Make Up Lust

I'm getting back into makeup quite seriously at the moment. I can't really be too experimental with my clothes so makeup is on the agenda. I had almost a year of 'using up what I have' and since I dyed my hair a darker red, I've had to look into different shades and styles. I'm still a very firm fan of MAC makeovers and I only invest in new things once they have been chosen by a professional, even if MAC faces can be very heavy and 'done'. A look I personally love!! Remember you spend £30 on a makeover but then you can claim £30 off any products.

Right now my obsessions are clear, glowing skin, plump, nude lips and arched brows. Over the summer I was trying to channel my inner Victoria Secret model and I had a MAC makeover before a gig. A gig might seem a strange occasion but sometimes I have makeovers when I know I'm going to spend £30 in store in the near future anyway, and a gig actually has more promise than a night out because you know you're going to see someone you love perform, rather than go to a club that could turn out a bit lifeless. Gigs are the new clubs for sure and it was a Kendrick Lamar gig by the way! I had one of the most tanned faces I've had at this particular makeover but the look was freshened with the shimmery, pearlescent pink beauty that is Lust MSF. Mineralised Skin Finish powders are known for being swirls of glitter goodness and this one adds a flush of an angel. Pair with a twinkle in your eye and let your cheekbones do the talking.

Makeup The Rules

I had a superb Superdrug haul today as my sister works there and staff 'friends and family' get 50% off Superdrug's own products this week! This includes Sleek, MUA, Gosh and a host of others so I stocked up on just about everything I could possibly ever need and these things were among the beauty products. I love that golden discount card!

I only wanted to buy things I knew I would at least make a dent in, as lots of my own makeup hardly ever gets used up. I have a strange moment of buying things with great plans, but then not wanting them to run out! I don't want to wear a full face of makeup every day because most days I come to work and then leave again without any meetings. I almost don't want to feel disappointed that the day was uneventful and I've wasted the makeup! It's a funny cycle but I love buying makeup and planning how I will wear it. 

I'm going to consciously try to use up a lipstick or blusher, with the aim of having an empty pot and tube as soon as possible! Almost like the total opposite now; a race backwards. What's the worst that can happen? The truth is the rate of buying makeup is exceeding the rate I use it up so I can just balance it out haha.

My New (Old) Beauty Tower

Hi all! I hope you are rather swell, as am I right now; I've been looking through the Victoria Secret runway show images and loving being a girl! I'm super girly across basically everything I do and moving house meant I had a new room to decorate, which is rather exciting. I'm constantly browsing Achica and Dolly Bow Bow in my lunch break dreaming of new bedding and kitsch bits!

I would like to have a clutter free, bare bedroom with a few scattered candles, but when you rent just one room, most things you own are in one space! I had these Argos shelves in my old house but only had a few layers up, but this time I knew I wanted to make it a super tall tower of beauty, hair and accessories!

The shelves are the easiest DIY set as you just twist on the poles by hand, it's not very heavy, and you can have as many layers as you want. I have kept most things in a few recycled Glossybox's from work as its easy to just chuck things in. If you have to keep arranging your things neatly, it will never stay that way!

After a few months of using things up and not replenishing my collections, I feel I've got a more manageable stash of perfumes, hair products and body moisturisers, eventually just working my way down to my key favourites! Not so sure that will happen any time soon!

 

Treats and Traumas

Hi guys! A little late night check in from me as I have been round the shops yet again and have not seen anything that I wanted to part with my cash for! What is going on?! I'm currently on a bottoms ban (aka no trousers, skirts, leggings, etc) as I have so many that I still love, but I could do with some knitwear as more of a 'priority'. I'd love a burgundy jumper but haven't seen the winner yet!

I'm still waiting to use someone's student discount on the soft River Island creepers but have bought a bunch of Topshop socks in preparation! I love the frillies and seriously love these the thick fold-over detail on the right pair. I'll be washing these in bleach so they stay the brightest white!

I also realised I had a decent amount of Boots points and tried to re-buy my favourite contour/bronzer colour, Brickie by 17. I got this probably two years ago and now they seem to have discontinued it, nooooo!! No signs on eBay or the'net either. Why didn't I stock up on this £3.50 beauty?! I did wonder if they had changed the name and it was now the rather similar shade Nude but alas they are not identical. Nude is still pretty though and shall get hopefully as much use as it's older sister.

 

MAY FASHION BLOGGER CHALLENGE DAY 29

    29th. Face of the day

This is a bit of a weird challenge as I am not usually one to take many photos of myself, although I am trying to change this as I really want to make my blog a true representation of myself again, and not just the things around me. I have a standard set of daily makeup products and then usually change up my blushers or lipsticks depending on what I'm wearing or how I feel. Today I wore:

Base: MAC Studio Fix Fluid in NC20 mixed with Bourjois 10 Hour Sleep Effect in 74 Beige, Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer in Medium, 17 Blush/Bronzer in Brickie and 17 Blush in Damson Wine

I'm running low on Fix Fluid and I'm trying to scrimp in all areas at the moment to save for fun. I just pulled out a foundation in the nearest shade and mixed so I used less of the MAC foundation, which turned out OK enough but not too amazing. Also Brickie is a great contour/bronzer colour for the very fair as it's more of a taupe blush, and it's cheap.

Eyes: MAC Orb, Kid, Swiss Chocolate and Mythology Eye Shadows, Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner, L'oreal Million Lashes Mascara

I use very warm toned/reddish shadows to make my eyes more blue and usually a bit of Swiss Chocolate in my brows too. All these eye shadows were used on me in makeovers at MAC over time - I would never just buy a shadow as I never know what suits me! My favourite mascara is so dried out now but I don't want to spend £10 on a new one so bought the Glamour issue today with a free Benefit Bad Gal mascara. I've tried it before and wasn't too fussed but it's not bad for £2.

Lips: MAC Creme D' Nude

A classic, pale nude to make your lips fuller! 

 

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 18

    18th. Your brightest lipstick 

Hi guys! Gosh I apologise for the break in posting the challenge, I'll have a catch up now! I was home over the weekend from Friday and didn't have time to schedule any posts, and didn't want to make them half-hearted. However maybe fate caught up with me as I set up all my bright lipsticks for this post and whatdyaknow, there was a lipstick avalanche and loads fell on the floor. Great! I can cut a layer away but this was not part of the plan and many are now smooshed. It was mostly to illustrate the fact that I have a lotttt of bright coral lipsticks!! I am always after the perfect one and it is a search that is never complete. I've actually banned myself now as there is no point in buying another as it will probably be a smidgen different to at least three I already own! I definitely need to start wearing these more haha maybe I have a century's worth of lipstick.

May Fashion Blogger Challenge Day 8

    8th. Something you forget you have but love

Hey guys! Gosh the bank holiday throws out your week so strangely, it almost feels like it's nearly the weekend again! I had a marvellous 3 days off at home and I did go to that foam party, OMG! It makes it even funnier that it was in a rock/metal club and we got there really early so the cannons all around the room were very unnerving! At around midnight they played a few songs that filled up the dance floor (1,000+ people) and on realising this, my friend and I ran to the toilets in a last minute panic! The rest of our group were guys and when we returned they were all SOAKED and so we just got on with it - it was insane! I was sopping wet all night!

What made it worse was that I was having a really good hair day!! Haha typical! As soon as I went in the foam I tied my hair up but God knows what it looked like, terrible probably! And there were loads of circle mosh pits because of the music and for some reason they always look really fun to me, even though my friends have to remind me that I would probably get crushed by a million burly, tattooed guys. Pits and foam was a bit crazy, I totally wanted to go in! And I probably drank a gallon of the foam as it floated in your drinks and you just scooped it out with no real though!

I didn't wear lashes for once as I guessed they would just fall off due to foam and I was even wearing flats so it was pretty laid back for me! I wore a lot of MAC Mythology and usual black shadow, and my eyes are totally different shapes so remember your shadow and eyebrows should be like sisters, not twins!

Then I was out again on Sunday, first to a pub type club but ended up in my favourite club, crashing the DJ box as usual! I'm not a DJ, I mean just annoying the DJ with various song suggestions that they would never play. Nicki Minaj at an indie club? Maybe one day!

Now then, for today's challenge the things that seem to basically slip my mind are accessories in general! I hardly ever wear any jewellery, though I have been wearing earrings more recently. I just don't like things jangling around, but I'm really annoyed I didn't wear my big hoops with the stripy Motel dress I wore on Sunday! I even wore flats then because of my knee and my friend and I determined that a definitely larger number of guys talk to you if you're not in heels! I will have to test this theory again but this is a scary realisation as I am always the true tan/lashes/heels girl, never under dressed! Do you go out in flats often? I don't ever get any pain from heels but I'm generally quite tall in them so maybe that's it.

My New Makeup Storage!

Hi everyone! You know every Sunday I sort my life out a bit, and my makeup and beauty product storage has been bugging me for months! Every week I sterilise, wipe and clean all my makeup and brushes, so finally this weekend I bought some new draws and gave it a huge overhaul. I have been lusting over clear drawers like Kim Kardashian but at Muji or on eBay a full set are around £40. Even going to a bog standard stationary storage company ends up costing loads, however I ended up getting a bargain! 

 

So my previous storage was in some little draws from WHSmith over a year ago, which had cute cupcakes all over but couldn't be easily wiped, so by now they were a bit grubby. My products were just in plastic boxes but they were a big mish mash and things would always fall over. Above is my desk/dressing table at the messiest previously!

My daily makeup items were kept in this geisha girl box from Wilkinsons so I could grab them easily.

The contents of my draws were way too busy! Some draws were overloaded like the middle lip drawer on the left and some were almost empty like the top middle brush drawer. It was time for a change! If you are going to spend a lot on makeup, you have to keep it clean and neat too. It would be like buying a lovely dress but leaving it screwed up and dirty!

I was browsing Wilkinsons for sandwich boxes (oh the glamour!) and I spotted the pink tower of drawers below for only £7! They called to me and I snapped them up, and sorting out all my makeup was a few very fun hours. Cleaning is totally destressing!

The draws are just lilac tinted plastic and can be pulled apart, so essentially I could buy more and stack them up even higher. I'd love to but this storage is to house the makeup I don't use every single day. In an ideal world I would peruse my whole collection each morning but I don't really have time, so I will pick out a few new picks of lipsticks and blushers at the start of the week and usually choose between those mid week.

I just about fitted everything in the drawers!

The top drawer is eyeliners, eye shadows and mascara of all different varieties. I only really wear eyeshadow at night as it comes off during the day at work, but shadows are always something you seem to have a huge collection of - they last so long! My Barry M dazzle dusts that I now never use cover the whole base of the draw.

The next draw is a hidden base of lipglosses and then lots of blushers. I love blushers! If I were to grow a part of my collection right now, it would be blushers. I've been buying clothes lately though, not makeup!

The third draw is face makeup so foundation, concealers, powders and highlighters. I use old/not-quite- right foundations to mix with each other to find the right colour or on my legs for nights out.

 

The bottom drawer is my favourite - lipsticks! I have about five in my bag every day anyway as I like to chop and change.

I also got rid of the white boxes and laid out my products in sections on the left so I can see them at a glance. I have a box specifically of face stuff near the centre, makeup bags with hair curlers inside in the middle, my new drawers, palettes, a box jam packed with nail art goodies at the end, and on the very front right is still my daily makeup box. The apple print table cover is actually a few wipe-clean place mats from a DIY shop! My wooden table was getting marked so I picked up these for super cheap and they are perfect as they can be cleaned at the end of the week too.

Maybe I'll show how I clean my makeup another day! For now it is very nice to have an autumn shake-up of everything and really appreciate the things you have invested in. How do you store your makeup? Can you give me any tips?

OOTN Video: Lace Elsa Dress, Amy Childs Hair and Blue Eyes

I was out on the town by 9pm on Saturday night, so very wrong! I went out in Bristol with some housemates but as they are all boys, they start early and finish early in the morning, so I had to get ready super early to go to bars first. I had a really great Saturday though because I got my hair done! I've been using non-permanent red tints but the bright red flashes wash out straight away and I already have red hair so there's no point! So I bit the bullet and requested an Amy Childs colour at Regis in the Bristol Galleries and it was fantastic! My stylist was called Anna and I actually talked to her all the way through and I never seem to get past the 'are you going on holiday?' at hairdressers usually. I've found my local salon!

The dye used was a mixture of a few and I know Amy Childs uses a colour called Goldwell 6RB but she is naturally blonde so this mix was perfect for me. The fade will be OK though as it will just be a version of my natural colour. Really exciting just before fashion week!

Also it means I can have a revamp of my makeup and wardrobe and try some new colours. No way would I wear blues with my old sandier colour but on Saturday I buffed a little of this AMAZING Nars shadow in Outremer that I got from HQhair at the edge of my usual black shadow.

 

It is so intense! The colours in the video are a little off as it was night (barely) but I wore my new Motel Elsa Dress! It is GORGEOUS! I am so biased as remember I work for Motel but then again I'm so not as this dress is perfect in so many ways! The lace is so detailed and lovely and for Motel, this dress isn't super short! It's definitely going to be one that I wear to every immediate social occasion until I run out and can rotate it again. Do you do that and end up with the same outfit in loads of recent Facebook pictures?

Are any of you going to fashion week? I'll be there on the Friday style spotting for Motel so say hi if you see us! I'm freaking out a bit as my mouse woes have turned a nasty corner as I met one face to face tonight! I'm thinking I'll have to move out as this is such an old house so they are inevitable, but I don't have time to move house aaaargh!

Get lashed

False lashed that is! Fritha and Victoria have each let me know about Superdrug's own new range of lashes that includes a double lash pair but they seem to have sold out in all the Superdrugs I've visited! So I got another pair of Eylure 202 double lashes which are only £4.99 in New Look but £7+ everywhere else so get down there! There are actually 2 types of Eylure double lashes; a really chunky black pair or this fluttery pair. Once you go double, you never go back!

By the way, double lashes are just like two sets of lashes on top of each other but on one normal strip, so they are extra full. I always cut lashes at the strip so they fit my eye better, but remember to cut them at corresponding ends so you don't end up with a mismatching pair! I only use Duo glue sold at MAC which just WORKS and make the lashes much easier to stick on. My tips are: get a mirror that you can stand/sit really close to, make sure you apply them in loads of light so you can see what you're doing, and make sure the glue isn't still wet when you apply- it should have dried a bit and be sticky. Don't overload with glue either! Just put on a little line with a cotton bud or hair grip, with a bit extra on the ends to make sure they stick down well.

I'm going out with my sister later so I'll try to do a double Outfit of the Night video with her or the Sister Tag if we have time! If you're staying in tonight or reading this on Sunday, here's a little haul video of things I got recently. Lots of bargains in there too xx