Neutral With a Twist?

I love my crazy makeup just as much as the next person, but don't we all have those days where we just feel like looking, well, relatively normal? ;)

Today was one of those days.

I sat down and brushed on my every-day neutral eye and got ready to add my liner, then thought "Hey! This would really cool with gold!" I grabbed my shadow stick and put a streak of gold right where my regular shadow ended, and it looked awesome! It was fun, but not too crazy. The perfect amount of "cool" to get a few second glances, and it only took two seconds to swipe the gold on!

I'm definitely going to be amping up my neutral eye with some gold more often! For the fall this would also look gorgeous with a lovely, glittery purple or royal blue. Mmm, glitter.

So, what do you guys do if you feel like waking up your every-day look? If you don't have any special tricks, experiment! (And let me know the results)!

x-Niamh

Products Used

Eyes:

-NYX Jumbo Eye Pencil in Milk
-NYX Glam Shadow Stick in 24 Karat
All shadows listed below are from the Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV
-Zephyr
-Skimp
-Midnight Rodeo
-Lost

Cheeks:

-NYX Blush in Cinnamon

Lips:

-Revlon Lip Butter in Tutti Frutti

"Dark Lady" Fall Makeup Look

Fall is almost here, and I'm so ready!

It's my favourite time of the year beauty-wise (vampy lips anyone)? And to celebrate I thought I'd create a lovely, dark look with rich tones. This daring look is perfect for fall and it's much easier and quicker than it looks!


-I began the look by using a concealer on spots and under eyes, and applying a medium/full coverage foundation. The makeup is very dark and busy looking so you want your face to be a very "perfected" blank-slate.

-For the eyes I applied primer, then used a neutral light toned shadow all over the lid-this created a nice even tone to help brighten the eyes and assure the other colours would blend well. I then took a white, slightly shimmery shadow and highlighted the tear duct and brow bone. After this I started "smoking out" the eyes by using a light gray and (with a very light hand) working it into the crease and around to the lower lid, in a kind of semi-circle shape. The eyeshadow should be very soft and have no harsh lines, you want it to contrast well with the harsh lip shape. I deepened the crease and under-eye area a bit more with a deeper gray shade, and then moved onto the cheeks!

-I wanted the cheeks to be contoured, but without much colour. All of my bronzers are very orange-toned, so I decided to use a medium brown eyeshadow instead. Try to use one that is neutral toned rather than cool or warm.

-The lips are deceptively simple! I took a liner brush and used a black gel liner to outline my bottom lip, and to fill in the corners of both the top and bottom lips. After that I just put a dark cherry lipstick in the centre of my lips and pressed them together to blend!

Tada! I hope you love the look! What are your favourite makeup trends for fall?

-Niamh


Products Used

Face:
-Maybelline Super Stay 24 Hour Concealer-Ivory
-Revlon Colourstay Foundation-150 Buff

Eyes:
-Urban Decay Primer Potion-Original
-Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV-Zephyr
-Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV-Skimp
-Urban Decay Book of Shadows IV-Bust
-Sephora Medium "Shopping Bag" Palette-Dark Matte Grey
-Urban Decay Supercurl Mascara

Cheeks:
-ELF Ultimate Eyeshadow Palette

Lips:
-Sephora Medium "Shopping Bag" Palette-Black Gel Liner
-Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick-477 Black Cherry

My Trick for Budge-Proof Red Lips!

Hey everyone!

So I cannot live without my lipstick. I love bright, bold eyes and nude lips on other people, but I just can't do it. It's not as if I don't love eye-shadow (I definitely have enough of it) but more often than not I'm going for a nude eye and some bright red lips. There's something about it that can make anyone look perfect, whether they're wearing a potato sack or a ballgown, they swipe on some red and look instantly more put-together!

So after wearing lipstick almost every day for years, I have a pretty awesome method of keeping your lipstick from sliding off throughout the day! This is the way I wore lipstick on my wedding day, so it's obviously my favourite way of keeping the red lasting forever. Nothing came off, even during the kiss! So here goes!

1. Start off with a lipstain that matches your lipstick (I use Revlon's Just Bitten in Flame) and apply a coat all over your lips in the lip shape desired (I like to really accentuate the cupid's bow) let dry, and apply another coat. This will ensure that if your main lipcolour wears off, there will still be a wash of colour underneath to keep it looking fresh, not faded. 

2. Apply lip liner (I use Covergirl Lip Perfection in Passion, a beautiful bright red that would look gorgeous even by itself)! Start by tracing the desired outline of your lips, then fill in your whole lip with the pencil. This will be a nice, even base for the lipstick and the tackiness of your lip liner should help your lipstick to stay on a bit better.

3. Put on your lipstick! I recommend one that is long-lasting and has long-wear qualities, mattes are usually better for this. I use L'oreal Infallible Lipstick in Refined Ruby, it goes on smooth with a cream/satin texture, and dries to a more matte finish without drying out my lips. I go straight from the tube rather than using a lip brush, because I find that using a brush moves around the lip liner underneath, and we want everything to stay put!

4. Blot your lips on a paper-towel a couple of times;  if desired you can use a concealer to outline your lips for a perfect edge, and you're finished! 


Let me know what your favourite no-budge lip products are, and I may try some out!

Thank you for reading!

-Niamh