BE MINE? Valentine's- Part Two

Hello Lovelies, it's Jenn (:

So last week I wrote a post about Valentine's gifts/baked goodies and I thought I would continue today into part two- the looks. I've never been out for Feb 14th, and if you read part one you'd see that i'm not a massive fan of it, so it was a be difficult to choose different outfits but I hope i've done well, let me know! 

The English Rose- Theatre Trip 

 White Ruffled Dress- Topshop

Cream & Rose Cardigan- Primark 

Floral Bag- Topshop 

 Make Up

For my make up, I used my trusty MUA Undressed Palette, Clinique Blushing Blush Powder in Sunset Glow, Clinique Chubby Stick in Plushest Punch, Diorshow Mascara by Dior, Body Shop Virgin Mineral Liquid Foundation in Shade 105/Rose Ivory, Benefit POREfessional, Technic High Lights & a eyeliner pencil in plum (non branded).

To prep, I put a pea sized amount of Porefessional all over my face, focusing more on my lids and around my eyes. I brushed blusher onto my checkbones and up towards my temples. You don't have to apply it that high but I advise you to if you have puffy skin around your eyes because it makes it less noticable. 

For my eyes, I loaded my eyeshadow brush with Shade 2 from the Undressed Palette and brushed it all across my lid. I then lightly applied Shade 1 just under my brows to widen my eyes and blended heavily. Next, I applied a darker rose shimmer (Shade 9) into the crease and blended as much as I could, I then made a wing shape with the same shade and connected it to the outer corner of my eye. I penciled in a line (you don't have to be too neat) and then blended that into my lash line, top and bottom. I then applied one coat of Diorshow mascara.

For my lips, I wanted a bright pop of rosy colour so I chose Clinique Chubby Stick Intense in Plushest Pink. Sophie bought me this after I was lusting after it for ages. I'll do a proper review of this in a later post but I do love it and you should definitely invest in one.

The Retro- Lunch Date 

Red Skirt- Vintage 

Make Up

 Products Used-
MUA Undressed Palette, Clinique Blushing Blush Powder in Sunset Glow, Maxfactor Colour Effect Flipstick in Gispy Red, Diorshow Mascara by Dior, Body Shop Virgin Mineral Liquid Foundation in Shade 105/Rose Ivory, Benefit POREfessional, Technic High Lights & a eyeliner pencil in plum (non branded) 

I used the same make up as the look above so have a read there to see how I did it (:

  The only thing I changed was my lip colour which was one of Maxfactor's Flipsticks in Gipsy Red. I really love these lipsticks, as you've pretty much got 3 shades in one. Mine comes in with a coral/pink and a gold shimmer. To apply just sweep the pink across your lips and then apply the gold just in the middle for a subtle look. I'll do a proper review in a later post (: 

 Hair

Now, I apologise for the photo quality, I understand it's the dreaded mirror photo but I couldn't get a decent photo of my hair otherwise (it's still not that decent). 

If you look closely then you'll notice the heart shaped rolls at the top of my head, I'll definitely do a proper tutorial post on this later in the week because it's a really lovely style and suprisingly easy. 

Basically, all you have to do is section your hair front to back and side to side so you have 4 sections. Kirby grip the back 2 sections just either side of your parting. Roll one back section into a sausage and then grip the ends, do it again on the other side. Repeat with the front two sections so eventually you'll end up with two sausage rolls either side your parting. 

The Sultry- Cocktail Bar Date

 

 Two Tone Colour Block Blazer- Primark

Lace Black Bralet- Primark

Black Wet Look Leggings- River Island 

Make Up 

 Products Used-
MUA Undressed Palette, Clinique Blushing Blush Powder in Sunset Glow, Black Liquid Eyeliner (non branded), Diorshow Mascara by Dior, Body Shop Virgin Mineral Liquid Foundation in Shade 105/Rose Ivory, Benefit POREfessional, Technic High Lights & Maxfactor Colour Effect Flipstick in Gipsy Red. 

For my eyes, the only product I used was lqiquid eyeliner so a clean and dramatic look. Feline flicks are pretty timeless and go perfectly with that sexy/sultry outfit you've picked out. If you don't have a steady hand, don't try and do it all in one go. Do half the line, starting from the inner corner and stop in the centre. Join the line up from the outer corner and flick it up (I find this easier to do with my eye open, rather than closing it). 

I didn't change my lip colour from the previous look but I would definitely pick a bricky red. Sleek do a lovely shade called Dare which you should definitely look out for. 

Simple Elegance- The Dinner Date 

Thin Black Jumper- Primark

Burgundy Maxi Skirt- Primark 

Burgundy Wedges- Matalan 

So, there are you go. These are my 4 ideal Valentine's date looks. If you've got any of your own that would you like to share, then get in touch!

XXX

Don't Dream It, Be It.

As the title suggests, I went to The Rocky Horror Picture Show on Friday evening with Rosie, Maisy, Hannah and Rosie O and her pal, Phil. It was such a good time, and half of the fun came with getting ready for it! The show started at an awkward time at 5, so getting dressed up was a bit of a quick affair but I guess it didn't really matter what you looked like at the end of it, anything goes. 

I don't have too many photos of my outfit, like I said it was a bit of a rush getting ready, but I wore a mini, black, one shouldered playsuit from Topshop which I got a few years ago for £40. If you wanted a similiar one then click here (: I also wore a pair of lace leggings and black wedges which I got from Primark. 

For my hair, I simply placed it up in a bun and left my fringe down, simple! 

Above is all the products I used to achieve my make up. 

From Left to Right (Top-Bottom): High Lights by Technic, Shade 1 and Shade 11 by MUA Undressed Palette, 168 angled blush brush and 239 eyeshadow brush by MAC Make It Perfect Special Edition Brush Kit, POREfessional by Benefit, Sunset Glow Blushing Blush Blusher by Clinique, Velvet Wine Lipstick by NYC, Liquid Eyeliner, DiorShow Mascara by Dior, and Extra Virgin Minerals Liquid Foundation in shade 105/Rose Ivory. 

Eyes: To prep, I put a fingertip of Porefessional onto my lids, not only does this minimise my pores, it works as a great primer. For my eyes I swept Shade 1 from the Undressed Palette all across my lid and blended it all the way up to my brow bone, making sure it lightened the higher it got. I then patted Shade 11 into the crease of my lid and blended as much as I could and joined the outer of my eye to the top lash line to create a wing shape. I then brushed on a medium thick line of liquid eyeliner and then followed the wing shape I created with the eye shadow. I put on several coats of mascara on my top and lower lashes and penned a mini heart just under my left eye!

Nails: I got my nail wraps from Primark, they were reduced to 50p. They are orginally only £1 though so they're definitely a steal. This was my first time with nail wraps (I know, where have I been) so it was a bit of a fiddle to begin with but they're pretty easy once you get the hang of it. All you have to do is warm up the stickers in your palms, cut out the stencil that is a suitable size for your nail, take off the wrap and stick on as neatly as you can. My nails are quite slim so some of the wraps were way to big so I had to trim them, but there was also some abnormaly small wraps too but I can't make too much of a fuss for 50p!

Lips: I wanted a really dark eye/lip combo for the evening so I managed to bag myself a bargain earlier in the week. I got my first NYC lipstick from the local Lloyds Pharmacy for £1.49.

It's from their Ultra Lasting collection in 'Velvet Wine'.

 In the tube, Velvet Wine looks much of a coffee colour but don't be fooled! This lipstick is actually more of a deep bodied berry colour. 

So, straight away you can see this goes on a little patchy, but the colour is absolutely gorgeous and really pigmented. I've searching for my signature lip for ages and i've trowled through many pinks, red and colours but I think this is definitely the one. The dark wine coloured lipstick really suits my complexion and hair colour. Apparantly, this is an 'ultra lasting' colour. When I wore this on the night it did last all evening (I didn't eat or drink much though), however I've wore it since and as I've eaten/drank it's come off and left a sort of stain.

It's a matte lipstick, there's definitely no sheen or gloss that comes along with this lipstick but for £1.49, it does its job. But for a matte lip, it is quite silky instead of feeling heavy and cakey. 

 Application wise, I found it much easier to use a lip brush instead of just gliding it straight on because it is very patchy and it just needs some extra care to be blended in. I'm not going to compain too much though because it's a really inexpensive lipstick and it does what you pay for at the end of the day.

Pro's 

• Stupidly afforadable.
• Lasts on average 3-4 hours which is fine for a night out (just take it with you, just in case!)
• Silky and smooth to apply.
• A good dark lipstick for pale skin! 
• Highly pigmented.

Con's 

• Transfers when eating and drinking.
• Patchy, remember to blend in!
• Isn't 'Ultra Lasting' and it definitely doesn't last up to/longer than 6 hours.

Overall I had a lovely, lovely night with my beautiful freaks and I can't wait to go again!

XXX

Super easy New Year's Eve nail ideas

Hey guys!

Here are a few nail art ideas for New Year's Eve. I say 'nail art' but there really is no art involved at all, they're all really really easy to do and  use affordable products, all of which I'll really briefly review as I go!

Carnival by Technic

Carnival Glitter polish by Technic, without flash

Carnival glitter polish by Technic, with flash

 Jenn got me this amazing Technic glitter nail polish for Christmas, the name is 'Carnival', and it's a clear polish loaded with flecks of different size and colour holographic glitter. At the moment I can see red, gold, silver, blue and green but I seem to notice another colour every time I look at it! Carnival and other Technic nail products are available from Bodycare, but I'm not sure about the price as this was a gift.

#1

For this one, I brushed Carnival onto my nails in the usual way I would apply a polish. I didn't use a base coat so this was to give a nice shine to my nail and add a few flecks of glitter here and there. Applied in this way, not much glitter actually gets onto the nail. For the tips, I applied Carnival in a dabbing motion instead, which allowed me to concentrate the glitter on the ends of my nails. 

#2 

 

To add a bit more sparkle, you could use the dabbing technique to apply more glitter to the top half of the nail, gradually getting less and less towards the cuticle for a glittery ombre effect!

#3

 

And if you wanted to go all out, dab the glitter all over your nail and layer as much as you like! (It is new year's eve!)

 All in all I love this nail polish, it's really easy to  achieve a subtle look with one coat or a reaaaally glittery one with just a few! Loving the colours and different types of glitter, especially at this time of year. 

Black Multi Glitter by Barry M

Black Multi Glitter by Barry M, without flash

Black Multi Glitter by Barry M, with flash

  Black Multi Glitter does what it says on the bottle, it's a highly pigmented black polish with loads of really fine multi-coloured glitter mixed in. Most of the glitter looks silvery but when the light catches it you can see glints of pink, red, green blue, etc etc! The thing I have about this one is that it looks amazing in the bottle and from the description, but I've used this a few times now and been disappointed with how it looks on my nails. I thought I may as well show you...

 

 Although it's really pigmented, I still needed two coats to get full coverage. I think the top picture looks pretty much like any plain black polish, and although the flash picks up the glitter a little, I don't really think it's much to write home about. I've seen other reviews and pictures of this polish on nails and it looks amazing, but never seems to work that way for me! It just seems to dry really gritty and dull on my nails, and base and top coats don't seem to help, am I doing something wrong!?

If you want to give this one a go yourself, I had mine from Superdrug although I can't find it on the Boots or Superdrug websites! It's also available from ASOS for £2.99. 

Gold Mine by Barry M

Gold Mine Glitter by Barry M, without flash

Gold Mine Glitter by Barry M, with flash

 In complete contrast to the previous Barry M polish, I LOVE this one!! Gold Mine Glitter is a really pigmented black polish with tonnes of large-ish gold flecks, perfect for a night out or if you fancy something a bit more special than plain black. You can purchase Gold Mine Glitter from Boots or Superdrug, £2.99 from both stores.

#4

This, again, is impressively pigmented for a black, but to get completely full coverage you ideally need 2-3 coats. I find this one to be really difficult to remove so rather than layering it (and to save wasting it) I'd advice using one layer over a plain black polish. In this picture I'm wearing it over Barry M Black Multi Glitter (above). 

 And my personal favourite...

#5

 

I really like dark nails, so I wanted something dark but with a bit of sparkle for New Year's Eve. I think this combination of Carnival over Barry M Black Multi Glitter is perfect, it reminds me a little of fireworks on the night sky! I tried adding a bit more Carnival glitter for a more full-on look (below), but at the moment I'm thinking of keeping it subtle.

#6

 

I wasn't wearing any top coat in these pictures as I was removing the polish and re-applying really quickly, and I think you could probably get away without it. I pretty much always wear some top coat when I do my nails properly, just to give them that extra shine and protect the polish underneath. Just in case you're interested, this is my favourite:

Wet Look Top Coat by Save the Nail

It gives a really high shine finish, goes on smoothly and lasts really well. I also think it brings out the colours of the polish underneath and really makes them pop! Definitely worth the money as it's lasted me ages (£6.95 from Boots). :)

Thank you so much for reading and happy new year guys!

Sophie xxx