Charlotte Tilbury Eyeshadow Palettes : The Dolce Vita & The Glamour Muse

        

      

Any one who loves make up will of heard of this brand and make up artist , Charlotte Tilbury. Charlotte Tilbury is a renowned make up artist and has worked in the industry for over 20 years, working with some of worlds top photographers and A-list celebs and now has created her own stunning make up collection. 

When I has first heard of her make up line launching in Selfridges last year, it was all over the Internet, every blogger, you tuber , make up artist and celebs were talking about it. The products all looked gorgeous so I was dying to try some out! The main products that caught my eye where the eyeshadow palettes, the colour range was beautiful and the package looked so pretty and elegant .

        

                               The Glamour Muse Palette   & The Dolce Vita Palette

 

When I was in London last October a trip to Selfridges was a must so I could pick one of these little beauties up! The only problem was picking which palette to get as I loved them all. The one I ended up getting was the Dolce Vita , the colours were very wearable and I loved the orange toned brown in it as I thought it would be nice for blending out a smokey eye. I was very excited to finally get my hands on one of these palettes and it did not disappoint! The colours all go and blend together perfectly and the pigment is so good that the shadows almost feel creamy to the touch. They are lovely shades for day time or to build the look up for an evening.There is a handy step by step on the back to let you know we're is best to apply the colours. I really really love this palette and although some would say they are expensive for what they are ,(£38), I really think you get your value for money as it is the nicest quality of product I have ever use and I have tried a lot of eyeshadows!!

      

        

                          

   

    

Needless to say that I loved it so much that the next time that I was over visiting London I couldn't help but treat my self to another! This time I opted for The Glamour Muse palette. Whilst still being quite a natural toned palette the glitter purple in it is the perfect colour to add a whole new look to your eyeshadow for a evening or night out! I adore the colours in this and once again the pigment and colour pay off is unreal! The glitters in these palettes are also of a creamy powder texture and apply beautifully and last on the skin. 

                 

    

                         

  

  

I am excited to continue and add to my collection of these gorgeous eyeshadow palettes as well as trying out other products from the range! If you are wanting to treat your self to some new eyeshadows I would highly recommend these as they do not disappoint!! 

Here is the link for the Charlotte Tilbury site if you want to check out any or these products or her collection!! 

http://www.charlottetilbury.com/?gclid=CIXuhcSG6rsCFWTlwgoduSkAQw

Xxx

Christmas Beauty Presents

This Christmas I was well and truly spoilt when it came to my pressies! As anyone who knows me knows, I love all things make up and beauty related, and my family and boyfriend picked out some gorgeous beauty related gifts for me, so I thought I would share them!

First up my mum and dad got me an amazing gift of a years subscription to my favourite magazine, The Make up Artist Magazine!! I was so exited as it is hard to get my hands on a copy, to be honest the time I do get one is when I'm in London , and that's only if Charles fox has it in stock! I am very lucky now to have issues delivered to my door, can't get much better than that!! It is basically the dream magazine for any make up lover, it's filled of info and interviews about the latest make up in tv and film and great tips , as well as class photos of prosthetics and sfx make up!

                                

To add to my literary love of all things related to make up, they also got me the amazing books by Kevyn Aucoin, Face Forward & Making Faces. I have wanted and lusted after these books for quite a while and now that I have them they didn't disappoint! These books are filled with stunning images and lots of great ideas and make up tips. I would really recommend these books whether you work in the beauty industry or if your just a make up addict!!

                                       

They also got me one of my favourite perfumes C.K Shock, I love this perfume as it quite sweet and smells yummy! They also got the mini travel size as well which is perfect for travel or for my handbag. Another addition to my make up kit that is also perfect for my handbag , was the Clinique mini purse lip glosses! I love these glosses as they are long lasting, and it's a great way to try different colours!

My boyfriend surprised me with his pick of presents! When we were in London In October I was doing the usual of dragging him about make up counters and shops and blabbing on about brands that I want to try out, anyway he very cleverly and thoughtfully remembered that I had mentioned how much I was wanting to try Burberry cosmetics. I was then very surprised to open up and find a Burberry gift bag amongst my presents and in it two of the most stunning ,not only in colour but in packaging also, Burberry nail polishes! They almost look too pretty to use , but I'm very excited to try them out! 

                               

My next present was something that I have been wanting to try for ages, it's the Olay Regenerist cleansing brush. There are so many different cleansing facial brushes on the market, but I had heard really good reviews about this one and it is a good price point. I have only used it a few time since I got  it and it is so nice on the skin!! I will be doing a full review of this little gem when I've got using it for a bit longer. I am very excited to have this as part of my skin care routine, here's to good skin in 2014!!

     

      

Then the last present from Kyle that I opened literally made me freak out on Christmas morning to the point of my sister having to tell me to calm down! Once again thanks to what appears to be an very good memory, I had told him about the Laura Mercier Custom Artist Portfolio which in my eyes is the most perfect make up bag in existence. It also was launched as a limited edition product ages ago and was no longer available in stores, but Kyle being the amazing boyfriend that he is managed to track me down one!! I nearly died... It is amazing and beautiful... Yes I did say a make up bag was beautiful, but it really is! I'm very excited to use it and think it will be perfect for travel!!

Now I have saved this one for last as it isn't an item or object of make up, but my very generous other half also got me tickets to IMATS 2014!!!! Which I am beyond excited about, I absolutely loved IMATS last year and cannot wait to go again :-) Hurry up June !!

All of these amazing and thoughtful gifts were far too much! I was very lucky and spoilt!! 

Hope you had a lovely Christmas 

Xxx

All About Face : Gel Christmas nails by Eve

I was very lucky to get my nails done last night by the lovely Eve Rodgers!! Eve is an amazing beauty therapist and make up artist and one of the only people I let do my eyebrows (if you know me you know how fussy I am about my brows!!) Last night whilst having a catch up , Eve very kindly gave me HD brows and a stunning gel polish that is perfect for the festive season. 

I let her do whatever she wanted to my nails as she always make them look amazing! I ended up with lovely red and gold glittery gel nails!!  The red reminds me of Dorothy's ruby slippers and the holographic gold really sparkles!

   I'm a bit of a magpie when it comes to glitter! The glittery nails alone made me very happy, and then to top it of she added a gorgeous white snowflake on each of my middle fingers! I was amazed at how easy and simple it was when she applied the snowflake stamp onto my nail, and then she added extra dots to decorate the design. 

I'm over the moon and would highly recommend Eve for any of your beauty needs!! You can find her business on facebook, it's called All About Face. 

Merry Christmas 

Xxx

                The finished result!!

IMATS London 2013

I finally got to go to IMATS London this year. I had been patiently (well maybe not that patiently), waiting for IMATS to finally happen as I had had my tickets from last summer. To say I was excited that it had finally arrived would probably be an understatement.

                                  Stacy , Myself & Emma all ready to head to IMATS !

I flew over from Belfast with two of my make up chums, Emma & Stacy! We arrived on the Friday and stayed until the Monday, this give us optimum shopping time! We stayed near by the Olympia, just a short distance away at Earls Court, although we still got a taxi each way! In fairness are feet were very sore from the constant walking round stalls and shops.

                            Emma and I trying to hide our excitement in the que 

We headed over to Olympia early on the Saturday , which was good thinking as there already was a big enough que forming out the front. I have to say I was slightly apprehensive as to whether it would live up to the expectations that I had created In my head of what IMATS was going to be like, but I have to say if anything it exceeded it!

I had originally thought all the amazing discounts on such good brands would of obviously been the highlight, but I was wrong, my main highlight over the 2 day event was definately  the talks and workshops. To see and hear some of the most talented and respected make up artist in front of you and hear them give advice and talk about there career was unreal!! My favourites were Neil Gorton, Stuart Bray , Kevin James Bennett and the panel of Mar Coulier, Nick Dudman , Sian Richards and Eve Pearl. I learnt so much at these talks as well as getting to meet some of the industry's best artists.

                         Neil Gortons final piece front he prosthetic ageing talk

                                Stuart Bray's demo for alternative sculpting 

                                                             Panel talk 

Then of course the shopping was amazing! To be honest I was spoilt for choice when it came to deciding what to buy! I mainly got foundations for my kit and then got a little sfx happy. My two favourite brands that I discovered where, Stilazzi and Bluebird. I got a set bag from Stilazzi but after seeing there trolleys I think I may need to invest one. There set bags are practical with useful compartments and come in good sizes. The bluebird ink palettes were something I just lusted over as I had already purchased a couple of skin illustrators. Bluebird inks are a lot more pigmented and come in some amazing colours, I would highly recommend these if your wanting to invest in some ink palettes. 

                                                                  Bluebird Inks 

I found it a really good opportunity to sign up for pro discount, and to find out what brands do pro offers. It was also great to be able to get a proper look at brands that I could only normally get offline like Make up Forever, Lime Crime, Precious About Make Up , Crown Brush and Charles fox. 

My favourite purchases were definately Lime Crimes Red Velvet , Stilazzi set bag and my lovely new Crown Brushes! 

I also got to meet the lovely Karla Powell at the crown brush stand! It was great to meet her and see her work be created in front of me. 

All in all I had an amazing time and would highly recommend any make up lovers to go!! 

Xx

Some photos from the weekend 

Maybelline Colour Tattoo in Timeless Black

When I was in boots recently I was looking at the Maybelline section and got a bit too excited whenever I seen that there was a black colour tattoo. Now don't get me wrong this could of been out from the launch of the colour tattoos, but this was my first time discovering it.

Anyone that knows me, knows how much I love black eyeliner!! So when I seen this I thought it would be a great new gel liner , as I know from the other colour tattoos how long lasting and great quality of products they are. Timeless black looks like its matt black, but when photographed blue glitter shows up, but to be honest it just applies as a matt black! None of the glitter shows up when applied. I found it really easy to apply and I think this would Also work Great as a base for a smokey eye.

I think this is a great product and it's only £4.99!!! I will definitely recommend this for all those liner lovers who want a long lasting products thats great value! They are also part of the 3 for 2 offer that's on in Boots at the minute.


Xxx

Photo shoot for Archive 12

I wanted to share some images of make up I did at a photo shoot at the start of the year. It was for a new business that specialises in stunning vintage bridal wear. I have to say this is by far one of my favourite shoots that I have had the pleasure of working on. The crew we had were amazing from the hair stylist, the photographer to the gorgeous model herself, everyone worked so well together and a result we got some amazing images. The lovely people who made this photo shoot happen were....

* Photographer : Helen Sloan & Dee Elliot
* Photographer Assistant : Adele Smyth- Kennedy
* Owner of Archive & Stylist : Claire Leese
* Styling assistant : Geri Doherty
* Hairdresser : Kelly McLean
* Make up : Jenn Bowman
* Model : Jenny Curran

The make up was natural bridal make up that changed with either liner or lip colour depending on the era and style of dress. The dresses are absolutely stunning and would highly recommend checking out the website if you are wanting your wedding dress to be that extra special and with an authentic vintage touch!

You can find the link here for the site: www.archive12.com

The link for Kelly's very vintage salon is here ( amazing salon for Ladies & Gents) :
http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vintage-Bride/176552822387183

To find the unbelievably talented photographers they can be found on google or imbd!! It's worth a google just to see some of the breathtaking photos that they have taken!

The model can be found at the ACA model agency.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I enjoyed being apart of them being taken!!

Xxx

DIY Lip & Concealer Palettes

I am always trying to find better ways to pack my make up kit and make it more compact, so recently I have been making my own lip palettes to cut down the bulk of lipsticks that I have in my kit. It is so easy to do! All you need is...

* Lipsticks
* An empty palette, mine are from MUJI
* A tea light candle
* A knife and spoon

I prefer to melt them into the palette as it is a far neater way of putting them into the the palette rather than mushing them in.

I then had the idea to do the same with individual cream concealers. I made this into a smaller palette, this empty palette held 6 concealers. You need and use the exact same things as you would wen making the lipstick palettes as listed above.

I am so pleased with the finished result as it means I have more room in my kit to fill , and these are a great addition to have in my set bag !!,

Xx