

Hi Girls,

 

So I was recently shopping in Superdrug and came across the Gosh stand. I have never tried any Gosh products or seen any reviews so I was a little weary, but something caught my eye as I hadn’t seen anything like it before  - A light up lip-gloss!

 

This is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and is now my new clubbing lip-gloss. I opted for the clear version as its versatile so I can wear it with any lipstick. It comes with a mirror down the side so you can see where your applying your lip-gloss (are you loving it already?!) when you take the wand out of the lip-gloss 2 little lights that are in the top of the wand automatically turn on so you can see where you are applying your lip-gloss even in the pitch black.

 

This is such a brilliant idea and a staple in any girls make-up bag for dark nights. When I have been out clubbing all my friends (and even randomers!) have been asking where I got my lip-gloss from, because they can see where it has lit up my lips when I have been applying my lip-gloss.

 

 

The packaging is also really classy, I think it looks a-lot more expensive than it is. Well done Gosh! I am now a convert.

 

The shade I have is 01 – White and this is a gorgeous clear lip-gloss which is ultra shiny and has small sparkly bits in it, however, I am now eyeing up 04 Rosa a beautiful baby pink colour.

 

These lipglosses look like you have little diamonds on your lips. – Glossalicious!

 

This lip-gloss has everything you need within it, a mirror, a gorgeous lip-gloss and a light so you can see where you are applying it. Perfecto!

 

This costs £7.99 from Superdrug and comes in a range of colours.

 

Xxx

L’Oreal Paris Colour Riche Lipstick

Hi Girls,

 

I am loving lipsticks at the moment and its slowly turning into a little make-up fetish of mine as my collection is rapidly expanding!

 

Recently L’Oreal released a new Nude Lipstick range. These have personally been matched to the celebrities they are named after to suit their skin colour. Some of these including Doutzen Kroes, Jennifer Lopez, Eva Longoria, Freida Pinto and Cheryl Cole.

 

First of all the packaging is what drew me in. How luxurious and beautiful for a high street brand? These lipsticks are limited edition and are ultra moisturizing and smoothly applied. Lasting power isn’t too great but for a high street brand its average, it lasts for around 2-3 hours. There is a small gold tab in the lipstick part of the case which helps the lid close tightly so you haven’t got to worry about it falling off in your handbag. It also gives a ‘click’ when you put the lid on, I love that sound, it makes a lipstick feel more luxurious don’t you think?

 

This shade is also an amazing dupe for Tom Ford - pink dusk lipstick. 

These retail for £8.19 and you can pick these up from any high street drug store that has a LOreal section. All in all there are 8 shades for you to pick from. The shade I have is Julianne's Nude. 

 

Xxx

Bourjois products review

Hiya Girlies,

 

So I’ve been a bit naughty even though I am going on holiday in 3 weeks, I decided to treat myself to a few payday goodies that I have longed for, for a while now. Who can resist the 3 for 2 offer that boots currently have on? (not me!)

 

 

Bourjois Paris Bronzing Primer - £9.99

This product is now a staple in my make up routine, this is so quick to apply because it is a foamy moose. After applying my foundation and concealers, I dab my stippling brush into the pot and dab this along my cheek bone and then blend in. simple! It takes the same amount of time it would to apply a bronzing powder but look a lot more natural because it blends in with your foundation. I then apply my normal powder on top to set my foundation and the bronzing primer. I find this product also lasts a lot longer than my bronzing powder because it doesn’t sit on your face and easily wiped off like a powder, it blends in with your foundation and then you set it with a powder. Beautiful! I can now see why there was only one pot left on the bourjois stand! 

 

Bourjois Delice De Soleil Bronzing Foundation - £9.99

This product is meant to be a mineral powder foundation so it has quiet heavy coverage as a powder and low coverage as a foundation. This reminds me of the bare essentials mineral foundations, but a cheaper alternative. This is brilliant if you are changing skin colour by tanning etc as you can mix the two colours together to create the right foundation for you. I have been using this in the day on its own over a moisturiser, and over a foundation as a powder for a heaver look, for nights out. I originally bought this product because I thought the two shades would be brilliant for contouring your face because the colours are matte and the perfect shades for contouring. So I use the darker shade along my cheek bone, on my temples, along my jaw line and down each side of my nose and the lighter shade on my cheeks, down my nose, between my cheek bone and jaw line, on my forehead and on my chin. This is now my fav product for countering as it blends out really easy and looks really natural. I bought this in shade 03.

Bourjois Java Loose Powder - £9.99 (my freebie)

I have to admit, this product originally caught my eye for its limited edition vintage packaging (how gorgeous!?) this looks beautiful on my dressing table as it really gives it that vintage look. Packaging aside, this product is a skin illuminator so works brilliantly as a subtle highlighter. This reminds me of MAC’s strobe cream as it gives the same sort of look once it is brushed lightly all over your face. I like to use this over my foundation on the areas I would like to highlight such as on my cheeks, down my nose, between my cheek bone and jaw line, on my forehead and on my chin. For people that struggle with oily skin and can’t really use MAC’s strobe cream because of this or people that are on a budget or prefer powder illuminators, this product is a really good alternative because as well as matting your face it gives it an illuminating look at the same time.

 

Maybelline Baby Lips Lip Balm - £2.99

 

Now how could I resist this cute packaging when I came to the till? The lady on the counter saw me looking at this product and then told me how amazing it was and it was the lip balm she was wearing. Her lips were a subtle pink so I thought I would pick this up for when I am at work. This smells (and tastes) like cherry! Its defiantly the best smelling lip balm I have (apart from the body shop lip butters) but really light on your lips without being greasy. It gives you a subtle pink shade, moisturises your lips and tastes gorge! (what’s not to like for £2.99?) I have this in shade Pink Punch.

Here are the swatches of the products:

 

 

(L-R  Bronzing primer, bronzing foundation light shade, bronzing foundation dark shade, java loose powder, baby lips)

 

Xxx

 

Starting off: Concealer

Hi Ladies!

 

So today is the 2^nd week of the SO Project and today’s post is about concealer and the ones I use.

 

My favourite everyday concealer is the collection 2000 concealer wand in shade Light 2. This concealer matches my skin tone perfectly and is also quiet light weight but provides a heavy coverage. Lots of bloggers rate this product and I can understand why since trying it myself!  I bought this for around £4 from Boots.

 

 

I recommend when purchasing a concealer to get one that is a shade lighter than your skin tone, so it brightens your dark areas (such as around your eyes and nose). This will lighten your skin tone and balance it out to match your foundation – blending out is key! Any foundation brush will do this perfectly.

 

I usually use this over my foundation, as I like having the highlighted look, So once I have applied my foundation, I dab this under my eyes and around my nose by blending it in with a foundation brush.

 

When I am going out or had a break out of spots (yuk!) I prefer to use my concealer palette. This is my absolute favourite due to the range of colours because they suit when I have a tan or not and it also has coloured concealers within it. The yellow shade is good for covering up dark circles and the green shade is good for covering up red spots as it cancels out the red tone.

 

I apply this palette under and over my foundation for a heavier coverage. under my foundation I put the green concealer on my spots and the purple concealer around my nose and under my eyes to cancel out the darkness.  After I have applied my foundation, I then match my skin tone to the rest of the palette and apply a second coat of concealer (the one that’s a shade lighter than my foundation) under my eyes, around my nose and also over my spots again. This gives such a flawless look.

 

Now the for fascinating bit .. this only cost me £4.82!! (and that’s including delivery) off of ebay, Just type in Concealer palette and loads will come up.

 

 

Next week’s post is foundation (ekk!) I’m really looking forward to this one, as I cannot go anywhere without wearing foundation or a BB cream. J

 

Shaunie xx