Blast From The Past

I was looking through some of my student shots today. Oh, the horrors. There are parts of this one I still like, though. I’d start by taking that ridiculous feather eyelash off and I’d cover the bruise on her arm. The smoky eye is a classic and not going anywhere and I think the lacework could still be current if done the right way. It was a camisole I bought at Oasis and cut around the patterns. I just stuck it on with some eyelash glue. This was the second shoot I ever worked on. Sometimes I really miss being a student! It would be so fun to sign up and be learning all over again! In fact, I’m teaching myself some special effects at the moment. I didn’t ever do that type of makeup and have a project coming up that needs them. I love being in the learning phase! You never ever stop learning when you work as an artist. That’s one of the things I love about it.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

NOTD – Filthy Gorgeous London Man-Go

I was going to post this later on in the week but thought I’d do it today. After my post with this pic yesterday I got loads of people asking me what nail varnish I was wearing. I got loads of compliments while I had it on as well.

It’s Man-Go from Filthy Gorgeous London. I had also put some multi-sized dots of matte top coat on it as well for a little fun. It looked really cute without being super obvious.

You can get yours’ here from Debenhams for under £9.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Big, Giant Hair With VO5 and Tresemme

I have fine, thin hair. Especially after moving to the UK where there is so little sunlight to nourish it and keeping it growing. I dream of big hair. I spend a lot more time, effort and money on my pursuit of big hair than I think most normal people do. I was over the moon the other day when I managed to create this ‘do in just a few minutes! It lasted most of the day as well!

I started with freshly washed hair that I’d put a little VO5 Miracle Concentrate through before spraying it with some VO5 Give Me Texture Tousled Style Spray. I flipped my hair upside down and rough dried it. Then I went through it with a round brush in sections to get more volume at the roots.

Having flipped my head upside down again I went through the roots wth some VO5 Oomph powder. This stuff is amazing! Just pop a little into the roots and give it a rub to activate. you won’t believe the height you get. It doesn’t leave your hair looking white and it’s great if you want to put drips or embelishments in your hair as it gives loads of grip.

Once I’d flipped my head right side up again I went through the top section of roots with the powder as well. It on’y takes a few seconds to go all the way around and you don’t need a lot of product at all. To make sure I kept that Massive Bushy hair all day I finished it off with someof Tresemme’s new Amplifix Spray. This gives hold as well as loads of volume. Just be sure to keep it at a distance while you spray and you will have amazing hair all day.

I want my hair to look like this ever day! It felt amazing! I minced around all day like I was the Queen of Sheba!I even made up a song about it entitled Bushy Bushy Bushy.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

PS, I was very generously given all these products for review. However, you can pick them all up from Tesco, Asda and Superdrug at uber cheap prices!!! x

Lush Dream Cream

The eternal search for my ultimate body lotion continues. This last couple of weeks I’ve come back to something I’ve tried a long time ago, Lush Dream Cream. This is a highly under rated lotion that I think deserves a lot more love than it gets. Packed with  chamomile and lavender it’s perfection for when my sensitive skin gets irritated or inflamed.

If I could use this alongside my beloved Caudalie lotion I think I would be in Body Lotion Valhalla. The Dream Cream doesn’t leave me quite as soft and silky as the Caudalie lotion does but it’s been brilliant in this hot weather for my suffering, flared up skin. The smell is incredible. Without being too girly it’s wonderful. It’s just what I need morning and evening to get me in the mood to start and end the day.

You can get your hands on your own pot of Dream Cream for £10.25 (240g) here. If you have dry patches, need to rehydrate after too much sun, eczema or are just looking for a great body lotion then this will certainly sort you out.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Superdrug Aloe Vera Mud Mask

I used to be so diligent about putting on a cleansing mask and an exfoliating mask once a week. I realised recently that I’d run out of cleansing mask and I can’t remember when that happened! So, being the starving artist that I am, I went in search of something budgetary to do the trick. Obviously, I always start at Superdrug when I’m on these missions. I picked up this Mud Therapy mask hoping it would give me the deep clean I needed. I went with the Aloe Vera formulation because I know how sensitive my skin is and I hoped this would be quite gentle.

I was right. There isn’t loads to say about this product. It does exactly what it says on the tin. Give it a shake, slather on a generous layer after cleansing, leave 10 minutes, wash off. It hasn’t given me any reactions and my skin does feel a bit calmer and much brighter afterwards. For £2.59 it’s a bargain as well. I couldn’t be happier.

You can get yours straight from Superdrug by clicking here.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Filthy Gorgeous Nail Collection

Filthy Gorgeous have teamed up with celebrity nail artist Liza Smith and created a gorgeous collection of nail colours for the summer. The colours are all really bright and fun, which is perfect for all the lovely warm weather we’ve been having.

The bottles are really cute. They have a fishnet floral stamp pattern on the lid that makes me think back to the days of Pout. I loved Pout and miss it constantly! I also really like the little guitar pick charms on each bottle.

Liza has done nails for more celebrities and high profile luxury campaigns than I could poke a stick at. What she doesn’t know about nails isn’t worth knowing. Her favourite colour for this season is blue. Her tips are to go for a 70’s pastel or an 80’s bright. One of my favourites was Minx. It’s a pale, cornflower blue that would evoke a 70’s feeling perfectly. Her other top tip for keeping nails on trend and fun is the reverse French. For this reason, Filthy Gorgeous have paired up the polishes if you want an easy way to pick out colours that go together brilliantly.

Each varnish retails for £9 and you can either get them online from Filthy Gorgeous or from the suite in Debenhams.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Alpha H Liquid Gold

Aussie Aussie Aussie! Oi Oi Oi!!! I LOVE finding an Aussie skin care product that’s amazing and brilliant. I think I can pretty safely say that Alpha H is the bees knees and Liquid Gold is just genius! I’m probably the last blogger in all of England to try the Alpha H range. It has certainly been a case of “good things come to those who wait”.

Liquid Gold is a glycolic based skin refiner. I put it on every two or three nights after cleansing. You don’t put a serum or moisturiser over it but you don’t actually need one. This includes silk protein and liquorice which leaves skin feeling smooth and firm.

I was initially sent this after I was on Twitter talking about how another product had caused me to break out. It’s been nearly a month and I’m really struggling to get my skin to clear up. Since I’ve been using the Liquid Gold it’s been a lot better. It’s not back to perfect yet, but it’s so much better than it used to be!

The spots are clearing up quickly, my skin is smoother, more even and my pores don’t seem as gapingly open as they did before. It’s definitely great for giving you a more youthful look.

You can get your Liquid Gold from QVC for £28.50 by clicking here.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

PS: Again, I’ve been a lucky lady and I was sent this product free of charge.

Lush Whoosh Shower Jelly

With the lovely, hot weather I’ve been adoring this shower jelly. I know a lot of people aren’t huge fans of the consistency but it’s great when I’ve had it in the fridge and take my morning shower. It has a wonderful collection of lemon, lime and grapefruit juices that makes it the perfect way to start a warm, balmy day. Don’t let the blue colour put you off. It doesn’t smell like a cheap, Lynx-esque style fragrance. The whole experience is vibrant, fresh and clean.

It’s £2.99 for a 100g pot and you can get it online here.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

VO5 Miracle Concentrate

I was only introduced to this product on Thursday night but it’s now my favourite thing in the world. I refuse to be parted from it! Ever!

I’ve been spouting on about how much I love Argan oil for the last five years or so. It’s a bit of a miracle product. If you’ve got psoriasis, dry patches or any skin issue it will work a treat. I’ve also recommended many a person put it on their hair as a treatment.  I was so excited when I saw this little Argan oil treatment in the line up of new products from VO5. I was elated when I smelt it. I was almost reduced to tears of happiness when I tried it.

I don’t have a lot of hair. Especially not since moving to the UK. It’s taken a beating from the lack of sunshine, harder water and harsher weather conditions. Hairdressers are always cutting it shorter because of all the breakage and it never feels soft or healthy. I had pretty much given up on it, to be honest. I’ve been known to spend over £100 on a bottle of product in an effort to put some condition in it. (Didn’t work, by the way). Since using the Miracle Concentrate on Thursday night my hair has been feeling amazing! It’s so soft! I decided to experiment with one of the volumizing products (I’ll post about that soon) and a fresh blow dry. My hair always looks a bit bushy, then fuzzy then goes flat. I put a few drops of concentrate through the mid lengths and ends post blow dry and got the smooth but “big” hair in the picture above!

Did I mention how amazing it smells? It smells AMAZING! I’ve used it on my hair every day whether freshly washed or not. It’s so light, absorbs easily and leaves hair feeling and smelling great. I wouldn’t, ordinarily, do that with fine hair like mine. Products always drag it down and make it greasy. This has been fine and I know it’s giving it condition at the same time.

You can get VO5 Miracle Concentrate right now in Tesco and Asda for £4.99. You’ll be able to get it from Boots as of June.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

PS, I was a lucky lady and received this product for review. I didn’t buy it myself. x

Musings of a Makeup Artist–My Favourite Blog of the Moment

 

There are a million beauty blogs wafting around the internet but very few of them are written from a professional’s perspective. It’s great to know what an every day consumer thinks of a product but I’m a great believer in digging a little deeper to find out what a product really can and can’t do. Even before I trained as a makeup artist I would always manage to find a way to speak to a pro and glean all their tips and tricks on how to make a great product perform in a way that makes you go “Wow!”. Kenneth’s blog manages to do just that.

His blog takes you behind the scenes on all the beautiful photo shoots he works on. He’ll show you before and after pictures of the models, list the products he used and even describe his techniques! It’s almost like having a celebrity makeup artist in your own home. Plus, it’s so reassuring to see that a model doesn’t look at all perfect in the Before shots!

Kenneth is really the man you want advising you on how to look glamorous. He posts all the latest info from the new collections as they’re released and tells you which are his highlights and why. Did I mention that he’s worked on every celebrity and high profile campaign you can poke a stick at? I could rattle off names like Vogue UK, i-D, Tatler, Stella, Vogue Nippon, Glamour, Style, Vivienne Westwood, Mulberry, Amanda Wakeley, Shu Uemura and Van Cleef & Arpels. Try saying that ten times fast!

Click here for his blog and go follow him on Twitter. He’s @kennethsoh. Don’t be scared, he doesn’t bite. In fact, he’ll probably invite you over to his house for one of his amazing dinners. The man can cook just as well as he can make you any girl look glamorous! One of my favourite blogs and favourite people ever!

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Dr Murad’s The Water Secret Smoothie

A little while ago I attended an evening where I got to find out all about some new products being launched by Dr Murad. It was a fascinating evening where I got to stand around listening to people talk about how skin works and they way it reacts to what we put in our body. I’m a total nerd and am completely into the mechanisms of skin. I mean, it’s a functioning organ that’s constantly regenerating itself. It changes colour and tone when there are changes going on inside our body, outside of it and it even reacts to our emotions! How can that not be one of the most interesting subjects ever?

Dr Murad has a theory that we should all reconsider how we think about water and how we keep our skin hydrated from the inside. He doesn’t agree with the myth that we need to drink two litres of water a day to keep clear skin. In fact, he says that doing that will strip our body of electrolytes and end up dehydrating our bodies even more. He suggest we “eat” our water. Murad’s research has indicated that the water in fruits and vegetables has a different cellular structure to the water we drink and that it’s much better for our skin and our bodies.

So for the last ten days I’ve been testing out one of Dr Murad’s favourite smoothie recipes to see if it will improve my complexion. I’ve been feeling a little haggard and old lately. Plus, I was trialling some products that have reacted really badly with my skin and caused it to look like that of a hormonal seventeen year old boy. It’s one of the tastiest smoothies ever! I’m loving it and it’s replaced my morning cup of tea as the first thing I do in the mornings! I use a hand held blender and the whole process takes me less than five minutes, which is brilliant. It also keeps me going till I’m ready to have a late lunch. I’m not a lover of the snacking so this is terrific.

Has my complexion improved? I think it has! I started to notice that “lit from within” glow coming through my skin after almost a week. I’m still trying to get my face to not be a broken out mess but aside from that it’s looking a lot younger and considerably fresher. 

To make your smoothie, mix the following and drink daily:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened blueberry juice
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup raspberries (fresh or frozen)
• 1 tbs lecithin granules
• 1 small banana

You can get Dr Murad’s book The Water Secret here.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

FOTD - The Morning After The Night Before

Sometimes you just wish you could stay in bed a few more hours. Sunday was one of those days. I didn’t get home till after one in the morning and I’d had several drinks while I was out and about on Saturday. I was feeling pretty tired and dehydrated but had to drag myself out to Oxford Street to help a friend buy some new shoes. You can imagine my enthusiasm over the location and the project at hand.

Obviously it was all about seriously comfortable clothes. A black t shirt, skinny flared jeans and flat shoes! For makeup, I needed to look younger and more awake as fast as possible!!! MAC Face & Body to the rescue again after a really good face massage with some Kiehl’s Ultra Facial Moisturiser. A little gentle concealing with my Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage and the lightest dusting of my Jane Iredale mineral powder. Before I powdered I’d gone over my cheeks with some Stila Convertible Colour in Gladiola. I also put some on my lips. This shade is brilliant for instantly brightening your face up and making you look younger!

After priming my eyes I needed to make them look as awake as I could. Seeing as I wasn’t exactly moving with lightning speed it needed to be a quick and simple look. I went all over the lid using a Nars creme shadow in a light bronze colour then went over that with a sheer, iridescent, light purple. Purple is always a great colour for making you look instantly awake. To make the whites of my eyes look brighter I went through the lash line with a waterproof bright blue kohl pencil from Bourjois.

To finish everything off I put some Nars Orgasm over my cheeks and a sheer peach gloss on my lips. Before I walked out the door I spritzed with some MAC Fix+ to put a little extra spring in my step.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

FOTD – Saturday Afternoon/Night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had another one of those Saturdays where I was meeting a friend in the afternoon and staying out till quite late on Saturday night. This weather makes these kind of looks all the trickier. Not only does the makeup need to have staying power, it also needs to survive the sun and heat during the day. Then there is the outfit selection that needs to be casual enough for the afternoon, dressy enough for the evening plus any changes in the weather. Let’s face it, the evenings aren’t exactly balmy yet.

So I went for my MAC Face & Body foundation again. I’ve been using C1 but I should probably be using N1 mixed with a little of the White corrector from the Pro store. As always I concealed with my Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage before putting some cream blush on. I wanted a really pretty flush for my cheeks so I went for some serious layering. I started with Stila Convertible Colour in Lillium all over my cheek then Petunia just on the apple. To make sure everything was set for the duration and for a little more SPF I went all over my face with a light dusting of Jane Iredale mineral powder.

The eyes were quite a layering of colours. Seeing as most of them were limited edition MAC shades I won’t bore you with the details. As you can see it was a combination of iridescent pale purple, shimmering pink and darker purple to contour. I lined using a super black cake liner and went over that with MAC Carbon shadow to set it in.

Having gone over my cream cheek colours with my mineral powder I took a pretty pink powder blush over the cheeks and then a brighter pop on the apples. I lined my lips with an electric pink pencil and a matching sheer gloss. I took those along with me for the day and just topped up whenever I needed.

So what did I wear on this marathon mission out that went with the makeup? See below. As usual, the footwear was entirely inappropriate and the twenty minute walk home from the station at one in the morning was as painful as can be expected.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

FOTD – Going For Lunch And A Walk

Friday was a beautiful, sunny day and I was off to meet a friend in Wimbledon. We decided to go for a walk around the village and stop for some food. We attempted a picnic on the common but ended up in a beer garden instead! Knowing that there would be walking but wanting to look nice at the same time I needed to come up with a makeup look that was fresh and pretty.
I left my hair to dry naturally with a little curl cream in it so I wouldn’t worry about what the weather was going to do with it. I went for a similar approach to the makeup. I’ve been really into my MAC Face & Body foundation with this great weather. It’s light, natural, gives a great finish and it doesn’t budge once it’s on. My technique is to apply it with a sponge and really press it into the pores of the skin. I go over my face with it two or three times and make sure I squeeze every bit of product out of the sponge. It gives a gorgeous skin-like finish. To conceal I used my Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage before doing my cheeks with Stila Convertible Colour in Gladiola and setting it with a light dusting of my Jane Iredale mineral foundation.
After priming my eyes I went all over the lid with a sheer wash of purple and went into the outer corners with a smidgen of darker purple then lined the upper lashes with MAC’s Rave Pearlglide. It was a limited edition, iridescent dark purple liner. I went over my powdered cheeks with some Nars Orgasm blush for an extra fresh glow. I had already put a little of the Gladiola on my lips and went over that with MAC Fast Friends lip gloss. It’s a super sheer gloss shot with purple and a little glitter. I love it because it’s from the Hello Kitty collection and it just makes me so happy every time I pull it out!
After a few hours of wandering around in the sun and heading back home everything was still perfectly in place and just as it should have been. My big tip is to press the foundation in firmly and to set with the lightest dusting of powder. I didn’t look like I had loads of makeup on but it had great staying power all the same.
Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

RapidLash Update Week Six

Only two more weeks to go! So far the length of my upper and lower lashes is definitely increasing. I’ll be interested to see what happens over the final two weeks.

So here are the before and so-far pictures without mascara…

 

 

 

 

Here are the before and so-far pics with mascara…

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weirdly, looking at these pictures I can’t see a whole lot of difference. Yet, on an ever day basis I can definitely see one when I look in the mirror.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

Murad Goji Berry Body Wash and Lotion

I never got into the goji berry craze. Too many people told me how icky they tasted so I didn’t bother. I never considered using it in a product, though. Especially seeing as I’d heard all these nasty rumours about how bad they tasted. Why on earth would it, therefore, smell good?

I received this gift set at an event recently and it turned out to be pretty good timing seeing as I ran out of both my body lotion and shower gel. I wasn’t expecting to like it as much as I do. Out of the two the body wash is my favourite. I really love the smell of it. It has teeny tiny exfoliating beads in it as well which is handy. The body lotion is lovely but it doesn’t smell as good as the wash. I’m still lusting after the Caudalie body lotion as well.

You can get the set here from lookfantastic.com for £19.50.

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

FOTD - More Pink Lips

My obsession with bright pink lips and my 2True cheek and lip tint continues. I hate wearing my specs so I might as well have a great lip to help me deal with it.

Today I did my little trick of layering the tint under my mineral foundation and I used a cotton tip soaked in the tint to get a good stain on my lips. I used a bright pink powder blush on the apples of my cheeks and mixed MAC Lip Mix in Pink and OCC Lip Tar in Pageant. These are both long wear products with amazing intensity. The only draw back is that after a few hours they do make your lips feel quite dry so keep the lip conditioner handy.

Kisses,
Rebecca xxx

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

FOTD–Going For a Coffee. Again.

I wouldn’t exactly describe my days as exciting or terribly interesting lately. Going for coffee down the street to read my book has become an excuse to think of different makeup looks or cute outfits to wear. Sad, but true.

I have found that lately I’m obsessing over my 2True Cheek ad Lip Tint and bright pink lips. With that comes a fairly neutral eye unless you can pull off that tricky Drag Queen look.

This particular day I threw on a sheer pistachio coloured eye shadow and had already used my cheek tint under my mineral powder foundation. There was a little black pencil liner rubbed into the roots of my lashes and my No 17 Peaches and Cream powder over the apples of my cheeks.

For the lips I soaked a cotton tip in the 2True tint and rubbed it into my lips. I have an electric pink chubby stick from a discontinued brand and I used a lip brush to work that in over the tint. I wanted it semi sheer and very casual so I didn’t use a lip liner or anything like that. I was just going to go read my book, after all!

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx

FOTD–All Day and All Night on a Saturday

Sorry, I remain one of the most technological inept bloggers on the planet. That includes taking pictures. This is yet another fine example of my rubbish photography skills as well as the fact that I take most of my pics on my phone.

Meanwhile, I thought I’d share this look. I did it at about one in the afternoon and it was pretty much as is when I got home at almost five the following morning. I was off to spend the afternoon with a friend then going straight to meet other friends in a warm venue that would involve a display of my very questionable dance moves. This presented a makeup and outfit quandary.

My solution was a denim dress. Red flats for the day and red heels to mince around in during the evening. It was only appropriate to match my lips to my shoes and it all sort of came together from there.

To create a base that was going to be long lasting I pressed a couple layers of MAC Face & Body into my skin using a slightly damp sponge. I then covered up blemishes, etc with my Laura Mercier Secret Camouflage. Before I powdered I used a little 2True Lip ad Cheek Tint on my cheeks and then went over my t-zone and cheeks with a light dusting of ELF HD Powder to set and try to de-age myself a little.

For the eyes I started with a primer and then wet over it with a neutral eye shadow. I then got to work on the colours and decided I wanted to go all matte for this one. I went with cornflower blue all over the lid and above the crease, a darker greyish purple on the outer third and in the crease and, finally, a deep purple for the outer corner and a smidge on the outer lower lash line. I then mixed a black cake liner and a purple gel liner and went with a nice flick along the upper lash line. I decided to leave the lower lashes bare as I wanted to be certain that there wasn’t going to be any downward slide during my marathon outing. With some mascara the eyes were done.

Over my tinted and powdered cheeks I put a tiny amount of a red toned powder blush on the apples of my cheeks to to make sure it was long lasting and tied in the the lips.

I had dipped a cotton tip into my cheek and lip stain poet ad used it to get some really good coverage on my lips to make sure they stayed nice and red no matter what. Over that I painted them with Evita lipstick from Face Stockholm. It’s my favourite red lipstick of all time. It lasted ages but I knew I’d have top ups over the course of the day/night so I took my Revlon Cherries in the Glow lip gloss with me. It was perfect for a fresh look at around two in the morning.

Having spritzed some MAC Fix+ over my face once it was all done I was ready to take on the challenge! When it was time to take my makeup off I was really surprised at how well it lasted. If only the same could have been said for the volume in my hair!!!

Kisses,

Rebecca xxx