Party Season Make Up

As my lovelylovely friend Lucy said, we all need to know how to nail that perfect party look 'without looking like a drag queen'. As it is the Festive Season, it is also the time for all that sparkles, glitters and twinkles. This can only mean one thing: shimmer eye shadows and lip gloss.

1. First thing's first. The Face. Think of your face as a blank canvas; making that first mark is always the hardest and so you need to prep the surface first. One of my absolute favourite products is concealer; seriously, the right one works wonders. I have been loving Collection 2000 Lasting Perfection Concealer. I use it in the colour '2 Light". I personally blend this into my skin using a Real Techniques Foundation Brush (I know, I know, the wrong brush but it's so good!), or even sometimes I just use my fingers. I apply this under my eyes, around my nose and wherever else I might have blemishes or any redness.
2. From here, foundation. As it is a party look, I think that a foundation which has illuminating features makes your face have that little extra glow and means that you are left looking even more radiant. The Rimmel Wake Me Up foundation is perfect for this; it has a slight shimmer with it, which not only wakes up but does also give your skin a lovely complexion.
3. At this point I would move on to eyes. If you have an eye shadow primer/base, now is the time to use it! If not, don't worry just take a bit of extra care when applying. If you're going for a sparkly finished look, I would use a matte shade as a base; this will enhance the shimmer and help the top layer blend better. I am currently really loving he MUA Undress Me palette; it is very similar to the Undress Me Too Palette which is a Naked palette dupe, however  I feel that the Undress Me palette could quite easily be a dupe as well! For all eye shadow needs I absolutely adore the MAC 217 brush, (it has served me better than any man ever could!) Blend your shimmer eye shadow from the inner corner of your eye to your brow bone, blending into the crease of your eye. 
4. Over the top of this I would then advise, not even suggest, advise, you to apply a little of MAC's Vanilla Pigment into the inner corner; this really opens up your eyes. Also apply this to your brow bone; it works as a wonderful highlighter. At this point fill in your brows however you wish!
5. Now Mascara. I have absolutely been. loving Avon's Mega Effects mascara so will be applying lashings of that. don't forget to curl them beforehand! This means your lashes will look even fuller and longer once mascara is then applied. 
6. As it is Winter, I also like to give my cheeks a bit of sparkle with a slightly shimmery blusher. I go for reds/pinks during this time as it gives you a nice natural outside glow. I would use either a Sleek blush or Avon Face Pearls. 
7. During this process I would have applied some lip balm of some sort (the amount of lip balms I own is beyond ridiculous; didn't stop me buying two more today though...). This just means that your lips are really ready for lipstick/gloss. I would go for some form of red; I'm really liking Sleek's Rioja Red Matte Me Lip Gloss; it is a very vibrant red. If red isn't for you, maybe try a shimmer gloss such as Soap & Glory's Sexy Mother Pucker. Whack one of these on and you're ready to go! 

Bare Minerals Makeover

One of my closest friends, Emily, and I won a makeover at Bare Minerals and it was so good! the girl who did it was lovely and it felt so nice to have my make up done. We were both a bit worried about it as we weren't actually sure what it would entail.
All of the make up is so lovely though; it is a bit pricey but as the name suggests, it is all minerals. Even their eyeliners are a powder which you can mix up with water. It all feels so light and lovely on your skin; I didn't want to take it off! My skin looked really natural and I loved the eye make up.  I went for  an natural smokey eye which is what I tend to wear on a daily basis; I was so pleased with the end result!

Are you a Bare Minerals fan?

xoxo

Boots 'Soap and Glory' || Offer

So it is that time of year again where Boots do their big reduction on a beauty blogger's favourite product: the massive Soap and Glory, for want of a better word, box-set. This year it is entitled 'The Yule Monty Gift Set' [which at the time of writing that I have only just got the pun!].
The reason for this post it to let you all know that tomorrow Boots are reducing this product from £60 to £27! That's a massive saving of £33!!

This set includes some different pieces from last year:

Sugar Crush Body Wash

The Righteous Butter

Heel Genius Foot Mask

Hand Food Hand Cream

Peaches and Clean 3-in-1 Cleanser (originally pink and 4-in-1 but that's another matter!)

Thick and Fast Super Volume Mascara

The Scrub of Your Life Body Buffer

Butter Yourself Body Lotion

Sexy Mother Pucker XL Lip Plumping Gloss in Pink Out Loud

Could it get any better?!

Will you be getting yours? I know I will!

xoxo

A Day In the Life #2 || Birmingham Christmas Market and The Nutcracker!

So last weekend with the lovely dancing girls, (which if at any point I mention CMD (Classical and Modern Dance) that's who I mean) went for a trip to Birmingham to the Christmas Market and to then see Birmingham Royal Ballet's Nutcracker!
It was such a lovely day and everyone had a great time. The Market was sooo much bigger than I was expecting! I haven't ever been properly to Birmingham so it was all a new experience for me. ME and my lovely new friend Charlotte got some mulled wine in the most adorable cups (which we then kept!). We tried some tiny little pancakes (sadly my camera memory ran out at this point so no photos of them :( ). I had mine with vanilla and cherries with icing sugar on top; they were heavenly.
I absolutely adore watching ballet performances, a love which probably came partly from my sister as she always used to take to the Royal Opera House to see various performances. I had only previously seen Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker so was beyond excited to see a traditional version. I was by no means disappointed! Karla Doorbar played Clara, one of the main parts and she was amazing!.
The whole day was lovely and it made me feel really festive and excited for Christmas! I am now going to apologise for the picture heavy content coming up...which will have been cut down!

 Mulled Wine!

What are your plans for Christmas?

xoxo