Daily Makeup #2

I really liked how my makeup turned out the other night. The style & colours I used complemented my 60s inspired Urban Outfitters dress beautifully. As I was going to a concert I needed to make sure that my foundation would stick around all night long. I can't get enough of the Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation at the minute. I sandwiched it between a bit of Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer and Illamasqua Translucent Loose Powder. Even after hours of jumping about & dancing my base still looked perfectly matte & in place so I'd recommend getting both of those if your foundation is prone to melting. For concealer I used NARS Radiant Creamy Concealer underneath my eyes & on any blemishes. As always I went for theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer as my highlighter and then applied my favourite ever blusher - NARS Deep Throat - to add a peachy pink glow to my cheeks. Nude lips were all the rage during the 60s but I find it really hard to pull that look off. Pale skin & pale lips just makes you look ill. Instead I went for a lovely peach in the form of MAC Ever Hip Lipstick. I slicked on a bit of Lanolips Lemonaid Lip Aid* beforehand to soften my lips & add a glossy finish. It also helps to sheer out the lipstick & make it look even prettier.

Moving onto my eye makeup I didn't want to do a full on 60s eye look so I went for smokey grey eyeshadow instead. To make my eyeshadow last all night long without creasing I primed my eyelids using MAC Painterly Paint Pot. I used a couple of shades from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette - Verve all over my eyelid & then Pistol on the outer corners, blended into the crease & under my bottom lashes. I still really like the Yves Rocher Volume Vertige Mascara* so I layered it up for thick, voluminous lashes. I wanted to do a fairly thin line of liquid eyeliner so I used L'Oreal Superliner Perfect Slim & added a little flick at the ends. My eyes are pretty tiny so I always use a nude eyeliner on my waterline to make them look a bit bigger. MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in NC15/NW20 is the ultimate. Finally I filled in my eyebrows using Anastasia DipBrow Pomade. This stuff doesn't budge whatsoever & delivers intense definition to your brows. To make them look a bit more natural I used a combo of Anastasia Tinted Brow Gel & MAC Clear Brow Set. These helped to bring out the individual hairs so my brows didn't look completely drawn on. Let me know what you think!

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Daily Makeup #1

Today I'm starting up a new feature as I've never really done face of the day type posts before. It always bugs me when people talk about the makeup products they're using and then they don't follow it up with a picture of how it actually looks on their face. So here's a look with a focus on thick black liner & cherry red lips. I started off with my Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation in #2 which gives great coverage but also adds a wonderful glow to the skin. I concealed any blemishes & my undereye area with the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair before setting under my eyes with the Laura Mercier Secret Brightening Powder. I'm always one for a bit of shimmer so I dusted a bit of my Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder in Luminous Light all over my face & highlighted my cheekbones with theBalm Mary-Lou Manizer. For blush I went for Illamasqua Naked Rose, it gives such a pretty flush to the cheeks. I then filled in my eyebrows using Anastasia Brow Wiz in Medium Ash & held my brows in place using MAC Clear Brow Set.

The lovely ladies at Baobella Boutique recently sent me a few new products to try out. Baobella Boutique is a free to join, members only online beauty store. They offer some amazing discounts on well known brands such as Clarins, Chanel, Decleor, L'Oreal, Maybelline & Lee Stafford to name just a few. There's a huge range of high end brands, drugstore brands and some that you might not have come across before. Each item is only available for a limited time period so you have to be quick to make sure you don't miss out on a great deal. If you like buying discounted beauty products (who doesn't?!) then it's well worth signing up for. I received an Yves Rocher duo worth over £40 yet you could buy it on Baobella Boutique for just £10.99! Yves Rocher is the number one makeup brand in France. All of their products are natural so if you're into that kind of thing then they're a great brand to check out. Not only that but their products are very high quality too.

I was extremely impressed by the Volume Vertige mascara. I love the curvy wand applicator. It really sculpts the lashes, giving lots of separation & definition without any clumps. One coat is enough for super long & thick lashes but I always like to add another to pump up the volume. It holds a curl so well & makes my lashes generally look amazing. After applying my mascara I lined my eyes with lots of Soap & Glory Supercat & MAC Chromagraphic Pencil in NC15/NW20 on the waterline. I finished off my look with a slick of Yves Rocher Grand Rouge lipstick in the shade Radiant Red. This lipstick feels really comfortable & moisturising on the lips. It features camellia oil, organic sesame oil & vitamin E to keep your lips in tip top condition. The highly pigmented formula simply glides on & it has a nice glossy finish. The staying powder is incredible, it lasts for hours even after eating & drinking. When it does begin to fade, it leaves a pretty red stain rather than a horrible ring around your lips. I love the packaging & it smells really nice too. Yves Rocher get a big thumbs up from me.

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September Favourites

Korres Pomegranate Lip Butter
I posted some swatches of this yesterday so hopefully you can see why I'm so enamoured with this luscious lip butter. It's such a lovely neutral pink shade with total 'my lips but better' potential. These lip balms are so hydrating and feel amazing on the lips. They're just perfect for the Autumn/Winter seasons. Full review here.

Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer SPF 15
I love thick silicone-based primers for their ability to smooth over the skin and hide pores. But I started to find that they would drag and pill in combination with certain foundations. So they were making my base look slightly patchy rather than flawless. I decided to bite the bullet and shell out for this much loved but incredibly expensive primer and I'm so glad I did. It really is fantastic and is easily the best primer I've ever tried. It gives your makeup some serious staying power as well as minimising pores, smoothing the skin and adding a nice luminescence to your face. Full review here.

Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation
In the height of my SPF-free foundation madness I splashed out £34.50 on Giorgio Armani's Luminous Silk Foundation. I loved the coverage and glow it brings to the skin. It really is a gorgeous foundation and perfect for nights out. But as someone who likes to apply their makeup in the morning and then can't be bothered with touching up throughout the day, it just didn't last long enough on my skin. It always ended up going a bit patchy around my nose and forehead no matter which primer I used. So I kinda gave up on it and it had been sitting untouched on my table for months. Then I purchased the amazing Hourglass Veil Mineral Primer and everything I disliked about the Armani foundation had been completely rectified. Of course, the primer kinda negates the whole no SPF thing but now that I use chemical exfoliants on my skin everyday, I do need constant sun protection. Anyway I think they're a perfect team and it's nice that I can actually use this rather pricey foundation again! (Ancient) full review here.

Benefit They're Real Mascara
I bought this a few months ago when my beloved Lancome Doll Eyes mascara finally dried up. I think it has to be one of the most hyped up mascaras ever so I had really big expectations of it. At first I wasn't too keen on it. This mascara certainly lengthens but it was lacking the volume that I crave. It definitely improves as the product dries up a bit but it still was never my first choice when it came to applying my mascara in the morning. However I think it looks really stunning when wearing false lashes. I always pop on another coat of mascara after applying false eyelashes to blend them in a bit more and this one really delivers some beautiful black voluminous lashes. So the name 'They're Real' might not be entirely true anymore but in combination with some nice falsies, this mascara is a dream.

La Roche-Posay Redermic R
My skincare routine, diet adjustments and supplementing must be working because I've not had a single new spot for almost a month now! Probably jinxed myself now though eh? But that's pretty amazing for someone who was getting at least one cropping up every day. My chin was the last place to clear up but it has been helped tremendously by this retinol cream. It has helped to heal up active breakouts, gotten rid of my cystic acne and has worked really well on my skin's personal nemesis - closed comedones. I prefer this over other spot treatments because it works so fantastically on scarring too. It also leaves my skin soft & smooth so if you have sensitive skin this is a great option for a retinol product. Full review here.

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Giorgio Armani Luminous Silk Foundation

For the past few months I have been wearing Illamasqua's Skin Base Foundation every single day. One of my favourite things about that foundation is that it doesn't contain SPF, meaning that your face won't suddenly become two shades lighter under flash photography. Considering I'm already as white as a ghost that wasn't something I particularly liked; it left me looking washed out and rather ill compared to all the healthy looking girls around me. Since trying Skin Base I've become increasingly interested in other foundations that don't contain SPF. As I heard it was a favourite of Kim Kardashian, the one I decided to try out next was Giorgio Armani's Luminous Silk Foundation.

Armani describe this foundation as 'an oil-free hydrating fluid with exclusive Micro-fil™ technology. Its lightweight and silky texture glides on seamlessly for an all-day, buildable coverage'. At £34 this foundation certainly doesn't come cheap but in my opinion its well worth the hefty price tag. I bought this from Harvey Nicks in Leeds where I was matched to shade 2. I do struggle to find a light enough colour match with most foundations but this is good enough. I can imagine it being a great choice for Summer. The colour range is fairly extensive (I believe there are about 15 shades) but there might not be a dark enough choice for some skintones. As you can see from the swatch on my hand the formula is very sheer which is a stark contrast to the thicker, creamier formula of Skin Base. I also really like that it has a pump applicator as any other mechanism often leaves you with too much product.

I began applying it with just one pump of the foundation. While it didn't cover up my blemishes, it got rid of any redness & discolouration right away whilst still showing my skin underneath. This is a great foundation to use if you're after for a naturally flawless look. I found that I needed 3 pumps worth to get the coverage I desired. I would say that the coverage is comparable to Chanel's Vitalumiere Aqua. Because the formula is so sheer & silky, it layers up like a dream with absolutely no streakiness. I am completely in love with how smooth it makes my face look! This is probably also partly due to Philosophy's The Present & my lovely new Real Techniques brushes but my face has never looked so smooth before & my pores are practically invisible. You can still clearly see my freckles on my cheeks and under my eyes because this is not a full coverage foundation but it does cover the majority of skin imperfections when layered up. It also makes my skin properly glow without looking oily which I adore!

Along with the price the only other real downside to this foundation is the staying power. I did use a primer beforehand & a powder to set it but I think thats standard practice with most foundations I've used. Its not oxidised on me at all so thats a bonus. It still looks pretty good on my normal/combination type skin after about 10 hours of wear but it is a little bit patchy around my forehead. I think on someone with oilier skin it might not last as long and could end up looking a bit too shiny but its pretty much fine on me. You would probably need to top it up if you were wearing it on a night out after a whole day of wear. However I do really like it and am very happy to have two SPF-free foundations in my collection, one thick & one thin in formula to adjust to my daily needs.