Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Golden Mosaic!

 Created this bun with the Claire's Large Donut... The easiest way to get a neat looking bun in no time...

Just secure a ponytail on the top of your head and then pull it through the donut and arrange the hair around securing it into place with bobby-pins! They are so super lightweight that you don't even feel it!!

The earcuff is also from Claire's - a great way to be on-trend without the need of piercing your ears!

 Wearing this Lancome Rouge In Love 181N Rouge Saint Honore, a beautiful blue toned red!

To see Midnight Rose and Corail in Love swatches of other shades click here!

For a while I had this beautiful bronzer on my wish list and last week I went to a Laura Mercier counter, swatched it and got it! It creates such a beautiful golden glow... The shimmer is very subtle so you can use it all over the face... I love the fact that it has the divided four colours you can either swirl your brush in all of them or use them separately... In the look above, and that's how I've been using it pretty much all the time since I got it - I blended the three darkest colours and used them to contour my face and also as a bronzer to warm up my complexion... Then I took the lightest colour and applied it as a highlighter on top of my cheek bones... And of course you can mix the colours and adjust them to your complexion, going lighter or darker according to your tan... I love this one! Apparently it looks really pretty as an eyeshadow too, which I am yet to try...

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Lancome Rouge In Love in Beautiful Valentines Shades!

From Left to Right:

Lancome Rouge In Love in Corail In Love 322M; Saint Honore 181N; Midnight Rose 377N

From Top to Bottom:

Lancome Rouge In Love in Midnight Rose 377N; Corail In Love 322M;  Saint Honore 181N

 

Oh my these are really beautiful lipsticks, super light texture, yet gorgeously pigmented and long-lasting! The shades I have chosen are perfect for a Valentine's lip look... I love how moisturising and creamy Lancome Rouge In Love are, they are really comfortable to wear... The shade I am wearing is the stunning Midnight Rose 377N, it's a very pretty shiny vibrant berry shade, great for winter or spring! The other two shades are Corail In Love 322M, which is the lightest out of them, a subtle peachy coral... And finally the super glamorous Rouge Saint Honore 181N, a fabulous red! 

Rouge In Love lipstick comes in three different textures: "M - Jolis Matins, Light, sheer shades for an ultra-simple, bee stung effect. Easy to wear colours pure, fresh and natural shades with a hint of toe on tone particles. B - Boudoir Time, Punchy shades, electrified by silvery and white pearl particles, for the ultimate sophisticated lip look. N - Tonight Is My Night, Seductive and magnetic shades are infused with golden pearl particles, for vibrant colour and intense shine."

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Gift Guide 2012: Chic Festive Sparkly-Plum Look...

I wanted to create a fresh face look with a touch of colour swept over the eyes and lips in plummy shades as they are really flattering and seasonal... To start off with I applied MAC Paint Pot in Idyllic [a beautiful metallic plum] lightly over the lid and under the lower lashes... Then I took Lancome  Les Paillettes aux Yeux, Glittering Eye Powder in 10 A la Belle Etoile [a super sparkly peachy champagne], which is from the current Christmas Collection... A la Belle Etoile is a beautiful intense glitter pigment, it's very shimmery and smooth but it doesn't have any chunky glitter particles, neither does it have a fall out! I particularly love it over a dark base... 

As I kept the eyes quite chic and light I wanted to bring some element of festive glamour yet still keep it natural... Lancome Hypnôse Waterproof Custom Volume Mascara in 01 Noir is super voluminous and you can control the thickness by building it up... But what I love about it is that although it is incredibly volumising it does not clump your eyelashes, but it actually separates them, giving you a glam eyelash look without the need of wearing fake lashes... I also love the very creamy consistency and the fact that it is waterproof and will stay on no matter what! To add a little definition to the eyes I applied the bareMinerals Round The Clock Waterproof Eyeliner in 7pm [an incredibly flattering dark chocolate] - also dotting it along the lower lashline without smudging it, gives an impression of fuller lower lashes...

And on the lips to stay within the plummy shimmery colour scheme I lightly applied Rouge Pur Couture Vernis À Lèvres Vintage, Long Lasting Stain Formula and Glossy Shine in 1 Violet Edition... You can build it up to a very intense and dark shade if you layer it applying straight from the applicator [to see the intense dark lip look I previously created with YSL Violet Edition click here], or you can leave it quite sheer and natural looking by gently applying it with a finger... These glossy stains are pretty great for party season as they are long lasting... Over the top to add the shimmer I applied YSL Golden Gloss in 54 Golden Sand [limited edition]... Et voilà!

 

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Kate Moss Vogue Jun 2012 Cover Look...

nails: Claire's nail foils - black & gold British flag

Vogue UK Jun 2012 Kate Moss Cover

I collect all the Vogues that I can lay my hands on with Kate Moss on the cover! This is one of my favourite covers she has done for Vogue... I love her stunning Hollywood Glam make-up look in this editorial... The eyes have not too much going on, warm browns and lots of highlighting on the eyes and the face... The face is heavily contoured and highlighted to have the main focus on the stunningly red lips... The make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury used Tom Ford Lip Color in Crimson Noir... All the make up that was used on Kate Moss for this look was by Tom Ford...

To recreate this look I chose Burberry Sheer Eye Shadow in Taupe Brown... The packaging feels heavy and luxurious...The matte eyeshadow is beautiful to work with, very smooth... To achieve Kate's warm toned eye make-up I used the Pixi Endless Silky Eye Pen in Black Cocoa, which is a dark brown, on the waterline and also smoking it out... To highlight the brow-bone as well as the face I used Lancome Flash Retouche in 04, a beautiful champagne colour... And on the lips I decided to go with Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in 01, which is a dark red... On top to create that beautiful warm sheen I used the Clarins Long-Lasting Moisture & Shine Colour Quench Lip Balm in 09, which is a coral with fine gold shimmer... This lipgloss makes any red lipstick something very special! Et voilà!

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Vampy Chic...

...wearing Chanel ceramic watch, 

which I have been really loving this summer!

Beaded Cross Necklaces: Topshop

Chunky Ring with Oval Black Stone: Claire's 

[coming out first week of August]

Finally I got around to play with MAC Cranberry eyeshadow I purchased a while ago together with Antiqued and Coppering [read more here: MAC Pro Colour x 4 Compact...], which have become my top favourite eyeshadows, ever... I though Cranberry might have too much cold pink undertones for me... But it ended up being such a beautiful vampy velvet colour... It's perfect for that dark chic look... Cranberry made my grey eyes look almost green, this colour would be amazing for making green eyes pop, just like Coppering for blue eyes... I love taking it quite far down under my lower lashes and the inner-corner for extra drama... 

With this look I love wearing Nars Sin blush [plummy colour with gold shimmer], not only is the colour perfect but so is the name... And as for lips, I applied Revlon Matte Lipstick in Pink Pout as recommended by Lisa Eldridge, and Lancome Piha Black lipgloss over it, it's a black with silver/black sparkles... I had this lipgloss in my collection for ages and couldn't make it work on me, but finally found a way to wear it and it looks stunning in real life... This limited edition Color Fever Gloss was created by Aaron de Mey, the fantastic makeup artist... Piha Blac was inspired by the black volcanic sands of Piha Beach in Aaron de Mey's native New Zealand... Isn't it just fabulous... Stunning little thing...

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Summer Blue Eyeliner & Red Lip...

Ever since I saw Lisa Eldridge creating this evening make-up look for her K.I.S.S. Valentines Look I wanted to try it on myself, but red lip and blue liner is a daring combo for me, and something I normally wouldn't go for... The navy and red Lisa chose had a lot less colour and looked very chic on her... I decided to go for a brighter summer version of that look... I think if you want to experiment with some make-up looks, summer is the time for it... During summer you can get away with a lot more than during the rest of the year... 

If you like this look and would like to try it, here is the list of things I used: 

Avene Hydrance Optimale SPF 20, Rimmel Recover Foundation in Ivory, Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF15 in Rich Vanilla, Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Antigua, YSL Matt and Radiant Pressed Powder, MAC Paint Pot in Nubile, MAC Eyeshadow in Wedge, Illamasqua Pure Pigment in Furore, Lancome Doll Eyes Mascara in Black, Bourjois Liner Pinceau in Blue Calligraphe, and finally Nars Matte Lipstick in Jungle Red.

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Summer Retro Bright Lip...

This is a bright lip summer make-up look I came up with, inspired by a retro thick cat-eyeliner... For lips I chose the Kate Moss for Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in a pretty peachy pink colour [#16]... This summer I have discovered a lot of things make-up-wise I never wore before, including bright lips... Check out my blog post on bright lipsticks I have been loving this summer... I realised when you put minimal colour on the eyelid it will not clash with a bright lip! Before I always found that bright lips made my eyes appear smaller and made me look altogether weird, but if you choose the right eye make-up to go with the bright lip it all can actually be pretty flattering... Here I went for minimum eye shadow, using MAC Paint Pot in Nubile and a light touch of MAC Wedge Eyeshadow in the crease, along with Lancome Doll Eyes Mascara and N7 Amazing Eyes Liner, both in black... And here we are... Hello darling Ginger Rogers!

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Lancome Rouge In Love Miss Coquelicot...

Anything that has the word 'love' in is hard not to love... This is my favourite shade from the current Lancome In Love line... Miss Coquelicot, which means poppy, is a beautiful coral orange... Corals and oranges are a huge beauty trend this summer... Corals are the new reds... Although in the bullet the lipstick looks completely matte once you start working it it melts into a glossy gorgeousness... I wouldn't say it's an opaque lipstick, but it's not sheer either, I'd say it's right in the middle... And it feels very light on the lips... I found myself a few times thinking my lips felt so light that it probably was time to reapply the lipstick, but every time I checked in the mirror Miss Coquelicot was still perfectly in place! Rouge In Love comes in 24 shades and 3 styles... M - Jolis Matins [Sweet Morning] - fresh and wearable; B - Boudoir Time - on trend chic day to night; and N - Tonight is My Night - rich and sexy... Miss Coquelicot is Boudoir Time!

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Ashley/Mary-Kate Olsen Inspired Look...

 ELLE UK APR 2012

Mary-Kate on the cover...

 Ashley & Mary-Kate...

Mary-Kate...

Back in high school I used to watch the Full House, it was impossible not to adore the super adorable Olsen twins... I always thought of them as the pretties baby-face cute little sisters! Little did I know they would grown up to be two beautiful and timeless-style-icons... The Olsen sisters are renowned for their smokey eye... The eyeshadow under the lower lash line is always taken quite far down... I realised the look I tend to wear most is not too far off, it's easy and quick...  My hair isn't as blond currently, but the rest, colour-wise, is pretty similar: skin tone, eye colour... I was actually quite surprised when I found out that Lancome Ombree Absolue Palette in B10 Parures d'Etoiles was used to create their smokey eye looks in this Elle issue... It's a blue/grey tone eye palette... When I think of Olsen signature eye look - red brown or warm bronzy colours immediately jump to mind, it's the colours that naturally sit a lot better with their complexion and make grey/blue eyes pop... Blue and grey eyeshadows I find tend to wash out grey/blue eyes...

Here is a list of products I used for this look: eyes - MAC Paint Pot in Nubile, Bourjois Intense Extrait Eyeshadow in 08, Avon Supershock Gel Eyeliner in Black, Lancome Doll Eyes Mascara in Black, which btw is also the mascara the Olsen sisters are wearing in Elle, it's a great mascara(!); and lips - Revlon Matte Lipstick in Nude Attitude... Basically you want to create a flawless skin with dewy youthful finish, everything should be staying pretty nude and natural, and the impact should be on the eyes... Warm shades of browns works best... Use one eye shadow all over the lid, apply it in a round-ish shape, blending it out... For intensity I applied Supershock liner all around the eye including the waterline, and then smudge out the edges of the liner using a touch of the same eyeshadow, you will see how the black underneath makes the eyeshadow colour stand out more... Et voilà!

LOVE