Sunday 25 March 2018

A Spring Peachy Makeup Look

Recently, I have been loving just playing around with makeup. I love that kind of phase because I feel like that is when my makeup looks the best. I do apologise if you like my makeup looks because I have posted a few recently, but I do have other ideas in the works right now so hopefully there will be something different going up soon, but for now, I thought I would just share with you this makeup look. This isn't going to be chatty just because I don't want my techniques and application tips to be too repetitive, so if you have read my previous makeup look (linked here), the application is very similar to that. Never the less, I hope you like this look, it is a little bit different for me with all of the pinks and purples but I actually love how it turned out.

Makeup Used:
Primark Primer Water
Freedom Pro Mattify Primer
LA Girl Pro Coverage Foundation in White
TheOrdinary Serum Foundation
Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer in Fair
RCMA No Colour Powder
Misslyn Beach Please Bronzer
Milani Baked Blush in Luminoso 
TheBalm Mary Loo Manizer Highlighter
Freedom Duo Brow Powder in Soft Brown
Too Faced Sweet Peach Eye Shadow Palette
Lottie London Kohl Liner in Smoke
Collection Lash Surge Waterproof Mascara
Colourpop Matte Liquid Lipstick in Midi
BareMinerals Gloss in Groovy

What do you think of this makeup look?
Grace xx

Sunday 18 March 2018

Gold Cut Crease & OOTD

It has been a while since I have had the chance to play around with my makeup but with it being mothers day last week, I decided to get a little glammed up for a meal with my family. I initially didn't have an intention for this look but it turned out to be quite a dramatic gold cut crease. To go along with the makeup, I also thought that I would add in the outift I wore with it. I am going to talk you through the look so I hope you like what I came up with.
Before I get into the makeup, I do just want to keep everything transparent with you. Although I am cruelty free when it comes to my beauty products now, I still own products in my collection that were tested on animals. Once purchasing, the damage has already been done and so I don't want to waste the product as I think that is just as bad as buying it in the first place. I could have lied about the products I have used as well, but I do want to keep my blog honest so I hope you can all respect that this is not a cruelty free makeup look but if you do want alternative products for what I am using that are cruelty free, then leave me a comment and I will reply to you with an alternative for whatever you suggest. I will also put a * next to any product in this makeup look that is tested on animals, just so that you know.

I think we have all already established that I do my makeup in a weird order, but like every other look, I started out with my primer. Since I wasn't going to be wearing this makeup for too long, I just primed with my Primark Primer Water, which is super lightweight and does the job in a really quick and easy manner. I did want to go in with another primer over my t-zone though, just to help smooth out my pores and control my oil and for that I used the Freedom Pro Mattify. This primer has a very silicone texture to it, but it really does make your skin feel so flipping soft.
Recently, I have been doing my brows a little differently, and by different, I mean applying the brow gel before any of the powders or pomades. I don't know why, but I have found that by setting the brows hairs down first and then going in with my powder or pomade, my brows just look and last a lot better. I also find it easier to apply product over brows that have gel in them. Anyway, I definitely recommend giving that a try, but for my brow gel, I used the Collection Clear Mascara. As for filling them in, I used the Anastasia Beverly Hills Dip Brow Pomade in Taupe. This pomade is great and in this case, I used it with quite a light hand that just made my brows look that extra bit more defined.
To carve out my brows, I used the Rimmel Lasting Finish Concealer* and just one a small brush, went around the edges of my brow just to conceal any mistakes or messy areas. That concealer though, on its own, tends to crease if I wear it as an eye primer so I used the Mac Painterly Paint Pot* just to prime my lids. I then set my lids with a L'Oreal Pressed Powder* just to mattify the area and create a smooth base for my eyeshadow.
For eyeshadow, I played around with the Huda Beauty Warm Obsessions Eye Shadow Palette as I love the shades in this palette and the formulation is beautiful to work with. I started off with a light brown shade just to act as my transition shade. I buffed this all throughout my crease and making sure that it looked completely seamless before going in with my next shade. I then used the orange shade in this palette, again in the crease, but this time keeping it focused further down than that first shade. Once again though, I kept blending it until I was happy with the gradient. I then used the shade in the bottom right-hand corner of this palette, which I would describe as a brick red shade, and this went in the outer half of my crease and also on the outer corner. As you have probably gathered, this look took a lot of blending, which is exactly what I kept doing with this brick red shade. To get to the colour I wanted, I did have to do some building and blending and building and so on but that's what made this look fun. Anyway, I did want something darker in my outer corner, so I used a bit of that dark purple shade in the palette, just right on that outer part of my lid, and I then blended that in slightly to the other shades in the crease. I then cut the crease, which I am still trying to perfect but I did just use that same concealer I used to carve out my brows. The one thing I would say about carving out your eyelid is to just take your time and do it step by step because the last thing you want to do is ruin your crease that you have worked so hard on. Once I was happy with the shape of my lid on both eyes, I then set that concealer with the matte ivory colour in this palette and then used a tiny crease brush just to help soften the harsh edges as I didn't want it to look super sharp, more like a faint cut crease. I then tried to apply the gold shade in this palette on the lid, but I quickly learned that it didn't really work with a brush, but then again, you probably didn't need a base for this look, I was just experimenting with the formula. This is when the star of the show comes in. To create this really intense, gold, glitter cut crease, I used the Collection Glam Crystals Liner in Funk. This was super easy to apply and suprisingly it was super opaque, which I honestly wasnt expecting. I did do a few layers of this because I wanted it to look super extra and intense, I also dragged some of the glitters further than where I had cut the crease, just on the top, so that it gave a bit of detail to the look.
I then just applied some mascara, which you have probably guessed, is the Collection Volumax Mascara in Waterproof.
Moving onto the face, I mixed the Maybelline Matte and Poreless Foundation* with the LA Girl Pro Coverage White Foundation as I am a little darker than what I usually am right now. I just applied this all over my skin with a damp sponge. For concealer, I mixed the Urban Decay Naked Skin Concealer and the Collection Lasting Perfection Concealer just to get my perfect colour and also coverage. With my concealer at the moment, I have been leaving it a little longer than usual so that it dries and maximises the coverage. I don't let it sit for too long, just for about half a minute and then I blend it in with that damp sponge once again. Straight after, I decided to bake with the RCMA No Colour Powder. Personally, I can't let this sit for too long as it can leave a white cast, but I make sure that it has set the concealer before brushing it off. Before setting the rest of my face though, I decided to cream contour with the LA Girl Pro Conceal Concealer in Toast, which is a huge favourite of mine. Once I have blended this out though and I am happy with how it looks, I then set the rest of my face and also bake under where I applied the cream contour just so it is really sharp.
For powder products, I decided to set the cream contour down with the Benefit Hoola Bronzer*. I then warmed up the perimeters of my face with the Makeup Revolution Pro Bronze Bronzer, just with a really fluffy brush for an overall bronze. Since I was wearing quite a low top as well, I also brought this down my neck and chest too so that all of the colours matched. For blusher, I kept it super simple with the neutral shade out of the Makeup Revolution Blush Goddess Blush Palette, just with a super light hand. For highlighter, I wanted something super bold, so I used the two lightest shades out of the Ofra X Nikkietutorials Everglow Highlighter as a base on the cheekbones, above the browbone, the tip of the nose and the cupids bow, but then just to add a little more, I used the golden shade out of the NYX Strobe of Genius Highlighting Palette just on the highest points to really make up the look pop. I also applied this shade onto my inner corner and my brow bones to tie up the eye makeup.
Finally, for lips, I lined them with Mac Oh Honey Lip Liner*, it's a pretty standard shade but just the first one I grabbed. For liquid lipstick though, I used the Jeffree Star Velour Liquid Lipstick in I'm Nude which is a really neutral, pale nude shade that is nothing like any others in my collection.
To finish off the whole look though, I set my face with the Superdrug Vitamin E Hydrating Mist to help all of the powders melt into the skin.

As for my outfit, I kept it so super simple with this grey vest bodysuit with white piping around the edges, which is from Pretty Little Thing. I then paired it with the Topshop Blue Jamie jeans, which I just find super flattering, and I really love the colour of them. As for shoes, I wore plain white trainers and I also wore a black leatther jacket as we are no where near summer in England just yet. Also in case you are wondering, the watch is Michael Kors and the necklace is Tiffany's.
Let me know what you think of this makeup look and outfit, also don't forget to comment incase you want any alternatives for the makeup I have used that was tested on animals.
Grace xx

Sunday 4 March 2018

It has been a while... just an update

(my incedible friend took this picture, her insta is @izzykxte, send her your love)

It almost felt weird opening up Blogger and clicking "new post" because it feels like I have forgotten what is like to be a blogger. A bit dramatic I guess as I am writing a blog post right now but it really has been a while since writing a post for me, but the longer I was leaving it, the harder it became trying to get the words out.
I just wanted to write a little update post today because there has been a lot going on in my life and some changes I want to make in the future, so I am sorry that this is no wishlist or makeup look but hopefully this will explain some unanswered questions.
2018 has started off pretty hectic for me and I think most people can say the same, but I really didn't anticipate how busy I would be. I have made it pretty clear, hopefully, that I am in my final year of high school and so this is when the hardwork really starts to kick in so it's all about getting me through until July as that is when I will be done with GCSEs! What I didn't expect though, is for my brain to run on a constant, school only mindset and becuase of this my blog has suffered massively. Recently I have been critised a lot by the people closest to me about the fact that all I do is school work and revise, and maybe I didn't see it, but it has been taking up most of my time. Saying that, I have been waiting to sit these exams since I started my eductaion at the age of 4 and now I am finally here, I want to do thm properly. It has came to my attention recently, that I definitely put too much on my plate and I am care too much about the things that don't really mean anything and as much as people want to change that about me, I don't want to change that side of me. My motivation and drive is something I am proud of and I hope I never loose it.
With all of that being said, I am trying to find a balance between work and lesuire, something I am only really just learning now. Majoirty of my time will still be put towards my education and passing my exams but I also don't want my blog to take a huge back seat while I do that. I am not promising that there will be a post every week of there will be a set schedule because that pressure is something I could really do without but I do want new content on my blog fairly often.
Speaking of content, I am really struggling with that side of my blog at the moment, which you could say is also why I haven't posted. Since I first started my blog, it has primarily been based around beauty and makeup, as much as I love beauty and all that it has done for me, I want my blog to be more than just makeup. Then again, I don't want to dissapoint anyone who comes onto my blog for the beauty tips and makeup reviews so I really need you guys to help me out. Nothing is set in stone yet, but I would like to do more fashion posts, like styling tips and OOTDs, also a little bit of health and fitness as that is also a growing passion of mine. As much as I do want to make my blog an all round blog, I don't know what any of you would want to see from me, so I would really appriciate it if you could comment on this post, or message me what your thoughts are on what I have just said. Currently I feel like I can't write a book review because it should be a makeup review but I don't know whether it is all just in my head. I am not thinking of not posting beauty posts ever again but as I am in exam season and my final year of high school, makeup looks are not on the ageda but revsion is and I don't know whether it would benefit anyone if I made blog posts all about education and exams.

I massively appologise for the state of this post but I just wanted to get something up to prove I am still here!
Have a great week!
Grace xx