My Holiday Beauty, Hair, Nails & Makeup Musts; Post 2

This is the second of my two posts showing you some of the beauty, hair, nails and makeup products I will be packing in my suitcase.

This second post will cover makeup, nails and perfume.

Fraulein, Concealer Palette

This is a little gem of a product, especially if your skin is prone to vast colour changes like mine. During the winter I'm quite a light olive and even with sun screen, I can change about 5 shades during the course of the summer, especially when I go on holiday. So this palette is perfect, as it covers a variety of skin shades, plus the must have pink, white, purple and yellow correction concealers. I wouldn't go away without it.

Maybelline, Dream Fresh BB Foundation, Medium

This is a relatively new product for me but I'm finding it gloriously light and definitely makes my skin feel radiant. I'm taking this away with me for those nights on the town, when I'll want to wear more than just a powder foundation but don't want anything too heavy. This also has an SPF of 30, which is great for helping protect your skin on holiday too.

Maybelline, Fit Me Pressed Powder, 220 Natural Beige

I wear two shades of pressed powder, one around the eyes and under the eyes and the second over the face. To minimise the size of my makeup bag however, on holiday I will probably just take this one, which is the darker of the two shades. This powder has a super light feel to it. It doesn't block my pores and it looks really natural.

Benefit, Bronzer, Hooola

I'm taking this sample size Hoola bronzer with me. I don't want to take the full size version, for risk of it getting knocked and breaking. This sample size will be perfect. I love Hoola as it's the only bronzer I know of that doesn't have orange tones in it, so it looks really natural.

Bourjois, Cream Blush, Rose Tender

I'm taking this blush, as it's really compact and unable to get damaged in transit. I also really love this colour, especially for holidays. It's really beautifully pink and girlie. I just love the packaging too. Super cute!

MUA, Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter

This highlighter is perfect across the top of my cheekbones, contouring the shape of my face and gives it that extra shimmer. I'm looking forward to seeing what it looks like when my face has seen a little sun!

Barbara Daly, Eyeshadow, Tuffle

Although this is an eyeshadow, I actually use it for my eyebrows, so this is a must have wherever I go! I find the shade is almost perfect (I'm not sure there is a perfect shade) for my eyebrows. It's been kicking about in my makeup bag for a couple of years, so it's an old favourite.

H&M, Glitter Eyeshadow Palette

This is a really great palette to take on holiday and possibly just what it was created for! The pretty blues, pinks, golds and purple shadows are really beautiful on sun kissed skin and I can't wait to give it a try this year and try out some different looks!

Maybelline, Diamond Glow Eyeshadow Palette, Coral Drama

This is another favourite of mine at the moment. Again with the shimmery golds and bronzes, it looks great on sun kissed skin and is super sexy for sizzling summer nights! I can't wait to try this out this year. I really like the way it has a little tutorial on the back of the palette, on the best way to use all four shades too. Cute!

MUA, Undress Me Too Eyeshadow Palette

This is a lovely natural shade eye shadow palette and since buying it just a couple of months ago, I am starting to wear out a couple of the light shades. It's really natural and 'Naked' provides a lovely base to most other shades. I also love using 'Shy' in the corners of my eyes, to make them pop!

Ardell, Fashion Lashes, Demi Wispies

I always like to take a pair of false lashes on holiday, but more often than not, I come home without having used them. But, as always, I will be taking my favourite style with me; Demi Wispies. These are lovely and natural, just adding extra volume, without looking really obvious that you're wearing any!

Revlon, Precision Dark Lash Adhesive

Over the years I have tried various lash adhesives but this one is currently my favourite. With the white ones that dry to clear, you always seem to get the bit of glue that doesn't dry clear and you end up blobbing some eyeliner over the top to colour it in, which can end up looking clumpy. This adhesive in precision dark is black on application, so although it's a little harder to see where you've added it and where you haven't, you do end up with a much more professional finish.

MUA, Pro-Base Eye Primer

This eye primer is going to be a must on holiday, as it will help my eyeshadow to stay put! I haven't tried it in hot weather yet, so I will let you know how I get on!

Benefit, Eye Bright

This is great all year round for helping your eyes to pop, when a little inside the eye. With sun kissed skin, it's especially beautiful and I can't wait to use it.

Maybelline, The Falsies Volume Express Waterproof Mascara

This is a staple on holiday, as I'm one of those people who still likes to wear a little mascara around the pool, sorry! So a good waterproof one is essential and for me, this one is great. I also love the shape of the curved brush, as it helps to coat all the lashes.

Maybelline, Gentle Precision Eyeliner

This again is a staple, as you never know when you might need a touch of eyeliner, whether it's above the eye or inside the eye. This is my favourite eye liner at the moment. It's really soft and glides onto the skin, without dragging.

Benefit, They're Real Mascara

This was a little freebie I received with June's issue of Elle magazine and I'm in love! At the moment, I think as mascaras go, this is my favourite  I especially lover the bristled brush end, as this helps work the product onto even the tiniest of hairs. This is definitely going with me and probably in my hand luggage too, just in case!

MUA, Lipstick, Shade 3

This is a gorgeously pretty shade of pink and I love it. I'm especially looking forward to taking this with me for evening wear. It's so bright and colourful that it will liven up any outfit and what perfect place to wear something bright and cheerful, than on a sunny holiday!

Loreal, Rough Caresse Lipstick, Nude Ingenue 501

This Loreal lipstick is a really nice nudey/brown shade and lovely for everyday wear, so something I'll definitely be packing.

Stila, Lip Glaze, Kaleidoscope & Grapefruit

I'm going to take just two of my Stila lip glazes; Kaleidoscope is perfect for a holiday, with it's shimmery/peach tones and Grapefruit is a really flirty and girlie pink. These make my lips feel really nourished, so I expect I'll be wearing these a lot; even around the pool for that extra little bit of glam! Well, why not!

Quickies, Nail Varnish Removed Pads

Nail varnish remover pads are a must in any suitcase. I can't think of anything worse than a liquid acetone spilling over your maxi dresses and sandals. What a horrible way to start off your holiday! So these pads are super useful. There's 20 in this pack, and they're quite large, so it'll be more than enough.

I'm taking four nail polish colours with me:

Barry M, Gelly Hi-Shine Nail Paint, Greenberry 332

Loreal, Color Riche, Acid Watermelon 827

Maybelline, Color Show, Coral Craze 342

Barry M, Nail Paint, Shocking Pink 272

Barry M, Nail Art Pen, White

I'm also taking this really cute nail art pen, so that I can add the odd little design to my nails if I wish! Again, this might be a bit frivolous item to take, like the false lashes, but I'm taking it anyway!

Ralph Lauren, Romance

This is my favourite perfume of all time. I bought it for my wedding day and will always remind me of it! So, when I go on holiday or go out for special occasions, this is what I take/wear. So this is definitely coming with me, in my hand luggage!

Perfume Sample Wipes

Recently I have gained a load of lovely perfume wipes, which I'm going to take away with me this year. These two pictured are Givenchy, Very Irresistible and Givenchy, For Her. These are perfect for when you're out and about as they slip in your handbag and you actually get quite a lot of perfume from the one wipe. Sometimes I've slipped the wipe back into the packet after use, so I can use it again later in the day. I'm loving these, so will be sad when they run out!

So, that's about it! Obviously I haven't included shampoo etc, but these are a bit boring!!

Do you use any of these products? Are you going on holiday soon and thinking of trying any of these?

Bobbi Brown Mascara & Eyebrow Pencil Review & Swatches

I've recently got my hands on some new Bobbi Brown products, which I thought I'd share with you. I have the Waterproof & Lengthening Mascara in Black and two Eyebrow Pencils in no1 Black and no 3 Brown. 

I picked these up on eBay; the mascara for £8.99 and the eyebrow pencils for £4.95 each, which I thought was an absolutely steel for such good quality products. I've used both of these before but have ordered them through the Bobbi Brown site and paid £18 for the mascara and £15 each for the eyebrow pencils!

The mascara comes in the gorgeous black shiny packaging, to match all of Bobbi's other mascaras and has a lovely round, full brush. 

The brush is great for covering every lash and surprisingly for me, as all mascaras seem to smudge after a while, this one doesn't; which is why I've bought it time and time again.

The wand feels comfortable in the hand, it's not too thin and not too large and clumsy. The application of the product is really smooth too. I do find I need to add a couple of coats to get the desired lengthened look, but that's not a problem as I love applying makeup! 

The only small downside to this product is that sometimes the consistency can come out a little sticky and the lashes might clump together. I think this is likely to do with the waterproofing ingredients, enabling it to fix to the lashes. I've have found that this generally tends to happen on the first couple uses of a new bottle, but is easily fixed by combing the lashes through with a lash brush.

All in all, this is a great product and can be picked up for a fraction of the RRP, so a great buy.

The eyebrow pencils are something I've also bought before and I actually use them in two ways, sometimes for my eyebrows but sometimes as a kohl liner too. This means I can carry just one product in my handbag kit, instead of two!

The pencil and brush in one design is great, it saves bumbling around in your makeup kit for a separate brush.

I find the consistency of these pencils to be perfect for adding finishing touches to eyebrows, as the product isn't over pigmented, which is a good thing for an eyebrow pencil. There's nothing worse than adding pencil to your eyebrow and it applying dark and heavy and not how you intended! With these, you can apply little by little, until you get the desired look.

I also like using them as a kohl liner under the eye on occasions again, where I want a little colour or definition but don't want to use a standard kohl liner which are often more pigmented.

As you can see from above, I've used a couple of strokes of the pencil to get these heavier looks.

Do you think you'll try either the mascara or eyebrow pencils? Do you use any other Bobbi Brown products? If you do, I'd love to hear which ones and what you think of them? I'm always looking out for new goodies to buy!

Step by Step Aqua Under Eye Makeup

When I opened my makeup box this morning, I had the urge to wear something other than my usual neutrals and wanted to share the look I came up with.

I've always been someone who predominantly uses eyeshadow on the eye lids as well under the eye but I've not tried it purely under the eye before. 

I created this really simple look, with just a couple of products, in just a few easy steps and I think this look would be perfect if you're new to under eye colour!

This look was created with four brushes, left to right below; 

1) GOSH Kabuki Brush
2) GOSH Foundation Brush
3) M&S Eyelid Crease Brush (part of a set)
4) GOSH Slanted Eye-liner Brush

Step 1: Applying the base

I first used Maybelline Dream Satin Liquid in Cameo over my whole face, using my GOSH Foundation Brush, making sure to only use a tiny amount on my eyelids. 

Step 2: Setting the base

I then dusted Maybelline FIT me! Pressed Powder in 125 Nude Beige, on top of the foundation, to set it in place, using my GOSH Kabuki Brush. I made sure to pay special attention to my T-Zone as this can tend to look a little shinier.

Step 3: Adding the eye base colour

Because the focus of this look is under the eye, I used Naked (top line, 1st on left) from my MUA Undress Me Too Palette and with my Eyelid Crease Brush coated the whole of my top lid and up to my eyebrow. This creates a lovely neutral, matt finish to the eye.

Step 4: Adding inner corner colour

I then added a little of Shy (top line, 3rd from the left), to the inner corners of my eyes, to help open them and create a brighter eyed look. This particular colour in this palette is really well pigmented and a little goes a long, long way!

Step 5: Adding under eye backdrop colour

I then took my trusty (as you can see!) Barbara Daly, Tesco eyeshadow in Truffle to draw a smudged line again with my Eyelid Crease Brush, under my bottom lashes. This was just a faint smudge of colour, as a backdrop to the aqua.

Step 6: Lining & brightening the eye

Using my GOSH Liquid Eye Liner Pen, I drew a thin line across the lid of each eye. I didn't take this out into a cat eye flick on this occasion, but it would look gorgeous that way too.

I also added Rimmel Soft Kohl Eye Liner Pencil in White inside of the eye. This really helps your eyes to 'pop' when adding bright colour shadows.

Step 7: Adding the aqua colour

The fun stuff! I then took my H&M Glitter Eyeshadow Palette and used the top row, 1st left aqua shade, with my GOSH Slanted Eye Liner Brush, to draw a line under my bottom lashes, on top of the already applied Truffle eyeshadow. I then used my Crease Brush to smudge the Truffle & aqua together a little, to create a merged line free colour.

Step 8: Mascara

To finish, I added my new favourite mascara, They're Real, from Benefit, to top and bottom lashes, ensuring good coverage and the look was complete!

This is a very simple way of wearing colour if you're not used to it and can be done in almost any colour shadow or liner. 

What do you think? Is it something you'll try?

Elle June - Free Benefit Mascara Review

So, another great magazine freebie to share with you today. With the June issue of Elle you get a free Benefit Mascara worth £9.50. So that's Elle magazine and a Benefit mascara for just £4. Great value!

So, Benefit's 'They're Real' mascara is the UK's no.1 Selling Premium Mascara and I know that I'm pretty late in joining this party, as I've heard people talk about it A LOT but I've never actually owned the mascara myself. So, I was pretty excited to see that I could trial it for free, whilst buying a magazine I do anyway. Brilliant!

 The mascara packaging boasts that in a consumer panel survey:

• 94% saw dramatic length & volume
• 90% saw base-to-tip curl
• 94% saw visible lift
• 100% saw long-wearing results

With those kind of results, it's worth a try!

The mascara brush is fantastic with the rounded bristled end helping ensure that every last little hair gets coated. 

Although the size of the brush, being trial size, is a little awkward (having to make sure I don't drop it on the carpet as I switch holding positions!), the mascara itself coats the lashes really easily. 

The bristles are also perfectly positioned on the brush, so that your lashes are spread equally and an equal amount of mascara is applied to each lash.

Before applying 'They're Real' Benefit Mascara

After applying 'They're Real Benefit Mascara'

The mascara feels really creamy as it's applied too, not like some mascaras which feel clumpy and are hard work to get coverage.

I really did notice an uplift in the appearance of my eye and the volume of my lashes. I also noticed the tips of my lashes appeared to have curled slightly, all of which are things Benefit claim the majority of their consumers (who took part in a survey) also experienced. 

I'm really quite happy with this mascara. The full size 8.5g bottle is £19.50.

If you're a regular user of Benefit makeup or this particular product, I'd love to hear from you.

MUA Haul Review & Swatches

I've heard a lot about Make Up Academy (MUA) and thought it was about time I tried out a few of their products for myself. So, I bought a bundle of things to test and review.

I'm a 'middle price range' make up kinda girl, like Maybelline, GOSH and Loreal. I don't tend to buy products that are super expensive, as I get bored with things quickly and I've never really got on with really cheap makeup. So I was quite excited to see how this went!

Undress Me Too - Eyeshadow Palette

This palette has 12 colours, which is great for creating lots of different looks. There are soft neutrals like Naked and Lavish, cool greys like Exposed and Reveal and gold metallics like Devotion and Fiery. I also especially love the fact that MUA have named each colour. Cute!

The packaging is really nice (I like anything white!) and there is a double ended sponge applicator inside. I didn't use this, I use my own brushes, but the sponge applicators are quite firm to touch and flexible, for ease of application. This is great news for a product that's just £4.

Naked and shy are great base colours. They are very nude and whilst these two colours aren't as pigmented as the others, they are great as highlighters under the brow line and in the inner corner of the eye. 

The other colours are nicely pigmented but not too much that they produce lots of 'fall out' on your cheeks. This palette of colours also blend really well together. Firstly I tried Naked, Wink and Obsessed, which is a great combination. Corrupt is very pigmented and goes on easily, creating a really dramatic effect. When used with Reveal and Obsessed, it would create a look of drama, without having to go crazy with colour.

I really love the shimmery metallic shades too, like Devotion and Tranquil. I've recently been using Maybelline's Diamond Glow palette in Coral Drama and these shades remind me of that. Shimmery metallics are great for Spring into Summer and I know I'll be using a lot more of them this year.

To be honest, I can't really fault this palette. It's a great addition to my ever growing makeup collection and think it could very well become a favourite.

Undress Your Skin - Shimmer Highlighter

Shimmer highlighters are not something I've really used before, but I thought I'd give this one a try and see if I could be converted. 

Undress Your Skin is presented in a cute white case, with a lovely textured pattern on the powder. It is really soft to touch and glides on easily. My one worry about highlighters is that sometimes they can have chunks of glitter in them, but this one doesn't, which is a relief. I applied some on the top of the cheekbones and also down the side of my face, kind of in a 3 shape (from the edge of the forehead, into the cheekbone, back out and towards the chin), like I do my blusher. This created a lovely highlight to the shape of my face. The MUA site also suggests using it in the inner corner of the eye too. 

This is a nice product and at just £3 for 7.5g, I'm sure it will last and last.

Blusher - Shade 5

These blushers come in 6 different shades, for just £1 each! I opted for shade 5, as it seemed similar to the GOSH blusher I currently use.

I put a small amount on blusher onto my brush and swept it across my cheek and found that it was so pigmented that I had a huge clown cheek! Whoops! So, after a lot of blending and taking the colour down with some powder foundation, I got to the colour that I'd originally wanted. 

So a handy tip with this one is to start with just a tiny amount of powder and add extra if you need it. I think this one will take me some time to get use to and whether I will continue to use it, I'm not sure! Maybe I should try a different shade.....

Pro-Base Eye Primer

I usually use primers that I apply with my fingers from a pot, so this one is quite different in it's tube with sponge applicator.

The consistency is quite liquid, so you don't need an awful lot to cover the eye. It's not too sticky and dries quickly and to some degree, enhances the colour of the eyes shadow. For me, I was crease free for much of the day, well at least I didn't notice that I wasn't, which is a good sign. Whether it will hold when the weather gets warmer I'm not sure, I'd like to think so. For £2.50, it's certainly worth a go!

Out There - Plumping Lip Gloss

I opted for two colours in the Plumping Lip Gloss range. There are 8 shades to choose from and I went for Peach Shimmer and Nude.

I was quite excited about the concept of a sizeable lipgloss for just £2. I first tried Nude and after applying, unfortunately my lips started to burn! Now maybe that's the Maxi Lip Plumping Agents or I just had a 'dud', but whatever the reason, it felt really unpleasant and I wiped the gloss off after about 2 minutes. I haven't tried it again - I'm a little scared!

I've also since tried Peach Shimmer, which had a tingling feeling when applied, but this was the more usual feeling for a plumping lip gloss. I really like the colour of this one too. 

Both of these gloss's are non sticky which is great and although the colour fades quite quickly, for £2 a pop, I think they're a real bargain. 

Mega Volume Mascara

I always go for mega volume mascara and this one attracted my eye in it's pink packaging! 

The wand is rubbery and nice and fat, which helps coat all of the lashes. I did have to add 2/3 coats in order to get some definition though, so I wouldn't go as far as to say this is a mega volume mascara and instead produces more of a natural look. That's fine though because again, it's only £3!

So, all in all, I think for the price, MUA makeup is good value. There are some products from this selection that I like more than others but considering I got this whole collection for just £17.50 - that's not bad! The Undress Me Too Palette and Undress Your Skin Shimmer Highlighter are two products that I really do like and can see myself using a lot of. As for the Nude lip gloss, maybe I'll try another and see if that one is any better!

I hope you've found this review useful. Let me know if you've used any of these products and how you got on with them.

I will also be doing a review on MUA's Nail Constellations and Fur Effect Nails very soon.

Pink & blue eyes

I've seen a lot of pink and blue eye-shadow looks recently, on various blogs and websites. I guess they're two colours that you might not instantly think could possibly go together, but they really can! Some looks are far more dramatic than others, but they're stunning all the same.

I tried to create a pink and blue eye-shadow look, that is stunning and wearable and I think I managed to do just that.

www.elizabethdonovanphotography.co.uk

This look was created using the Fräulein 88 Shimmer Eye Shadow Palette. Fräulein palettes are amazing for producing really creative looks and trying colours that you mightn't if you had to buy each colour individually. I've got five Fräulein palettes now, including bases, blushers, lipsticks and concealers, together with this beautiful rainbow palette, which comes with a large mirror and two double ended applicator brushes.

The colours are highly pigmented, so you don't need a huge amount on your brush. Plus, the colours really stay put, which is fantastic! I've had endless fun trying different combinations from this palette. Some have worked and some haven't! For the purpose of trying to show which colours I used for this look, I will name the colours alphabetically across and numerically down, i.e. C4 etc. I hope this helps!

Base - cream

I first brushed a layer of cream A2 across the eyelids and up towards the eyebrows. This helps the other colours I want to layer onto the lid, to stick, it opens the eye and also creates a fresh shimmery base to peep out from under the other colours.

Blue

I then applied blue F6 (as you can see, this is one of my favourite blues) across the whole lid and out into a cat eye flick at the outer corner. I find it easiest to 'flick' eye shadow by using an eye liner brush. This helps me get the cat eye flick definition I want.

Pink

I then used pink H1 under the lower lashes and up under the blue cat eye flick just created. Again, I used the eye liner brush to trace the line. I then took a tiny amount of the pink shadow into the inner corner of the eye, together with a tiny amount of white A1.

Liner

I then used a black Kohl eye-liner to draw across the top eyelid, under the lower lashes, inside the eye and upper eyelid. This helps the eye to really 'pop'. Although if you wanted to go for an even more dramatic look, you could use a black liquid liner across the lid and take the cat eye flick out between the blue and pink flicks. Visit my previous post to find out how to create the perfect cat eye flick every time.

Mascara

Next I used a black mascara to gently coat the top and lower lashes, just to create definition and to help the lashes blend into the false lashes.

Lashes

I then applied false lashes as close to the lash line as possible, to complete the look. I used Ardell Demi Wispies lashes; my favourites. I use Revlon Precision Dark Lash Adhesive, instead of the supplied glue. Being black, I find this dark adhesive easier to blend into the lashes and lash line. With white glue, I always seem to find that there's a little patch of glue that doesn't turn clear and then I have to try and cover it with black liner! Lumpy liner alert!

www.elizabethdonovanphotography.co.uk

The end result I think you'll agree, is really lovely. I hope you enjoyed this look and would love to hear if you've tried something similar.