Highlighters - loose powders

Following on from yesterday's post, here's some loose powder highlighters I have.  To be fair, there's only two, but there is a reason for that, as we'll see:

Revlon Skinlights highlighter: I'm not sure if this one is still available or not, but it's one I'm not that fond of, being a bit, well, gravelly, and exceedingly glittery. A little bit of it does go a very long way though, this pot is a couple of years old (it has seen regular use) and it's still very full.  It's great if you want to dress yourself up as a fairy, or need something with a little more pizazz. Subtle it isn't. It's also useful dusted very lightly over a matte eyeshadow look to give it a shimmery, glittery effect, which is what I mainly use it for. But it's far too glittery for use as a cheek highlight on my pale-custard coloured skin, alas.

Bare Escentuals Clear Radiance: I've had this little pot for a while, and I'll be honest, I don't use it very often.  It's not actually meant to be used as a highlighter proper (or what I think of as proper highlighter use, anyway, which might not be the same thing), it's more meant to  be used as an all-over "brightening" or radiance powder.  I find the lightly pinky peach shade is fairly flattering, more so than the more usual silvery pinks, but even so, I can't figure out a way to use this without it making me feel like I'm wearing a gauze-y mask.  Anyone else have this problem?

Am I missing a trick here?  Are there any loose highlighter powders around that are amazing? What are your recommendations?

Makeover: Seona - The Return

This is Seona:

Some of you will have seen Seona on the blog before from when I did her wedding makeup.  Seona's a good friend, and was one of the first to volunteer for another makeover when I had the idea for this series a couple of months ago.

After sitting down and discussing what Seona wanted from this session, it was hard to decide, Seona wanted both a lesson on how to do a smokey eye, but ... wanted to use some "exotic" colours.  She's been using a lot of browns and bronzes lately, and thinks she's been stuck in a bit of a makeup rut.  In the end, we decided to do a bit of both.

Browns and bronzes really suit Seona, but we decided to use purple as an accent colour today, but first, we need to sort out the base:

Seona doesn't need much coverage at all, so we just smoothed in a light layer of Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturising balm in Light, then followed that with a dusting of MAC Blot to remove shine.  Then, to even out the colour on Seona's eyelids, we added a thin layer of my (recently depotted) Urban Decay Primer potion to her eyelids:

Then, we applied a colourwash of Trish McEvoy eyeshadow in Cashmere (a lovely pinky-purply brown shade) all over the lid:

Then, to accentuate the crease, and add some definition, we added Trish McEvoy eyeshadow in Sugar Plum in a v-shape to the outer corners of her lids:

Once this was blended out, we added Trish McEvoy Definer shadow in Deep Amethyst as a liner to her upper lid:

And went back to Cashmere for her lower:

Again, we smudged that out, and added a layer of Max Factor Masterpiece Mascara, then added blush (MAC Blushbaby) and finished off the look with a slick of Bare Escentuals Buxom Lipgloss in Dolly:

And here's the finished look:

However, when we were finished, I didn't think this was "exotic" enough - it was a lovely daytime smokey eye, but I realised we could take it to a nighttime look very easily by adding a brightly coloured eyeliner, so out came my trusty bottle of Urban Decay liquid liner in Ecstasy:

And presto, the day look became a night-time one!  Here's the obligatory (and specifically requested by Seona) soft focus "glamour shot":

We had great fun, and I'd like to say a massive thank you to Sarah for acting as my photographer.

Holdover Makeover and Foundation Review

Okay, it's a couple of days late, I apologise, but here's the latest pics of the FotW I promised you on Thursday.

First of all, the obligatory shot of me without makeup. I'm shiny, and my pores are ENORMOUS:

It is also 6.30 in the morning, hence the simplicity of this make up, and my dopey expression. First things first, this complexion needs foundation, and needs it quick! 

So, a layer of  L'Oreal Studio Secrets foundation in Gold Ivory, and a dab of Benefit Bluffdust later, here's what you get:

Nice and matte and even. Now, I quite like the L'Oreal foundation, it applies well - and easily - and you don't need to use a huge amount to get good coverage. Admittedly, I really only use it on my T-Zone and to cover up some of the redness I tend to get around my nose. The foundation has a built in brush, but I find the bristles are a little too short for it to be really useful for blending, and I worry about the hygiene issues of not having a separate applicator, but for makeup in a hurry, it's not a bad choice - as far as application goes, it's actually fairly foolproof!

That said, it's not very long lasting.  It gives good coverage for the first two hours or so, then wears off pretty quickly, especially around the nose - where skin tends to be oilier - and after four hours or so, I find it's pretty much entirely disappeared, and/or been absorbed into my skin.  I find this with a lot of High St foundations though, ranges like Rimmel and CoverGirl and the like are cheaper mainly because they use less pigment and setting agents.  However, this is being sold as a "Pro" range, and it's not, as the High Street goes, all that cheap (currently £15.99 at Boots, though I paid about a tenner for mine a few weeks ago), so this lack of durability is very galling. It's not something I see myself buying again, I'll be honest.

However, onto the rest of the makeover ...

After applying my foundation, I usually do my eyes first, and that's what I've done here.  As I'm going for a quick, office-suitable look, I apply UDPP, a colourwash of the Bare Escentuals Bravo, then line the upper waterline only with a smudge of MAC Feline eyeliner, and add a single layer of Lancome Hypnose Drama in Black:

I have hooded eyelids, and it's hard to get a shot of how the eyeshadow looks on my lids from directly in front, but it's a lovely soft, shimmering silvery-brown colour, with a but more depth than you'd expect from that.  It's a loose shadow though, so it really, really, really needs a primer underneath to "lock" it in place.

Once my eyes are done, I add blusher (Chanel Rose Defile - the colour of which I love, even as I HATE the texture of the powder. Chanel are only really getting their act together with regards to their powder cosmetics right now, and the way all their old products dry out, and harden so quickly and have a tendency to be rather under pigmented is infuriating) and Bare Escentuals Buxom lipgloss in Brandi.

Here's how the colours look together:

And here's how it looks from the front:

 Again, my stupid hooded eyelids make it difficult to see the shadow that's applied, but you can see a hint of greyness there. I think I've gone a little too heavy on the blusher there, but that's because the lighting in my room - there is NO natural light in my bedroom at 6.30am on a weekday morning at the moment, so I have a tendency to overapply in the mornings, so before taking this last shot, I blended it out a bit:

So there you go, a simple work look that takes - if you're not trying to photograph it in a dark room! - about 7-8 minutes to apply, start to finish.

I think I need a fringe.

Face of the Week

I'm a very lazy person, and i appear to be addicted to routine at the moment, so whatever makeup I find myself wearing on a Monday is what I tend to find myself wearing for the next few days! Here's the products I've been wearing this week, it's very plain and simple, but quick, and pretty.







Organic Surge Blissful Daily Moisturiser (which I'm trialling for a blog post later this week)
Benefit Bluffdust - which I love for dealing with my red patches!
L'Oreal Studio Secrets foundation in Gold Ivory
Chanel blusher in Rose Defile
Urban Decay Primer Potion (depotted)
Bare Escentuals Glimpse e/s in Bravo
MAC kohl pencil in Feline (inner upper eyelid only - have I mentioned how much I love that look, and this eyeliner? Well, I do!)
Lancome Hypnose Drama in Black (of course!)
and the look is finished off with a tiny slick of Bare Escentuals Buxom lipgloss in Brandi.

Pictures of the finished look will appear tomorrow ...

Review - Eyeshadow Primers

Today, I've decided to to a side-by-side product test. Two of my all time favourite products are MAC Paint (which I use as an eyeshadow primer, as well as a colour) and Urban Decay Eyeshadow primer. Up until now, I'd be hard pressed to say which was better, so I'm trying them both out at the same time, with an eyeshadow that I already now disappears in the blink of an eye ... so here goes:

WARNING: This post will contain pictures of me without makeup.

Stage one: In which our blogger goes barefaced

At this stage, what I mainly notice is that I've neglected to groom my eyebrows, no matter, won't be making that mistake again! What I also notice is that the MAC Paint on my right eye (left on these pics) reflects the light a little more than the Urban Decay primer on the left eye (right in these pics), I think this is because there is a little hint of shimmer and pigment in the MAC, which the UD is missing.

Stage Two: Wherein the experiment begins in earnest



At this stage, with both eyes open, there is little difference, but with my eyes closed, you can see that the UD primer is definitely better at grabbing the pigment, and the colour is truer. I'm using a loose shadow from Bare Essentials (Smoked Clay), which is a nice greenish grey, but that's hard to pick up with your brush. However, there is a price to pay for this extra pigment being visible, as you'll see in the next stage.

Stage Three: Wherein the colour deepens

I thought that the shadow I was using was too wishy-washy in the first pics, so decided to go for another layer of colour. When applying this, I realise that the Urban Decay is damned difficult to blend over. In fact, it's damn near impossible to blend over after it's had a chance to set for a minute or two. This means that there is a visible line in my socket-crease on my left eye (on the right there), which I'm finding infuriating. Blending is important, vitally important, to any good make up, and the Urban Decay simply won't let you do it.

Stage Four: In which my mascara is uneven.



Here, I've finished adding my eyeliner, and just wanted to see what the difference was between no mascara and one layer of Hypnose Drama (upper, pic) and with two layers of mascara (lower). What it has done is highlighted the fact that I have thicker lashes on my right eye, but longer lashes on my left. I'll be sticking with one coat from now on, I think.

Stage five : in which the finishing touches are revealed

I got around to powdering, adding blush and putting on some lipstick (Ellis Faas in L307, a lovely glossy coral shade) but not fixing that damn eyebrow. That's obviously why I'm looking so unhappy.

Stage six: In which your blogger fixes her hair, and her expression
There we go, I've covered up my pointy spock-ears, and am feeling more human again.

Verdict:

At the moment, they're fairly evenly matched. Whilst you do get a better coverage, and colour trueness with the Urban Decay, this is outweighed with the MAC Paint being easier to blend with. Now, I'm going to see how this look lasts throughout the day, and report back.

Products used:
Urban Decay Eyeshadow Primer
MAC Paint in Untitled
Bare Essentials powder shadow in Smoked Clay
Revlon Wet/Dry Liner in Chocolate
Lancome Hypnose Drama in Black
Bare Essentials Blusher in Poppy
Benefit Bluff Dust face powder
Ellis Faas Glossy Lip in L307