Birds of a Feather...

As mentioned in my previous post, I havent had much experience in creating looks, on other people's faces, but once again, I was given the opportunity to enhance yet another person. This beautiful model, is a friend of mine, who allowed me to use her as a blank canvas and have complete freedom.

As usual, with any makeup look, I have no idea what I am doing initially and just let my creative juices run freely. Am I the only one who fails miserably, when trying to recreate a look? The only time I am ever pleased, is when I go in without any intentions and produce as I go along.

With this specific look, I know that I wanted to play with some colour and generate something that wasn't necessarily an every day look. Before I knew it, I had created something that had reminded me of a peacock's feather. I used +Maybelline's Colour Tattoo in Tenacious Teal as a base for the eyeshadow and then the i Divine in Original, Sleek eye shadow palette. This was the first eye shadow palette, that I had purchased from Sleek, a few years back. Although I'm a matte kinda girl, every now and then, I want a little bit of shimmer in my life, and this, definitely does the trick. The palette contains 12 shades of super-pigmented, long-lasting, mineral based shadows, designed to suit all shades and I thought that it was perfect for this look.

I decided to keep the lips natural, as there was so much going on with the eyes. I thought that it would be a bit of an overkill, but of course, each to their own. I had so much fun doing this, as my friend had perfect skin and such gorgeous full eyebrows. Who wouldn't want to make up this lovely face? Lol.

Face: MAC Studio Fix Foundation - NC40
          MAC Studio Finish Concealer - NC30
          Covergirl Queen Collection Natural Hue Mineral Bronzer  - Ebony Bronze
Eyes: Maybelline's Colour Tattoo - Tenacious Teal
          i Divine in Original
          Inglot's Matte Collection AMC Eyeliner Gel - 77
          Benefit's They're Real! Mascara
Lips:  Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick - Nude Pink

Shining Gold for me to Hold...

By no means, am I a professional make-up artist. But what I can proclaim, loud and clear, is my passion for all things beauty related. Make-up has always been a passion of mine. I've dabbled in numerous products and have created so many looks on myself but up until recently, had never 'enhanced' anyone else's face.

There were no particular reasons as to why, but when owner of JOYtheBrand, nail genius, Jackie, allowed me to create my magic, I jumped at the opportunity.

I wanted to create a glamourous but wearable look for the night time, and what better way to stand out than a sexy gold eye, paired with luscious red lips.

Whatever style you are going for, it is important to use good quality eye shadows, especially shimmery products. I used Half Baked from the Naked 2 palette by +Urban Decay on the mobile lid, which is what made this look. I find that Half Baked worked well with Jackie's eyes because it didn't have that orange undertone that I tend to see in other gold shadows. Yes, it does have a lot of fallout, but a tip would be, to spray a watery product on your brush before dipping it into the shadow, so that it adheres to the brush and creates much less fallout. It also gives the look texture by
making it look somewhat shiny and of a foil-like appearance.

I then finished off the look with a sexy red lip. Jackie's lips are nice and full so I wanted to accentuate them. To achieve this, I used a lipstick from +Miss Sporty in the shade 058 Malaga, which was applied very lightly, so that it didn't take away from the eyes.

Face: Sleek Be Beautiful Blemish Balm - Dark
          Benefit Bo-oing Concealer - 05
          Ben Nye Translucent Face Powder - Topaz
          MAC Cosmetics Mineralize Skinfinish - Dark Deep
          TopShop Highlight - Sunbeam
          Mac Cosmetics Fix + Spray

Eyebrows: MAC Brow Pencil - Stud

Eyes: Urban Decay Naked 2 Eyeshadow Palette
          Sleek i-Divine in Ultra Matte V2

Lips: Miss Sporty Lipstick - 058 Malaga

Goodbye London...Hello Brussels!

I recently took a trip to Brussels for the day where I attended the European Parliament. The insightful event along with the beautiful sights of the Belgium city created a wonderful experience, urging me to want to travel more and see what the beautiful world has to offer. When thinking about outfit choices, simple yet

Take Me To Paris...

Sometimes I just want to give my nails a bit of a break from colour so I thought to myself, how do I go about doing this without them looking plain and boring? Hmm...well a French manicure of course...duh!

Fabulously Freezing ;)

While the weather outside is frightful, my style remains delightful!

Blood and Sparkles

I love Autumn and Winter because it means I get to wear darker colours. Rich, warm tones that compliment every skin tone giving a sense of luxury. This season, I have seen oxblood and dark purples make an appearance which happens to be two of my most favourite colours.

Make Me Look Flawless

Wow! What can I say about the Real Techniques Miracle Complexion Sponge? First off, let’s give props to the name because it does exactly what it says. It makes my foundation look flawless AND I don’t need to use as much product because it distributes so evenly and makes it appear more natural.