My Top Tips!

Hi guys!

It's the Easter holidays and I'm at home bored out of my mind so I thought I'd write a quick post about my top makeup tips and things I've learnt along the way while doing my makeup course. So here goes!



Don't be afraid to mix foundations!

Since there doesn't seem to be a single foundation on this earth that matches my skin colour completely, I've taken to mixing foundations to get it exactly right. Also don't be scared to mix them to get the exact consistency you want for your skin type. For example, I mix MAC Face & Body in C6 (which is a touch too light) and MAC Matchmaster in 7.5 (which is too dark). This gives me the perfect shade. I also get the best of both worlds with these two foundations. Because I have combination skin, it's great to get the sheerness and glow from Face & Body and the coverage and matte texture of Matchmaster all in one :)

Get the 217 brush in your life!

If you're into eyeshadow then I would definitely say that the MAC 217 blending brush is a necessity. Whether you've applied one shade or five, this brush is great for blending your shadows to give a really natural finish. Since I began using it, I don't think I could use anything else. It's also great for blending out other products on your face, such as blushes and highlights :) Although it retails at £18, I'll definitely be picking up a couple more for my kit. 

Eyelash curlers actually do make a difference!

Hands up if like me you thought that eyelash curlers were extremely overrated and just another way for the beauty industry to get more money out of us? Well I was wrong and it turns out that I had just been using pretty rubbish ones. The Shu Uemura ones are the way forward! They really do lift your lashes and create a more open eye. I bought this for my kit but just ended up using them myself because I fell in love with them lol. They cost £20 and I bought them from Selfridges.

And some other quick tips:

- Moisturise your lips before you start applying your makeup to avoid chapped lips (especially when you're applying matte lipsticks like Ruby Woo). My favourite is Blistex Lip Medex.

- MAC Full Coverage foundation (you can get it from the Pro stores) can double as a concealer.

- Try using individual lashes at the corners of your eye instead of a full strip. It creates a much more natural look.

- The MUA eye primer is pretty amazing and you'll save yourself A LOT of money! lol



Hope you enjoyed this post. Feel free to leave any comments below :) 

Review: MAC Matchmaster Foundation

Forgive me MAC, for I have sinned.

So a couple of years ago I renounced all MAC foundations after I had a TERRIBLE experience with their Mineralize foundation. But after discovering their Matchmaster foundation, I can't believe that I wasted my time on anything else!

Matchmaster retails for £27 and comes in 13 different shades...which to be honest doesn't sound like a lot. Maybe I'm just really fortunate to have found my exact shade. I tried shade 8.0 at first which was a touch too dark. I then tried shade 7.5 which melted into my skin straight away with minimal blending. MAC describes this as being a medium coverage foundation, that easily adjusts to your skin tone with a demi-matte finish. And I have to say that after months of searching for the perfect light foundation for oily skin, I have found a winner.

Review after the pics!

So...here we go! If you have oily/combination skin like me, this is one of the best foundations you could ever buy. I usually find myself having to use my MAC blotting powder at least three times a day in order to keep my shiny face under control. However, when using Matchmaster I used it once, and that was really just for my nose. It really does do what it says on the tin. It's super easy to apply ( I use my Real Techniques foundation brush) and dries really quickly. It doesn't need really any blending at all and left my skin looking really natural. When I touched my face hardly any came off on my fingers (which is a pet peeve of mine). The only thing that some people may not like about this finish is that it's pretty matte, so if you like a dewy finish then stay well clear. I also love that it's a pump bottle and only a little comes out a time. I use two small pumps which is definitely enough for the whole face. The only other thing that I can say it that I'm in lust with this foundation and go pick up your samples now! lol

If you want to ask anything I haven't covered in this post, then just leave your comments below!

xXx

Trust Issues ft Bobbi Brown's Foundation Stick

Hi guys!

So before I get into this post, I would just like to say that I actually LOVE Bobbi Brown's foundation stick. The formula is amazing, it's very light, looks natural and lasts all day. However, what I did have a massive problem with was the lady on the counter who sold me the foundation. She was really friendly but she did suggest and ended up convincing me into buying the wrong shade. Usually when I want to buy a pretty expensive foundation, I take samples home so I can test them in the natural light, but the Bobbi Brown counter didn't have any samples. I asked the lady which shade she thought would be best suited to me and she said Warm Almond (6.5) and proceeded to try it on my face. It looked ok in the shop but their lighting generally has a habit of making everything look good. My mum and I thought it looked a bit dark, but the sales assistant insisted that this was the perfect colour and that Golden (6), which was the shade down would be much too light for me. As she was the expert, I decided to take her advice. 

More fool me. 

The next couple of days I used it and I looked like a floating head! My face was around two shades darker than my chest and I didn't recognise myself when I looked in the mirror. Cue anger, light tears and over dramatics when it hit me that I would have to go and buy a replacement in another colour, for another £28. Now some may say that I only have myself to be blame (they're probably right), but when I'm not sure about something, I tend to trust the expert. This is not the first time I've been matched wrongly at a make up counter, it's happened at MAC and Estee Lauder. I think next time I'm just going to trust my instincts and then I'll only have myself to blame when it all goes tits up lol.

I've included some pictures below so you can see what I'm talking about. There's such a massive difference between both shades!

Left: Warm Almond

Right: Golden

Thanks for reading and I hope my ranting didn't go on for too long! :)