Monday Madness…..part 2!

So onto the main event of today’s post. Did you ever go through the kohl eyeliner phase when you were a teen? Yep? So did I, and now I’m older it makes me cringe because I did it all so wrong!

So, how do we do kohl eyeliner without looking too hard? Is it possible to wear it during the day as a subtle look? The answer is yes you can….it is all down to the tone of kohl you go for.
And my other rule, is no top eyeliner if you can help it, or if you are going to make sure it’s minimal!

Black eyeliner is not great for everyone, on me it looks far too harsh and shrinks my eyes, and I want my eyes to stand out! Black eyeliner is great for people with dark brown eyes or hazel eyes, smudge it a little to soften the look, but because your eyes are already dark it just nicely frames them without looking ‘too much’.

My eyes are greyish blue and I have experimented with so many kohl eyeliners and have finally found one that works! I use a slate grey, it’s soft but still gives that kohl pop you want! It is still subtle enough for wearing during the day and matches lovely with a light nude gloss! Another kohl colour that works is navy blue, yes navy blue. It reflects the blue elements in your eye colour and is a soft looking alternative to black.

Here’s my slate grey kohl look.

For green eyes you can use greys and even blacks but dark browns work wonders so I would definitely invest in one to try!

Always try and do a subtle lip if your doing a kohl eye, lipgloss is a great alternative to lipstick to perfect the look. I usually wear lipstick as they have a deeper colour but when I wear kohl eyeliner I always opt for a sheer pink gloss so that it doesn’t look too much!

My high street recommendation is Master Smokey by Maybelline New York

They come in a range of colours and retail under £10.

My splash out recommendation is Smokey eye Kajal liner by Bobbi Brown

It retails at £18 so is quite expensive but a lot goes a long way.

These two products both have a smudge brush included which is great for softening a bold line, and is handy for perfecting smokey eye looks!

Happy Monday!

Eye out for Eyelashes… Christmas Special!

Merry Christmas to all my gorgeous MadeUpMondays readers! These are my looks I have created using a selection of the best selling Eyelure fake eyelashes available in most stores. which one is your favourite?! oh..and there may be a sneaky one in there…. Enjoy!

Eyelure code 114

Eyelure code 114

Eyelure code 108

Eyelure Code 140

Eyelure Code 118

Crazy, sneaky look….Au natural! No fakies here…can you tell?

Eyelure Code 118

Comment below to say which one is your favourite look!
Have a good Christmas!

 

 

Keeping up with the Fashionistas

So it has come to my attention through some lovely Fashion bloggers that pastels are the season colour to have. With baby pinks, blues, greys and creams all hitting the catwalk, I thought I would do a post today to show how you can flatter this trend with your makeup.
It’s easy, when wearing pale colours, to make your makeup too bold, but I have one rule, if its a pastel colour either go completely neutral makeup, with maybe a bolder lip, or keep to light slate colours on the eye and a lighter lip. My favourite look to accompany pastel clothes with is a light, slate grey eye, with a pale, frosty pink lip.

I don’t feel it’s too much and still stands out enough and the best bit is you can just glam it up by adding fake eyelashes, if your party outfit is a pastel shade.
I firstly use a light, neutral base all over my eye. I use a light slate grey colour and start in the outer corner creating a slight wing shape, and blend across the lid. Using the same eyeshadow I use a fine eye brush and line the crease of lid and blend. Use a little under the eye, finish with some mascara and a nude lip, mine being a nude pink colour.

At the minute I love Marks and Spencer’s Copper Matte eyeshadow from their Limited Collection.

If you have a darker skin tone I would use lighter neutral colours rather than going for greys, keep with creams and light bronze shades.
The trick to complimenting pastels is to keep it subtle by not using eyeliner and bold lip, cheek and eye colours.

Take a peek at a brilliant beauty blog to keep up with the fashionistas and how to mix my makeup looks up with your wardrobe!

The Student Sartorialist
Happy Monday!

Christmas Sparkle!

Okay so I know it is only November, and I don’t like thinking about Christmas until the actual Christmas month of December! However, the parties have started, your work do or student Christmas themed night out so I decided to get one of my festive looks up early to inspire some of you to sparkle up your party, and make it magical as this holiday should be.
My look today is understated, sparkle glamour, and is perfect to add a little something, but still look sophisticated for your boss for that New Year promotion, or even catch the eye of a handsome fellow!
It’s inspired by Vegas Nay, a makeup artist from America (see my September follow of the month post to check her out).
I used mainly Make-Up Academy makeup, so there’s no need to burn a hole in your pocket if you want to try out this look, the products used are affordable, so you can treat yourself this Christmas too!

For the base I have used MUA Undress Your Skin foundation primer (£5) and then used MUA Undress Your Skin illuminating foundation in Beige (£5) I used a my favourite bronzer MAC cosmetics Bronzing Powder in Matte Bronze to create a soft contour below the cheekbone and added NARS cosmetics blush in Orgasm for a soft illuminated glow. For the eyes I used the MUA 12 eye shadow palette (£4) in Ever Afterand used Bare on the whole lid and Fade in the crease, I also highlighted the brow bone with Unwrap. Using a black gel eyeliner (can be liquid it doesn’t matter) MUA gel eyeliner is a brilliant £3 if you want a bargain! Draw a thin line with a small cat eye flick going outward. Start from a quarter way in from the inner eye and make the line thinker as you go out. The main event! Using MUA glitter eyeliner in City of Gold (£1!!) draw a thin line above the black liner, in the same shape, also draw a thin line on the bottom lash line. Finish off with a lick of your favourite mascara and a brow pencil, and accompany that with light pink/coral pink lip and your are Good as Gold!

If you don’t want to go for gold, there is a silver alternative that still looks great! Try a sparkle this season and get your party shoes on!

Care about Cancer…Think Pink!

This month is breast cancer awareness month, and cancer is a subject that’s close to my heart, so in a bid to support the cause this post is all about how to Think Pink!.

This Friday the 25th October is Wear it Pink day and to help you ladies and gentlemen to show your support here’s some ideas on how you can wear it pink this Friday at work or out with your friends! Oh and every like I get on this post today I will donate 20p towards the cause and show you all next Monday how I will be wearing Pink on Friday. So lets all use our makeup loving towards a great cause and save some lives!
Wearing it on your lips… so if you’re at work and need to subtly wear it pink try a gorgeous pink lip. It’s bold enough to support the cause and sophisticated, so you won’t get a rollicking off the boss if you need to meet and greet!

This lipstick is £1! Yes £1! pouty pink from MUA cosmetics you can buy from any Superdrug store. It’s a cheap cheap way of supporting this Friday! So don’t go breaking your bank.

Wearing it on your eyes…. okay so not often do I wear pink eyeshadow but it’s actually a new trend on the catwalks recently, you just gotta know how to not over do it! I’ve gone for a bright pink colour on the lid and shades using a bright purple using Glamour days palette by MUA cosmetics. This palette is only £4 so again not breaking any banks and stays on really well. Make those boys wink 😉

Wearing it on your cheeks for all you cheeky ladies out there this is an understated one but looks gorgeous on your Friday night on the town. I’ve used NARS blusher in orgasm like its name suggests it leaves you very satisfied as it has a gorgeous highlight in it so looks lovely under the disco lights!

Have fun wearing pink this Friday and don’t forget to like like like this page! ❤

My little Pot of Tricks

Today I’m telling you all about some little secrets I have to help my beauty bag and makeup regime.

1) so some of you may not know I am a biologist in my last year, so soon I can say I’m a real scientist (scary!) so obviously I have an interest in the environment and how we look after it, so I was so happy that MAC cosmetics allow you to recycle 6 empty products and reward you with a new lipstick! I recently took a bag full and got a gorgeous new nude shade, Angel I absolutely love it. I line my lips with intense pink colour sensational by Maybelline as I love the pink undertone it gives under the lipstick. If you’re a MAC fiend like me you will love this little service!

2) okay so my next little trick is something spectacularly simple and it’s called….nude eyeliner. I LOVE it! It’s perfect for during the daytime when you want your big beautiful eyes to stand out, and it helps to look less tired, and when I have 9am lectures I need anything to make me look alive let alone awake! A lot of people manage this look using a white eyeliner but I find a nude one looks much more natural, is less harsh and I find it more versatile. I use kajal eyeliner, topaz by Stila cosmetics you can buy one from any cheap cosmetics stands and they all do the job perfectly so don’t go spending a fortune on one!

3) this is a little secret many people get so so wrong. It’s all about the mascara and cotton buds. You are probably thinking what on earth is she on about?! Well I’m talking about that devastating moment you’ve perfected your eye makeup for the day/night the last thing is that lick of mascara, but you’ve sneezed, or you have crazy long eyelashes and you’ve smudged it all on your eyelid. The trick? Stay very very calm and leave it. That’s right leave it to dry, look like a fool for five minutes then get out your secret weapon, the cotton bud. If you leave the mascara to dry and take it off with a cotton bud it will just flake off and no further smudging or do-overs are needed! Easy.

4) this little trick is something I will do a full post on, it’s called contouring. I have seen so many posts about it and have been practicing like mad to get mine down to perfection! It’s all about highlighting and shadowing the face to produce cheek bones and a jawline that may need help being defined. During the day I contour just with my light concealer and a matte bronzer, as its a much lighter look. You shadow where the light doesn’t hit your face (temples on the head, side of the nose, under cheek bones and under jawline) and highlight where light does hit your face (in and between where you have shadowed). I am obsessed with this at the moment as it looks great especially for a night out! I use, as my highlighter MAC cosmetics mineralize concealer NW15 and as my shadow MAC cosmetics bronzing powder in Matte Bronze

Hope you enjoy my little secrets… Not that I’m giving them all away yet! Remember to enter my eye makeup giveaway! Just follow, like and share my page on a social networking site and you could be in with a chance to win a gorgeous 12 piece eyeshadow palette and other goodies in a cute little vanity bag. Enter by 31/10/13 Xx

Follow of the month (October)

Had such a busy week this week so decided to bless you makeup lovers with another Follow of the Month. Today is Nur Makeup I came across her on Instagram and was floored by some of her looks. She posts a real variety of looks which are easily recreated, so good for people who are just starting their makeup adventures. I have included one of her looks I saw recently as I loved it, it’s a perfect day look or subtle night look and it’s easy to recreate. Check her out on Instagram, she’s just started posting video tutorials on YouTube, and if you want to know how to do flawless eyeliner she’s the girl to check out as hers is amazing! Hope you appreciate her posts as much as I do!

Scouse-Noooo!

Eyebrows. The biggest beauty trend to hit women, and men, for 2012 and it’s still a leading trend for 2013 and I don’t see it fading away next year! With leading fashionistas such as Cara Delevingne and her amazing brows taking over the front of our magazine covers and catwalk shows its no wonder demand for the new HD Brow is through the roof. However there are those that still think a jet black ‘scouse brow’ is attractive, hate to break it to you lovely ladies but unless you have dark hair or have that skin tone that gets away with dark brows, it really looks like you’ve had a fight with a biro marker. You can get your eyebrows looking catwalk ready with real minimum spend, and effort, yay! The cheap trick? A suitable coloured eyebrow pencil and a pair of tweezers! I’ve recently gone from really dark hair to very blonde hair so it’s been a bit of a trial and error with brow pencils to find the perfect shade for me.
I’m a student so I save a few pennies here by shaping my brows myself but if you can afford it, skip waxing and go get your brows threaded. It leaves them looking very professional and natural looking but with a much more defined shape, and the shape of the brow is specific to the individual as you need a shape that lifts and defines your eyes. If you’re from the UK try any Fenwick store and some Superdrug stores as they have beauty therapists in store for walk in appointments if you want to squeeze it into your lunch break.
So the brow pencil, again student budget kicking in here, I use Hazel from Rimmel London it’s perfect for those who are fair haired but still gives a good definition. Start from the bottom of the inner brow. Shape underneath and the outer end of the brow then line as required for the upper part of your brow. Always start lightly and build up as you go, that way you can control how dark you need them to be and also if you make a mistake it’s easily fixed! If you don’t like pencil liners and prefer a gel and set combo, try BrowZings Brow Shaping Kit by Benefit they have a choice of three shades to suit everyone. It’s long lasting and the brush is very easy to use to shape the brow.
My brows cost me less than a fiver and a few minutes effort.
If you’re going to learn anything from MadeupMondays today it is that the old saying ‘less is more’ definitely applies to some aspects of beautifying ourselves with makeup. But shhh it’s a secret!

Top images taken from Google.

Follow of the Month

Supporting my fellow make-up enthusiasts!
Today my post is all about who to follow in the social networking world to gain some amazing make-up looks. This month is Vegas Nay, a make-up enthusiast from Vegas, America. She posts some gorgeous looks that she has done herself and also looks from other artists and uses a range of products to create a versatile ‘look book’. I have chosen to show her simple and elegant eye make-up she posted last week using the Urban Decay palette I posted about last week, adding some sparkle to fit in with this seasons autumn sparkle trend, the natural shadows used and elegant liner incorporates the up and coming season of the Bridget Bardot 60s make-up. Look her up on Instagram you won’t regret it!

Flirty Fundays!

This look is quick and perfect for a day date or for a night out as it can be easily glammed up!
If there’s one thing you should have in your make-up kit it’s the Naked palatte
Urban Decay. It contains 12 shades that can be used for the perfect natural look or can be combined for a gorgeous smokey eye. I’ve used three shades to create a versatile day look.
Firstly prime the lid with Urban Decay eye primer, this keeps the shadow in place for longer. Use Virgin in the inner corner of the eye and the top of the brown bone, this will make your eyes look bigger and gives the illusion of a higher brow. On the lid use a light cover of Naked then use Toasted on the lid and shape on the outer corners, use this under the eye to line. Lastly use Hustle shape the outer corners of the eye and in the crease of the lid to define. Finish with a small line of grey or black eye liner on the top lid and mascara on both top and bottom lashes. Easy! I matched it up with a coral lip but you could have more of a nude lip if you want to tone it down or go brighter if you want to glam it up for a night out. Add fake eyelashes ( my fave 080 by Eyelure to finish off for a gorgeous glam look.
These colours will work for hazel and dark brown eyes but if you’re a darker skin tone try the more gold/bronze shades, Buck as the undertone shade on the lid, then Halfbaked all over the lid and Darkhorse to shape. Try it and let me know what you think!