Laura Mercier Creme Brulee Souffle Body Creme!

Omg, this must be the most delicious smelling body cream ever! I tried it last night for the first time after a relaxing bath and it made my skin super smooth. I love the texture, it's quite thick but doesn't feel heavy or greasy on the skin. The Souffle Body Creme is super moisturising and incredibly luscious. It's not cheap, but personally I wouldn't use it daily simply because it feels quite special and luxurious, so I definitely will be dipping into it on special occasion, that way it will last forever! And I love the packaging, a chic heavy glass jar looks great as part of bathroom décor. Laura Mercier's Souffle Body Creme is famous for the amazing scent, it's super addictive and also comes in Vanilla, Coconut, Pistachio, and Fig scent!

LOVE

A Hollywood Red Lip & Golden Eye Look with Laura Mercier!

 Laura Mercier Caviar Stick Eye Colour in Sandglow

and Laura Mercier Crème Smooth Lip Colour in Hollywood

I am super excited about this Laura Mercier duo! The new Caviar Stick Eye Colour eyeshadows come in wide range of shades, from neutral to more adventurous... My pick is the stunning Sandglow, it's a metallic brassy gold, a very chic shade... I've been wearing Sandglow on numerous occasions with just a black eyeliner, which is a very quick way to create a glammed-up eyelook... The texture is really pigmented and glides beautifully over the lid straight from the stick, to blend out edges I just use a brush or you can also do it with a finger before it sets... Once they do set they are really long lasting and stay put... 

Hollywood is such a fantabulous red lipstick shade, it's quite bright as you can see on the pics... It's a warm tone red which is fantastic for my complexion, I find it hard to make blue toned reds work on me... Hollywood has a gold sheen to it, but it doesn't look shimmery at all, the gold makes it pop in a way, and that's what makes it a quite unique red... Hollywood has an element of 50s glamour to it, I absolutely adore it! It reminds me on the glowing red lips Marilyn Monroe and Jane Russell are wearing in the opening scene of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes...

"Beauty, to me, is about being comfortable in your own skin. That, or a kick-ass red lipstick." Gwyneth Paltrow 

 

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Brigitte Bardot Inspired Look with Stila Countless Color Pigments!

As featured in my previous blogpost here is the new Stila Countless Color Pigment used as an eyeshadow in the shade Encore from the Summer 2013 Collection, for more info click here! These hand pressed and baked pigments are beautifully pigmented and smooth, they can be used on face and eyes, as an eyeshadow, blush, or highlighter... Like I said in the previous blogpost you can create endless looks with these pigments by either using them separetly or blending few shades together with a finger or a sponge...

Encore is a very pretty shade, a warm toned reddish soft brown with a satin finish... Swirling all the colours together to me it's the perfect Brigitte Bardot eyelid colour, so that's the look I went for... I also used the lighter colour as a highlighter... To also warm up my complexion I used the Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Golden Mosaic, which I have featured so many times, this definitely will be my summer staple(!) - for a full review click here...  

And on the lips I used the A La Carte Plump & Prime lip primer, which I have featured last week, for a full review click here... It's a plumping primer, but I like using it just with a lip pencil for a gorgeous nude lip - perfect for that Brigitte Bardot full lips look! For extra dimension and fullness I used the Chanel Precision Lip Definer in 59 Palissandre [Spring 2013 Collection], it's a beautiful dark brown - I like to apply it over Plump & Prime, blending the liner to soften the definition and then I go over with the Plump & Prime again, which creates that voluptuous full lip... 

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SS13 Beauty Trend: Flawless Skin and Bright Lip!

Maybeline ColorSensational Lipstick in 912 Electric Orange

As you have noticed last month was mainly about skincare, but this month there will be a lot more beauty looks, starting with... It's not very often that I enjoy wearing a bare eye make-up look, but in this case it's with the bright lip so I can manage! This type of look would be great for a beach or on a very hot and sunny summer day with a bit of tan... It was inspired by one of the SS13 beauty trends... The flawless skin with a bright lip trend encapsulates a bare and natural looking face mostly highlighted, keeping everything else pretty pale making the bright lip pop... 

This trend is not for everyone, as are most of the beauty trends! You have to remember that a teenage girl's [the model] skin is already pretty flawless to start of with... Most of us do not look like runway models - so the beauty trends have to be personalised to your own skin type and complexion... On me bare eyes don't look great, my eyes look small when undefined, equally pale skin with no bronzer or blush looks absolutely awful on me... So just have a good look at your face and try to bring out your best qualities and don't do something just because it's on trend!

On my eyes I used MAC Paint Pot in Nubile and MAC Eyeshadow in Naked Lunch over it... In my waterline I applied The Body Shop Eye Definer in Moonstone to brighten up the eyes even more... The face I kept quite highlighted but definitely adding warmth with the bronzer... I used Laura Mercier Shimmer Bloc in Golden Mosaic, blending the darkest and the golden shade for contouring, then the darkest with the bronze as a blush, and the golden with the lightest as a highlighter - I mentioned this quite a few times before but I absolutely love this bronzer - you can blend different shades to create whatever you want or feel like! 

And on the lips of course I used my beloved Maybelline ColorSensational lipstick in 912 Electric Orange! They are a must-have this Spring\Summer!! I just adore the super bright pigmentation, the beautiful colour selection and how moisturising they feel! For more shades and my full review click here! 

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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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Loving Right Now...

In the past couple of weeks I have been enjoying a few beauty products that I want to share... I found myself reaching for the Dior 3 Couleurs Glow palette in 651 Nude Glow ever since trying the look that is suggested by Dior... It's from the Dior Golden Jungle Fall 2012 Collection... The look that Dior suggests with this palette is a very natural, wet looking and chic, with hardly any colour and very light eye definition... It would be flattering on any skin tone or complexion, it's very versatile, you can also create more dramatic look with it, click here -> Dior 3 Couleurs Glow in  Nude Glow... I will do a separate blog post wearing the Dior look... 

For those of you who are reading my blog regularly the next item won't be a surprise, it's the MAC Paint Pot in Constructivist... It's been a recent re-discovery of mine, and as a base it gives any eyeshadow that certain je ne sais quoi... I have tried light and dark eyeshadows, both looked great over it... The next eye product that's been well loved is L'Oreal Super Liner Perfect Slim Eyeliner... It only comes in black, and it's got a very slim felt tip applicator which makes it easy to draw a very precise line, getting right on top of the lash line...

Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15 in Rich Vanilla foundation is fantastic to finish of any foundation... You can use it on it's own, and that's what most people do, but I like to buff a little bit of it on top of my liquid foundation... It's not powdery or heavy, in fact it's very light and dewy... It makes any foundation look more beautiful, more flawless, I highly recommend checking it out! I've just repurchased my second pot, and have done a full review [click here] in my previous blog post... 

Talking of foundations, I have been trying to finish up a few of them I had for a while and after seeing so many great reviews of the Real Techniques by Samantha Chapman make-up brushes I decided to try Stippling Brush I already had... I purchased it a while ago and used it for cream blushes and now I decided to try it with foundations... Omg! It even made the difficult-to-apply foundations go on flawlessly... It's also great for contouring and highlighting... Because it's synthetic it doesn't take in much of the product, washes and dries super fast... I love love love it!!!

And finally, Nuxe Reve de Miel Lip Balm has done a great job on my lips, for the full review click here... They look incredibly healthy, and smooth... But it's not just that, even the natural colour of my lips looks emphasised, as does the lip line... Not sure how exactly it works but the ingredients seem to repair and replenish lips so well that I find myself not wanting to wear a lipstick... This may sound crazy but the other night I was watching The Good Shepherd with Angelina Jolie - there was a scene when she had bare beautifully full lips and it actually reminded me of how mine look now, minus the volume...

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Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15...

I just run out of my Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15 foundation in Rich Vanilla and had to repurchase it immediately! It's one of those things I can't be without... It lasted me well over a year even though I using it almost daily... I always use it on top of whatever liquid foundation I apply so I don't need that much, it gives me the perfect finish, dewy but not shiny... And the colour matches me perfectly... When I went to purchase it I thought to try a darker shade, the one after Rich Vanilla is Classic Beige but the girl at the counter recommended against it, she said it wouldn't look flat on my skin tone, so I repurchased the same shade as I was using before...  It's perfection! 

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Tips & Tricks For Combination/Oily Skin Types...

Illustration by Meme Infashionlove...

These are the tricks I picked up over the years... Having the same skin type, learning how to keep your foundation in place and how to make your eyeshadow look vivid and last long, along with many other things was groundbreaking...

1. The most significant point to start off with is that you have to understand that your skin type is more likely to be sensitive towards certain products, or specifically certain ingredients that will unfortunately make your skin go psycho bitch and give you a rather nasty break-out... This all is super frustrating... So my first advice is stop changing your skin care products all the time, don't try too many new facial creams, serums, face masks, what not... Try to simplify your skin care routine... And keep it for a good month and see how it goes... Very often you are likely to drop using a product after you have a break out, then you go and splurge on yet another over-priced skin care product in hope it will help... But it can make things worse because you keep throwing products on your face dis-balancing it more and more... You skin starts over producing oil, blocking pores, and it just goes down hill from here...

The thing is, when you break out not necessarily is it from the product you are using, sometimes it could be stress, diet, or hormones related... So instead of jumping from one product to another try to keep using one and see if your skin will calm down, sometimes it can start working... You need to monitor how your skin is reacting over a period of time... Also usually for a skincare product to start working you have to use it for a good few weeks, your skin needs to adjust and get used to the ingredients... So don't give up too fast on something, unless you are 100% sure it's bad for your skin... Vitamins A, C, D, and E are particularly important for skin... Things like Avocado, Cranberries, Kale, Oranges and Strawberries are great detoxifiers and help keeping your skin looking healthy... And of course drink plenty of water...

2. Exfoliation - to keep oily skin as clear as possible and have the break-out situation under control you need to exfoliate frequently... Having said that, make sure the exfoliators are gentle! Because if they are not, they will only make your skin over produce oil and we are right back to square one... The two exfoliators I use in rotation is Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser and bareMinerals Exfoliating Treatment Cleanser... If it's that time of the month, or I get stressed and things go a little crazy on my face I start religiously using these two for a few days, one night I use Hot Cloth Cleanser, next Exfoliating Treatment Cleanser [I have done a review on it], then Hot Cloth Cleanser and so on until my skin clears out, usually takes 3-4 days for me... 

Also with this skin type as soon as you get a clear looking skin you can't get lazy with your routine and drop out of it for too long as your pores will start getting blocked again... Of course once in a while you will still get a blemish, but once you find the right skincare products for your skin you will be in control and those nasty undesired break-outs won't reappear... And those couple of spots will quickly clear up... You'll see a big and super pleasant change to your skin... 

3. Moisturising - now this is the toughest one I find... It's really difficult to find a moisturiser that is not to greasy yet will work for oily skin... Also because you exfoliate a lot, naturally you need to moisturise otherwise skin starts to feel a little tight, and usually over night it over produces oil, and you wake up looking rather greasy... So what I do is, after I use the Liz Earle Hot Cloth Cleanser I spay the Liz Earle Instant Boost Skin Tonic Spritzer couple of times over my face and neck... It feel very soothing and refreshing, and I love the scent of both products, very herbal and natural... Then before going to bed I apply Avene Cleanance Lotion, which is an anti-shine regulating, just on my oily bits: forehead, nose, cheeks, and chin - that keeps me from feeling dry, personally accept for my eye area I don't need any full-on moisturisers, my skin develops enough oil as it is... During the day I use Avene Cleanace Cream-gel, which is both exfoliating and hydrating... It's a great primer, and while you are wearing make-up it does its job! But during the winter I sometimes can get dry patches, in which case I like to use the Liz Earle Skin Repair Light Moisturiser, it's specifically for combination/oily skin, it's very light and gentle and sinks in to your skin without leaving a greasy filter...

4. Treatment - I'm cleansing my face in the morning and evening... In the morning I usually use Vichy Normaderm Deep Cleansing Purifying Gel and then I use Vichy Normaderm Purifying Pore-Tightening Lotion... This I find really keeps things under control... Also when you have a blemish that is clearing up it will make it peel away... But it's a good thing, you need your old skin cells to be replaced to have a new revitalised clear looking skin... If I have a blemish coming or happening I will use Avene TriAcneal Skin Care, just on the blemish... Or the area that is affected by a few blemishes if they are all close together having a party... In the morning I would cleanse my face with Avene Cleanance Gel Soapless Cleanser, which helps to reduce excess oil...

5. And last but not least, to keep your make up looking good for longer here are a few tips and tricks! First of all when it comes to eye make-up I literally don't remember last time I haven't used some sort of primer on my eyelids... I used to be so frustrated with so many eyeshadows because they just looked so washed out on me and hardly had any pigmentation, and would crease after two hours, and wouldn't last much longer after that... A primer takes care of all these dilemmas, and transforms your eye make-up into sultry, intense, beautifully smooth make-up artist creation... The ones that I constantly use are MAC Paint Pots... They are cream eyeshadows and are fantastic as primers too... I love them because when you are in a hurry you can just leave it as it is... The Paint Pots I use the most are in Nubile and Groundwork...

Secondly, choose the right foundation... Some slide right of your skin no matter how you try to keep in in place... Stay away from luminizing foundations, as they tend to be those that will make you look like a greaseball... As well as be careful where you put highlighters, and shimmery bronzers, they will emphasise uneven skin and make your pores look huge... 

Finally, another revelation to me was the mineralised foundation! Two that I really love and would recommend for oily skin is Laura Mercier Mineral Powder SPF 15, and bareMinerals SPF 15 Foundation... Those lucky ones with perfect skin can use it on its own... But for us it's a fantastic way to create an air-brushed flawless finish and set the liquid foundation in place, I feel naked without it! And if you need to touch up your oily zone during the day I suggest something like YSL Matt and Radiant Pressed Powder, or bareMinerals Original Mineral Veil... They are weightless so you can use them trough out the day without ending up looking too powdery...

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These are all the products I use consistently, most of them for over a year now... I highly recommend them for combination/oily skin types... And I hope some of my tips will help you combat bad skin and make you look even more beautiful!

LOVE

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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