A little bit grunge

For my shift at work the other night, I decided I was feeling a bit.. rocknroll? So I threw on my new Rolling Stones tee, some denim shorts with a chunky black belt and my favourite grungey leather boots. I decided to go all out on the beauty front too with a dark grey smokey eye, textured hair and a pink lip to finish the look. Everything you see in this outfit post is from New Look, as that's where I work and there's a fairly strict uniform policy - all New Look all the time ha.

For the makeup look I used the Bourjois Healthy Mix Foundation, Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer and Rimmel Stay Matte Powder for the base. On my eyes I blended together Tease and Pistol from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette and Chateau from my Bare Minerals Ready Eyeshadow 8.0 Palette for a charcoal grey smokey eye. I then lined the eyes with the Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen and used Blackout from the Naked 2 Palette to deepen the colour on the lashline and create the flick. I used Mac Bare Study Paint Pot as an inner corner highlight. My eyebrows were filled in slightly with the Rimmel Professional Eyebrow Pencil in 004 Black Brown. I finished with a few coats of the Bourjois Volume Clubbing Mascara and a slick of Mac Creme Cup on the lips.

To create texture in my hair, I used two products from the L'Oreal Studio Matte and Messy range - the Shine-Free Fibre Paste and the Shine-Free Salt Spray before blowdrying.

Here's the finished look: 

What do you think of this slightly grungier look?
What are your must-have pieces or products for a rocknroll look?

Holly xo

Cream Eyeshadow Trio

Powder eyeshadows have taken a backseat in my makeup routine at the minute and have been replaced with their creamier counterparts. Soft, smooth and easy to blend, cream shadows can be used alone for a no-fuss slick of colour, as a base for powder shadows to increase pigmentation and staying power or they can be used together to create a simple cream smokey eye. The latter is the method I chose for this makeup look.

I used my current favourite of the three - Maybelline Colour Tattoo in On & On Bronze all over the lid with my Mac 217, bringing it past the outer corner of the eye slightly, and then gently patted Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Permanent Taupe onto the outer third of the eye, blending it into the crease slightly too using my Mac 226SE which was part of the Special Edition Christmas Brush set last year and is a slightly chunkier blending brush than the 217. The Colour Tattoos are amazing highstreet cream shadows - they're soft and blendable with great colour payoff and a great selection of shades to choose from, though Permanent Taupe has a slightly stiffer texture to On & On Bronze which has the perfect thick creamy texture in my opinion. I then took the more expensive option - Mac Paint Pot in Bare Study and patted it into the inner corner of the eye as a highlight and under the lower lashline using a Models Own Blending Brush. I finished with a few coats of the L'Oreal Telescopic mascara.

Apologies for the poor image quality, iPhones are not the best for taking blog photos!

How do you feel about cream eyeshadows?

Holly xo

Everyday Makeup Look

 

I thought I could show you an everyday makeup look of mine today. I wanted to try out the Chanel Vitalumiere Aqua foundation before I buy the full size (which I'm pretty certain I will be doing), so the lady at the counter gave me a couple of samples to try. As it's a very light water-based foundation, I found it was best applied with fingers, as a brush would soak up too much of the product. The only shade that was available as a sample was 30 Beige but I think I will go for the next shade down (20 Beige) as this one is slightly dark for me (though you can't tell from the pictures). And I've decided to embrace being pale! Pale and interesting is the saying isn't it? Ha.

I then used my trusty Collection Lasting Perfection concealer in Light 2 to cover any blemishes and my under-eye circles (which are still visible but it definitely takes the edge off). This concealer is seriously good at hiding blemishes, I've now got my little sister hooked on it too.

I contoured using the Nars Laguna bronzer in the hollows of my cheekbones, across my temples and down the centre of the face. I picked up the Collection Shimmer Shades in 'Way to Glow' after seeing Llymlrs recommend it, and I love it - great value for only around £4 too. I used the peachy pink shade as blush, the greyish brown shade to emphasise my cheekbones more and the white shade as a highlighter along the tops of my cheekbones, under the brow bone and down the centre of the face. I was a little bit disappointed with the highlighting shade as it wasn't very pigmented but maybe it'll grow on me.

On my eyes I added a slick of brown L'Oreal kohl eyeliner and the Lancôme Hypnose mascara (which I must remember to review!). And to finish off I applied the Pixi Tinted Brilliance Balm in Rosy Red, which is my favourite product for a red lip as it's so hydrating and pigmented.

Here's the finished look:
 

 

Do you use any of these products? Can you recommend any others?

Holly xo