Face of the fortnight - as promised!

Sorry about the extreme close up nature of these pics, I'm in the middle of a major hair crisis!  A really major hair crisis ... But this is how my Maybelline/Bobbi Brown makeup looks when it's put together.  I've been trialling Lancome Teint Idole, and Clarins Wonder Perfect mascara in this pic too, so expect a post on those later on in the week ...

I'm wearing the Cargo Plant Love mineral baked Illuminator in wind on my cheeks, still totally in love with that product, and how it looks in these pics.

Mini Bobbi Brown Haul - and Face of the Week

Okay, face of the fortnight, if I'm being honest ... I bought these shadows from Bobbi Brown recently, in the palette there is (L-R) Flesh, Naked and Gunmetal, and on first glance I think they look a little uninspiring, but this has been one of my very favourite purchases for a while.  I had initially been intent on buying Flesh and Woodrose from BB as some new neutral base shadows, but on swatching in House of Fraser, I realised that Woodrose is just a little too cool for my pale-custard coloured skin, so I swapped it out for Naked.  Gunmetal was a colour that I wasn't intending to buy at all (I've done two grey-eyeshadow based makeovers lately, and they got terrible feedback, who knew it was so contentious?), but I kind of fell in love with this shade in the store.

Here's how they swatch (dry, on unprimed skin) without flash and with:

You'll notice that Flesh disappears almost entirely on my skin, and you may be thinking that's a bad thing, but actually, it's not.  It's perfect for creating an even and matte base for other shadows, and when I add  Naked into the crease for a contour, I really love the effect I get, they're a lovely pair of colours for that polished and natural look I'm such a fan of.  I've mainly been using gunmetal as a softer lining alternative to black recently, and for a big night out recently (one where I knew I was going to be going out with a lot of women who don't wear an awful lot of makeup), I created this look:

Basically, I used Flesh (over Urban Decay Primer Potion), over the entire eyelid, up to the brow as a base, then defined the crease with Naked, and created a winged liner look from corner to corner with Gunmetal and I loved how the grey contrasted and brought out the brown in my eyes.  I'm also enjoying using matte shades for winter, I think they look very different to the shimmery looks I've been creating lately.

I've been doing a softer version of this look for daily office wear for the last week, combining it with Maybelline Hollywood Red, and I'll bring you a full-face version of this look soon.  I'm not showing the full face look here as I hate how shiny I am in the pics, and I've changed my foundation to a more matte formulation recently.  I'm all about the matte at the moment, it seems!

(note: I've had my eyebrows done since I took these pics, my eyebrows are the bane of my existence, Denis Healy and me, separated at birth.  Troo story)

Lip of the Day - Maybelline 540 Hollywood Red

I'll be honest here, I've not bought a Maybelline product in years and years and years and years, not since I tried Great Lash and discovered it to actually be "Defiantly Average Lash"!  I do still wonder why and how this spectacularly nondescript mascara has as massive a cult reputation as it does, but I'm digressing slightly.

There's been a lot of Maybelline love on the blogosphere lately, and I admit, it's made me actually look at the products a bit - which is more than I've done in quite some time, it's one of those brands that very rarely, if ever particularly impinges on my consciousness for some reason! However, one of the Colour Sensational lipsticks has been haunting me for a while, I swatched it a month or two ago, and I've been debating with myself whether to buy it or not.  I finally gave in last week, and I'm glad I did.

It's this one:

For some reason, it's been packaged with the reds, but it's actually more of a soft pink, bright, but not not too blue-based.  The reason it's been on my mind a lot is because the shade is actually a dead-ringer for my All-Time Favourite Lipstick of All-Time: Chanel's India.  India was a limited edition shade, and my various attempts to replace it over the years have all ended in abject failure but, as replacements go, this one's a winner.

Here's how it looks on my lips:

 

 

Although it's bright, it's actually a very wearable shade.  It's not at all bubble-gummy, and as it's not fuschia, it barely harks back to the 80's at all!  It's a bit greasier on the lips than the Chanel, so the wear isn't the greatest (this stuff loves coffee cups!) but it does last a good few hours before you need to totally reapply.  It fades evenly without leaving lips ringed or dry.

I'm glad I picked this one up, I've worn it every day since I bought it, and I love it.  Slightly easier to wear than red, but more of a statement than nude lips, it goes with a variety of makeup looks.