"A girl should be two things; Classy and Fabulous" - Coco Chanel

Monday 13 May 2013

Beauty: New Spring Additions To My Make-up Bag

"I don't understand how a woman can leave the house without fixing herself up a little, if only out of politeness. And then, you never know, maybe that's the day she has a date with destiny. And it's best to be as pretty as possible for destiny." 
- COCO CHANEL



I couldn't have said it better myself. This is definitely a saying I live by. I cannot bear the thought of walking down the street in a tracksuit and no make-up. I just can't and never would. Something my grandmother always said to me was "always wear pretty underwear in case you get hit by a car". It is a metaphor...you never know who you might meet or who could see you so always look your best. This refers back to both make-up and fashion which combine beautifully. I am not saying you should smother your face, because you don't need to, even if its just a bit of lipgloss or a layer of mascara or eyeshadow.

Where am I going with this you are probably asking...?





I thought I would guide you on a few key beauty products for your make-up bag this spring. Every 2/3 months I tend to juggle up my make up bag contents in order to accentuate new fashion collections each season. This season I have opted for pearly pink and gold eyeshadows paired with sky blue and white eyeliners. These are summery colours which come off as fairly neutral, making these colours a perfect match for this spring's block brights and array of denims. Whilst you don't want to look like a parrot, colours can work if substituted by a neutral colour or smokey shadow.

As many of you may have already gathered, I am a huge MAC fan and love their products. So when I popped into MAC last week, I went intending to buy their Studio Fix foundation...because mine was running low, however, as any make-up fanatic will admit, once surrounded by everything wonderful you end up buying more so as usual I ended up spending more than I had bargained for on an array of new products. I'm not complaining.

When it comes to make-up I enjoy mixing up colours and my make-up bag is full of colour. With such a large palette of colours in my collection it is exciting to mix new colours together to experiment new looks, whether it be for the daytime or night. This time I opted for a pearlescent, 'mineralize' blush with a variety of gold and pink eyeshadows with the exception of a matte, taupe shadow which is for shadowing and blending in the outer corners of the eye. I invested in Rimmel's 'exaggerate' liner in sky blue for underlining the eyes as well as my 'budget buy' for this week - MUA's intense colour eyeliner in snow white (£1).


SATIN TAUPE Eyeshadow - MAC
This is a great shadow for mixing with a gold or a pink shadow, when blended into the outer corner of the eye satin taupe creates a more dramatic look perfect for the evening. Even though this colour is deep, by only colouring the outer corner and crease of the eyelid, the lighter shadow still brightens the eye. 

GLEAM Eyeshadow - MAC
I absolutely adore this colour as it is pretty much goes with all of this seasons colours and accompanies denim perfectly. I apply this shadow with Mac's angled shadow brush (275) and apply it to the inner corners of the eyes as well as the eyelids, I would use a darker shade; often gold or grey to blend into the creases etc. 

AMBER LIGHTS eyeshadow - MAC
My favourite of all, this shadow ignites with colour and catches the light beautifully. I tend to use this in the outer corners of the eye and apply using Mac's eyeshadow blending brush (217). After testing out many looks using this shadow, I feel the best colour to accompany it it a pink or nude. At the moment I am loving mixing amber lights with gleam/da bling or another one of Mac's great shadows - naked lunch.  I would wear this particular shadow to match pretty much any outfit as I see it as being a universal colour. 

DA BLING eyeshadow - MAC
Looking at this you're probably scared off already as this appears to the eye in palette as being a dark pink. This is actually not dark at all and when applied gently into the inner corners of the eyes using an angled shadow brush it draws light to the eye and appears to be pearlescent and light in colour. If you are blue/green eyed then this is a great recommendation for you as colours such as pink and blue really bring out your eyes. I usually wear this shade with denim and neutral colours.

DAINTY blush - MAC
As you may have seen in my previous make-up blog (see here), I was previously using Mac's 'Dollymix' blush for my cheeks, however as summer hopefully dawns, I felt the need to lighten the shadowing of my cheeks in preparation for less dense make-up and a tan. What I love about 'Dainty' is that it is part of the mineralize collection which blends into my face without looking 'muddy', and this colour in particular suits my rosy complexion. This blush contains pearlescent granules which draw light to the cheekbones.

From front to back: MAC eyeshadow blender brush 217, Rimmel 'Exaggerate' eyeliner in sky blue,  MUA intense colour  eyeliner in snow white and MAC small slanted blush brush.


I have blue eyes myself and both white and blue liners are known for drawing in light and brightening your eyes. Lets say you also have blue eyes, here is an example of how this works. On a sunny day where the sky is blue your eyes will appear a lot brighter and bluer than on a cloudy day when it is raining. My eyes appear grey on a grey day, so my point is that the blue and white liners bring out the colours of your eyes and also act as a reflector of colour. 


STROBE LIQUID LOTION - MAC

STROBE LIQUID LOTION - MAC

The beauty market contains a wide variety of illumination preps and primers spread over pretty much every brand, however my current illuminator is MAC's Strobe Liquid. I have used this for about over a year, however I am starting to go off it as I think I prefer the cream that MAC do as opposed to the lotion. The cream is thicker and the pearlescent qualities push through your foundation far more prominently than that of the strobe liquid. This also depends on whether you wear a BB cream, tinted moisturise or thick foundation. If you wear a low coverage base, then I would recommend the liquid.

If you've enjoyed this please follow me on twitter @beafashionista1 and share this with your friends!

Bea {x}

No comments:

Post a Comment