Kimmy K inspired / Collab.

Me and my close friend, Emily, over at Emily Fayes Little World decided to do a celeb inspired collab. Many ideas later we decided to go for Kim Kardashian as her make-up is always flawless and very wearable. I've been obsessed with her platinum hair and cool toned shadows, so I had to choose this photo to re-create!

For Kim's flawless complexion I started off with my Smashbox Colour Adjust Primer, the product is green but works in to be clear and works wonders for my uneven, red skin-tone. Next I went in with my M.A.C Prolongwear Concealer in NC15, this colour is really light and works so well to highlight your under-eye area! After this step I went in with my holy-grail foundation, Studio Fix Fluid by M.A.C in NC15 (the concealer is lighter than the foundation, so watch out!). I love this foundation for the full coverage and natural finish.

For my brows I used M.A.C's Fluidline in Dipdown. To carve them out with Benefit's Erase Paste in Light to achieve a crisp edge. To prime my eyes I used Urban Decays Primer Potion in Original and a cream eye-shadow all over as a base so that my eye-shadows blend easier. For the gorgeous cool toned look that's going on I used Tease from the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette as a transition colour and Defy from the Urban Decay Vice 3 Palette do darken and define my crease. For my lid I went in the Foxy from the UD Naked 2 Palette and lined my eyes with my Rimmel Glam Eyes Liquid Liner. The picture below shows the look before lashes, but at the end I will inset a photo with lashes, I used my M.A.C 48's for a super dramatic, lush look.

No Kardashian look would be complete without a heavy contour! I used my Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit in Light, I used Fawn to map out my contour lines and create shadow on my cheeks, nose, temples and jawline. My next step is to mix Fawn with Java for a warmer colour to buff out my contour. Using my M.A.C Powder Blush in Buff, I sweep this across the apples of my cheeks and upwards. To create more of a sun-kissed look I go in with my M.A.C Bronzing Powder in Golden lightly. To finish the skin and give it that signature Kardashian glow I used M.A.C's Soft and Gentle across the tops of my cheeks, forehead, centre of the nose and cupids bow.

For the big, nude lips I used M.A.C's Lipliner in Boldy Bear and Lipstick in Myth. Kim's lip colour is more flat and brown but I personally don't own a brown toned nude lip and used M.A.C's gloss in Florabundance to make my lips seem more plump. Below is a photo including the lashes!

Hope you enjoyed! Feel free to comment below :)
Charxo

February Favourites

February Favourites.

I know it's a week into March now but I love reading these series' and I'm going to start doing them. Better late than never I guess! These are items that I've been obsessing over during the month of February.

First up i'm going to talk about the Smashbox Photo Finish primer in Color Correcting Adjust. This primer is green in the tube and when you first squeeze it out the tube but once you start rubbing it into the skin it turns translucent. This product works so well due to its green colour - green counteracts redness, which I have a LOT of. This product helps colour my redness, helps my base apply flawlessly and really is 'photo finish' as it photographs beautifully!

This blush my M.A.C in Peachykeen was suggested for me when I had a make-up lesson at M.A.C. This is a gorgeous peachy-pink colour for pale skin. It does have some sparkle but I personally love it, it gives you a gorgeous glow-y look.

I honestly don't know what I did without this product - it's magic in a bottle! M.A.C's Fix+ spray helps prep dry skin for your base, sets to make-up and makes everything look dewy (un-cakes powdery looking products on the face) and flawless. This product is a master of all trades, if you spray some on an angled brush it helps clean up mistakes of winged liner and helps you sharpen the tail. This can even be used on a flat brush to 'wet' eye shadows and pigments and make them more vibrant. 

This little gem is my first M.A.C Pigment in the shade Vanilla. It's a gorgeous iridescent white. This will last an absolute life-time and is multi-purpose. It makes a gorgeous face highlight and brow bone highlight, will look gorgeous to create high-fashion lip looks and even as an eye-shadow if wetted. The lid sits very tight to stop any product falling out in your make-up bag/kit which is very well thought out, well done M.A.C!

The nude lipstick has really hit me hard lately and i'm harping for some new nude lippies (if you have any recommendations comment below!). M.A.C's Myth lipstick is gorgeous! It's so light and so versitile under different colour lip-liners. On my skin-tone when it's alone it looks like foundation lips which is a HUUUGE no but teamed with different colour nude lip-liners it's gorgeous and my most used of February.

Sorry for the different back-ground but my laptop error'd the original image of this but hey-ho, my beddings pretty enough. This is Anastasia Beverly Hills Clear Brow Gel, this is a tester size that came with my Christmas order and I love it to keep my hairs in place, its great! I'm not sure if i'll spend 16.50£ on a new one, i'll try a drug-store version to compare them!

Thanks for reading dolls, feel free to leave comments!
Char xo

Worth the hype? Anastasia Beverly Hills Contour Kit!

Worth the hype?

This product is hyped about loads on social media and made out to be a beauty must-have! I think it's crucial to get the in-sight of an un-biased, average persons views. I mean sure, the artists love it but how does it work for ordinary people? I'm here to deliver that. 

 

It comes in a sleek black cover reminds me of a hard-back book. I got the average one that's non-custom in Light but you can make your own version with their 29 shades. For shade range, that's incredible and I think that because they're magnetic they'll work in any average Z-palette.

In this non-custom palette you get the highlight shades in Vanilla, a super light pinky-tone, Banana, a banana milkshake yellow and Sand which is a shimmery champagne colour. I don't personally use Vanilla often but it is a gorgeous, less obvious highlight which is perfect for a subtle highlight. I use banana as a concealer setter and to 'bake' my contour. My favourite, though, is Sand. It gives a gorgeous shine without chunky glitter. 

The contour shades you get are Java which is slightly too dark but is perfect to create the line then blend out, Fawn which is a perfect colour match for my skin-tone to contour with and Havana which I don't use often because of how dark it is (but it makes a gorgeous crease shade!). 

Over-all these powders are pigmented and a gorgeous consistency, they're a dream to blend out and have multiple uses. I'd recommend them to anyone but would suggest creating your own kit. Don't worry if you can't afford the 40$ (about 26£) price tag as NYX has brought one out recently that looks like it will be great quality!

Thanks for reading,
Char xo

Deep Plum and Chocolate.

For a recent trip to Cardiff I tried something different - plum lips. I'm in love with this combo and felt like I had to share it with you lovely people. I paired the dark lips with a warm toned neutral eye and warm, bronze skin. (To see my looks, follow my instagram: oicharr). To see how I achieved the look below, carry on reading.

Firstly it's very important to moisturise and prime the skin. I use the Smashbox Photo Finish Colour Correcting Adjust primer. The primer is a green colour and helps correct my redness. I love this primer!

Next I apply my M.A.C Pro Longwear Concealer in NC15 with a random, cheap fluffy brush to brighten my under eye. Using my favourite foundation, M.A.C Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 and a M.A.C 159 brush I apply my foundation in small patting motions in the centre of my face and blend in circular motions close to my hairline, ear and down my neck to blend it out.

Brows are my favourite part of my routine - they're like my babies! Using an Anastasia Beverly Hills no.7 brush I spooly my eyebrow hairs upwards and using the brush side, I use Dipbrow Pomade in Dark Brown to draw out and fill in my brows. To darken the tail I use the same brush with M.A.C Fluidline in Dipdown. To carve my brows out I use Benefit's Erase Paste in Light and a random concealer brush (I think it's from Morphe).

Now for the long part, the eyeshadow. Firstly, to prime my eyes I use Urban Decays Primer Potion in Original. Using a Zoeva 228 brush I take M.A.C's Rule eyeshadow and blend it into the upper crease area as a transition shade. Next, I go in with my crease colour with a M.A.C 217 brush and the shade Swiss Chocolate. To deepen the crease I take Embark with a Zoeva 224 brush and concentrate on the outer V and bringing it lightly into the crease. Using a Zoeva 237 and M.A.C's eyeshadow in Artificial Earth all over my lid. Taking the Zoeva 231 and 224 I go under my eye with rule and swiss chocolate.

For mascara I use Maybelline Great Lash and Benefits Badgal Lash. My under-ey concealer is Rimmel's Wake Me Up concealer with the Real Techniques Sponge (the beauty blender dupe).

Contour is very important for me as my chubby face means a lack of definition and shape. Using Bobbi Brown's Foundation Stick in Almond I create lines on my cheeks, forehead, nose and chin and buff the product out with a Real Techniques Stippling Brush. Followed by a Morphe contour brush and Anastasia Beverly Hills contour powder in Java.

For blush I use a Zoeva 126 brush and M.A.C's Blush in Buff to add colour to my cheeks. Next I use M.A.C's Bronzing Powder in Golden to add a glow at the back of my cheek bones. For highlight I use M.A.C's Vanilla Pigment on a Zoeva 105 brush for my face and 227 for under my brows and my inner corner.

Finally, it's time for the stand-out part of the look - the lips! I line my lips in M.A.C's Lip Liner in Currant and their Lipstick in Hang-Up. To finish the whole look I spray my Fix+ all over my face and voila!

Feel free to leave any questions or requests in the comment section! Thanks for reading!
Char xo

My M.A.C Lipstick Collection.

Over time i've collected a few of these heaven in a bullet-form. M.A.C lipstick is hyped about all over from Instagram to Twitter, but is it worth the hype?

To the right is a (very bad) swatch picture. From bottom to top; Myth, Creme cup, Angel, Viva Glam Gaga, Nouvelle Vogue, Vegas Volt, Heroine, Rebel and Hang-up.

First i'll talk about Myth. Myth is a very light nude and is gorgeous over Boldly Bare lip-liner (a pink-toned nude) as alone it looks a tad like foundation lips! It's a satin finish which I love as it gives an opaque coverage of colour and is long-lasting. Satin finishes are matte with a tad of sheen so they don't look as flat.

Personally, i'm not that keen on Creme Cup. It's a gorgeous colour but with my very light complexion it tends to wash me out. I do love to mix it with other lipsticks though.

Next up is Angel. This is the perfect soft pink shade, even though it is pretty dark I find. It's a frost finish which makes it pretty shimmery and the colour pay-off is still pretty good. Some frost lipsticks can be very shimmery though, so i'd suggest swatching them in-store before purchasing rather than online.

Viva Glam Gaga is a baby pink lustre lipstick. It's a sheer coverage but because of the lightness of the pink I personally think that's a good thing otherwise it would be too over-powering. The finish is glossy and the pink inside packaging is to DIE for. Unfortunately this is no longer available to purchase.

Nouvelle Vouge was a limited edition and was a matte. This lipstick is pretty dring but very opaque and lasts ages. Because you can't buy it I wont go into too much detail apart from the fact that I really like it.

I really need to invest in other orange shades as personally I think they suit me. I've absolutely fell in love with Vegas Volt! It's a gorgeous orange described as 'fill power coral' on the website. It's so creamy and glides on with a gorgeous opaque colour pay-off.

Heroine is a new buy for me, but with my love of purple lipsticks was a must purchase! I've only wore it once and I think its amazing. If you love purple but don't want to go too daring stay away from Heroine and get something more like Up The Amp. Heroine is a matte formula and is totally gorgeous.

Rebel is super popular and I completely understand why. The colour is a gorgeous mid-tone plum and in my favourite finish, satin. The colour pay-off is opaque and creamy with a slight sheen to it.

The last of my swatches is of the cremesheen Hang-Up. This is a new buy and I havnt used it before but one of the girls at M.A.C was wearing it and I instantly fell in love.

Next, i'm going to talk about my beloved 'Up The Amp' (the poor one in the tub!). Sadly, my mum stuck it in the wash with my jacket and it got ruined so I de-potted it into an edible glitter tub. 'Up The Amp' is an amplified formula which means that it has an opaque coverage with a vivid colour pay off but isn't drying at all. It's described on the website as a 'lavender violet' which i'd agree with very much. I honestly love this colour and if you're not afraid to wear purples, I highly recommend it.

Lastly, I'll talk about my VIVA GLAM keepsakes palette. This was a Christmas edition and I don't believe you can still buy it but you can purchase every colour individually at £15.50 and that goes towards M.A.C's aids fund. I love the variety of this palette as it's perfect for on the go and contains some gorgeous nudes and it's perfect to mix the colours to create your own custom colour.

Overall, being priced at £15.50 make's them moderately affordable and I think that they're worth the money and the hype. The colour selection covers EVERYTHING and they have a finish to suit everyone. They're my favourite lipsticks around and they smell like vanilla...they're good enough to eat!

Thanks for reading!
Char xo








  

First try smokey eye!

Recently I tried my hand at a more skilled eye look, the smokey eye. Commonly used and glamorous but if you get this look wrong, boy is it wrong! Not enough blending at you end up with hideous lines, too much blending and you're left with a muddy mix on your eye that looks as if Taylor Momsen's had a few too many vodkas before applying her stage make-up! If you're interested in finding out how I achieved the look below, keep reading!

Firstly I primed my skin using the Baby Skin primer from Maybelline. Personally I love this primer, it helps my appearance seem smooth and helps my foundation to glide on effortlessly.
Then I used my Erase Paste by Benefit to conceal my dark under-eye circles. This product is very thick so a little goes a long way, although I do find that this product fails at covering red areas such as spots.
For foundation I used M.A.C's Studio Fix Fluid in NC15 mixed with M.A.C's Strobe Cream to achieve full coverage yet with a dewy finish.
Moving on to my brows I used M.A.C's Fluidline in shade 'Dipdown' with an angle brush and used Erase Paste to carve them out and give them a sharp, defined tail.
To prime my lid before we start applying any colours I used a layer of Erase Paste as naughty me hasn't yet invested in an eyeshadow primer (oops!)
I used 'Tease' from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette as a transition shade from my crease upwards. To darken the crease I used my fave eyeshadow of all time, M.A.C's 'Folie'. On my lid I used 'Carbon' also by M.A.C but the colour pay off didn't live up to my expectation so I switched and used 'Blackout', also from the Urban Decay Naked 2 palette. For my inner-corner and brow bone highlight I used 'Bootycall' from the same palette.
For eyeliner I used my trusted Rimmel 'Glam Eyes' liquid liner.
After coating my lashes in Benefits 'Bad Gal' mascara I applied some Eyelure eyelashes using Duo eyelash glue.
To clean up any fall-out and partially highlight the under-eye area I used Rimmel's 'Wake Me Up' concealer blended out using my fingers.
Using a mix of Bourjois chocolate bronzer and MUA's bronzer in 'Shade 3' I contoured along my jaw-line, forehead and cheekbones.
To highlight I used the shade 'Bootycall' from the Uran Decay Naked 3 palette on a fan brush.
On the lips is a nude lipliner, NYX's lipstick in 'Snow White' with M.A.C's Maleficent collection lipgloss in 'Anthurium'

Thanks for reading, dolls.

Frozen Inspired Make-up Look.

Frozen is my favourite Disney film out there, and i'm sure it's a lot of other peoples too! I've been really ill recently and in hopes to cheer me up a bit I watched Frozen a few times (oops). Elsa's purple make-up inspired me to create a look based from it. This is the final look, read below to know how I did it: 

After applying my average foundation, concealer and eyebrow routine I primed my eyelids with Nyx Jumbo Pencil in Milk not only to prime the lid but the white base will make any colours I later apply pop.
With a flat shader brush I applied M.A.C's eyeshadow in Stars n Rockets which is a beautiful light purple with blue reflects in.
I then used Tease from the Naked 2 palette as a transition colour from my crease all the way up to just under my eyebrow.
I used the fuchsia colour on the bottom row, second one alone from my BHcosmetics 88 cool matte palette (will be circled in the picture) with a M.A.C 217 blending brush to blend Stars n Rockets up to just below where Tease ends.
Then I took the light purple colour from 4 rows down, 4 across from the same BHcosmetics palette (also circled) with a fluffy blending brush and blended it in concentrating directly into the crease.
Next I went back over Stars n Rockets to deepen the colour and then added Collection 2000 Dazzle Me! loose eye shadow in Stone Wash to the inner and outer eye-lid area to create extra sparkle.
Finally, I ran the fuchsia colour under my bottom last line, added a few coats of mascara and then some beautiful falsies from an old Nyx collection. Then M.A.C's Rebel lipstick to my lips and voilà, done!

Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy dolls!