Brighter Place

Gahhhh, so I've waited to write about this post since July. JULY.

At the start of the Summer I was asked to do the make-up for a music video for RedTails debut single Brighter Place. I of course jumped at the chance and I'm glad that I did!

Firstly, the band are great! Lovely, talented people who are clearly so passionate about what they do.
The song is fantastic and if you like it too it's available to download here.
And lastly, not to blow my own trumpet, the video looks amazing.

The video was shot in two parts over two days. 

For the first look I got a message saying "Think David Bowie as thin white duke, The Fifth Elementm, Paramore Now music video."

What a beautiful, beautiful sentence. 

I had the freedom to be really creative with this look and I just love how it came out.

I went with icy blues and pale skin and worked with the sharp lines of her hairstyle. 

This is Ciara Baron from A Trickle Of Meaning, and doesn't she look amazing? If you're not a follower of her blog (and why not?) go over and take a look!

For the second part I created a look for the singer of Redtails, the beautiful Colette.
Contrasting to the cold blues and whites on Ciara, I used warm gold and copper tones for Colette.

Colette has her own individual style that we really wanted to work with rather than change. The colours suited her skin tone and, (by complete chance as I only met her on the day) went PERFECTLY with her highlights.

(I will be doing a post on this make-up look, I promise)

 I love the footage of Colette, as well as Rick (keys/vocals) and Dan (drums), because it just shows what passion really is. How it feels to love what you do.
This picture shows it alone.
 The two days I worked on this video were brilliant purely because it was a bunch of people doing what they absolutely love. The band, obviously. Me, well duh.
But also the actors and the crew. Which was mostly made up of students.
It was just a great thing to be a part of and to watch.

So please go over to the YouTube video by clicking here and let the band and the people who worked hard on this video what you thought by leaving a comment or a thumbs up!
You can also just watch it at the top of this post too if you're feeling lazy.

For those of my regular readers and make-up enthusiasts who are wondering "What's going on!? Where's the make-up reviews?" I will be doing another post or two on the make-up looks I created in this and the products I used, so stay tuned!

RedTails: Twitter, Facebook
Director/Producer: Scott Hayden

Bdellium Brushes

"Bee-dell-iuum"

"Bu-dell-iumm"

Turns out the B is silent, well isn't that easier?

After hearing about Bdellium brushes on Zoellas Youtube, I had to pick some up when I was at IMATS this year. Bdellium are professional eco-friendly make-up brushes that also claim to be "Antibacterial". Don't take this the wrong way, yes you still clean them, but it is ten times easier to do.

Mine are from the Green and Pink Bambu series as they're made from sustainable materials and eco-friendly. The green are short handles and are my travel essentials and the pink are long handles.

Firstly, I bought a 957 which is a "Precision Kabuki" brush. A dense brush that is amazing for blending a flawless foundation.

I also got the 959 which is a "Powder Blending" brush. This is great for powder, all over bronzing or softening a blush or contour. It's also amazing for applying foundation too.

Last of the green brushes is the 776 which is the "Blending" brush. A great all round brush for eye make-up for all over colour or for blending.

On to the long handle brushes now which the 781 which is the "Crease Brush". Which, obviously, is an eyeshadow brush for blending in the crease. It's the perfect size for just that and is dense so blends wonderfully. 

Sadly this is the last of the bunch and it's the 780 which is the "Pencil brush". Perfect for smudging out an eyeliner, applying colour under the eye and I also use it to add a really definite dark colour in the crease.

I think the best thing however about these brushes is how affordable they are! I bought mine at IMATS where they were discounted however I believe they're retail prices range from £6 to £13 which is still absolutely incredible! They're just as good in quality if not better as some of my brushes that have cost £20 each.

I chose these brushes individually to achieve a perfect base and smokey eye make-up, however they're also sold in kits where you can save some cash,

If you're in the US, well lucky lucky you. These are even cheaper and available on their website, here.

For all my fellow Brits, I've found you can get your hands on these (and other amazing products) here at love make-up.

Has anyone else tried these brushes or found any other bargains?

Let me know!

Chanel Rouge Coco in Mademoiselle

Chanel Rouge Coco in No5, Mademoiselle. - £24

I've always wanted a Chanel lipstick, especially Chanel Coco. The adverts appealed to me even when I was young, before I probably owned any lipstick,. 

They were beautiful, glamorous, and classic.

I'm now eighteen and I feel a step closer to being a lady. 

 On a day to day basis, I don't wear lipstick. I'll wear a bold red lip on days I really make an effort with my make-up, however this leaves my make-up on other days looking very unfinished. I wanted a shade I'd get a lot of use out of. This never leaves my handbag, I wear it so often and it's beautiful. It's a beautiful colour, a very natural pink-red that is so easily worn.  Looking closely it has a slight shimmer in it too.

 It's a very moisturising which keeps my lips hydrated the whole day and it's lovely and creamy to apply. Because of that I thought the colour wouldn't last long, but it does last for around 6 hours and a tint of it will last all day. Which to me I think is fantastic. 

The lighting in this photograph is more true than the first.

I think what I really love about it though is how it makes me feel. 

Beautiful, glamorous and classic.

Taking a minute out of your everyday life, a day where I'm running around non stop, to apply this lipstick just adds a little luxury. From the classic Chanel packaging, the click as you open it, the feel of the lipstick and maybe even the glamorous price tag that comes with it. It just adds something that you don't get from a normal lipstick. 

The only problem now is that I want to try other colours.

This blog post has been a long time coming, I found it hard to put into words why I love it so much. However, it's done! I'm considering a lipstick post every Monday, what do you guys think?

May Favourites!

June is here and it brought the sunshine!

Which means it's about time I do another post on all the things I've had a little love affair with this month. You'll notice there was no April favourites, and that's because April was the worst.

Dove Summer Glow - £4.99

The packaging claims it's the UK's No.1 gradual self tanner and personally for me it is. The majority of May had awful weather and I was starting to think there would be no summer at all. I love this gradual tan as it's so easy and builds up to such a nice colour. It's also incredibly cheap, yay!

Perfect now the weathers picked up and I can show off my legs.

Use with...

Fake Bake Skin Smoothie, special dry-oil spray - £11.25

If you haven't tried this and always get horrible patches around your knees, elbows and ankles when you tan, go get this now! This isn't really essential for gradual tanning as they're moisturising and tend to avoid this problem, but I still use it every time. Because it's the best. Spritz over dry areas before tanning, then when applying tan just lightly drag it over these areas. 

I love these both just because of how beautiful they smell!

Fudge Urban Iced Raspberry & Vanilla Hair Spray - £4.99

That already sounds delicious right? Very good hairspray in "strong hold" but I feel I love it for the fragrance. I love fragranced hair sprays as that's so much better for you than actually spritzing a perfume through your hair which some people do. 

Just noticed Fudge do a styling mouse with the same scent, uhoh! This will quickly turn into an addiction.

The Body Shop, Vanilla Body Mist - £7.50

Massive "meh" to May Favourites, this would be in my yearly favourites. For the past two years and forever more. I love the smell of Vanilla, I just love it. I spray this all over my body and I smell of Vanilla all day. Even my boyfriends noticed and said he likes it, which in itself is mind blowing.

I also spray it on my clothes and pillow.. but that might just be me.

Boots Sun, Swim & Gym Shampoo and Conditioner for Coloured Hair - £3.05 each.

For over a month now I started swimming again and go twice a week. Since doing this I developed a slightly-irrational (but mostly rational) fear of chlorine. The chemicals in pools can be really bad for your hair but I also find them very drying to my skin. I got to the point where I'd text my friend right before a swim saying "What if it kills my hair!?" or "Will my tan come off!?". So I started the search for hair care products aimed for swimmers. I've started at the cheap end so I could work myself up if needed, but so far I like these. 

Boots Sun, Swim & Gym Protective Masque, £3.55

Another from the range that I like the idea of is a protective masque. I put it through dry hair, which I then tie back, before I swim to protect it from absorbing the chlorine.  It's also good to wet your hair before swimming as it will absorb that water rather than the pool water.

Bioderma, usually £9.99 for 250ml

Currently 1/3 off at escentual.com for the whole of June!

I'm sure you've heard enough about this product and how fantastic micellaire water is, so I won't go on! But this is my first bottle for myself and it truly is worth the hype. I use it just to remove heavy make-up and will continue to cleanse afterwards. I feel it's still important not to rush your skincare and use this as a cleanser, however fantastic it is. I do love it though and will stock up now it's on offer!

And just because I haven't included in any make-up yet, as nothing new has shook up my make-up routine. Here's some products I used this month and feel I'll use more together for a bronzed look!

Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum, £10.99

NARS "Laguna" Bronzer, £26

MAC in "Bronze", £12

Maybelline Color Tattoo in "On and on Bronze", £4.99

What have you loved this month?

Maybelline 24hr Color Tattoo

Maybelline Eye-Studio 24 Hour Colour Tattoo cream shadows available here for £4.99.

Oh wow, I really like these. I like these a lot.

These have actually been around for a while, and I completely ignored them. And I'll tell you why, dear friends, but not just yet. I picked up two colours in the shades "Pink Gold" and "On and on Bronze".
However I've noticed different stores and countries have different names for the colours which might get confusing. What's the deal there Maybelline? 

The reason I actually wanted to try these was to wear as a base before eye shadow so I picked up the colours I felt went best with my Urban Decay Naked Pallet. They're a match made in heaven for that. Can you see it? Ugh I feel like Cupid for the cosmetic world. "Pink Gold" would go perfectly as a base for the pink shades in the naked pallet such as Sin or Toasted. And "On and on Bronze" will really bring out the browns and golds such as Half Baked or Smog. They'll make any shadow last all day.

The thing is, I wasn't expecting to love these products to wear on their own. As much as I love the dewy look and how perfect they'd be for summer, I don't go for cream shadows.Well, the exception is these. They don't crease, they don't flake and they really do last hours (possibly not 24 hours but I won't be putting that one to the test). When I washed off my swatches they also didn't budge so I feel it's safe to say they're also waterproof to some degree. Like that.

The colours on their own are also beautiful! I literally fell in love when I swatched them in store. Just look at them, that bronze! If you're a fair English rose (like me!) then this pink is perfect for you.

Maybe the best thing is how soft and creamy they are to apply, they're easy to blend and won't drag across your eye lid. Nobody wants that do they? 

So far I love dabbing them with my finger over my eyes when I'm running late and just want a little something. Effortless and so beautiful. A small amount will give a shimmer and a sweep of colour which I like with the pink to brighten the eye, and the bronze I build up the colour intensity and blend out for a natural smokey eye.

I feel I ignored these for so long as the advertising was wrong. I only ever saw the turquoise or the  bright purple used in really bold looks. The reason they're amazing is because of the range of neutral colours and that they can be so wearable. I'm sorry I doubted you Maybelline, these will always be in my make-up bag from now.
Through sickness and through health. Like for ever and ever. 

Breakfast Scrub

Well it's only the best smelling thing on the planet.

Ever.

I couldn't not blog about this. I've probably smelt it 3874 times since buying it at the weekend. I've also held it up to my boyfriends face, my boyfriends brothers face and my boyfriends brothers girlfriends face and said "SMELL THIS, IT SMELLS LIKE PANCAKES".
And if I could unscrew the cap and virtually hold it up to your face, I would.

Yep, it's a body scrub that smells of Maple Syrup. To be precise it smells of Maple Syrup on warm pancakes in Vancouver. To be even more precise it smells of happiness.

This is £8 and personally I wouldn't care if it did nothing for my skin, I'd still slather it all over my body without complaint. Luckily, it's also a really good exfoliant and I would happily repurchase it.

I take a small scoop with my fingers and exfoliate in circles. This is a product that's perfect in a bath because it will fragrance the water too! It's a sugar scrub so will remove any dry skin but it's not overly harsh grains, like in Soap & Glory Flake Away which can sometimes be a bit full on. It's also very moisturising from the Shea Butter and will leave your skin feeling pretty darn soft (and smelling fabulous, have I mentioned that yet?).
Like all Soap and Glory scrubs, they've hit the nail on the head. 

If I could give you only one bit of advice in life, it would be to go into Boots and take a whiff of this.
Thank me later.

Maybelline The Falsies

 It's Tanya Burrs favourite mascara...

I don't need to say more.

After reading so many good things, this week I picked up The Falsies mascara by Maybelline and finally gave it a whirl. And what a better time to do it than when it's £2 off at Boots, making it only £5.99.

Ps. does anyone else want to curl up and cry when this happens to their nails?

Mine is in "Black Drama" which is a darker matte black to the original, and it's shown by the lace detail!
I love that aspect of it, it's very black so perfect for definition.

The brush to me looked pretty scary at first. I don't tend to use plastic brushes so I'm used to the classic mascara brush wand. This seems to have spiky brush hairs at all angles - a little crazy. 

The stem of the wand is flexible as you can see by the indent which I do feel helps.

Maybelline call it a "spooned" brush which they've actually patented, to me that just means curved. Nothing new but it does work well with the shape of natural lashes and catches every lash. I feel this also adds curl to the lashes but not lots.
To me that's okay, I look for definition in a mascara but if you're after curl I'd recommend the No7 Exquisite Curl mascara. 

I feel it lengthens lashes pretty well and does add volume.
 It claims no clumps which I'd say is almost true. What is really good about it is that it does layer up very well if you want more from it! However it's important when using any mascara to not let the mascara on the lashes dry in-between doing this.

Creepy and up close before and afters!

As you can see it clearly makes a good difference. 

For £5.99 I definitely think it's worth a buy and I would recommend!

What do you think of The Falsies? 

Winter Rescues

Just like to say, sorry for the stock images, my camera has gone walkabouts.

The weather in England has been bitter this winter.

I don't know about you guys, but my skin, hands and lips have become ridiculously dry - fantastic!

Here's what I've been using to rescue it!

Lips

Lush Bubblegum Lip Scrub,£5.25. Get it here.

This is something I've been using for years and over time I must have bought 5 or 6 of these.

They're sugar scrubs for your lips to exfoliate any dry skin. However your lips are sensitive so you need a very small amount. All you do is pop a little on your finger, rub over lips and lick off (it's mostly sugar based and completely vegan)!

Mines in Bubblegum and they honestly taste delicious.

(I quite often catch my boyfriend tasting mine, then denying it!)

Skincare

No7 Beautiful Skin Day Cream for Dry/Very Dry Skin, £12.50. Buy it here.

I use this as a daily moisturiser and have done for probably 5 months. It's a thick consistency so takes a while to sink in but is great for my dry skin. However I still have small dry patches that show when I wear make-up and causes it to flake. 

No7 Beautiful Skin Dry Skin Rescue, £12. Buy it here.

I bought this and so far so good.

You need the smallest amount and I apply it after my moisturiser to areas that need extra attention. I'd say it's similar to a balm and it's made using shea and cocoa butters. It smoothes my skin and creates a great base for my make-up. Where the weather has dried out my hands too I sometimes pop this over my knuckles and it works wonders.

Hands

So I have two hand creams that I think have been fantastic saviours in this weather!

Body Shop Hemp Hand Protector from £5, buy it here.

Nothing about this smells good but your hands feel instantly better after using it! I really do love it and will be buying another one despite what I find to be a high price. It takes quite a while to sink in after use and feels slightly oily on your hands so I tend to use it before bed. It's made with Community Trade Hemp Seed Oil and it leaves my hands beautifully soft. 

For use on the go I've been using:

Garnier 7 Days Hand Cream, £2.99
You can currently buy it for £1.99 here.

It does as it says and sinks in (almost) instantly so is fantastic to use on the go! It's completely different to the Hemp Hand Protector but I think it's just as good (although I still need both in my life). I think they have a few different ones in the range as this one says "soothing" but personally I choose purely on the smell. 

I've also been loving the Garnier 7 Days Gel Cream which is a body lotion that's also designed to absorb instantly. Both products have been fantastic in this weather.

As an extra treat for my hands I've also been sleeping in cotton gloves after generously applying a hand cream. Personally I've been using the Botanics Bamboo Spa Gloves, sold here but as long as they're pure cotton it really doesn't matter!

Hope this was helpful and everyone cross your fingers that the temperature will start to rise now!

I realise that to those fortunate to live in sunny areas this might have been a bit pants.. 

but it's still important to give your skin a drink!

What are your winter favourites?

Sister Suggestions!

,

How do you know when a product is so good you must go out and buy it now? By reading a blog post on it, seeing it in a magazine, if a Kardashian tweets it?

For me, I know a product is ruddy amazing when my older sister texts me saying "Look what I just found in super drug" or me texting her saying "You need this in your life".

My sister is 20, lives in London and is at LSMT, therefore living the "student life".

 So the products we recommend each other are either:

•  Ridiculously cheap yet surprisingly good .
• So bloody good they are worth the money!

Rather than keeping these products a sibling secret, each month I'll write a "Sister Suggestions" post!

My suggestion to her this month:

Hair oils suddenly became huge this past year and some people are paying masses for it!

 Yes, I know Morrocan oil is amazing, I've tried it out lots in the Salon at College and it is fab. 

But is it worth the the £30.45 price tag that comes with it?

 Superdrug sell coconut oil (completely pure accept added fragrance) buy it here for £2.99 

It comes in a solid form in a tub and can be warmed up with your hands and run through your hair! I use this as a conditioning mask through wet hair and it does WONDERS! Every hair guru has raved about coconut oil this past year but have still been suggesting products of it that cost around £15!

How do you know it's good?
I text her about it, of course!

She's now bought it, and we're in love!

Last year my friend burnt off her hair lighting a cigarette of her oven       - nice one kim!
What rescued the damaged frazzled remains? Your basic kitchen olive oil! Don't fall for the price tags, ladies.

Her suggestion to me:

Have trouble with your Make-Up staying in place all day?

On clients that really need their make-up to stay (brides, for example) I'd use Kyrolan Fixing Spray - That's something that won't change when doing my professional make-up!

However I love face mists, I own MAC Fix+ and Vitimin E Face Mist from The Body Shop! Both are refreshing face mists that also promise to help give a slight fix to your make-up! But for a student?

My sister swears by this and says it holds your make-up like nothing else. For £5, what's to loose?

Proof that it works?

(it was a mock audition and she was 1 of only 3 that got a call back, snaps for my sis guys!)

Let me know if you enjoy this post and I'll continue to do one each month!

What are your cheap must haves?

MAC Red Lips

Top to Bottom: MAC Viva Glam 1 (£14), MAC Cherry Lip Pencil (£11.50), MAC Russian Red  Tinted Lipglass (£13.50).

So I've been using this trio a lot lately, they're not all exact matching shades but I've fallen in love with each product and they work beautifully together! What you need to know about me is that I only wear bold lipstick and it's mostly reds. So for me I look for high pigmentation, clean lines and most importantly one that lasts!

Let's talk about the lipstick!

Firstly, I don't remember what my life was like before I started using MAC Lipsticks (dramatic, I know). But it's true, I will never buy another brand of lipsticks ever again. I used to use Maybelline 24 Hour Lipstick (I still highly recommend this, I've worn it before for a two day drinking bender and woke up with it still in tact) and although it lasts longer than a lipstick, it doesn't have the same texture and will dry out your lips. MAC lipsticks last better than any other lipstick I've used whilst still hydrating your lips -  what more could you want.

Viva Glam 1 is a matte deep red. This lipstick was actually part of my 18th birthday present from my gorgeous sister, she knows me too well! I'm pale skinned with dark hair, as is she, so she went into the store asking for a colour to suit our complexion and I think it just looks beautiful. - keep that in mind because that's a really good way of buying make-up as presents! 
I tend to apply it with a lip brush as I find it difficult to get a even line with just the lipstick however I invested in a Lip Pencil for when I'm on the go.

As you can tell, they are not all matching colours. The lip liner is close to Viva Glam 1 but a slightly lighter shade and I would say a slightly pinky red too. I bought this because it's a colour that goes well under ALL of my red lipsticks, bright or dark. It's also really smooth to apply. 

I'm not normally one to wear a lipgloss (they're sticky and annoying) but I thought I'd give it a go, make a change, be ambitious even. I can tell you now, it is sticky. I would not recommend this for an event where you are eating or even drinking much actually. It does transfer onto glasses, although magically stays on your lips too, and without a lip liner I suspect it's very likely to bleed. However they do a huge variety of lipglass so maybe a Pro Longwear might be the one for me! What I love about it is that it's extremely pigmented, as you can see on my hand swatch! So far I've only worn it over my lipstick but I'm sure you could wear it without too. What you see in the tube is what you get! It has a beautiful high shine too it and I find it's fantastic for parties.

All 3 of these shades are beautiful and I could not recommend MAC lipsticks enough to you!
What's your favourite MAC product? Let me know!