My Current Make-Up Regime – Finale – Little Extras

Almost time to cue credits on “My Current Make-Up Regime” sob sob. Never fear, this is the best bit :0)

Apart from using my “favourite” items to do my make up for a special event, I also like to take my time, and enjoy the process. I’m aware I may be sounding like a weirdo right now, but I really do enjoy putting my face on, and when I get the luxury of extra time, I make sure I enjoy it to the full! I have a cup of tea by my side and some trashy TV on in the background and get everything laid out ready to go, but enough rambling about me and onto the products that add that extra zing.

Ruby & Millie I-Powder pen in Black and Silver

It’s all about eyes really when you want to make an impression isn’t it. Unfortunately, I don’t have the best skill or face for eye shadow, but when I do decide to do “daring”, I use the fabulous Ruby & Millie I-Powder pen, which is essentially for beginners. You can buy it in larger boots stores and the blurb taken from the Boots site explains it perfectly:

Ruby & Millie I-Powder Pen can create many different looks and is totally foolproof. There is no need to worry about dosage; the lid will automatically apply the right level of powder. Better still you have all the benefits of a loose powder eye shadow, without the worry of excess spilling on to cheeks.

One Ruby & Millie I-Powder Pen gives both a dramatic look and a very natural look.

For a classic look:Apply the lighter Ruby & Millie I-Powder shade as a highlighter on the brow zone, using your finger or a brush to blend into the brow. Then apply the co-ordinating darker shade to the eye lid, blending the two shades together where they meet.

For drama:Layer on the colour with two or three swipes of the nib, the darker shades in particular will give a stunning effect.

For a more fresh faced natural look:Simply apply once to the eye lid and then blend with finger or brush.

For a smoky eyed look: Experiment with the Black and White shades. Blending these two shades together gives a striking silver effect.

Here’s how it looks on me, remembering I told you I don’t have much skill in the eye shadow application department!

Barry M  Dazzle Dust  

Next on my list of little extras, for use when I’m not feeling so daring, are the Barry M Dazzle dusts. My favourite is Silver Iridescent but I don’t think there are many of them I don’t like. It’s a very small pot of loose sparkly eye shadow – easy to apply, great for Christmas and evening wear, there are 75 colours to choose from, and they cost £4.59 a pot in boots. Winner :0)



Too Faced Candlelight Powder

Finally, we have the too faced candlelight powder which is basically a translucent powder with a subtle gold shimmer throughout. The promise it makes is to:

“Capture the ethereal glow and ultra flattering light of a romantic candlelit dinner, anytime. Apply this multi-tasking, breathable, vitamin-enriched powder onto fresh skin or over foundation to set make-up and impart a soft-focused glow.

A powerful dose of skin-saving antioxidants help to protect and soothe tired skin, while the golden-peachy tone warms illuminate your complexion reducing the appearance of fine lines and imperfections. “

Sounds good eh?! Does it live up to all that? Well, it’s not quite all that, but it definitely feels like a decadent product and when I finish with a light sweep of this powder I can see a little bit of the ‘glam’ me in the mirror, so job done. 

The only area uncovered by the “little extras” category is my lips – anyone know of a good shimmery lip gloss that isn’t sticky??!

My Current Make-Up Regime – Part 4 – Blush & Lips

Blush

You’ll have seen from my post on 29^th January 2011 that I love my Benefit Posie Tint for blusher, and nothing has changed there. The only trouble is that I sometimes forget to put it on before my powder (I’m still trying to get out of the habit of putting blusher on last), and then it’s too late as it creates a funny texture when mixed with powder and using the powder on top also sets it nicely so it’s more matt.

So, when I  have my forgetful head on, I use my second favourite blush which is Prestige Skin Loving Minerals Fresh Glow Baked Mineral Blush in Pink. It’s a nice price at £8.49 from boots although it doesn’t come with a brush. If you are looking for a big splotch of colour, this isn’t for you as it’s a really light wash of colour. It can be built up though and could alternatively be used as a highlighter.

Lips

I start with a lip pencil and I have only ever found one that I like – not too harsh looking, easy to draw the line, and blends nicely with my lippy but also gives a nice outline. It’s a Jane Iredale one in Taupe which costs £6.40 and can be bought either online, or in a few beauty salons. I’d rather use nothing if not this, as all the other lip liners I’ve tried are either too dry and hard to draw a line with, too harsh, or the wrong colour completely.

After my lipliner, I again use a product I’ve been loyal to for many years – Maybelline Superstay 24hr lip colour in “615 Soft Taupe”. It’s a double ended product with lipstick on one end and a gloss on the other. I only use the lipstick end but at £8.99 I’m ok with that.

The best thing about this product is that you can layer it depending on how much intensity you want - if you wipe all excess off the brush before using, you get a very sheer nude colour, but if you load up the brush, you get a deep brown, and of course all the variations in between.

This lipstick has the best staying power of any I’ve tried but it doesn’t dry out my lips which is a bonus. I put it on at 6am, and it doesn’t budge until I take it off in the evening.

Instead of the gloss that comes with the lipstick, which I find doesn’t last very long or give any moisture; I use a product called Shine Moisturiser Lip Gloss from lip ink. It’s a bit pricey at £17.50 but lasts about a year and is brilliant – it gives a subtle shine with no stickiness, but also moisturizes well.

And that's me on a normal day! As they say, "Lipstick, Powder and Paint, makes me the girl I aint".  

I add a few little extras for special occasions (next post) which usually means something sparkly hehe.

Happy face painting my fellow beauty addicts :0)