Travel Makeup - Trish McEvoy Beauty Charger

I'm away this weekend, having the family Christmas that had to be cancelled owing to the recent terrible weather, and I thought you might like to see what I normally take with me when I go "travelling".  This little baby is the veteran of many a trip - in fact you can tell how old it is by the old-style logo on the front, Trish McEvoy changed her font years ago!

I like the chargers, because they're essentially empty magnetic cases that you fill with products of your own choosing, here's what I have in mine:

Clockwise from top left we have: blush in Natural, Glaze in Sugar Plum, Eyeshadow in Cashmere, Definer in Bronze and Definer in Deep Amethyst.  I like the mix of natural and plummy shades, which means I can go from a barely there look to a full-on smokey eye, all from a small selection of shades.

But wait!  There's more:

There's a second layer in this card!  In here I have (L-R) Even Skin powder in No2 Bare, and Highlight in Blush (which has since been discontinued, sadly).

 I like Trish McEvoy because I find that the powder products are actually of a great quality, being softly silky and finely milled, and I love that you get to choose your own shades.  I've taken this all over the world, and it's done sterling service, I wonder where it'll end up next?

I'm also wondering what I should fill the gap on the top row with.  What'd you put in it?



This post originated at: http://getlippie.com All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce without permission.

In a rush!

I mentioned yesterday that I'm lazy, and I'd rather spend an extra minute or two in bed than spend time using two products when I can use only one.  So I thought I'd tell you my favourite "two minute face" products.

For my base, I'd use Bobbi Brown Tinted Moisturising Balm, it has SPF 25, and works well for evening out skintone (taking the place of foundation) and also works exceptionally well as a moisturiser in it's own right.  This, essentially, takes the place of three products!

Eyeshadow, probably something taupe (the one above is Chanel's taupe grise, not, strictly, a taupe, but lovely nonetheless).  Taupe because it goes with everything, suits almost everyone, and it's hugely versatile.  I'll either pat a darker taupe into the crease, or a lighter one all over the mobile lid.

Trish McEvoy High Impact Mascara in Jet Black.  I love this stuff, it doesn't budge throughout the day, and I find that it volumises my lashes to the extent that I can go without liner (normally a total no-no chez Lippie) once in a while.

For my cheeks, I'd either use Daniel Sandler's Watercolour Blush in Cherub (a pale rosy pink) or, if I want a little more colour, I'd use

Edward Bess Cream Rouge in Island Rose.  Both of these are ideal for adding a little fresh colour to my pale and sallow mug in the mornings, and they're both a real pleasure to use, too.

As for my lips, I'd cheat and use either of the blush shades on my lips.  Four products, two minutes and groomed perfection.  In my dreams!

What's your two-minute routine?

Trish McEvoy Eye Products

Recently, I was invited along to the Trish McEvoy counter at Selfridges to take a look over some of the products that they stock that won't fit in my planner.  In case you don't know much about Trish's range, she's a US makeup artist, who is famous (infamous?) for her compact (and bijou!) makeup planners.  Mine must be about six years old now, and contains a face powder, a blush, a highlighter duo, and four eyeshadows. Over the years it's proved to be a great boon, particularly for travelling.  The thing I like about the planners is that you pick the colours, and contents yourself, according to your needs.  Mine is full of pinks, purples, and browns, and I love it.  I'll show it to you, one day.  Once it's full ... which might be soon ...

I hadn't realised - it's been a while since I stopped by the counter - that there was a full range of skincare.  This isn't a reflection on the skincare, btw, but I'm a magpie-shopper, and my attention is always drawn to the jewel-like shades of the eyeshadows before anything else!  I was especially drawn to a pot of Beta-Hydroxy pads which promise to help you resurface your skin - something I'm almost literally obsessed with at the moment, thanks to a surprise birthday present that I'll be reviewing for you soon - and a balm which promises 8hr Cream-like results without the, ah, "liniment"-like scent.

After a long chat, and a nice cup of tea, I was sent away with a couple of samples to try, and you can see them above, (top to bottom) High Volume Mascara in Jet Black, Eye Base Essentials in Demure, and a 24 Hour Eye Shade pencil in Topaz.

Onto the swatches:

First off, the mascara, this is a "tubing" mascara, something I'm always fond of because they don't flake or run during the day, and you only need a little hot water to remove it.  It's a bit scary the first time you try and remove a tube mascara (basically you wet the lashes, and gently - very gently - roll the mascara off your lashes.  You'll end up with fingertips full of tiny mascara tubes, which always look suspiciously like your eyelashes themselves though!  This mascara has a tiny brush head, barely any wider than the brush wand itself:

I like a small mascara brush, as it enables you to get really deep down into the roots of the lashes, without smearing mascara all over your lids and ruining your eyeshadow!  But the true test of a mascara for me is whether or not it both lengthens and thickens.  Here's what it did for my lashes:

For some reason, these photos don't entirely do the mascara justice, yes it doesn't lengthen quite as much as my most recent mascara-love Le Metier Anamorphic, but it does volumise a lot more, giving, I think, a far more dramatic effect over all. I've used it every day since picking up my sample, and it's been perfect in this hot weather, being impervious to heat, sweat and (to an extent) tears!  Love it.

Now for the eye base and the 24 hour shadow:

What I like about the Eyebase Essentials is that it comes in a selection of 8 shades, and a selection of finishes.  Shown above is Demure which is a rather cool-toned lightly pinked beige, with a faint sparkle, but there are peaches, and light taupes, all perfect as either skin-toned shadows in their own right, or they make a great base for your powder shadows.  I've noticed they don't last quite as long as Urban Decay Primer Potion,  but they do give you a bit more slip, so they're far, far easier to blend over.

The 24 Hour Shadow pencil in Topaz is a beauty, a multi-tonal bronze shade, you can either apply it heavily (as in the swatch) or sheer it out with your fingers or a brush after a quick sweep over your eyelids. After a few seconds, the shadow will "set" (you don't have to work as quickly as with Ellis Faas, for example) and it will last.  A very long time.  The sheerer you make your application, the less time you'll have before it creases, but I estimate that even then you'll get a minimum of 6 hours crease and fade-free wear.  If you apply it more heavily, you'll be wearing a perfect shadow look until you decide to take it off.  There are four colours in the range, and I'll be heading back out for the grey one very soon.

Trish McEvoy products are exclusively available from Harvey Nichols and Selfridges.

The Fine Print: I own a fairly extensive collection of Trish McEvoy already, but the products featured in this review were supplied for review purposes.  Unless you consider tea a bribe, I wasn't compensated in any way for this review.

It's not, by the way.  A bribe, that is.  Even Selfridges tea isn't that good.

Highlighters - Pressed Powders

Whoo, got here eventually!  Now, pressed powders are my favourite kind of highlighters, I just find them easier to apply, and they're more forgiving when you accidentally overapply.  first off, let's take a look at a highlighter I recently rediscovered as a result of my rummaging:

Trish McEvoy Blush Highlight: Oh, this is a pretty one.  Yes, it's a bit sparkly in the pan, but it applies very silkily (is that a word?), and it adds a very nice hint of colour to your cheekbones.  This one is especially good swirled over your blusher, or over a bronzer to bring it to life a little. Now I've rediscovered it, I'm going to use it more and more often.  I love the colours in my charger, and digging it back out has reminded me that there are a couple of slots free, and I'm thinking I might fill them with some more eyeshadows.  Trish McEvoy is a great brand - if you can avoid being sold the ENTIRE RANGE whenever you step near their counters - and I'll talk to you more about the rest of the things I have from her soon.

I've posted about this one before: YSL Y-Mail Palette.  Shall we play a game of spot the swatch?  It is there, I promise you, first one to tell me where it is gets a prize! Ironically, even though it hasn't photographed at all well, I do still like this one a lot, as you can tell from where the lettering has been wearing off! It's a subtle (if you avoid the glittery bit) brightening powder that just adds a hint of glow to your finished makeup, and stops your foundation looking too cake-y, in the same way a spritz of toner is meant to.  I don't do the toner thing, being a non-believer in it, and also, having a mild paranoia about spraying things on my face.  But yes, be wary of the glitter if you go for this one.

Saving what is probably my favourite for last: Bobbi Brown Shimmer Brick in Beige. I don't know if you can tell from the pic but this is one battered piece of kit!  Several of the strips have fallen out over the years (and it is several years old), have been pushed back in, it's been dropped - a lot - and it was used practically every day for about three years, as a highlighter and an eyeshadow (can't do that with a liquid illuminator, alas!), and it's still going strong.  I thought it wouldn't be versatile when I bought it, but I was very wrong - I remember thinking "Urgh, beige, how boring!"  at the time, but it's great on most skin-tones, and the addition of the more pinky-golden shades mean you can use the individual strips as brow, cheek or eye colours, should you want to.  Highly recommended.

I'm away this weekend, so there won't be any posts - sorry! - but I'll be back on Monday with some Illuminators that double up as blushers.  Have a wonderful weekend!

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.