A couple of "out there" looks that may inspire you....or not! lol

Make-up is suposed to be fun...here are two pics of me having a play around. Excuse the horrible stray eyebrow hairs in the first photo, I was being quite lazy.....euwwww!! lol I also remember taking this pic in macro and I think the lighting just zoomed in on them.

This pic below is just a riot of colours with a double winged eyeliner...makes it look like a

egyptian on LSD!! lol

The rhinestones on my false eyelashes caught the light just beautifully in this pic....

A blue eyeshadow has just been packed on over a cut bit of an old fishnet stocking to get that effect.Simple huh!!??

A wearable "gold and brown" look...

As I have blue eyes... I love my golds and coppers, those colours really highlight my eye colour, so I've done a wearable gold look which is quite tame (in my eyes!!lol) I keep thinking I may have to break out and do some more bold colours and just have some REAL fun mucking about. (I'll show you a couple that I've done recently, just playing with make-up)

Leave your foundation till last (it's sometimes easier to clean up "fall out" of eyeshadow powder which can easily be swept away before you apply your foundation. Prep your face (cleanse, moisturise).

Apply a small amount of concealer as a base or an eye primer and then using a small flat shader brush apply a soft gold to the inner corner of your lid to the middle, bringing it up to the crease. I used Loreal "Made for me naturals Dark Brunettes"... the number 1 colour you see in the pic.

Next pack on (like patting the eyeshadow on instead of sweeping it) a metallic gold to the rest of your lid to the outer corner and bring in to meet the soft gold and again also up to your crease. Blend these two together in the middle so there are no harsh lines, pushing the metallic gold over the inner corner way. I also put abit of the metallic gold a third way from the outer corner, under the lower eyelash line. I used a cheap asian shop eyeshadow (Baolishi number 2 palette), its the top colour of the palette, cost me a rediculous $5 but I love it!!lol

Right, next I got a metallic brown colour, the colour on the bottom on this cheap palette and with a blending brush swept it through the crease of my eye, bring it up over the crease just a little. Just go 3/4 of the way across your crease. Keep the inner corner highlighted with the soft gold. I then gave my crease abit more depth with the very dark brown the number 2 eyeshadow from loreal palette that you would've seen in the photo above.

I'm sorry, I forgot to take pictures of the next steps but they're standard things to do to finish your eye off. I applied a small winged eyeliner with liquid eyeliner. I then applied a black kohl pencil to my waterline and a couple of coats of mascara. I filled in my eyebrows, swept away any fall out and then applied my concealer and foundation. I added some bronzer all over my face but mainly concentrating on my cheeks, bridge of the nose, temples and middle of my forehead.

Next I used a lipliner in a brown/orange shade (BYS in number 4 Cafe Latte, you can buy the BYS brand from Glassons I think). Line you lips with the pencil and then fill them right in. I then applied a clear lipgloss over the top.

This is the finished look.....

To be honest, these pics don't really do the colour justice. My camera crapped out so I have been using a camcoder to take these pics and they just don't seem to pick up colour very well...they looked washed out really:( Sorry guys....I just can't afford a new proper camera right now....plus perhaps I need to step away from the window a few paces, too much light!!...hehe

QUICK SIMPLE EYESHADOW TIP....

This is just a quick tip on giving your eyeshadow colours more depth or more pop!

As you will see from the pic above, I have a swatch of a creamy soft black eye pencil with a swatch of a blue eyeshadow next to it (MAC Freshwater). Beneath those two is what the blue eyeshadow looks like under a black base..gorgeous deep midnight type of blue! Apply the black to your lid and then blend in the colour you choose. You could play around and do a whole heap of swatches with your eyeshadows and come out with an awesome more deeper colour. To give eyeshadow more "pop".. you would use a matte white eye pencil as a base... this will make the eyeshadow really stand out. So you kinda get 3 colours out of the one eyeshadow pretty cool eh??!!

One other thing to remember with colour on the face is that dark colours bring your features in and in some cases like with contouring make features appear thinner,while light colours highlight and make your features stand out.

40's MAKE-UP/PIN-UP LOOK

Hi guys as promised, my version of 40's/ pin-up make-up.

First prepare your face (concealer, foundation, powder to set). The prime your eye (I just use a tiny bit of concealer). Use a creamy eyeshadow pencil as a base for your eyeshadow powder. The reason for this is it helps to bring the eyeshadow colour out and make it stay on longer. I also fillin my brows at this point as it helps to give me a frame to work with when applying the eyeshadow.
Select a nude/cream/beige colour eyeshadow and apply this from lid to brow. It can be shimmer or matte..your choice.

Next get your blending brush and apply a medium brown to the crease of your eye. This just gives your eye abit of contour and depth. Otherwise applying a light shade over your lid and that is all would look abit weird! lol

Use a liquid eyeliner to give the famous pin-up cat's eye. Now this is where it can get tricky, but with some practice it starts to become very easy. What I do to help me is draw a small line on an angle from the corner of my outer eye toward the end of my brow. Then I take the liner across my lashes and connect it to the line I made previously. You can also do a "connect the dots" along your lash line too! I find using a liquid liner shaped like a felt-tip pen makes it so much easier and more precise when you are learning. I've used Maybelline define-a-line liquid liner pen. If you want to, you can add some false eyelashes to complete the look. That's the eye's done! Very simple! *EDIT* I forgot to take a pic of doing the eyeliner sorry.. but you can see in the finished look. I might do a quick tutorial on how to do the cats eye with liquid eyeliner later on!!

The red lips (my favorite part!! lol) Use a sharp pencil and start on the bottom lip. Kind of stretch your lip out and instead of using the point of the pencil, put it slightly on it's side and start lining your lips. Then line the cupids bow of your top lip. Do one side of the bow at a time and then start lining down the sides and connect to the corners of your lips. Fill your lips in with the pencil to give your lipstick a base. Make sure you get into the corners with the liner because there is nothing worse than seeing a big gap with no colour when you talk or open your mouth.

Grabbing a lipliner brush (a must for precision) get some of your chosen lipstick and start to fill in your lips. Blot with tissue and then apply some more lipstick.

Next grab a small brush and add some concealer. Line the outside of your lips with this and then blend outward. Take your time with this as you do not want to smudge your lipstick! Putting concealer around you lips makes the lips stand out more and also tidies up the line giving your lips a clean sharp look. Including the liner, concealer also helps to stop the lipstick from feathering into the fine lines.

You can then apply alittle blusher to the apple of your cheeks if you like, but I personally just like adding a dusting of bronzer to give my face abit of colour, as red lipstick can make you look abit pale. I do concentrate on the cheeks, but also add alittle bit of bronzer to the temples, chin and middle of the forehead.

This is the finished look!! I had abit of fun with the 40's by wearing a bandana and a trilby hat!
I hope you like it and give it a go yourself! It is such a classic and elegant look and is lovely to wear for an evening out, or if you're like me...anytime of the day!!! lol

Hiya


Just a quick note to say that in the next few days I will be doing one of my favorite looks... the 40's/50's pin-up look. It's VERY simple and elegant looking, the only tricky part is the liquid eyeliner!! With abit of practice and some tricks you'll be able to do it too!!

I love a good red lipstick in winter but sometimes it's so hard to find a "vintage" red colour that I like. However, I went to a friends nutrimetics party last week and sampled one of their red lipsticks. The comments I got were, "that looks like the kind of red the women used to wear in the 40's or something". Well, that was it for me...I was SOLD!! lol Plus it is a blue toned red..perfect for my skin tone. The name of the lipstick colour is called Kimono. Stunning!

So anyway, as soon as I recieve it, I will do a pin-up tutorial!!

Watch this space!!xx

NIVEA NATURAL VOLUME LIPBALM

Hey Guys,

Was standing in the supermarket queue the other night and spotted this Lip Balm... lol I'm a shocker for impulse buys with those items by the checkout! Thought I would do a quick review on it, just in case you guys have the same "sucked-in" habit I do!! hehe

I have a thin top lip and anything that has "volume", "plump", "collegen enhancing" will get my attention!!

The Nivea Natural Volume Lip Balm claims that it helps naturally enhance you lips, with light reflecting pigments for a gorgeous shine.

My honest opinion?? I wouldn't say it volumises my lips, at first I thought there may have been a slight difference but I think that was more a placebo effect happenin' there!! lol

I have to say, it makes you lips feel nice, it isn't sticky or "gluey" feeling and there is a slight pretty fleck in it to catch the light. The great thing is that it has a SPF of 30.

Bottom line, this balm is nothing to write home about, it's same as any other light reflecting lip-balm. It will keep your lips moisturised and pretty during this cold winter season, and it's nice and compact in your pocket to take anywhere. Also, at $5.65 it's hardly going to be something you regret..everyone needs a lipbalm in winter!!!

EASY DRAMATIC SMOKEY EYE....

I know when I first started out with make-up I used to see these awesome smokey eyes but could never do them properly.. they always ended a mess! But then I found eye pencils that made the job much easier... I'll show you how I did this smokey eye!

First, the tools you will need:

Maybelline Define-a-line pencil eyeliner (has a sponge on the other end...very handy)

Matte Black eyeshadow

Gun metal grey eyeshadow

a brow highligher of your choice.. I used a very light beige shimmer eyeshadow

For the lips: Body Shop Lip liner pencil in 10 Pinkbrown

a clear lip gloss.

A shader Brush

and I just would not be without my MAC 217 blending brush

Here we go....

After applying primer to your eye, apply the define a line eyeliner in a random mess along your lid!! lol Scary looking, I know!! Make sure that you apply the liner very close to your lash line also!

Then with the sponge tip we are going to blend it out so that it's all over the lid and even. At this point you can put a piece of sticky tape down from the corner of your eye on an angle to the end of your eyebrow and this will stop it from going every where and give you a nice straight line to work with.

Next take abit of the matte black eyeshadow with your shader brush and just "pack on" gently to the lid to set the kohl pencil and prevent it from travelling all over your eye! Then take your blending brush dip the end into the gun metal grey eyeshdow, tap off the excess and start from the crease using "window wiper motions" to blend the smokey eye upwards and out toward the sticky tape you have in place. Once you have finished blending up from the crease, take the tape off and hopefully you will have something that resembles this....

Take you blending brush and just gently soften the line that was made by the tape, so there's no harsh line. Do abit more blending if you feel the need or you may feel you need to add some more black or grey depending on how dark you want to go. Apply your brow highlighter and bring it down to the grey..blend these two gently together so again there is no harsh line. It should look like they merge into one another. Line under your lower lashes with the kohl pencil and then smudge it out a wee bit with the gunmetal grey eyeshadow. Line the rims of your eyes (the waterline) with the kohl pencil.

Line your lips, fill them right in with the pencil and then smooth it out with some gloss.

I didn't use any blusher, with a look this dramatic I just concentrate on the eye. However I did use some bronzer as a contour on my cheeks and abit on my temples.

Here is the finished look....

M.A.C Rubenesque Paint Pot

See???.... told you I was a chatterbox!!! ;OP

Just quickly,speaking of blue eyes, I just wanted to show you a M.A.C paintpot I use all the time that looks lovely with blue eyes .I'm not really a paint pot fan... there are heaps of other just as good eye bases out there but this paintpot "Rubenesque" I like because it's gorgeous colour is awesome to wear on it's own!! Sometimes when I'm in a rush in the morning I just rub abit on my lid with my finger!! YAY! No messing up brushes!!lol

This pic doesn't do it any justice at all, but to descibe the colour..?? ... a natural toned iridescent peachy/pinky soft gold. Go check it out next time you are near a M.A.C counter so you can see the colour for yourself. Beautiful!

THE COLOUR WHEEL

Depending on our eye colour and skin tone, some eyeshadow colours can make our eye colour intesify and other eyeshadow colours can be too overbearing.

I personally feel that you can give any colour a go if you like ( I hate rigid rules!!).... but take into consideration your skin tone. Does it have a yellow tinge or a pink tinge for example. Are you a warm colour or a cool colour. Sometimes something as simple as knowing which jewellery suits you better, gold or silver can be an indication of whether you are warm or cool.

My eyes are blue so as you will see on the colour wheel the opposite colour from blue is the golds, browns, coppers, peachy colours.

If your eyes are green.... violets,plums, pinks,coppery colours

If your eyes are brown.... lilac, blues and greens

Also the colours next to your eye colours also work. These are called harmonious colours.

Anyway check out the colour wheel, take a good close look at your iris colour in the mirror and start having a play around with colours on your eyes. You will soon figure out what looks good and makes your eyes pop and on the other hand, what looks rank!! lol

And if you want to delve deeper into colours then google "colour theory" and you will get more indepth infomation about colours and how they work. Or here is a link....

http://www.colormatters.com/colortheory.html

HOME-MADE MAKE-UP REMOVER WHICH IS GOOD FOR YOUR SKIN!!

Okay..so it's not completely home-made but near enough and it's rediculously SIMPLE!!

All you need is one bottle of SUKIN Hydrating Mist Toner (available at Farmers/Chemists) and some Sweet Almond Oil or Jojoba Oil. Both these oils have wonderful vitamins for your skin to absorb.

In a dark bottle mix 1 part oil to 2 parts Sukin Toner and shake before use. Wipe on with a cotton make-up pad over the eye, then wipe off. Yip... that's it! It's what I use and it feels good on the skin unlike other alcohol based removers which tend to dry out the skin and irritate the sensitive eye area.

The Sukin Toner is made of rosewater and chamomile, sounds good right.. and it is!!??

Give it a try and see what you think!

EYEBROWS

I get people comment on my eyebrows alot. I think they are an important facial feature and frame your face making your make-up look clean, elegant and polished.

So in light of that, it is vital to have well groomed eyebrows. The best thing to do in my opinion if you think you are going to end up with a over-plucked out of shape eyebrow doing it yourself, is to go and get them shaped professionally by a beautician. THEN you can do your own up-keep by plucking away stray hairs as they grow. Follow your own natural brow shape instead of plucking it to oblivion and trying to change the shape entirely! Be careful of over-plucking as the individual hairs from constant plucking can stop growing altogether!

Here is a site with before and after shots of ladies so you can see what I'm talking about! http://www.eyebrowsframeyourface.com/before_after.html

A nice squared off beginning of the brow at the nose, tapering off to a fine line with a nice arch inbetween. I'll show you where the points should be using a stick. I have taken a few quick pics as you can see, just to give an idea of how you can get the right "angles".

Starting with the stick on the side of your nostril pointing straight up is where your brow should start.








To find out where your arch should be, move the stick (keeping the stick on an angle from your nostril) have it so it is right in the middle of your eye (your pupil).

Next pivot the stick again to the outer corner of your eye, this is where the brow should end.

When applying make-up brow definition is a must in my books. To do this you can use a pencil that is in a shade lighter than the hair on your head. Light feathered strokes starting from the beginning and working your way to the end. Some people like to use a tiny angular brush with an eyeshadow that matches their eyebrow shade then using the same technique of the pencil of small irregular feathery strokes. You can "set" your eyebrows with a clear mascara if wished.

HI THERE! INTRODUCING MYSELF.......

Hiya! I thought I would start my blog with a pic of myself void of make-up..save for some mascara and some lipgloss! What better pic to use than one on while camping last summer...keep it real eh??!!.....lol

Now you have seen me stripped bare-faced, abit of background stats about me I guess!! I'm 31 year old kiwi girl, married with three kids!! I'm studying to be an aromatherapist and also learning massage. I have been asked to start a blog on my make-up escapades by a few people!! I've never done a "blog" before, so this is all new to me.... I hope like hell I can pull it off!! lol

Make-up has always held a facination for me since I was little. I remember getting into Mum's make-up drawer and making a mess of her products. My favorite was her Mary Quant Cream eyeshadow tubes and eye crayons in a big yellow tin (unbelievably, she still has that tin, complete with manky old crayons!!) I started wearing abit of make-up when I was 11. Just simple tinted moisturizer,mascara and a tinted lipgloss, cos that's all Mum would let me wear to school! From there I have slowly worked my way up with cosmetics till in the last couple of years, I got the confidence to attempt eyeshadow looks that are not nudes or browns and looks that require shaping and blending more than one or two colours!

I have no formal training, I'm not an "expert". I'm self taught and have learnt through talking to the girls at make-up counters, youtube gurus, asking friends who love make-up and most importantly, experimenting and playing around with my palettes just for fun! I like what I like..anything that takes my fancy really! I just LOVE make-up fullstop! Sometimes I get it right and sometimes I get it wrong.... but that's the whole point of learning right??!!

I don't go for expensive products all the time, in fact, alot of my make-up is drug-store brands and I have even picked up some stuff from cheap asian stores that you see here in New Zealand.

This blog is for people who are just beginning to get into make-up and want to go abit further out of their comfort-zone. I'd love this to be a inter-active blog so please feel free to comment on your own tips and tricks, natural skin-care or home remedies made out of the fridge or cupboard (I love that kind of thing), reviews of products you like and I would LOVE to see pics of looks that you have done that can inspire myself and other people to try their own version! We're all learning so please don't be shy! As I have said to people before, everybody can bring something different to the table which is such a fantastic thing otherwise man! it would be boring!

Hope you follow along, add your own thoughts and ideas and enjoy the ride!!