Empties #34 - Makeup Lipstick

Now I'll be honest, you are about to be hit with empties post after empties post after empties post. I have had so many because I thought it would be easier to keep them all and do a big post (WRONG) but here we are and this is the first one of .... well, let's keep it a surprise!

All about Lips #95

Mac Ruby Woo + MaxFactor Colour Elixir Lip Liner in 10 Red Rush

Some days a girl just wants to wear a bright, red lip.

All About Lips #83

Squeezing this just in time for Christmas, here are my top picks for reds!

Simply because if you don't wear red on Christmas, when will you?

L'oreal Paris Infallible Mega Gloss in 402 Forgive My Sin (matte), Maybelline Velvet Matte Liquid Lip Colour in MAT 7, MAC Retro Matte Lipstick in Ruby Woo, Clarins Rouge Eclat lipstick in 13 Woodrose

All About Lips #82

I am impartial to a dark, vampy lip and I have been complimented while wearing a really dark lip, possibly because it really is making a bold statement and just so LOOK AT ME.

Maybelline Colour Drama in 310 Berry Much, Nars Velvet Matte Lip Pencil in Damned, Mac Matte Lipstick in Diva

Why I use TWO bronzers

I will be honest,when I first purchased this Jouer mattifying powder bronzer in sunswept, I was worried about how warm it was. Read about the haul HERE.
This is really warm and orange to me.

but when the lady helped me put it on, I noticed that with a light hand, this actually suited me quite well. So why do I use two bronzers?

Bobbi Brown Covent Garden

I had a bad exam and decided to go around trying things out.

I picked up a leotard from Bloch

Little plug, follow me on instagram @cherriessballet and I don't know if you can see but the leotard has little cap sleeves and the back is lacey and just really beautiful!

February Favourites

I have quite a lot of rediscoveries this month and a few newbies. Most are rediscoveries as I have been really trying to finish up some products. Some of them are well past the technical "use by" date so I may have to throw them out as soon as they start smelling a little funny.

Face of the Day

I was not really sure what to post about and thought I would do a face of the day post, just so you can see what I am wearing (make up wise) today!

All About Lips #36

Mac Dazzleglass Lip Gloss in Salmon

Fav Five - Brushes

This was certainly difficult to whittle down, but here are my top choices for all my make up brushes

2014 Favourites!

I have been wanting to do this post for a long time!

The items featured have been featured many times on monthly favourites and I am trying to just narrow it down to one item for each thing in the category. So let's get started.

Tools of the trade

I tried to be all sassy with my title, but what I meant is just what I brought along as my must-haves on the go!

Side note : I left my little body shop travel brushes at my boyfriend's so I brought all these instead!

All About Lips #28 - Red Edition

As we approach Christmas, I thought it might be interesting and rather fun to do a focus not just on lips as per usual, but on RED LIPS.

This is going up a day before my birthday (yes it is on the third!) and I shall be rocking bold lips this year.

All About Lips #27 - Dark Lips

I love a good dark lip, there is no denying that.

Make Up Forever Face & Body

You're most likely more familiar with the very well talked about MAC Face & Body and how many people rave about it - Check Christabel's post here. But have you heard/read about the MUFE Face & Body? This is my go to Holy Grail product for  'I woke up like this' face.

When I was on holiday in Singapore over Christmas 2013, I decided to pop in Sephora and the MUFE Makeup Artist, Amanda, in ION was there to assist me. She matched my skin to shade Alabaster Beige (32) which on the Sephora site says it is suitable for Light skin with yellow undertones. She applied it on my skin with a flat foundation brush and immediately I fell in love it. 

Alabaster Beige 32 
My hand is tanner than my face!

Smashbox Foundation Brush #13
£24.00 RRP

The foundation claims to be :

'Waterproof, ultra-light, water-based gel contains no emulsifiers and provides a totally natural, satin finish. Ideal for normal skin-types as well as for fine lines and large pores. Gives skin a uniform tone without accentuating imperfections' - Sephora

I vouch that it is ultra-light which is perfect for mature skin and for problematic skin. I love that the finish is super natural and leaves a thin layer of powder on the skin. Perfect for the humidity and heat! It also unifies the skin tone which can be seen in the picture below.

Before (L) and After (R)
1.5 pump

This is straight from my phone with no editing and with natural light against my face. You can see that my forehead has clearly caught the sun and my eye bags are showing. My skin on the left was prepped with my usually skincare and left to sink in for 10-15mins before application of the foundation. I applied it with the brush and applied a second layer of product just under my eyes to help cover my bags. As you can see it really unifies my skin and looks very natural. The foundation has a sheer - medium coverage if you let dry for 3mins and layer the product. 

Close-Up
Sheer Natural finish allowing freckles to show through
(Sorry for the terrible brow grooming!)

Finished Look
 Eyebrows & Mascara
*Products below

I have used the MAC F&B foundation before and if I had to choose between MAC (£21.50 for 50ml) and MUFE F&B (£29.95 for 50ml), I would definitely stick with MUFE despite it costing a little more than MAC. 

The fact that it finishes with a light powder finish means I get to walk out of the house without the worry of my T-Zone looking shiny. It locks in moisture into my skin and feels like I haven't got anything on at all. Provides a beautiful healthy glow and a very smooth touch finish unlike the MAC which I feel has a light tacky feeling. It is also incredibly long-lasting. It's a great face base contender for the 'No Makeup' Makeup look and I would imagine it gives a nice finish on the body and legs too! Oh, and it comes with a pump.

The cons is that it is pricy to begin with. Comes in a glass bottle which obviously means its a pain to lug it around on holiday. Asides from that, I really can't think of anything negative about this. 

Shu Uemura Eyelash Curler | Lancomê Hypnôse Doll Eyes (WP) |
&Other stories Eyelash Brush | Shu Uemura Hard 9 in Sound Black |
MAC Pro Chromographic Pencil in NW25/NC30.

Definitely would recommend this product to try if you have the opportunity! The MUFE Face & Body is available to try in person at Guru Makeup Emporium on High Street Kensington, London. 

Have any of you tried this product before? Or, any other product recommendations quite similar to the above product? Do let us know in the comment box below!




Note:

I used the MAC Pro Chromographic Pencil as a concealer/highlighter under my eye brows to accentuate the shape of my unruly brows. No concealer was used to cover my under eyes or any other imperfections - just the layering of the foundation. 

Orange you happy, Bob?

Orange was so last season, Bob.

I know. Tell me about it. But I can't get enough of it! 

The moment I saw orange being the 'IT' colour on the Spring '14, my eyes would not stray. You could ask Christabel all about my orange obsession. Every shop, every orange, every swatch. And she could vouch for me that I've got a building collection of orange based lipsticks in my drawer. For the love of makeup, I don't know why I'm obsessed with it.  I feel like in this post, I'd have to share with you every Orange journey I've taken in the year itself and I think I am very content with my purchases. I'm done looking for Orange.

In started with:

1. MAC Neon Orange, 2012, Amplified, £15.50.
2. Topshop Rio Rio, 2012, Satin Matte, £8.00.
3. Nars Cinematic Short Circuit, Nov 2013, Luminous finish, Limited, £19.50
4. Giorgio Armani Rouge Ecstacy CC Tangerine, January 2014, Moisturising, £26.50.
5. Giorgio Armani Lip Maestro Flesh, February 2014, Matte Lacquer, £26.50.
6. Maybelline Color Sensational Shine Gloss Electric Orange, March 2014, Glossy, £6.12.
7. Nars Satin Lip Pencil Timanfaya, May 2014, Satin, Limited, £18.00.
8. MAC Pro Longwear Pencil What a Blast!, July 2014, Matte, £15.00
9. OCC Lip Tar Beta, July 2014, Matte, £11.95.
10. Givenchy Le Rouges Fruit Défendu, July 2014, Amplified, Limited, £25.00.
11. Bobbi Brown Lip Rich Color Blazing Red, July 2014, Matte Moisturising, £19.50.
12. Nars Lipgloss Wonder, July 2014, Gloss, £18.50.

If I had to pick a favourite and to wear one anytime, anyday. I think I would pick OCC Lip Tar Beta. It's such a bright yellow tone orange that lasts so long and has a very comfortable finish to wear (4th one down in swatches)

Swatches in the Shade and Natural Light.
1 to 13 (bottom up)

And to finish the orange post, I decided to make one final orange purchase to tie the whole look together when I wear my orange lip and that is an all rounder blush that compliments these lipstick:

NARS Taj Mahal
(Blazing Burnt Orange with Golden Shimmer)

Have you got something orange lurking in your make up that you love? Please do share it with me in the comment box!

August favourites

While I love favourites posts (not as much as empties) it is one of the most difficult posts for me to write.
Being a fickle-minded person, forever trying new things as far as possible, it is hard to stay true to one product.

This month is made slightly easier by the fact that I have hand-picked the items to go home with, and so my collection is drastically lessened, and from here it is further refined to this list.


Mac Face & Body Foundation

This is actually an old favourite, long forgotten amidst all my other foundations.
I chose to bring this home with me rather than the other creams and foundations and I really like that it provides a super sheer coverage.


Dior Lip Reviver Balm

This really is a beautiful product, it moisturises while providing a hint of colour, not overpowering and looking very natural.
I always have this when I am in doubt.


Benefit They're Real Eyeliner

Perhaps with the constant heat and temperature of at least 32 degrees Celcius, this gel pen is really outperforming itself.
I have no problems of it flaking or smudging even in this humidity in Malaysia, and the main difference with the usage in UK is that I do not need to discard the top bit of the eyeliner before each use.
It is always ready and creamy to use, making it an instant winner over my eyeko eyeliner which is already drying out.
I use this to do tiny cat flicks and I love it for that purpose.


Caudalie Organic Grape Water

I love this and I always rave about this and I have recently purchase a big 200ml because I am obsessed with it.

Accent Colour: Pink

Frequently of late, I've been very lazy with makeup however when I do decide to put on a face I find myself reaching for the accent colour approach. I don't even know if that is a thing but I'm making it a thing here. I am currently in South East Asia (SEA) at the moment and when I travelled from London back home, I broke my journey in Thailand and found myself some handsome purchases!

NARS Cosmetic in SEA, I find, are priced very reasonable and not too far from the USD price. So when I saw it scattered around department stores in Bangkok, I could not resist myself. When I was there, I purchased NARS X Guy Bourdin Blush in Cœur Battant and NARS Satin Lip pencil in Yu. I also picked up a MAC Pro Chromographic Pencil Crayon Multi-Usages in NW25/NC30. 

Nars x Guy Bourdin Cœur Battant
(Limited Edition, Matte Finish, Fuschia, Cool Tone)

Nars Satin Lip Pencil Yu
(Permanent Collection, Satin Finis, Blue Based Medium Pink,
Cool Tone)

I am not a big fan of soft pinks as I find it very difficult to pull off and does not reflect my personality at all. However, if it is bright and bold. I'm all over it. I prepped my skin with a simple base of MUFE Face & Body and Nars Radiant Concealer. Then, I started to softly bronzed my face with Nars Casino and with a light hand apply the Nars Cœur Battant on the highest point my cheekbones in a slant focusing the pigment more on the outer part.

Accent Colour: PINK

I've been enjoying a minimalist approach to my eye make up frequently of late. It's a simple curl and loading it up with either a lengthening or a volumizing mascara. Today I chose to go for a Natural Volumizing finish with Maxfactor False Lash Effect (waterproof). The best tip I've learnt from a makeup artist (from the Liberty Nars Counter) was to tie a look in by dusting the blush you used on your eye outer 'V' of your crease. And that is exactly what I did in the look above. I finished the look with a light dust of Mac Select Sheer Pressed powder on the T-Zone.

Products used to achieve the look *

Since learning that great tip from the Nars MUA, I've been more meticulous about items that I buy and trying to create more cohesive looks using one accent colour. This look is so easy to achieve with the brights and I will definitely be sporting this kinda a look for quite a while! 

* NARS Casino Bronzer | MUFE Face & Body in Alabaster Beige (32) | NARS Radiant Concealer in Ginger | Max Factor False Lash Effect Waterproof | Eyeko Brow Gel | Mac Select Sheer Pressed in NC40 | NARS Cœur Battant Blush | Tom Ford Eyebrow Pencil in Espresso | Mac Chromographic pencil in NW25/NC30 | NARS Satin Lip Pencil in YU.

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Mac Face & Body Foundation

Mac cosmetics.

The famous Mac has many Holy Grail items for many beauty bloggers and youtubers.

Ranging from lipsticks of every shade and finish, to eyeshadows which are a dream to blend and build.

Today, I will be gracing on my first ever Mac product, which I have since repurchased a second bottle, and am still in love with.

MAC Face & Body Foundation

All About Lips - purple edition

Mac and Illamasqua

This is Mac - Up the Amp

You might be able to tell that I feel a little silly in this lipstick shade

This is Illamasqua - Posture

This is even worse than concealer lips on me, but Bob insisted I tried the colours.
I now know, lavender, is not for my lips.

Rimmel - 380

This, I actually really like and will probably pick up

I love a good, dark purple lip.




Are you a purple lip girl?