Quick & Easy Everyday, Natural Make-Up

Maybe not the most exciting mix of products, but these are some of the items I reach for on a daily basis to create a failsafe, quick and natural make-up look. Some of them are fairly new discoveries, and some are old favourites.

Armani Lasting Silk: 4. MUFE Full Cover: 4 & Nars Loose Powder

Thanks to my acne prone skin type, which I’ve had a few issues with recently, foundation and concealer is an absolute must. My foundation of choice at the moment is, Armani’s Lasting Silk, which covers well and feels nice and light-weight. I also use a dab of Make Up For Ever’s Full Cover concealer on more difficult to cover areas. Lasting Silk conceals redness and minor blemishes brilliantly, but I still need a dab of Full Cover on really tricky to cover marks and spots.

To finish, I use a little bit of my favourite powder, Nars Loose. I’ve tried quite a few different finishing powders from various different brands, but I always come back to Nars. It feels light, controls the oilies well, and a 35g tub lasts for ages. 

Becca Enigma Palette & Eye Tints (Romanticism & Vicuna) & Armani Eyes To Kill

Eye make-up has been a fairly simple affair recently. Becca’s Eye Tints are something I find myself reaching for everyday. Vicuna is normally used as a primer and to even out lids, and Baroque and Romanticism are used to add a wash of colour. All of these shades work really well as a base for powder shadows, too, and recently, I’ve been using them under a range of different shadows from MAC, as well as Becca’s Enigma palette. The darker shade from the Enigma palette (Silesia) also works well used as a liner, and is quicker to apply than pencil or liquid, which is an added bonus.

Becca Enigma & MAC Cork, Yogurt & Satin Taupe

On my lips, I’ve mainly been sporting one of two shades. Chantecaille’s Bourbon Rose, which is a kind of ‘my lips but better’ shade, and Armani’s Shine Lipstick in 04, which is a really pretty rose colour. Both are natural shades, and both formulas are excellent, and fairly long-lasting.

Chante Bourbon Rose & Armani Shine: 04

And the end result looks like this (brace yourself for the mahoosive face pic!)....

Using the base products mentioned above, Becca's Vicuna Eye Tint and Enigma palette, Armani Eyes To Kill mascara, and Armani Shine lipstick mixed with a pink-y lip pencil from Laura Mercier. Not the most exciting of looks, but fairly natural, easy and best of all, quick. I've also been mixing things up over the past few weeks with orange and peach lip and cheek colours, but I always come back to these 'safe' shades and products when I want a quick and easy look that I feel comfortable wearing.

Do you have any favourite products for creating a quick, natural make-up look? Do you stick to the same products everyday? Or do you like to experiment with different colours/looks?

Becca Eye Tint Swatches & Review: Romanticism

I’m a huge fan of Becca’s Eye Tints. They’re incredibly easy to apply, come in a range of pretty, natural shades, and they hold up extremely well (even on my oily lids!). I already own a few shades from the relatively small range of colours available, and as soon as I spotted there was a new shade released as part of the brand’s Balearic Love collection, I immediately decided to order a tube. 

Becca Eye Tint: Romanticism

Romanticism is described as a Mauve Bronze on the brand’s website, which unfortunately isn’t a particularly accurate colour description (at least not on me). The bronze part is correct, but I don’t see a lot of mauve in the shade, which I’m slightly disappointed with. On me, Romanticism is a straight up bronze with the tiniest hint of mauve. It adds a sheer wash of shimmering bronze colour, which is delicate, pretty and natural.

Becca Eye Tint: Romanticism

Consistency wise, Romanticism is quite thin/runny, and needs a really good shake before it’s used, as it tends to separate slightly in the tube. I’ve noticed that different shades from the Eye Tint range seem to have slightly different textures. Baroque and Pewter, which are the most pigmented colours I own, are slightly thicker, and Vicuna and Romanticism are both runnier/have a thinner consistency and leave more of a sheer wash of colour on eyes. Like all of the shades I own from the range, though, Romanticism applies and lasts well, and creates a lovely base for powder shadows.

Becca Romanticism

While the shade wasn’t quite what I was expecting after reading the sites colour description, I have to say, I am still quite happy with my purchase. The Mauve Bronze that was promised would have been nice, but the sheer, bronze colour is still pretty and very wearable. If you’re a fan of minimal, very natural looking eye make-up that’s quick and easy to apply, I’d definitely recommend checking out Romanticism, and the other pretty shades on offer in the Eye Tint range. 

 

  Available from Zuneta & Lookfantastic (free postage). Romanticism is £20.00 for a 7ml tube of product.

Soap & Glory Sunday: Clean On Me Shower Gel

This weeks Soap & Glory product is, Clean On Me. A shower gel which contains natural mandarin peel and a built-in body lotion. It’s scented with the brand’s Original Pink fragrance, and promises soft, smooth, sexy skin.

Soap & Glory Clean on Me

Clean On Me is packaged in a rather pretty 500ml bottle and has a handy pump (more shower gels should have these!), which makes dispensing product an easy task. I haven’t smelt the Original Pink scent that it’s fragranced with, but like the brand’s body butter, which I wrote about last week, it smells lovely. It’s very sweet and fruity, but still fresh and in no way sickly. S&G describe the scent as a fresh, summery fragrance with orange leaf, lemon, peach, sweet strawberries, summer rose, gardenia blooms and jasmine. A lovely mix of fragrances, which create a feminine scent that lingers on my skin for a quite a while after I’ve used it. I still get a faint hint of the pretty aroma hours after washing with this, which is nice.

Consistency-wise, it’s quite thick and creamy and a few pumps produce a decent amount of lovely, bubbly foam/lather, which cleans well and feels soft and gentle. Soap & Glory claim Clean On Me has a built-in body lotion, and while it does leave my skin feeling soft and smooth, I can't say I've noticed any major improvements in hydration after using this. This isn't a problem for me as I'm more interested in how well it cleans, and it also gives me a good excuse to layer on one of the brands lotions or butters after.

Soap & Glory Clean On Me Shower Gel

The rich, bubbly lather rinses off easily and leaves no residue behind – just soft, clean skin.

Overall, it’s a really nice body wash, which cleans well without being harsh or drying, and like other products I’ve used from the S&G range, it smells delicious. I can't say I've noticed the built-in body lotion working it's magic, but it’s still a great product that’s pleasant to use and at £5.50 for a 500ml bottle, it’s excellent value for money, too.

Available from Boots.

A Week In Nails. Leighton Denny & Chanel

Leighton Denny Stormy Weather, Chanel Graphite & Leighton Denny Steel Appeal & Little Minx

Well, kind of. These are a few of the shades I've been sporting on my nails over the last few weeks. I've mainly been reaching for brighter, summery nail colours, but I've still been making the most of the darker and shimmery shades in my collection, too. 

 Leighton Denny Stormy Weather

Leighton Denny Stormy Weather

Leighton Denny's, Stormy Weather is a pretty, warm purple shade, shot through with lots of tiny, silver shimmer.  It applies well and is opaque in two coats.

Leighton Denny Stormy Weather (Two coats)

Leighton Denny Little Minx

Leighton Denny Little Minx

Little Minx is a metallic bronze/beige shade, which almost looks like liquid metal in the bottle. The shade normally applies perfectly, but for some reason, I just couldn't get it to paint evenly when I applied it this time. So, after taking the photo below, I went over the colour with a coat of Chanel's Graphite, which actually turned out quite well.

Leighton Denny Little Minx (Two coats)

Chanel Graphite paired with Little Minx

Chanel Graphite

I haven't reached for this shade for quite a while, but after using it to fix the streaky and slightly uneven application of Little Minx, I think I'll be reaching for the shimmery colour more often. I have a few other shades in the stash, which I think Graphite would work really well with, so I'll definitely be playing with this one some more. I may even attempt a bit of nail art!

Chanel Graphite over Leighton Denny's Little Minx

   Leighton Denny Steel Appeal

Leighton Denny Steel Appeal

A dark, glossy grey with silver shimmer. The base is very dark, but the silver sparkles lighten it slightly and turn it into something more interesting and unique. Steel Appeal applies perfectly, is opaque in two coats, and dries to a lovely, shiny finish.

Leighton Denny Steel Appeal (Two coats)

All of the swatches above are without top coat, and all of the photos were taken with flash.

The Leighton Denny colours above are available from the LD site, and cost £11.00 for a 12ml bottle.

I hope everyone's having a lovely weekend!

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File

Leighton Denny Crystal Nail File

Until fairly recently, my nails were in a pretty sorry state. I had issues with peeling, breaking and ridges, and consequently, I found I was having problems with nail polish chipping and peeling after only a couple of days of wear. I actually worked my way through quite a few different types of base coats and top coats before I realised that the products I was using weren’t the issue and that the condition of my nails was to blame. So, I decided to go back to basics and after searching around online for recommendations, I invested in a few different products to help get my nails in shape.

I bought quite a few different things to help with the problems I was having, including a bottle of Orly’s Cutique to soften and remove my horribly dry, damaged cuticles, a bottle of Boots Expert Nail Strengthener to harden up my paper thin nails (this is actually really good stuff considering it’s so cheap!), and a decent nail buffer to help smooth ridges. But, the product I invested in which I feel has made the biggest difference to my nails is, Leighton Denny’s Crystal nail file. Described as the ‘Rolls Royce’ of nail files, it’s won numerous awards (it almost always pops up on glossy magazines top 100 product lists), promises to simply turn nails to dust and to make filing quick and easy. And my god, it really does do a brilliant job!

Before purchasing a Leighton Denny file, I was using a no brand, cheapy glass one I’d picked up at Boots last year, and while it did an ok job at shaping my nails, it didn’t really leave the edge of the nail completely smooth. Leighton Denny’s does exactly what’s promised and actually makes filing my nails a pretty pleasant experience. It shapes and files quickly and easily, it never drags, and it never ever leaves the edge of my nails feeling rough, jagged or uneven. Since replacing my cheaper file with this one, I’ve noticed a huge improvement with the peelies, have had no splits, and have seen a positive improvement with the overall condition of my nails.

See, unlike traditional metal nail files, or emery boards, crystal files are designed to gently file and actually seal the nail edge, which in turn helps to prevent the nasties (splits and catches) mentioned above. They’re also extremely easy to keep clean, and don’t wear down like traditional files. In Fact, Leighton Denny’s crystal file comes with a lifetime guarantee, so if the surface of the file diminishes in its efficacy, the product will be replaced free of charge. Pretty good, eh?

Leighton Denny Crystal File Guarantee

As you can probably tell, I’m incredibly happy with my purchase and with the results I’ve seen since I started using it. I think the other products I’ve been using, along with generally taking more time over my nails have helped to improve the condition too, but I really think I have my Leighton Denny file to think for the lack of peelies and splits I’ve had over the last few months. Overall, it’s a fantastic product and one I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend. In fact, I’d say it’s quite possibly one of, if not the best nail product I’ve purchased, and I wouldn’t be without mine. 

Available from the signature Leighton Denny site (£12.00). There's also a larger file available (£15.00), and a set which contains both the small file and a larger version (£27.50).

What sort of file do you use? Do you have a favourite nail strengthener?

Butter London Nail Colours On Sale At BrandAlley

BrandAlley currently have a great, Butter London sale going on, with lots of lovely colours and sets on offer!

Sets of three, Butter nail colours, in lots of different colour combinations are £18.50, duo sets are £15.00, and sets which include a top coat, base coat and a polish are £21.00. Not a bad deal, considering they cost £12.00 for one bottle at Zuneta and Hq Hair!

The only slight snag with BrandAlley, is they wait until the sale ends before dispatching goods, so delivery does take a while. The estimated dispatch date on most of the Butter sets is the 1st of May. Still, there are some bargains to be had if you're willing to wait a while for your goodies.

www.brandalley.co.uk

Orange & Peach Lips, Nails & Cheeks

I know it’s not quite summer yet, but the brighter and slightly warmer weather we’ve been having here over the last couple of weeks has had me reaching for brighter, summery nail and make-up colours. One of the shades I’ve been sporting on nails, lips and cheeks a lot over the last few weeks is, orange. The zesty, bright hues have been fished out of the stash, along with some softer, peachy shades that were picked up last year, so I thought I’d do a little picture post and share some of the colours I’ve been wearing.

Chanel Cashmere, June & Miami Peach

Chanel Cashmere - A peachy/salmon shade shot through with lots of delicate gold shimmer. Cashmere is the first Chanel polish I ever purchased and it sat, unloved in my polish drawer for a long time, as I wasn't sure if I liked the colour on me. I rediscovered it recently though, and have been enjoying the soft, golden peach a lot over the last few weeks.

Chanel June - Again, I wasn't sure if the colour worked with my skin tone after first swatching it, but after giving it another go, I've fallen in love with the soft creamy apricot shade.

Chanel Miami Peach - I purchased this last year and wore it a lot during the summer months. It's a juicy coral/orange which contains tiny, gold shimmers. It's sheer, has an almost jelly type finish

and looks delicious on fingers and toes.

Leighton Denny Do Me A Flavour & Nails Inc Candy Orange

Leighton Denny Do Me A Flavour & Nails Inc Candy Orange - Both are bright and summery, vibrant oranges, which look fab on fingers and toes.

Top-Bottom: Candy Orange, Do Me A Flavour, Miami Peach, June & Cashmere

Two coats of each in the photo above, apart from Miami Peach and Cashmere, which are both three coats.

NARS Bohemian Gold & Dior Peachy Adventure

NARS Bohemian Gold - The shimmery taupe shade in the duo gets a lot of love, but until recently, I'd barely touched the peachy/salmon colour. After playing with the shade, I've found that it does create a really pretty look when used with a light hand and paired with the taupe colour. It actually works quite well used as a blush, too! 

Dior Flight in Peachy Adventure - The gloss and shadow in this palette were a bit of a disappointment, but the peach blush is lovely.

Chanel Coral Reef & Jemma Kidd Coral

Chanel Coral Reef Glossimer - A juicy peach with lots of gold shimmer. Used alone it's a little bit too sheer on my pigmented lips, but it works really well when paired with La Pausa.

Jemma Kidd Coral Silk Touch Gloss - A vibrant orange in the tube, which looks surprisingly natural when it's on. It leaves lips with a glossy hint of orange, non-sticky colour.

NARS Happy Days Velvet Gloss Pencil - A fresh peachy/pink coral infused with tiny, delicate gold sparkles. I love the non-sticky formula and texture of these, and will definitely be grabbing a few more of the available shades this year.

Chanel Rouge Coco La Pausa - A peachy coral shade with golden/coppery shimmer. The formula and finish are excellent, and the colour is a fantastic summery shade.

Revlon Peach Parfait Lip Butter - A shimmery peachy pink. Again, formula and finish are both nice. And these are a bit of a bargain at £7.99 a tube.

L-R: Revlon Peach parfait, Chanel Coral Reff & La Pausa, Nars Happy Days & Jemma Kidd Coral

Have you started wearing summery brights yet, or are you making the most of pretty, spring pastels?